Rest For The Weary
– Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from
Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
1. The Hindu priest’s robe was becoming faded
and since he would be speaking to many at the upcoming religious festival, he
decided he ought to re-dye the garment.
2. So he went to the local vendor & bought
some powdered dye.
3. When he unwrapped the package, he found
some strange words on the wrapping paper; “Come unto me, and I will give you
rest!” they said.
4. For days after, those words kept replaying
in his mind, haunting & beckoning him.
5. What did they mean? And wasn’t that what
he’d been looking for, for years? Rest?
6. But try as he might, he couldn’t find the
source of the words and who’d made the invitation.
7. So he passed the paper to another priest
who lived in a more populated region and asked him to find out where these
words came from and what they meant.
8. The priest searched diligently to find out
what the words meant. He carried that
piece of paper around with him everyday, seizing every opportunity to ask folks
if they knew anything about them.
9. Several months later, he came upon a group
of Christians holding a service in the open air of his city.
a. he stopped to listen,
and heard for the first time of One who could save from sin, and give new life.
b. one of those speaking
to the crowd proclaim, “Jesus said, ‘COME UNTO ME, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST!’”
c. the priest was stunned
– the words, the invitation had come from Christ.
d. and the rest He
offered was from guilt, from fear, from all the things the priest struggled
with.
10. So he pressed through the people who had
gathered to listen to the Christians and showed them the paper and told them of
how he’d received it.
11. That day, those believers led that Hindu
priest to faith in Christ.
12. And several days later, he returned to his
friend and fellow priest who’d given him the paper and led him to Jesus too.
1. Anyone feel weary here today? Anyone stressed out?
2. This is the weekend before Thanksgiving and
with this week we formally launch into that time of the year known as “the
Holidays.”
a. it’s supposed
to be a time of fun & family.
b. a time of presents and
tables laden with food,
c. it’s supposed to be a time
off work & school, and you’d think that means rest. But is it?
3. When you think of the holidays do you think
of rest,
or all the stuff you have to do?
a. there are dozens of
presents to buy, special holiday parties to go to,
b. relatives to visit, a
ton of cooking to do, school & church plays to attend.
4. Many would say the holidays are high-stress
days and that they need a holiday after the holidays just to recover!
1. Time magazine's June 6, 1983 cover story
called stress "The Epidemic of the Eighties" and referred to it as
our leading health problem.
2. There can be little doubt that the
situation has progressively worsened in the last 20 years.
a. numerous surveys
confirm that adult Americans believe they are under much more stress than a
decade or two ago.
b. a 1996 Prevention
magazine survey found that almost 75% feel they have "great
stress" one day a week with 1 out of 3 adults indicating they feel this
way more than twice a week.
c. in 1983 only 55%
said they felt under great stress on a weekly basis.
d. it’s been estimated
that 75-90 % of all visits to primary-care physicians are for stress
related problems.
3. Most stress today is psychological in nature
as opposed to physical.
4. But our bodies tend to react to stress the
same way, no matter what its cause.
a. the heart rate and
blood pressure soar to increase the flow of blood to the brain to improve
decision making,
b. blood sugar rises to
furnish more fuel for energy as the result of the breakdown of glycogen, fat
and protein stores,
c. blood is diverted from
the stomach to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide more strength
for combat, or greater speed in getting away from danger,
d. and adrenalin, the
hormone which affects our heart-rate and a host of other body functions flows
through our system wiring us for action.
5. But since none of those physical needs are
really necessary to deal with modern stress, the result is that
our bodies get primed for action, but then don’t have the release they need.
a. and we end up with a
host of medical problems;
b. hypertension, strokes,
heart-attacks, diabetes, ulcers, neck & low back pain.
6. Anyone here wake up in
the morning after 7 or 8 hours of sleep, still tired? That’s often a sign of over-bearing stress.
7. Jesus issued an invitation to the people of
His day which is even more appealing today. It’s an offer of rest.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
1. The first year of Jesus’ ministry is
drawing to a close and people are beginning to be forced into taking a stand
about Jesus.
2. Up to this point, He’s been a curiosity because of the fresh message
He proclaimed and the wonderful miracles He performed.
3. And up till now everyone has been
interested in Him.
4. The common folk hoped Jesus would turn out
to be the long hoped for Messiah, and the more miracles He did raise the sense
of expectation and talk among them.
5. At this point, many have gone from
wondering if He might be the Messiah, to openly saying He was.
6. At the same time, there were others moving
in the opposite direction in their opinion of Jesus; they were moving toward
opposition.
7. They came mostly from the ranks of the
political & religious leaders of the day.
8. To them, Jesus posed a threat because He
didn’t fit in to their plans.
9. He overturned their comfortable little
religious wagon, just as He’d overturned the money changers tables and animal
pens in the temple.
10. At this point in Matthew’s gospel, people are
being brought to the place where they have to make a choice, a decision about
Jesus, either for Him, or against Him.
11. So Jesus issues an invitation, one that will
appeal only to those who sense a particular need – the need for rest, for
peace, and an inner sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
12. And notice what He invites them to – Himself!
a. He doesn’t invite them
to a political party or agenda.
b. it isn’t an invitation
to a moral program.
c. nor is it to a
religious group, a church, denomination, or sect.
d. He doesn’t invite them
to a philosophy
13. The invitation is “Come to ME!”. He invites them to Himself, to a relationship.
14. It is He who will give them the rest they
need.
a. He is the answer to
all their questions,
b. the solution to every
need.
15. Once again there’s something lost in the
translation from Greek to English.
a. what we don’t find
here is the sense of urgency & tenderness with which
Jesus issued this invitation.
b. “Come” is a command,
but it’s given with a sense of tender urgency.
c. this is not the stern
order of the owner of a pet who is calling it to him with the voice of authoritarian
command – “Come here this instant!”
d. this is the tender
call of a careful and concerned friend who can & wants to help.
e. this is the
encouraging voice of a compassionate father who beckons the timid child who’s
fearful and hiding.
16. The invitation is directed to those who are
hard at work, striving away under a great burden & the offer is rest.
17. Really, the invitation Jesus issues here is
for all
people, but the only one’s to whom it will appeal are those who realize
their need; to those who feel weighed down and tired.
a. these are those who’ve
faced that inner voice which says there must be some meaning, some larger
purpose to life –
b. and they’ve sought for
the answer in many places but not found it.
c. their quest for rest,
for peace, for satisfaction has resulted in a life piled high with
disappointments, obligations, and burdens.
18. You see, God made us for Himself, and as
Augustine said, our souls are restless until they find their rest in Him.
a. every man, woman and
child who has ever lived was created by God and for God; He is the purpose and
center of their being.
b. but the rebellion of
the Fall has blinded us to this truth, and history is the sad story of man’s
attempt to reclaim his center, his purpose and lend something real to the
meaning of his existence.
c. every one of us have
an internal sense of our call to greatness, to some purpose larger than
ourselves.
d. it’s like a hunger
of the soul we try to satisfy with all kinds of vain pursuits like
materialism, romance, or the gaining of significance through the accumulation
of earthly power and position.
e. it’s like a spiritual
itch we try to scratch with the counterfeits of religion & spiritual
enlightenment.
19. But none of these are the answer. The answer is Jesus. He’s the bread of life
that satisfies the hunger of our soul.
a. He’s the fountain of
living water who alone can slake our thirst for meaning.
b. only His hand can
touch that place in us that yields peace, and brings rest.
c. He and He alone is our
“Enough!”
20. Look at what He promised -
Come to Me, all you
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
a. if we come – He WILL give us rest!
b. HE will give it;
religion will not give it, things, possessions will not give it,
c. philosophical enlightenment
will not give rest.
d. No – what we need –
only Jesus can give, and if we come
to Him, He WILL give it!
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My
yoke is easy and My burden is light.
1. This may seem like a strange illustration
for Jesus to use after just saying that rest was to be found in coming to Him.
2. A yoke speaks of work and sounds like a
not-light burden.
3. If Jesus invites us to rest in Him, then
why call us into a yoke?
4. A yoke was a piece of wood specially fitted
to an ox’s neck that would permit it to pull a burden, like a plow or wagon.
a. the production of
yokes called for a skilled carpenter.
b. the wood had to be
smooth lest it irritate the skin of the ox and create a sore.
c. it had to be exactly
the right size and shape or it would press into the ox’s bones and muscles and
wound the animal.
d. then, since two oxen
were used side by side, the distance between the neck holes had to be exactly
the right space or the oxen would run into each other or be so far apart they
would not keep pace with each other.
e. then the yoke would
become misaligned on both their necks and create a terrible burden and pain for
both.
5. When it was time to train a new ox in
pulling the plow, the novice would always be teamed with a older, experienced
and strong veteran.
a. for the new ox, the
one thing it needed to learn was to simply stay in step with the elder,
stronger ox.
b. the elder ox did all
the work, pulling on the yoke. The other ox was simply there to keep pace and
make sure the yoke did not misalign.
c. once the novice ox had
learned to adapt its pace to the gait of the elder ox, then it could naturally
lend it’s own strength to the yoke and the burden would be shared; but the burden
would seem light to each because of their combined strength and united purpose
in sharing the yoke.
6. Those who’ve been going it alone in life,
seeking to carry their own weight & the burden of living all on their own, Jesus
invites to join Him in His yoke.
a. He is the elder, the
strong one.
b. all we need do is
learn to stay in step with Him.
c. it is His strength that
will pull the burden of life.
d. our one goal, our
single preoccupation is to go along at His side, following right with Him, not
falling back or getting ahead, but learning by the sheer passage of time and
life to live naturally in step with Him.
7. In that place, at Jesus’ side, is rest and
peace; that is what we are created for.
8. Jesus said,
Take My yoke upon you and learn
from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart
a. Jesus is not a tough
teacher and instructor as we enter His yoke.
b. He’s not a Marine
drill sergeant barking out orders.
c. He’s not a
power-hungry boss who pushes his way around, intimidating everyone.
d. as we enter His yoke
and take our place at His side, He doesn’t berate us for showing up late, and
then hurl His contempt at us every time we get out of step with Him.
9. His is a lowly and humble heart, meaning,
when we come to Jesus, He does not stand above us on some lofty spiritual
plateau, calling down to us to hurry up and scale the cliffs to where He is.
a. He’s not haughty and
arrogant – with arms crossed in impatience while we struggle to ascend to Him.
b. His heart is filled
with compassion with our brokenness and need.
c. He knows we could
never rise to him, so He came down to us;
d. all the way down to
our lowliness and then alongside us.
10. When Jesus says, “Come to Me,” He does not
mean “Come UP to where I am.”
11. No – the invitation is
from the One Who came down, Who made Himself of no reputation, and took the form
of a servant, so that he could reach out, not down,
to lift us up and restore us to the glory and purpose that was our original
destiny.
12. Jesus said,
My yoke is
easy and My burden is light.
13. I am so thankful He said this because it
reminds me that if I’m in step with Jesus, then life is as it’s supposed to be.
a. I’ll be at rest, peace
will govern my heart.
b. I’ll be satisfied and
fulfilled.
14. But, if I’m weary, frantic, filled with fear
and anxiety – when the pressure’s overwhelming and I’m feeling weighed down –
guess what!
a. I’ve slipped from His
yoke into my own,
b. one I’ve mislabeled as
His but is in fact one of my own devising!
15. Some years ago, when I was new to being a
pastor, I unwisely allowed myself to take on far too many responsibilities,
tasks, projects, counseling, studies, and stuff! Other’s expectations & my own
a. though I didn’t know
it at the time, I was quickly burning out.
b. but I thought I was
just doing what a pastor was supposed to do, and that really, feeling
overwhelmed was good!
c. isn’t the pastor
supposed to walk around with the weight of the world on his shoulders?
d. but the stress was
starting to get to me and I knew I needed to seek out the help of an elder
brother who could relate to what I was going through and called an older and
more experienced pastor I respected.
e. we met for lunch and
as I approached the table where he was already seated, he looked at me and
smiled as I sat down, and then said, “Lance, you are about to burn out!”
f. now – I had not told
him why I wanted to talk to him, I’d simply called and invited him to lunch.
g. but he could see it on
my face – the weight, the load I was bearing.
h. he exhorted me to
rethink my ministry and set aside anything I did not have absolute confidence
was the Lord’s mandate.
i. I was stunned he so
quickly diagnosed my condition and knew he was probably giving good advice,
j. but inwardly I
protested what he was saying – thinking that being overwhelmed was godly!
k. that’s when the Spirit
spoke to my heart – “My yoke is easy, My
burden light. Lance, what you’re
carrying, I did not put on you! You
put it on you! It’s your yoke, not
mine!”
16. Friend – Listen to it again – Jesus said –
My yoke is
easy and My burden is light.
a. His yoke, His way, His
life, is easy.
b. His burden, His load,
the work He calls us to is light.
c. “His yoke is easy, His
burden is light.”
d. say that with me.
17. One of the things that frustrates me so is
when giving Biblical counsel to people, and showing them the way the Lord has said
they ought to go and the way they ought to live – they will often say, “But
it’s so hard!”
18. Okay then – don’t do it. Keep living the way you’ve been living and
that’s resulted in the distress you’re currently feeling and moved you to seek
counsel.
19. Listen – doing things the Lord’s way, sharing
His yoke is NOT HARD!
a. Jesus said His yoke
was EASY - it’s all the other ways that are hard!
b. it’s just that they look
easy in the beginning – but they always end up being hard, bitter, and
heavy.
c. God’s way seems
hard at first, but ends up being the right & easy way in the end.
d. some time ago, we
needed to replace our kitchen faucet, so I went to the store and got a new one
and prepared to install it.
1) when I opened the box, I found a thick instruction booklet,
2) but why bother reading that when I can spend the time
installing the faucet?
3) so I went to work, turning off the water under the sink, and
then tearing out the old faucet and putting the new one in.
4) but it seems for everything I did, it didn’t work as I’d hoped
and I ended up having to refer to the instructions.
5) I ended up reading every
word of that instruction booklet by the time it was all over, and had to undo
virtually every step of my own “easy” installation.
6) besides that, if I’d turned off the main water valve, as the
instructions said, I would have not had to scrape down the cabinet under the
sink of water damaged wood and replace the shelf paper, and the musty smell
that remains under there wouldn’t be there!
e. by going the “easy”
way at first, it turned in to the hard way.
f. if I had gone the right
way at the first and read the instructions, it would have turned out to be the truly
easy way to go.
20. This is the way most people go about life – they
skip the instructions and the Instructor, and just go at it as seems easy – the
way every else seems to be going – after all, how can so many be wrong?
a. wide is the way, and
broad is the gate that leads to destruction.
b. narrow is the gate and
way that leads to life.
1. What Jesus said then, He says today – “Come
to Me.”
2. What you are looking for is found in only
one place – Jesus.
3. Him! Not a religion, a church, or a lifestyle.
4. It’s about a relationship.
5. That relationship is what you were created
for, and you will know nothing by endless hunger, thirst, and dissatisfaction
until you come to Him.
1. Christian – does living the Christian life seem
hard to you?
2. If it is, then may I suggest, what you’ve
thought the Christian life is, isn’t! Listen to Him again – “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
4. I don’t know what you may have thought
being a Christian meant, but what He means by it is nothing more nor less than
you and He, loving & enjoying one another.