The Call to Rest

The Call to Rest

Matthew 11:28-30 

It’s been a very busy week, and yesterday was even busier.  Can anyone relate?

Talk about a busy BUSY SCHEDULE.  Just this week, I was reading about a woman named, Kim.

Kim Larence, age 42, is a wife and a mother of three boys. She heads the math department at the private John Cooper School in The Woodlands, Texas. Here is her typical daily schedule. I wonder if it sounds anything like yours, or someone you know.

5:00 a.m. Wake Up

5:15 - 6:50 a.m. Wakes her three boys, prepares breakfast, does housework while catching the news and weather. At 6:20, her husband Jerry leaves for work, dropping David age 12 off at Basketball practice.

6:50 a.m. Drives Jonathan, age 15 to school, then backtracks to her own work. Jackson, age 6, comes along for the ride. He then goes to school where his mother works.

7:35 a.m. Walks Jackson to his classroom.

7:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Work. --- Teaching, Tutoring, Overseeing Study Halls, grading papers and going to meetings. She grabs a quick diet drink for lunch.

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Does housework and prepares dinner. At 6:00 she sometimes stops making dinner to drive Jackson to soccer or Jonathan to his youth group at church.

7:30 p.m. Dinner

7:50 - 10:00 p.m. Helps the boys with homework. Quizzes them on vocabulary words, edits research papers, helps them do internet research.

10:00 - 11:00 p.m. Housework and grading papers.

11:00 p.m. Bed

Six short hours later... the process begins again. Sound familiar? Some of you are saying, "Hey, that sounds easy compared to my schedule!"

Is your daily schedule a little bit overwhelming... and do you find yourself at least from time to time tempted to brag about it?

Why do we live such harried, rushed, frantic lives? Why do some of us secretly fear the fact that school is out? How will we ever keep the kids occupied until August?

How did this Happen? Essayist Anna Quindlen suggests some possible reasons.

Perhaps, she suggests, it is adult distrust. After all, if the kids activities aren’t tightly scheduled, they will get into trouble.

Or maybe, it is the culture of cut-throat competition that suggests that any class or activity you did not enroll your first grader in will put her at a disadvantage later on in, say, law school.

Studies show that in the last 20 years, there has been a decline of 12 hours per week in the average child’s free time.

It seems that all of us; whether children, parents or older adults, need to put the brakes on our busy-ness and learn how to rest.

Jesus spoke to the issue of rest over 2000 years ago in Matthew 11:28-30 where we find the call,  the burden  and the promise.

Read text [ Matthew 11:28-30]

1. Body
1. The Call (v. 28)
1. To the weary  Rest for those who labor: (greek. Labor to the point of exhaustion, toil)   SELF EFFORT -  SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS
1. He is not speaking to the working class laborer, but to sincere, conscientious people who are trying to balance the scales of good deeds vs. bad deeds to be accepted by God.  You never know how you account is balanced at any time.
2. How do we get weary?  We get weary from bearing the load ourselves – of trying to hold all of the things in our lives up and make them all work together.  Before coming to Christ even the burden of "what happens after this life?" and "am I good enough to go to Heaven?" weigh us down.  After coming to Christ it’s the burden of "am I failing God?  Am I doing what He wants?"  Maybe we are just weary from life and all the attacks of the enemy.
3. Human effort falls far short of the standard God requires.  The cross is the place of exchange where what I am is placed on Him and what He is, is given to me.  My bad deeds are removed and placed on Him.  I rest on His perfect deeds credited to my account.
2. To the overburdened - Rest for those who are heavy laden:                          (gr. To load up, overburden)  BURDENED
1. These stagger under the heavy weight and burden of sin.
2. Living for yourself, for possessions, prominence and pleasure is a burden.
3. Harrison Ford: The actor whose movies have grossed over 2 billion dollars said, “you only want what you ain’t got.”   What ain’t he got?   “Peace!” was his answer!
3. Come to Christ
1. Nicolas Cage: “I wonder if there is a hole in the soul of my generation.   We’ve inherited the American dream, but where do we take it?”

1. The Burden  (v. 29)
1. Take His yoke
1. Jesus commands we take up HIS yoke to find rest
2. When your trust is in rules and religion, there is no rest, but when your trust is in in a personal relationship with God based on the finished work of Jesus; rest. 
3. Illustration:  His Yoke
4. It’s nearly time for County Fairs.  Around here you might see the advertisements for Tractor Pulls.  The big, loud tractor and the weighted sled that’s drug for distance.  That all started as an animal competition.  In Maine they still have Oxen pulls.  In some parts of the country, they still have competitions in which workhorses compete. The beautiful Clydesdales breed has always been one of the strongest horses. Long before the Budweiser wagon, Clydesdales were pulling heavy loads. In these competitions, competitors made an interesting discovery. A single horse could pull a heavy load, but when yoked with another horse, together, they could pull more than the sum of the amount that each horse could pull alone.
5. For instance, let’s say a single Clydesdale can pull a sled holding two tons of weight. And another Clydesdale can pull three tons. You would think that when yoked together, the most they could pull would be five tons. But in reality when these two horses are yoked together, they can actually pull seven tons! You may think that’s not possible, but this phenomenon has been proven many times. It’s called synergy. Two pulling together can accomplish more than the sum of the two parts.
6. Now apply that principle to the yoke of Christ. You can try bearing the heavy load yourself, but Jesus invites you to join Him inside His yoke. Think about how much strength He has! He’s the strong One and I’m the weaker partner. Remember that first song you learned as a child? "Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so; little ones to Him belong, they (we) are weak but He is strong!”
7. And so He says: "Take MY yoke." So what is the yoke of the Lord? Surely not more rules and regulations and laws.  How can that be restful?  We find the answer in John 13, Romans 13, 1 Peter 1, 1st John and 2nd John – it is the Lord’s command: "Learn to love one another.”
2. Learn from Jesus
1. gentleness
1. “I am gentle” – Not harsh or severe; mild and soft, Not steep or sudden.   Legalists and those (like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day) who look to use God as a tool to pin you down are the opposite of Christ.
2. Gentleness to those living in this time would have been a vice – faked kindness in order to gain personally.  But Jesus here raises the idea of gentleness to a virtue.  It is not the idea of weakness, but of bridled strength.   We choose to be gentle because of love.
2. humility
1. “Humble in Heart” – As Christ lived here on earth He did not grasp at being God but humbled Himself, he continues to be gentle and humble understanding us when we come to Him.  The heart is a word that defines who a person is inside.   Christ is humble and gentle.
2. Humbleness is literally "to be abased, to be of a low estate."  As we realize who we are and who God is, we should be humbled, every day.  When we start thinking we are something special in and of ourselves, it is because we have forgotten who we are compared to who God is.

1. C.The Promise  (v. 30)
1. You will find/receive rest
1. Have you ever had to make a connecting flight and had only minutes to run across the airport, check your bags and board?
2. Do you remember the feeling you had when you finally did check those bags?  When you handed them over and were freed up from their weight?
3. This is who Jesus is calling!  He is calling those that feel just like the person trying to make the gate at the airport with bags and bags of luggage.  Only you’re wrestling with more than just travel luggage.  You’re wrestling with the weight of all of your choices in life.  With the consequences of everything that you’ve done and the regrets over all that you didn’t do.
4. "O God, our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee"  St. Augustine
2. Jesus offers rest for the soul
1. the Greek word used here is anapauo -- a refreshing of  the soul - tranquility of soul
2. Look at the parallel passage in Jeremiah 6:16 -- seek the Lord's way, walk in it and find rest.
1. Jeremiah 6:16 ¶ This is what the LORD says:  "Stand at the crossroads and look;   ask for the ancient paths,  ask where the good way is, and walk in it,   and you will find rest for your souls.   But you said, `We will not walk in it.' 
2. Israel had this rest in the past but lost it
3. God was calling them to find it again
4. they would not listen
3. We are commanded to make every effort to enter into this rest in Hebrews 4:11
1. Hebrews 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 
2. Hebrews 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 
3. God lifts up the Israelites as examples of what not to do
4. He warns us that we are capable of missing this rest, as they did.
3. Jesus' yoke is easy (better)
4. His burden is light
1. To the people of His day, bound up in the Pharisaical system with over 365 prohibitions and 250 commandments, Jesus offered only two commandments:  Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
1. Conclusion

1. What do you expect God to be like?
2. Is He to you a judge?  A stern Father?  A distant ruler?  Or is He a gentle, lowly helper – willing to walk alongside you each and every day, helping to shoulder your burdens and guide you into doing fruitful things for Him?
3. Jesus says: Come. It’s in the imperative – a command, not just an invitation. He urges us who are weary and heavy laden and He promises rest.
4. Richard Foster tells a story about a friend of his named Lymon James.  Lymon's a radio disc jockey.  On the radio he's called "Rhymin' Lymon."  He has this son, Zachary, who is three years old.  One afternoon Lymon decided to take Zachary on an outing.  They went for some walks and then they went and saw some shops.  But it was one of those days, you know, when nothing goes right.  Zachary was fussing and fuming.  Lymon tried everything.  He tried to discipline him, and that didn't work.  He tried to bribe him, you know, he gave him candy, and that didn't work.  Lymon said he was just about ready to give up on the outing when, maybe under some special inspiration, he just scooped up his son Zachary and held him close to his chest, and he started to sing to him, a love song.  But he just made it up.  The words didn't rhyme and he sang off key, but he tried to share his love with his son, Zachary.  He'd sing, "I love you, Zach.  I like to play ball with you.  It's fun to see you smile."  Things like that.  And Zachary began to calm down, and put his head on his father's shoulder.  They went from place to place while Lymon kept singing with words that didn't rhyme and were sung off key, and Zachary kept listening to this strange and exotic song.  Finally, when they were done with the afternoon and went back to the car, Lymon was ready to put Zachary into the car seat.  Zachary lifted up his head and said, "Sing it to me again, Daddy.  Sing it to me again."
5. In just a moment we'll sing a song that says "He Giveth More Grace".  Before we do that, I want you to imagine God singing His love song to you.  Imagine you are the tired, fussy child whom God picks up into His arms, cradles closely to His chest and God begins singing to you.  Can you imagine that?
6. What song is He singing?
1. Perhaps it starts out "Hush little darling, don't you cry...."
2. Or maybe your song is "Grace, grace, God's grace...."
7. I don't know what the lyrics will be, but I know God longs to sing that song to you this morning.  Will you take Him at his word?  Will you come to Him?  Will you find your rest?