Sunday Sermon: Where to Go to Find Your Rest
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Text: Matthew 11:28
Series: Certain Truths for Uncertain Times
If you’ve done any long-distance driving, then you know all too well the benefit of a “rest area.” You know what I’m talking about; don’t you? A rest area is a place where you’re able to get off the road to wash your hands or walk your pet or check your phone or just take a quick break from the grind of the road before you get back to it. Having done my share of such driving, I can speak from experience as to what a welcome sight those big blue road signs are that let drivers know that such a rest stop is just ahead.
So, wouldn’t it be great if in the course of our everyday life we had some similar sort of sign, a sign that could point us in the direction of a safe place to which we might retire, if only for a couple of moments, so that we might have a respite from the pressures and demands that at times seem so relentless?
I’m reminded of the story of the poor woman who not too long ago found herself at her wits end because of her lazy husband and her demanding children. Because her husband was between jobs, she had found herself supporting the family by cleaning other people’s homes. Meanwhile, her husband had managed to run up a number of unpaid parking tickets for which the wife was responsible as the licensed owner of the family vehicle. So, when she was confronted with the threat of jail time unless she could come up with the money, she sized up her situation this way: “I’ve had enough. I don’t mind being sent to jail. As long as I can get good and a hot shower, how bad can that be? At least I can finally get some rest and relaxation.” While most people get taken into custody hanging their heads in shame, this woman just smiled and waved goodbye to her family as she was driven off to jail.
There has to be a better way to find rest than that; wouldn’t you think? Well, according to Jesus, there most certainly is. For those who are in need of a respite from the burdens and demands of life, there is no better place to go than to seek our rest in him.
That’s the invitation Jesus extends in this passage that’s before us this morning. He calls all who find themselves harried and hopeless in the course of their everyday life to find their comfort and peace in relationship with him.
This part of Matthew’s Gospel has Jesus journeying through the region of Galilee, calling people to embrace the promises of the Kingdom of Heaven and to commit themselves to the work of bring those promises to pass here on earth. His disciples have just returned from a mission to that effect and they are in need of some rest. They have been busy driving out evil spirits and healing all manner of diseases, and they are worn out. As Jesus notices their weariness, he sees how it serves as a microcosm of the tiredness so many others in his day were feeling also – farmers worrying about droughts, merchants fretting over the impact of Roman taxes, rulers and authorities frantically debating public policy and how to protect the nation against external threats. Sounds frighteningly familiar, does it not? And into this frenetic setting Jesus delivers a word of calm assurance, one that would enable people to find purpose and peace in the midst of their otherwise anxious lives. “Come unto me,” he says, “all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus doesn’t offer helpful advice; he extends an invitation. “Come to me.” Jesus points to himself as the source of rest for which all people are so desperate to know.
The word “rest” refers to refreshment and renewal that comes to us as a gift from God. It’s not a state of being that we come to by way of hard work or diligent effort, though neither of those things is inherently wrong. It’s more a consequence of locating our labor in our desire to make much of Jesus and through our commitment to serving his cause so that our everything we are about serves a higher purpose and a holier aim.
The roots of this teaching go back of course to the Old Testament and to the faith traditions with which Jesus grew up. I’m thinking in particular of that passage in Jeremiah, where God’s prophet admonishes the people of Jerusalem to “walk where the good way is” so that they might “find rest for their souls” (Jer. 6:16). Jesus isn’t just asking his disciples to do his work for them. He’s asking them instead to join him in the work God has sent him to do. Jesus calls people to himself and only then does he call them to discipleship.
Sometimes I wonder if we’ve gotten the cart before the horse. We’ve focused our attention far too much on the load that is in the cart – the demands and the responsibilities, the burdens and the expectations – and we’ve not given enough attention to the power that enables us to deal with them, which is of course our relationship with Jesus. Little wonder, then, that so many people who profess faith in Jesus find themselves at the point of spiritual exhaustion. They have worked themselves into a frazzle because of trying to live up to expectations that have been heaped upon them by everyone but Jesus, who simply calls people to link their lives with his, knowing that when they do, they will find every resource they need to move forward in life, and to do so with purpose and significance, because what they will be giving themselves to will have Kingdom significance and it will matter.
Have you done that in your life? Have you committed your way to Jesus so that he abides in you and your soul always knows rest? Have you done so in a way that has given you a sense of meaning and purpose in all you’re about?
It’s like the story of the person who was wandering past a construction project and paused for a moment to speak with some of the workers. When he asked the workers, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I spend my days sawing and chiseling support beams?” Another worker spoke up and told him, “I spend my days mixing cement.” Still another worker who was pushing a loaded wheelbarrow answered, “I spend my days laying breaks.” All of those tasks are indeed what construction workers do, and hearing their responses, the man felt tired and exhausted just hearing them talk about their labor. But then he came to a stoop-shouldered elderly man with calloused hands and gnarled fingers, who lifted his head and answered with a contagious smile, “And I am building a cathedral.”
Was the project in fact a cathedral? Probably not. But because perception is reality, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge for you to figure out which of those workers found purpose in their labor? Not the beam chiseler, not the cement mixer, not the bricklayer; it was the worker who saw his task as building a holy place for God.
I think you see the application. While there is an enormous amount of weariness in our time, a good deal of the weariness is because of how people have given themselves to the wrong things, or because they have given themselves to good things in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. Jesus never intended for his followers to be drained by their discipleship, but to be fulfilled by it.
So, if you’re not at peace in your life, draw closer to Jesus. Spend time with him. Focus your heart on his heart. It is, after all, a heart that gave its all for the world by being nailed to a cross, which is a sign for all to see, one that promises the rest we all long for in life, a respite from life’s hustle and bustle so that when get back onto the way we will do so with meaning and with purpose and with a renewed desire to do our part to build that cathedral called nothing less than the Kingdom of God.