The Balancing Act (of the Mind), Matthew 11.28-30
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“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Intro:
Freedom....
I wonder sometimes if we truly understand the Value of Jesus Christ......
Barrel:
Theres a story of a woman who went to have a piece of jewelry appraised.....
....that her husband had purchased for her from Tiffany's. (Add narrative optional)
The lady who was appraising the jewelry shared that it was worth $50,000 dollars
......to which the woman who brought the jewelry in almost fainted!
(Slightly pause)
She had worn this bracelet several times......
She had received several compliments of its beauty....
.......but she never really knew it's true and complete value!
(pause)
Freedom......
I wonder if sometimes we are in the same shoes as this woman with her jewelry.....
(pause)
We have been around Jesus.......
.......we have had some experiences with Him even.
But......
......we have yet to discover His true and complete Value!
(pause)
Matthews Gospel has an eye or focus on the value of Jesus teaching more than any of the other Gospels!
It is the Gospel where we find the famous.......
Sermon on the Mount
The demands of discipleship
The parables of the kingdom of heaven
and.....
His teachings on eschatology or the end times
(pause)
As the Son of God.....
......Jesus in every respect entirely grasps the will of God the father and is able to reveal it to others.
(pause)
And we reside........
.......in a world where even what we call “Good” is in all actuality Fractured in some shape or form even on its best day.
Barrel:
When a woman gives birth to a child it is considered to be one of the greatest outcomes of “good” that happens in our lives.......
........but this “good” is fractured due to the fact that it cannot be experienced without the mother having to go through unbelievable process of pain!
(slight pause)
.......we are constantly struggling to find balance mentally (in our minds) as we experience the pendulum that swings back and forth from times of a fractured good experience.....
..........and crashes into the traumas of our bad scenarios of experiences in our lives.
(slight pause)
and if we are ever going to establish balance in a world that is so unbalanced due ultimately…to sin
.......it has to be accomplished through Christ
.......and what Christ reveals to us.
(pause)
Our only problem is that we assume we control how Christ will establish balance!
.......and our reasoning is based on the fact that we judge solution and outcome primarily from where we are standing instead of where we are going!
We never seem to set priorities that offer balance in our journeys.
..........and then we wonder why we are so unbalanced when we reach our intended destinations.
(pause)
Biblical barrel:
In the story of Lazarus being raised from the grave......
Mary and Martha are recorded speaking to Jesus from where they were standing.....
“Lord if only you would have been here.......
......our brother would not have died!”
(pause)
And many times in our lives......
........we are found guilty of trying to convince Jesus to stand in our realities instead of standing in His revelation!
(pause)
Can I go deeper?
(pause)
Because.......
........not only do we ask Jesus to stand in our reality
....but we also require Him to stand there as if he has never been there!
(pause)
In other words......
If our reality........
......Is pain in a particular area of our life
We invite His presence as if He is clueless to our realities related to the pain.
(slight pause)
However.........
.......there is no human experience that we could ever imagine that Christ has not gone through in his own humanity when he came down to earth as the Word made flesh.
(pause)
And......
........that's why Jesus says to the disciples regarding going to Lazarus two days later,
“for your sake......
.....I am glad I was not there so that you may believe!”
Because......
.....you still think balance comes out of reality.
.......but in order for your life to become level again
.......you need my Revelation!
(pause)
Barrel:
When I was in the 10th or 11th grade we were at a church convention in South Carolina......
.......and in one of the worship sessions my Grandfather collapsed in the pulpit after making comments to the congregation.
And as I watched the pendulum swing my mind into an unbalanced position.
...........the Bishops and other believers begin praying for Christ to introduce healing into this broken reality.
(pause)
After a while........
......my grandfather regained conciousness and was able to walk out with assistance.
Freedom.....
.....this was an experience where the revelation of Jesus Christ stepped into the reality of our framed consciousness in an effort to build our faith!
(pause)
So when I......
.....when I lay my hands on you to pray for you
I am standing behind this experience where my faith has digested the revelation of Christ revealed as a healer!
(pause)
Freedom......
......it is the revelation stepping into reality that returns to us our Balance!
Look at the text now.....
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
The Gospel writer opens with the hospitality of God..........
......because it is in this invitation that we hear Matthew’s 1st recorded time where Christ is requesting humanity to approach him in this way.
(pause)
And the profundity in this announcement.....
.......is that what Christ is really saying
(Slight pause)
.....is to Trust me!
(pause)
Freedom......
Christ would never call.........
........if Christ could never answer
(pause)
He says.........
You can trust me to be.....
Bread for the hungry
Living Water for the thirsty
Physician for the sick
and......
not only these areas, but Christ says,
......we can trust him for so much more!
(pause)
As a matter of fact the text says.....
“Come to me......
All that Labour......(NKJV)
Means to feel fatigued
Means to work hard with little or nothing in return
Refers to anybody weary
(pause)
So that means.......
.......be sure not to forget to include ourselves in this All number
(Slight pause)
In other words.......
Christ is BIG enough to invite every problem that unbalances our mind
...........into who he is!
(pause)
As a matter of fact.....
.........if that wasn't enough he goes on to say,
I want to invite somebody else.......
(pause)
and so he says,
AND.......
........All of you who are heavy burdened
meaning in the Gk......
......those of you who are Over-burdened with a load you are trying to carry.
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination Jesus says......
When you lose your balance..........
.......I need you to trust me when I call you to me!
Now......
......trusting God means moving with imediacy
imediacy - the quality of bringing one into direct and instant involvement with something, giving rise to a sense of urgency, or excitement.
In his book “The Cost of Discipleship “ Bonhoeffer writes,
“Christ has delivered us from imediacy with the world, and brought us into imediacy with himself!”
and so........
.......instead of waiting for a better call
........this invitation that we receive from Christ should stimulate something in our hearts that nothing else has been able to reach!
(pause and expound)
Now watch this back half of the verse....
Because.......
.......the Benefit of answering this Call from Christ is that Jesus says,
“I will [Give] you rest!”
meaning......
God will furnish or present into our lives “rest” as a result of our response to receive him.
and the significance here is that we now have......
Peace with God
And Freedom.......
This is the first Phase or Side of...........Balancing our Minds!
Because........
.....the ignition or starting place of Balance begins with God pouring rest into our lives.
(pause)
and......
......the phenomenal thing about this is that no matter how Unbalanced our minds are
......When God pours rest into our lives
we can come in barely staggering or able to keep our footing
.......but the Call is giving us Balance!
Biblical Barrel;
David says it best in Psalms 42.7-8...
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts.......
.....Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime
......and in the night his song shall be with me.
(pause)
Freedom,
..........it doesn't matter how upside down we may feel in our realities
(slight pause)
All it takes is..........
........One Call!!
(long pause and expound)
And not only that but the Invitation......or the Call
.........is a GIFT!
We were not the ones who..........
Initiated it
Inspired this
Organized any details
As a matter of fact.........
We were weary..........
We were fatigued.........
We were overwhelmed........
and God was the one that said........
“I think I better make a Call!”
(pause)
I think I ought to.........
........Invite their minds out of this chaos
......and bring back some balance
i might better.........
........do something for them
.......that they can't even do for themselves
(pause)
See........
........I'm trying to get you to see how we ain't got no reason but to trust in Him!
After all..........
.......He called us
(slight pause)
....we didn't call Him!
(pause)
expound -
Sometimes this Call ain't even loud......
.......... but it's so filled with Love and concern that even as a whisper
............we can still figure out that,
............somebody's calling me!
(pause and expound)
Now stay with me......
.......because the conversation is maturing
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Freedom......
......this word “Yoke” in verse 29 translates to mean,
......A Balance Scale
......or the beam of the balance that connects the scales.
(pause)
Jesus says........
“Take my Yoke”
When people who carried Yokes........pulled other loads.
.....they would lay them on their necks and shoulders
......with their hands tightly gripping at the chains or ropes attached to each end of the yoke.
a yoke signifies submission to another's rule or authority.
(Pause)
Jesus differentiates between his yoke.....
.....and the laborious yoke of,
unprofitable labor couched under inadequate understanding
(Pause)
and in my spiritual imagination.....
I hear Jesus saying.......
You will never experience a balanced mind without learning from me!
(slight pause)
because.......
“Learning” from me, moves your mind into a process of instruction.
(pause)
and this is where......
........the more you learn from me, you gain understanding of who I am.
I am Meek
I am lowly in heart.
(pause)
Now Freedom this is going to blow your mind.....
(pause)
because........whenever you want to increase balance
.......you don't start by going higher
(pause)
but......
.......you begin by going lower!
(pause)
Barrel:
Whenever an engineer or a architect is designing a really tall building....
.........the very first thing they emphasize is how deep the foundation has to be dug!
Because.........
........in the words of Augustine,
“If you wish to reach high, you must begin at the lowest level!”
(Pause)
Now Jesus says here in my spiritual imagination .......
.........if you are going to learn from me
.......my curriculum on balance is going to start at the bottom of life.
(slight pause)
So no matter how high you go.........
.......whenever your mind starts losing balance
........your foundation is so Strong!
.....you may waver
.........but you will not fall!
(pause)
Here it is Freedom....
Jesus says.....
When we Take up his yoke......
“We shall [FIND] rest”
(pause)
Dont miss it..........
because......
......in verse 28 it says,
God will GIVE our souls rest.....
but now in verse 29 it says...
.......we shall FIND rest for our souls....
(Pause)
Watch this.......
...........the Rest in verse 28 is described as the Peace with God.
............but the Rest in verse 29 is described as the Peace of God.
(Pause)
Here it is........
because that means........
The Balance of having Peace with God can still look very different than...
.....The Balance of having the Peace of God.
(pause)
Here it is.......
when I choose to answer the Call of discipleship........
my life begins to experience the balance of having Peace with God
(slight pause)
But if I never move........
out of my verse 28 experience......
......and into my verse 29 experience.
(slight pause)
I answered the call......
.......but I never moved after that.
(pause)
and so now......
I am with God.....
........but I'm never discovering more about the God I am with!
(pause)
And according to Matthew's Gospel........
..........there is a part of Rest that is not given to us.
( pause)
But if we are ever going to experience balance at this level of rest.........
.........something has to be snatched up and taken to be put on!
(slight pause)
In other words........
An intentional decision has to be made that our next decision is.....
......To follow the God that invited us in a way that causes us to learn more about who God is.
(Pause)
and this is how we move as Romans 1.17 suggests.....
.......from faith to faith!
(pause)
Because.........
the more I follow Christ.......
......the more Christ instructs me.
(slight pause)
.....and the more He instructs me the more I know of Him.
......and the more I know of Him
.......the more I trust Him
(pause)
And the more I trust Him........
.....the more Balance I have in my mind!
(pause)
Freedom did you notice this progression.....
First we are Following Christ
Next we are receiving Instructions
Then we are Learning more of Him
which causes our Trusting Him to increase
which Finally Improves our Balance
(pause)
But we will never reach this level of rest........
.......until we follow after Christ in order to Find it!
And when........
........we can't touch God
.......we can't see God
.......we can't smell God
.....we can't hear God
Pastor.......
........how do we Find God?
(pause)
Here's how you Find God......
Keys to “Finding Rest/Balance!”
Take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn more about Christ
Finding Rest requires us to make the decision to become Disciples of Christ
Moving into the process of discipleship based on a teachable mindset
and....
.....the reason this is how we Find God.
....is because when God notices that we are searching for more of who He is
......God reveals more of who He is to us
Conclusion:
And Matthew says in verse 30.......
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In other words.......
The Balancing scale that you're stepping into is Reputable...
and.......
The load that you have to carry is Insignificant.......
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination I hear God saying......
I'm going to show you how easy it is to Keep your Balance.........
(pause)
If I can walk on water...........
........what makes you think I can't get you through this!
(pause)
All you got to do is.....
........start trying to Find me!
(pause)
and.........
.......I ain't hard to Find!
(pause)
And......
When I call you.....
.......Trust me!
(Pause)
I'm trying to Give you something.......
......that helps you in
“THE BALANCING ACT!” (Of your mind.....)
Freedom.....
One Word........
.........from God can Balance your entire life!
One Word........
........from God and you can see an entire new side of God that you never knew was there!
(Note -
..look at somebody and holla,.........
“Find It!”
Biblical Barrell:
When Abrahams Faith was being tested in the sacrifice of Isaac......
He had to Find balance.........
.......in a unbalanced arena of life
......and the Bible records Abraham telling Isaac,
son I know what it looks like......
But.....
“God will provide!”
(pause)
Biblical Barrel:
When the Woman with the issue of blood......
......was crawling across the grass to get to Jesus
(slight pause)
........Her ISSUE had her on her knees
......and her FAITH said,
Im not stopping until I Find Him!
(pause)
And.........
.......somebody in here needs to do a,
Word Study...........
.......so you can get your Balance back!
Look @ somebody and shout.......
“FIND IT!”