Come Unto Me - Window

Come Unto Me

Jesus Window

Mathew 11:28-30

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship today on this amazing day the Lord has made!  I hope you have taken the opportunity to give life today or will share your life blood after this service.  Carter Blood Center is one of the leading providers of blood to those in need and during the summer is one of the critical times for blood as more people are traveling. 

Giving blood is a simple way to make a difference!  Who knows, you may be the next one who needs blood!

And, just a quick PSA – next Sunday is Father’s Day!  So, don’t forget Dad!  “And that’s all I have to say about that…”

We have been taking the opportunity to consider this great structure that has been passed down to us. This beautiful building.  Last week we looked at the structure itself.  There is so much more to the symbolism of this Building that was constructed in 1896, like the lights that hang in this space… 6 smaller lights, symbolizing the days of the week - Monday through Saturday, then the larger chandelier hanging in the center representing the day that Light returned to the earth in the Resurrection of our Savior… 

I could go on and on…

But enough on this 130 year old structure… our real focus is on the windows that adorn this beautiful Gothic Revival structure.

Sermon Slide

Today, we are talking about the “Come Unto Me” Window to my right.  It is based on the passage that we just read, and this window isn’t the only image of this portrayal of Jesus in this building.  I have a picture hanging in my office of this depiction that was given to me by my Aunt in 1984… that’s right 1984, with the words written on the back, “Remember Me” Aunt Dot.

Well I have not forgotten my wonderful aunt.  But I do have to admit, when I look at the reprint of the painting and as I look at this window, what I see is “Surfer Jesus.”  I’m not trying to be sacrilegious, but it’s just the light brown hair, parted in the center… like a 1970’s surfer dude…

I know, once I’ve said it, you can’t unsee it.  But… maybe as we talk about the window and the meaning behind it, you will be able to overcome the Eurocentric depiction of Jesus and see the meaning behind the window we love so much.

First of all, the dedication.  When this window was installed, it was dedicated to J.L. Halbert, the Civil War Captain that settled here and was such a part of the beginning of Navarro County and this church.  I understand that we still have descendants of the Halbert’s who worship here today… as well as the Jester’s and McKinney’s… but that is for another day.

I also want to note that it was beautifully restored by Stanton Glass in memory of Zane Stites by his family.  I remember Zane and I am proud to talk about this beautiful window dedicated to his memory.

The window depicts Jesus standing in Galilee, with caring eyes and open hands welcoming all who would come to him.   Jesus is wearing a white robe, symbolizing his purity, and a red cloak.  Throughout time red has symbolized such things as love, martyrdom, and the blood of our Savior.

And so, with the background of the window in our minds, let us pause and pray before we get into the meaning of the passage.

<Prayer>

We are in a season of tiredness.  Rest seems to be elusive for most of us.  I think the first time we thought about being tired was likely when we were in High School… at least it was for me.  I never seemed to get tired when I was in elementary or Junior High School.  But then I got to High School… extra curricular activities like band and sports… dates with girls… handing out with friends… jobs… so I could afford the gas at .98 cents a gallon… wow! Remember those days!

I was always tired it seemed… and I couldn’t wait to get to college so I could be in charge of my schedule and get up late if I wanted to… and take naps again… as a little kid I hated naps… then when I got older I loved naps… and I still do. I’ll probably take one this afternoon… but I digress.

I couldn’t wait for college… until I got there.  And “tired” took on a whole new meaning.  Late night study sessions… more extracurricular activities.  Yes, I could be in charge of my schedule, but only to a certain degree.  Then there was my time in Basic and Advanced Training with the Army… and that’s a completely different kind of tired… How did I manage on such little sleep?

I couldn’t wait to get out of Basic and AIT… and then out of college so I could get a real job and not have all these tests to study for, and drills to attend… and missions to accomplish…  Only to find out that real jobs have all that same stuff… and you have to do it on your bosses time table.

Then marriage… and kids… and suddenly I’m tired on top of tired… and we had a little kid… then another… then another to take care of…  Now I know why young people have babies, I don’t think I could do it today.

Then, I couldn’t wait for the kids to grow up and get a little independence, until they need you to drive them everywhere… all the time… and pay for stuff… but hey, hope is coming, they turn 16 and then they can drive… oh, but that doesn’t help, that just creates a different kind of tired a new reason not to rest.

I’m at the stage now where I am looking toward retirement for rest, until I talk to some of you and you tell me you are busier now than you ever were during the working years. Amen.

Where am I going with this?

Rest is elusive!

Maybe because, as the old country song goes, we are looking for it in all the wrong places.

Let’s flip back to our passage, and I am actually going to go a little farther back than where we started.  If you have your Bibles, open them to Matthew 11, but we are going to start at verse 25.

Jesus has been talking about the towns where they have ministered that have failed to follow his teaching, then he begins praying, and the disciples are overhearing the prayer.

Matthew 11:25-26

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Let’s hold up there; we’ll come back to the rest of the passage in a moment.

But Jesus is telling us that the understanding of God that we seek… that knowing who God is and how we are to follow God is available to all… the problem is we try to overanalyze and mythologize and theologize with all our learning and worldly wisdom…. Because of all the work we do… all the autonomous analysis… we don’t get it.  Then, when we come to that passage… when we come to the Word… when we come to Jesus as little children, not relying solely on our intellect, but instead on the revelation of Jesus Himself… then we begin to get it.  As the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible puts it, “The latter will gain the true wisdom – the knowledge of God – only by ceasing to rely on their unaided reason and by humbly opening their minds and hearts to God’s revelation.”

Or, as Tony Evan’s puts it,

Tony Evan’s Quote

“The answers to life’s questions aren’t discovered in graduate school, where you can obtain information without spiritual illumination. That’s why Jesus said, in effect, “Thank you, Father, that you keep secrets from people who think they’re smart enough to figure out life independent of you.” God is happy to hide answers from those who don’t think they need him (11:25–26).

The answer to life’s burdens isn’t found via human wisdom but through accepting the divine viewpoint. We must become like infants that trust their daddy (11:25). And the only way to know and have access to our Father who hides things from self-sufficient people is through knowing and trusting his Son Jesus Christ.”

We’ve got to stop trying to be smarter than God… and trust the one who created us!  He’s given us all we need between Contents and Maps in this book we call The Bible!

And now, we get into the meat of the message.  Jesus’ audacious words… words that made no sense to the hearers then and little sense to the hearers today!  How can one human say to another human, Come to me.

Sermon Slide

Come to me, everyone everywhere and for all times… and I will give you rest, Jesus says.  How can one person say something as bold as that?

But we hear it today.  There was a season over the past year or so that my news feed on my social media was filled up with this muscled-up 28-year-old man who would hold up this yellow-orange blob and say this is what 10 pounds of fat looks like. If you are more than 10 pounds overweight, this is what you are carrying in your gut!”  Then proceed to tell my why I need to come to him and buy his program to lose weight.  Today, it isn’t that guy, but 55-year-old men doing the Military Calisthenics workout program.  Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been through the Military Calisthenics workout, and I know it works, but unless I have a mean man in a round brown yelling at me, I’m probably not going to do it again.  True life transformation doesn’t happen with a program.

Or, as we are talking about from this passage, rest isn’t found in a program.

It isn’t found in a bottle of bourbon, a glass of wine, or a mug of beer.

It’s also not found in a pill or hypodermic needle.

Here is the bizarre truth….

Rest is found in a person.

You do realize that we have the capacity to offer rest to the weary… not to everyone, but to some.

If Renee has had a particularly hard day, she can come to me and share her burden with me, I will yoke up with her and share that weight. I will take her into my arms and give her rest.

I can do that with my kids too… As parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, we know the times when, in the middle of the night, a kid has a bad dream… they will come to your bedside and find rest in your arms.

I can do that with a close friend.  Sometimes a phone call, other times a visit… I can share the burden of a friend and carry their load so they can rest.

You could never do that for a stranger though… In order to carry that load for one another… in order to give rest to the weary, we need to have a level of relational intimacy.

But what does Jesus say… Flip back over in your Bibles. 

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”

Jesus’ invitation is simple.  It is easy.  And what makes it so ridiculous is the fact that he says, “Come unto me, ALL you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Only the creator can have the relational intimacy to say such a thing.  Jesus is the only one who can say to any and all… anywhere and at any time… “Come unto me!”

Sermon Slide

We can find temporary rest in one another, but it is only in the Savior that we can find true, lasting, rest. 

He explains this beautifully with the imagery of a yoke of oxen.  Jesus says, Take my yoke upon you…

A yoke is not just a device of submission; it is a device of discipleship.  What does that mean?

Well, yes, a yoke is designed to spread the weight across the shoulders of the animal, or human, to distribute the weight.  Like the images we might see of a lady in Belize or Kenya carrying large jars of water from a well back to her home.  They would be balanced across a yoke that she carries across her shoulders.

Or what you might see on a team of oxen plowing a field.  The weight and the load are distributed for the team.

But here is the interesting thing.  Those who have plowed with an ox for generations know (I don’t because I’ve never plowed with an ox… but I read about it…)

Those who do this know that a young ox will not know what to do.  They don’t know how to push against the yoke effectively, so they will yoke a young ox with an older ox, one that knows how to use their weight and strength effectively.  Then the older ox teaches, it disciples, the younger one how to pull.

You see, once you come to Jesus, he doesn’t let you carry the load, he invites you to hook up next to him, to join his yoke as a disciple, as a follower… to learn how to live this life from the one who created it.

One more quote from Tony Evans

TE Quote 2

My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Following Jesus won’t make every problem in your life disappear. Jesus didn’t say you would no longer have burdens if you hitched to him. He said their weight would decrease. A suitcase packed full may be too heavy to carry. But, if the case has wheels, your burden will become lighter though your circumstances haven’t changed. God can put wheels on your burdens so that you can deal with them more easily.

Evans, Tony. 2019. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Friends, we have been hitching up to the wrong yokes.  Knowledge doesn’t fix life’s burdens… in fact, sometimes the more you know, the more you worry about what you do and don’t know.  There’s a reason ignorance is bliss.

Sermon Slide

Programs don’t give us rest.

Medication, drugs, and alcohol can mask the symptoms, but it will never give us the rest we seek.

The only place, the only way, we find the rest we need… the only way to lighten the load of the burdens we bear, is through Jesus… It is through falling into the arms of the Savior who created us.

That is where we find rest. 

So, as we come to know of the elusive nature of rest...

As we become like children, trusting our creator…

take time to look into the caring eyes of our Lord, portrayed in this window, hear the invitation… receive the offer…

Come to Him, all who are weary and receive His rest!

Receive His life transforming rest...

Yoke up to him and learn how to live this life from the one who created it.