Sit, Learn From Jesus

We are continuing a sermon series unfamiliar words from Matthew Chapter 11 Where Jesus said to those that he was teaching? Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.

Now a few weeks ago. I read a quote from you when we began this series from CS Lewis and I want to read it again just to kind of reorient us to the overarching theme of this series, which is about trusting God and trusting Jesus and hearing these words and overcoming fear or other things that might prevent us from coming to him and we've used the analogy of a dog in a master because that's part of what CS Lewis uses in this quote. Now, there are dogs are many kinds how many dog lovers in here, you know. I tried to put up a variety so you might see your dog. I know Laura might say the far left is somewhat similar to my dog or others might say all that little one at the far right? I started to put a photo up just of my dog because my dog is the greatest dog butt in town and I didn't want me to biased but CS Lewis makes this observation about our relationship with God and he uses the illustration or the analogy of a dog's relationship with Master he says look now man humankind interferes with the dog and makes it more lovable than it was in mere nature. He washes it house Transit now to the puppy the whole proceeding would seem if the puppy were a theologian to cast grave doubts on the goodness of man, but the full grown and full train dog admitted as it were by grace to a whole world of affections and loyalties and interest and comfort entirely Beyond its animal. Destiny would have no such doubts. We may wish indeed that it were that we were of so little account to God that he left us alone to follow our natural impulses that he would give us over to he would give over trying to train us into something. So unlike our natural selves, but once again, we're asking not for more love but for Less I think he makes a great observation and part of the challenge of this passage and following this passage is trusting God In this passage. There's a pattern when you look at this passage that Jesus says come to me and then he says kind of set let me teach you when he talks about learn for me take my yoke and then he talks about staying committed to him staying with his teaching and we want to continue this morning talking about sitting or learning from Jesus and we talked a little bit about this last week and we'll start with this this morning setting with or learning from Jesus is a choice of faith. And to be honest, it was a simple observation, but at the same time I thought to myself I feel very convicted by that because too often what we at least I'll speak for myself. You tell me if you agree from what I have in my mind. That is the key element of whether or not I sit with Jesus on a daily basis whether or not I open my bible and have devotions each day and pray and learn from him. The number one factor in my mind is busyness. Can you buy relate to that in my mind? It's easy to think will the challenge of of finding time to open the Bible and just be still and quiet and read and learn and listen to the challenges how busy I am. I'm just so busy. I've got too much going on. Can I get an amen? I imagine a lot of us. That's the number one factor that comes in our mind if I just had more time. But the reality is that time is not the deciding factor about sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from him. Faith is the deciding factor. Listen to what we said last week this authors quote. She says I am saying that we can rely on God not on how fast or fishing or multitasking Lee talented. We are he can equip us to get everything done in each day that is his will for that day sitting with him is a way to demonstrate that we trust him. So it's not about busyness or time. It's about faith. Do I believe when I give time to sitting at the feet of Jesus each day and reading the Bible and learning from him that he can handle the rest of my day. Do I have faith in him? Do I trust him that starting my normal routine a half hour or more later giving up a half hour or more of my normal daily schedule. Do I trust that he can make up that half-hour and productivity or that he can he can orchestrate my day in such a way that I won't get to the end of the day and say oh, no, there's so many things that didn't get done because I got started a half hour late this morning. It's really not an issue of time. It's an issue of trust and faith like a dog to the master. If the master says come. The dog decide, you know, there's something over there interesting or or should I be worried about my water today or my food today? Should I say no, I can't come I've got stuff to do. I got to get things done. I got to do list. If I if I don't get these things dug up. If I don't hunt down that squirrel that was making fun of me know the day will not know we just trust the master. And comes to the master sets at his feet sets on our lap and receives attention and affection from the master and trust, you know, the water will be filled will be food in the ball. Something goes wrong. The master will take care of me. So it's really an issue of Faith secondly sitting and with with and learning from Jesus is a choice of humility. The same author and I love this quote says the gospel has repeatedly mentioned how Jesus would remove himself from busyness. His days were full of meeting human needs, but then he'd withdraw to a quiet place away from the crowds or even to a desolate Place were told in scripture why she asked and she continued because no one else would be there. I know this has been said before but if you are like me, we don't need new truth here. We need to attend to the great old truth. If Jesus himself needed to get away from distractions to pray how much more do we now think about the simple face value truth of that observation if the Lord Jesus found it necessary that his day was so busy and he could get distracted and then pulled away by distractions himself that he had the wisdom to say. You know what I'm just going to pull away. I'm going to go somewhere. That's what where there's no one. There is no distraction. I'm going to go to a place without internet Wi-Fi. There's no internet may be going to a place where there are no electronic devices. Could there be such a place where there's no radio or TV nothing to turn on or distract you or if your young children is there a place where there aren't children pulling at your pants leg thing. I have a dirty diaper or I need something to eat or she bit me for he hit me or this then of the other. If Jesus needed to intentionally. homicide pause his day find a desolate place to pray to God the Father. The real real himself to go to focus to be ready to go and serve and love and meet needs do any of us dare say that we don't need that.

But let's be honest. We live very arrogant lives.

When we go day after day or week after week or month after month without pausing and pulling aside we are saying well you may have needed that Jesus. But I don't somehow we're operating with the assumption that we can move to our life without that pause and that pull aside that Jesus demonstrated that he need that he needed. So. Pulling aside and and sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from him is an act of humility and act of acknowledging our great need for Christ. It's also an act of wisdom. It's a choice of wisdom on our part when we set and learn from Jesus. We learn the truth about God think about that statement. Lego how radical that is. There is the opportunity in our life because of Christ coming and living and in teaching and modeling and died and his teaching and his example being preserved in his Living spirit being with us today in the church continuing there is this opportunity on a daily basis for us to pull aside to open up the scriptures and look at the teachings of Jesus and learn the truth about God's think about how radical that is near this full of people trying to figure out what God is like an offering all kinds of false propaganda. That's about what God is life through Wars and Division in murders at all these things that occur because of false understandings about God and we have the privilege the opportunity to pull the side and when we look at scripture, what we're doing is we're learning the truth about God. And when we take that time to look at the teachings of Jesus and his example and learn from him those false ideas about God they lose their foothold in our minds and in our hearts. I mean four years we live with false idea that maybe God is this this policeman that that's his job to catch us doing something wrong give her slipping of that sort of false thinking about God that that's his identity. He's just waiting to say I did that the ticket we think in terms of these. Whatever kind of parent we had we we can't imagine that's what God is like and if our parent was Stern or stricter constantly judging us or for parent was The Other Extreme. Sometimes we project that on to God and we get this false idea of God in our heads always imagine. He's this old man with this flowing white beard way off in the distance and some cloudy foggy heaven and we make our way to the throne and maybe he's kind and generous maybe he's absentminded world did I create a world? I did not create a world where you from again, you know, we have all these false ideas about what God is like only imagine him as a perfectionist. So that he is 100% Perfect all of the time and that's exactly what he expects from us. And so there's this image where he's constantly saying Robbie again, you did not get it perfectly. Right and 5 seconds later. You did not get it perfectly. Right. I may have this false image of what God is like or maybe we imagined him as a pail of gal in You know who just kind of drifted around almost like a ghost like some of the early films about Jesus where he just got no emotion. He's making mild. He's Mister Rogers with a beard, you know, it's just kind of that's okay. You're okay and I'm okay and I'm not going to say anything that offended on the only way to get upset. That's all just hold hands and sing Kumbaya and we get kind of these false images of God that aren't scriptural images or maybe all of our images of God are simply second hand. It would just got all we know about God our stories. We've heard other people tell When we going to the scriptures on a regular basis, and we look at the model in the example in the life of Jesus, and we look at his teachings. We have this opportunity to learn the truth about God to encounter God our selves what a privilege taking the time to pause and sit at the feet of Jesus on my favorite authors. That is a substantial academic published person in the middle of a chapter. I was reading their talk at all these great theological point and they slipped this whole sentence in and I've highlighted all these deep thoughts. But when I saw this, I thought this is my favorite quote, but it said my brain must focus on scripture to get anything, right and their point was even as a scholar even if someone who follows got it for years. It's easy to drift off into these false ideas about God you may have study the passage a hundred times. You may have heard a great number of sermons or Sunday school lessons about it. But before you know, what you slipped into thinking of God as that policeman in the sky who just constantly looking for us to be caught to do something wrong. We slip into these false images and they reminded themselves in the reader. Hey, you know what, I've got to go to scripture to get anything right in my head about who God is and what he's like, It's so easy for cultural heritage or upbringing or sermons that weren't squarely biblical but still impacted us. It's so easy for us to have these off-center images of who God is in her mind and her heart and soul. The safest thing to do is to go to scripture on a regular basis to look at the example in the teachings of Jesus and let him be the one who tells us what God is like amen. Too often. We got our favorite preacher on the TV or at our church or our favorite published author or our favorite, whatever radio person and that's who gives us 99% of our teaching about God and what he's like go directly to the scriptures yourself go to the Bible go to the example in the teachings of Jesus in The Gospel everyday Shore up the truth about who God is so that false ideas lose their foothold in your life and you don't slip into Faust thinking about God. Sitting with a learning from Jesus is a choice of discipleship. Discipleship is the life we long for when we say to God. I need to have a shorter you no longer fuse Lord. I have I have too short of a fuse in my life. I get angry too easily or I constantly compare myself to others. You know, I look at that. Look at their kids R kids can do so much more than my kids. I failed. I've I'm such a why did I do more for my kids ever look at the car? They're driving. You don't I'm not driving and we constantly compared our self to others and say what how come I haven't got this right and do that. We slip into these false. I just looked the piece that we long for on a heart that are character might be different. That would not be more patient that we wouldn't be filled with anxiety of comparing yourself with others that we wouldn't constantly say. I'm coming up short on coming up shorts that that and a million other things that we long for it. That's discipleship.

Jesus is saying look come to me. Those of you who are burdened. Buy anxiety and self-doubt and fear. What if I'm not good enough or what if I haven't done enough? Come to me those of you who are burdened. Have I been good enough. Have I been to church enough have I worship sincerely enough. And what about the fact that the truth is I have a horrible relationship with my my sister, even though I've been a Christian all these years. I mean, we almost hate each other. We can't seem to get over this hardship. I've got unforgiveness in my heart of it. You know, what about all these thoughts and Jesus is come to me those of you who are burdened and way down and overwhelmed come to me and I and the original language I will cause you to rest

I will give you peace how you ask how? learn for me Seth this is how you will get the piece that you want. This is how you will get the rest that you long for. If you will learn from me. If you will learn my teachings if you will take my yoke upon you if you will learn that through my work on the cross-price S to us that your send have genuinely completely without a doubt been cleansed and forgiven. Bully if you'll learn what Paul says in Romans 8, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus if you will learn that joy that liberating Freedom. Do you think that might slip down into an influence the way we forgive others in our life mind that help us mend relationships with family members people that we sometimes lie. I hate that can't be going to push my buttons that I'm just ruin my whole day. Do you think spending time on a daily basis? Do you think going to the scriptures and beeping in our convictions about who God is and the reality of our forgiveness among a million other fantastic truth of the Gospel. Do you think pouring those troops in our hearts could change Who We Are She making that decision to sit and learn from Jesus is the discipleship and the life we long for not setting with Jesus and learning from him is equivalent to this sort of logic. Okay, you're slipping this logic all exercise after I get in shape. You're ever have that kind of thought. No, honey, you should walk. I'm tired. I got this extra stuff right here. I do not feel like walking my knees hurt when I walk I get winded when I walk I'll take walks after I get in shape all the time. I believe we do it. You know what I will get around to that later. I'll get around to discipleship later. I'll get around to spending time with Jesus later. We just kind of do the illogical it translates to this spiritually I'll spend time with Jesus after I feel like it you don't want the emotions are there and I feel like spending time with him or after I feel worthy then I'll spend some time with Jesus after I managed to make myself spiritually acceptable to him through my own strength, or I don't know my Bible, I mean Jesus and he asked me a question and I have to go I have no idea whatsoever. So after I learn the Bible then I'll start finish for when I get spiritually mature of them spending time with Jesus. That's as logical as saying after I get in shape. I'll start exercising. Because it is spending time with Jesus in which we learn the Bible. It is spending time with Jesus in which we grow spiritually it is spending time with Jesus in which we discover again and again that he attributed to us his righteousness making us Worthy. It is that action itself that will help cultivate our emotions too long for that action again. It's always wisdom. Transformation when we spend time with Jesus, I'll invite the worship team to come forward will end looking at this quote. It's a it's an old quote from future years ago. That is a little bit old, but bear with me here and think about the logic of what he's saying. He's saying to those who hear a sermon like this one and who think yeah. I don't know. I can't do that. I can't come to Jesus. I can't do that kind of thing. That's I got too much too many obstacles too much in the way and so is his look is it the sense? Is it a sense of your load your burden which makes you say you are not able. Preacher you don't know the baggage. I've got I cannot come to Jesus. OK the church walls would collapse if I stood up on a Sunday morning and try to come to Jesus. You just don't know people would stand up and point and y'all hypocrite if I tried to come to Jesus. You just don't know. Is it a sense of your load which makes you say you are not able but consider that this is not a work but a rest. So Jesus says come to me right you are burden. And receive rest that's what he's asking us to do. Are you burdened come to me and I'll give you a long list of things to do that are beyond your ability to do but that's what we feel. Like. I know Jesus is going to say his invitation is this come to me? And it is in the context of spending time with him that those other things will be dealt with and come about you. Don't fix them on your own and then come to him. Is it a sense of your load which makes you say you're not able but consider this this is not a Workman arrest. What a man plead. I am so heavy laden that I cannot consent the part with my burdens so weary that I'm not able to either to stand or do I but must force myself further. We live life like that to be honest. We live life like that we can get up every day and go through the motions and ignore the Lord's invitation to enjoy his peace and rest. It's almost as if you don't understand I don't have time to rest. I don't have time to eat. I don't have you don't my car. It's going to take so long to put gas in my car that I'm just going to walk out the driveway and walk to work. That's the way we live. Sometimes we live in such an illogical fashion and cry says I'm telling you come to me and and rest and learn from me. Show me wheel and then I cannot consent to part of my burn so worried that I'm not able to either to stand still or to lie down but must force myself further than you continues the greatness of your burden so far from being an injection is the very reason why you should instantly come to Christ for he alone is able. To rescue you able to release you. No matter how you feel this morning about what I said if you feel inadequate. Book Robbie. I don't even know where to start in reading the Bible. I don't even own a Bible or I can't even not read the King James Bible and I'm like, what century is this from 50, by the way?

I don't know. I like it there so much. I can't I can't it's too much. I'm too busy or I'm too much of a sinner. I don't have the knowledge that I need listen, all of those inadequacies all of those struggles and those burdens are exactly why you need to come to Christ. Because he's your only hope. He's your rescue. He's your release. What do you say but I've tried before I've been a Christian for decades. I've gone to Sunday school. Going to church Sunday School in my dirty little secret is I still don't read my Bible like I should. I still don't pray like I should if I teach a lesson I learned that lesson so I can teach it but if I don't teach for a few weeks, I'm just flies my and I haven't sat at Jesus feet. I'm a hypocrite.

Exactly who Jesus says come to me. Be burdened with that or you birds with that secret. Are you burdened with a sense of failure even though you say but I've had every every chance I had every opportunity my mom and dad took me to church from when I was 5 years old. I've always on the Bible. I've always had people around me to teach me and encourage me. You are still exactly the person Jesus is speaking to. All this invitation is to all everyone who is burdened and weighed down. Trade that burden the love of Christ for the gift of Christ of salvation of forgiveness and come to him come to his feet come to him in the word.

As we sing this morning if you have a decision on your heart I'll be available in the back and come to me I'd love to pray with you answer questions you have the bee folks both in the front and the back for prayer if you have prayer concerns

Come to Jesus. There's absolutely nothing that prevents him from accepting you. Not sin not struggle not apocracy. Knowledge not anything that the adversary wants to inserting your head to say well for somebody else but not for me. He provides and invites everyone. Come to him. Please stand as we sing.