Come All Who Are Weary: An Invitation to Life and Rest

John 10:10 NIV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

My Story:

I grew up going to church most of my life. I went to Vacation Bible School, Youth Group, Sunday School and Sunday morning services. But it wasn’t until I turned 18 years old and started college here at Ball State until I actually would say that I started following Jesus. It was a Sunday morning where I surrendered my life to God and decided to follow Jesus for the rest of my life.

Almost immediately, I began to busy myself with all sorts of church related or Christian activity. I continued of course to go to Sunday morning services and Sunday evening services. I began to teach Sunday school. By that time I had learned to play guitar, so I was eventually leading worship every Sunday morning and evening. I began Bible school shortly after my freshman year at Bible school. Anytime the church was open or doing an outreach or anything, I was there. At home, I would read my Bible, read Christian books and watch Christian movies, I’d try to pray. I remember I even built a little prayer spot in the woods where I grew up.

I just wanted to live my life for God. I wanted to be the best Christian I could be and I really wanted to obey Jesus. That isn’t a brag, it was what I truly, genuinely wanted to do. All these things I was doing “for God”.

Now I don’t regret doing any of these things. In fact, I still am involved with many of these things. But with all these activities and busyness that I had taken up, I recognized something that was troubling. That troubling realization was that I was doing a ton “for God” but it wasn’t really corresponding to my life looking more like Jesus. Sometimes, I would have some moments that I felt closer to God and my life looking like Jesus. But most the time, I was still deeply struggling with sin. My attitudes and heart motives were bad and selfish. Pride and arrogance ruled my life. I thought that all these things would make me like Jesus, but they didn’t seem to have much impact on my long term spiritual life.

That was so frustrating because I read the Scriptures and heard stories about the life that Jesus came to bring. Full of joy, peace, and love. A life that was abundant in Jesus and was able to touch those around me. I knew that the Scriptures told of this reality, but I didn’t see that in my own life.

Us

I would imagine that a lot of us in this room could relate to that. Perhaps you have a very similar story to mine where you grew up doing a lot with churches and doing Christian like things for a long time, but you still had this level of struggle with living out faith. Or some perhaps some of you are new to faith in Jesus or just getting started.

But either way, I am sure that many of us have experienced this. Maybe you have a picture of what life in and with Jesus should look like, but your life doesn’t look like that. I’m not talking about a wrong vision or wrong idea of what a Christian life should look like. I’m talking about life that Jesus promises in the Scriptures and speaks of often. The life that the New Testament calls “full of the Spirit” and abundant.

I don’t think this is just a Christian thing, I think this is a human thing. We want the “good life”. We all want that life that is free from angst, and burden, and just full of happiness and joy and contentment. Basically, every single company knows this about you as well. Think about it, every advertisement that is trying to sell you a product is showing people who are so excited and happy to be using that product.

The first advertisement I think of is when you go to AMC theatres. You see all these people skipping into the theatre, all of the work staff smiling ear to ear and the guests are totally fine with paying $20 for M&M’s, and the whole row is full of smiling, happy people getting ready to watch their movie.

Pay attention to the next time you watch an ad and see how they are selling the product. They will be full of happy people, and probably in a relaxing location like a spa, or comfy couch, or what have you. They know we all want a life full of abundance and peace, and rest, so they make us believe they will give it to us.

Now put that over into our Spiritual lives. We do the same thing. We buy bibles, listen to certain podcasts, we go to worship services and small groups looking for the life that alludes us, but we find over time, as good as those things are, that abundant life that Jesus promises still alludes us.

Text

The reason I think this happens to us is not because the spiritual practices of the church or the Bible are wrong. I don’t think it’s because we are just not doing enough for God. I think that most of us are probably just starting from the wrong spot.

Think about a button up shirt. Have you ever buttoned up a shirt like this only to find out that you missed the first button? It’s not that you buttoned wrong, or that that the buttons didn’t go there. You just started in the wrong spot, so that shirt came out lopsided.

I think this is usually what happens in our lives. We just simply start on the wrong button hole if you will. So let’s look at what Jesus says about Himself in regards to our lives in Him:

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

“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.”

More than likely, many of us have heard that before. Listen to how pastor and author Eugene Peterson puts it in his paraphrase of the Bible:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

I find this paraphrase to be helpful because it helps get to what I believe the heart of what Jesus is saying in Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus is giving an invitation here to all of us. He uses the words, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. He is inviting us into rest. This is not a rest like a really good nap, or just lounging around your house for a while. Jesus is talking about a deep, soul level of rest. A rest that leaves you content and satisfied.

This is concept is key: Christians are to live from a place of rest in God. Not the other way around, many of us work hard so that we can rest. But according to Jesus, we live from a place of rest.

This is no secret: But we are all better when we are rested. Usually, for the most part, if we are well rested then we have a larger capacity to love, be patient, make good decisions, and resist sin.

The opposite is true when we are not rested. We get angry quicker, we make selfish choices, and we yield to sin much quicker. It is very easy to be tempted when we are living in unrest. But inversely, we are not as prone to temptation when we are rested.

A Different Yoke

Look at the second part of the passage where Jesus gives us the invitation to 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”

Let’s dissect that a little. First, taking on a yoke. So, if you are not into farming or livestock, you main not be familiar with a yoke. A yoke was basically a tool that latched two livestock together and they pulled a load. You see this if you ever watch shows or movies that oxen are pulling a wagon or a farming plow. They are yoked together to accomplish the task.

But Jesus tells us to take on “his yoke”, and that is “easy and the burden is light”. Here Jesus seems to be not speaking of a literal tool that we are using, but a way of life. Jesus was a Rabbi or Teacher, so a common phrase that was used was taking “the yoke” of your Teacher. That meant living life according to the way of your Teacher or Rabbi.

This is true of humanity ever since the fall of Adam and Eve we read about in Genesis. They were under the heavy burden of sin and turned their work into toil. The people of Israel were enslaved and forced to work nonstop in Egypt. The people of God were living with a heavy yoke of life all the way up to the life of Jesus where he invited them to take His yoke.

If we are honest, we are all under some sort of yoke whoever we are. We see this all over our world. For some of us, that yoke is our future. We live under the weight and stress of our future jobs or life plans. For some of us, that yoke may be overtaxing work situations or school situations. We feel the weight of gravity of not making enough money or getting good enough grades to be validated. Others may have a yoke that bears the weight of our social status among friends, families, or people we are trying to impress. The burden of social media and keeping up with everyone, and reminding us of the life that we don’t have.

The point is all these yokes come with demand and burden. They do not allow us to enter the rest and life that Jesus talks about.

But Jesus seems to be having another way that is light and easy on us. That yoke is the way of Jesus. Jesus’ Way (His yoke) causes us to carry life differently. Jesus is offering for us to take up his way of life, to live how He lived, to believe what He believed about the Scriptures and God, and to walk like He walked. This is what Jesus means by taking His “yoke”. It is to take up the way of Jesus.

Sabbath Rest

Most of us actually have a lot of trouble slowing down. We always are on the go. We live busy, hectic lives. Our schedule has no margin in them. We live in such a frantic pace we don’t have time for anything else, but at the same time want so much more. Sabbath is a practice that can bring life to your soul, order to a chaotic life, and a slowed pace to your frantic speed of life.

Consider what Hebrews says:

Hebrews 4:9–11 NIV

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

The writer of Hebrews seems to think that Sabbath rest is something that the people of God can live into, not just on special occasions, but continually. There is a true rest, at a soul level available to us, because of the work of Jesus. When Scripture speaks of Jesus being seated on a throne, that doesn’t mean that he is just kicking back on vacation waiting until God is ready to send Him back.

Rather, Jesus sitting on the throne is a picture of perfect rest. Rest because he has overcome the world. Rest because he is in control. Rest because He is perfect peace. The good news of the Gospel is that we are able to enter that rest with Jesus.

That rest comes from having a life that is deeply rooted with God. The state of our life usually reflects our life with God. We can’t do thing for God if we are not with God. And when we are with God, then we are able to enter true, soul rest. We live out of a place of rest with God.

So as you look at the way of Jesus, taking on His easy yoke and light burden causes us to live life differently. Jesus was a busy person, and was always about doing something. He was traveling, teaching, healing, spending time with friends. But His yoke allows us to live out of rest, not just resting to live.

So we can work and even have busyness in our life that doesn’t leave us drained or burnt out. We don’t have to live with that burnt out feeling like we can’t go another step. Taking Jesus’ way of life leads us to a life with God that roots us in rest.

I have spent the last few years seeking to live from rest with God, instead of just doing all these things for God. I haven’t been perfect at it, and sometimes I still find myself operating out of my work, instead of out of God’s rest. As Teresa of Avila says, “None of us are so advanced that we don’t go back to the basics often.”

But, honestly, after cultivating rest in my life, and looking to live out of that rest with God has resulted in some of the best years of my life not only walking with Jesus, but in every aspect of my life. When I live out of rest, I experience a constant experience of receiving from God. My friendships are enriched, and I am more present to be loving and servant hearted towards my family and friends. I’m not constantly burnt out. I get tried, like any human does, but living from a place of rest with God has resulted in some great spiritual moments with God, consistency in my character and faith, and much greater presence among my friends and family.

The Practice of Sabbath

However, rest doesn’t just happen. There, ironically, is a certain amount of work that it takes to be able to live out of rest. There are lots of ways we could experience and live out of rest, but there is a practice that myself and our staff team take very seriously, and followers of Jesus have for hundreds of years. That practice is called “Sabbath”.

Most of us when we hear that may have a few different reactions.

A. Jesus fulfilled the law! We don’t need Sabbath! Isn’t that a Jewish thing?

B. What the heck is Sabbath?

A. Sabbath was actually something that was conceived well before the Jewish people. The opening pages of Genesis tell us that God “shabat” or stopped. That is where we get the word Sabbath. God rested on the 7th day. So yes, the Jewish people practiced Sabbath, but only because they believed that God built it into the universe.

Jesus did fulfill the law. So do you have to keep the Sabbath in order to be saved? I would say no, but you may want to keep the Sabbath so you can remain sane. Jesus tells us that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Now some would say that we don’t have to keep Sabbath any longer because Jesus has fulfilled the law and we aren’t under the old covenant law. It isn’t required of us, but it seems to follow wisdom.

Example, there is no law that you can’t eat concrete. But wisdom would say that is a bad idea. Sabbath isn’t required, but wisdom would say do it.

B. Lastly, what is Sabbath? God commanded Sabbath for His people because He knew that we needed a time to rest. We needed a time where we just stopped. Sabbath was a time to cease from working and striving. A time to rest at home with family and friends. To enjoy what God has already given you. To worship God and make this a special day dedicated to God. Sabbath is an exercise of trust saying God can do more in 6 days than I can do in 7. Sabbath is an expression of worship to God that says to the world “My God is enough and He will supply what I need”.

So it would be wise for us to adopt this practice. It is for our benefit not our restriction. So how can we do this? This looks different for everyone depending on circumstances and season of life, but no matter who you are or where you are, I believe it would do you well to at least begin to develop this wise practice that God’s people have benefited from for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Here are some broad suggestions that can help you get started:

1. A Day of No Work

This is harder than it sounds. But choose a day where you don’t work. For some of us, that may be a different day each week if we work jobs where we don’t always have the same day off each week. Perhaps you need to have a day where you don’t do any housework or if you’re a student any homework. The hardest thing about this practice is that you can ALWAYS find a way to justify needing to do work. Let yourself sleep in! Slow down.

Perhaps if 24 hours is too hard at first, start with a smaller number like 3 hours or 6 hours or 12 hours. But look for a day where you stop working and rest.

For Hannah and I, we have Friday evening starting from 6pm to Saturday 6pm marked out as Sabbath. We work really hard to get our laundry, housework, and any other job related things finished before then. It takes preparation to Sabbath well, but it is well worth it. We read, watch movies, go hiking, or whatever will bring us rest that day

2. Extended Devotion Time

Sabbath isn’t just about not working, but it is also about worshipping God. Setting apart the day as holy to God and dedicating it specially for God. Sabbath allows you to spend more time talking to God, reading Scripture, and practicing some of the other Spiritual Practices we have talked about because you are ceasing from work. Take Sabbath to spend extended time that perhaps you don’t always get to during the week. Do things on your Sabbath that cause you to turn your eyes towards God and worship Him.

A personal favorite thing to do on Sabbath is spend time reading Scripture, praying, and reading a good book about God. I usually try to do that in the morning when I get up. Maybe like a hour or hour in a half of just extra time devoted to being with God.

3. Life Giving Activity

Sabbath isn’t just a spiritual way of saying “It’s my day off”. We want to do activities that are restful for you and gives you life. For someone of you that may be like reading a book in the park, or going out for coffee with your friends, or working out, or fishing, or going on a walk. Do activities and be around people who are going to make you feel alive and recharged from a long 6 day work week.

Don’t just veg out on TV and Social Media. Very seldom do you feel rested by just vegging out all day of TV, video games, or social media.

For me, nothing beats getting a good cup of coffee with one of my close friends as we talk about faith, and life. I also love to read and create things, so I’ll write music or personal writings. I try to fill my day with things that are life giving to me.

"People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently." – Walter Brueggemann

Conclusion

As I wrap up the message here, I want to stress that there is a lot of wiggle room in Sabbath.

These things I listed today are not “rules”. This is not a list that says “ you have to do things like this”. Sabbath is going to look different for everybody depending on your stage of life, your current season of life, and your personality.

You may not be able to start a full 24 hour day of no work. Maybe just start with 3-6 hours first and grow from there. You can really Sabbath any day of the week. Isn’t doesn’t have to be Saturday or Sunday.

If you are introverted, you may prefer to spend most of the day away from people. That is perfectly fine and healthy to do that. Now, be sure to come back to the community. But you have the freedom to do that. If you are extroverted, you may want to get together with some close friends and enjoy life.

Also, realize that you may get worse at this before you get better. There is a concept with disciplines called “The ‘J’ Curve”. The idea is that our disciplines are like the curve on the J. It dips down but eventually curves up. You may find that you don’t Sabbath and rest well at first, but keep at it and you will see that practice grow.

This week, why not try to establish a time of Sabbath rest. No matter whether you can take a full day or start small, look to establish a Sabbath rhythm with God to rest, worship, and experience life with God.

So let’s be a people who take on the rest that God promises so that we can experience the life that He brings.