Pentecost 21B

“Noise affects human behavior. In one experiment carried out by psychologists, a student leaving a library intentionally dropped an armload of books. In 50% of the cases, a passerby stopped to help the student pick up the books. Then the experimenters brought out a lawn mower without a muffler and started it near where a student would again intentionally drop the books. This time, only about 10% of the people who passed stopped to help. It was clear that behavior changed because of the earsplitting sound of the nearby lawn mower.

In experiments in Los Angeles, researchers found that children who lived in neighborhoods near the airport could not complete certain tasks undertaken when jets were landing and taking off as easily as children who lived in quiet neighborhoods. Some studies of prison conditions have shown that the high levels of noise causes more complaints by prisoners than the food or other prison conditions do.” [http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/rest.htm]

I found this article on noise because I find it to be really hard-hitting. Who would have thought that sound could affect behavior that much? But it’s not just *sound* that we’re talking about here. In this case, we’re talking specifically about “noise”. What is noise? One definition is “a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance.” I think the most important part of that definition here is “that causes disturbance.” It disturbs you. It stops you from doing what you would have been doing if you had not heard this noise.

By contrast, what is this “rest” that the author of Hebrews talks about? Let’s remember here who the author is speaking to: this letter is written to Jews who know the Scriptures. This reference is looking both forward and backward. In the past, the Hebrew people had not been able to enter into “God’s rest” because of their unbelief. This refers to the Israelites of the Exodus. After God had rescued them from slavery and mistreatment by their oppressors in Egypt, once they were free, the people turned to false gods. The stopped believing in the God Who had saved them. They stopped listening to Him. As a result, God did not lead them directly to the Promised Land. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for years. And it was due to their unbelief.

What did that time in the wilderness look like? Was it peaceful? Was it restful? No, it wasn’t. They had no permanent place to call “home”. They were constantly wandering. They were without a firm foundation. They did not build solid structures; they “tabernacled”…which is just an old-fashioned word for living in tents or temporary, movable structures. How would your life be different if you were living in a tent that you had to move every few days or even every couple of weeks? What is it like when your life is not stable?

But the author is not simply looking backward at what God has previously taught His people. He is also looking forward to the ultimate rest of God - “the promise of entering God’s rest in heaven.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1938), 126.] Of course this future rest will be far superior to what God had promised His people during the Exodus - that was “a land flowing with milk and honey” as it was described, where they would settle and they would have what they needed to live and thrive. *That* was to be a very good place, and it was a heart-warming promise to God’s chosen people.

And yet, the eternal rest of God in Heaven is far superior. It will be free from burden and want, free from pain and suffering, free from chaos, free from sin. We will enjoy perfect harmony with God and each with each other, nothing to get in the way of our rest. You might even say, it will be a place with “no noise”.

One of my favorite political cartoons in recent years is a picture of a modern “sheep” - the character is sitting back in a lawn chair, almost fully reclined. This sheep is reading a magazine, has a laptop computer open and playing something, wearing headphones connected to an iPod that’s playing music. There’s a radio behind the chair playing something, and at the foot of the chair there’s a TV that’s turned on and playing. On the ground next to the sheep there’s a Bible, closed, with a few items resting on top of it. The sheep looks up and says “I wonder why I don’t hear from the shepherd anymore?” Meanwhile, in the background, the shepherd is a short distance away, shouting at the sheep…who cannot hear his voice through all the other sounds… through all the noise.

This cartoon always hits me hard when I see it. It pops up on social media without me going to look for it. I find it particularly relevant to the lesson from Hebrews today. The sheep in this cartoon is surrounded by comfort…well, “comfort” as defined by the world. TV and music and periodicals are not bad things in and of themselves. But what place do they take in our lives? When they drown out the voice of our Good Shepherd, then yes, that’s a bad thing.

I can still remember a time when there wasn’t anything that competed for our time on Sunday mornings. We went to church, just like everyone else. On Sundays when we stayed home - because of weather or illness or whatever the reason, if we turned on the television, the few channels we had were also showing worship services. Sunday morning was for God.

And you weren’t going shopping - there weren’t any stores open that day. You could probably go out to eat, but besides restaurants and gas stations, not much else was open. Sunday was just a different day. It was a day of rest for most people…and many people used it that way.

Along the way something changed. Yes, we started getting more channels and more options on the television. I don’t think that made a huge difference to most people. Somewhere, someone decided that stores should be open on Sunday so that customers could do more shopping. But that meant the employees had to work that day to keep the stores open. And if one store did it, then their competitors needed to keep up. And all of a sudden, everything was open except Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. And now those 2 companies are seen as weird, religious zealots.

Just as troubling is what’s happened to our kids. It used to be that very few activities for children and youth took place on Sunday. Now, instead of being in church on Sunday, they find themselves playing in weekend-long sports tournaments, and if you want your child to be competitive when it comes to sports scholarships, they really need to participate in these tournaments and improve their skills and their understanding of the sport. The tournaments rotate locations, so whole families spend their Saturdays and Sundays traveling instead of resting and coming to worship.

If you’re not in God’s house on Sunday morning, you have plenty of other choices, and all of them productive and useful…or so the world tells us. But as I hear the words of our Epistle lesson this morning: “they shall not enter my rest” God says, it seems to me that there’s more than one meaning to that statement.

Yes, God is warning us. The free gift of salvation that He has given us - because of the atoning sacrifice, death and resurrection of His Son - is ours. Not because we earned it, not because we deserve it, only because He loves us and wants us to have it. This gift is ours. But let’s be clear: we *can* throw this gift away. God’s grace is *not* irresistible. We don’t HAVE to spend eternity with Him. We can very well turn our backs on Him. And sadly, many do…and many have. Those who choose not to believe in Him, for whatever reason they come to that decision, will not enter into His rest. I don’t think that’s shocking to anyone. This is what we learn from early on.

But what strikes me today about this statement - “they shall not enter my rest” is that this is not merely God prohibiting their entry into His rest. Think about the sheep cartoon for a moment. If God is calling them to be with Him, and they don’t hear the call…then they won’t *be* with Him. If He’s calling them to come to Him, but they cannot hear the call, they won’t move. How sad is that! They will miss the opportunity to have the rest that He promised us - and continues to promise us. They will continue to live among the noise. They will continue to be surrounded by chaos, lacking stability, wandering in their own wilderness instead of enjoying the stability and peace and rest that God is calling them to … that they could have if they would listen for His call and follow Him where He’s leading them.

C.S. Lewis said that “the gates of hell are locked from the inside… [which means that] Hell is a place of self-exile.” [https://frjohnpeck.com/the-gates-of-hell-are-locked-from-the-inside/] That’s another way of looking at what we’re describing here. Hell is most certainly the opposite of God’s rest. And when we know that going to hell is a journey of our own doing, I kind of have to wonder why we’d choose that… it doesn’t make sense, does it?

That’s the other part of the sheep cartoon. The things that contribute to the noise are all things that seem to be comforts, conveniences. They lure us in with various temptations, lulling us into false comfort with their empty promises. Now I’m not telling you to throw away your phone, your laptop, your TV… I’m just saying to watch what they do to your heart and your mind and your ears. Don’t let them drown out the voice of the Shepherd.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve wanted real, peaceful, Godly rest more than I do right now. The noise and the chaos and the conflict we see all the time is just overwhelming. I can barely watch or listen to the news without getting just absolutely drained listening to it. It’s exhausting physically, intellectually, and emotionally. I could use some rest.

Thanks be to God, “the promise of entering his rest still stands.” Nothing has changed with God’s promise. And when we listen to the Word He has given us, that’s exactly what we hear. The promise is there, just as it always has been. The chaos around us is trying to drown that out. Don’t let it. Turn off the noise and turn back to the Word. You can listen to Scripture on your phone or your iPod…there’s an app for that, I promise.

I think most of us trust God with our concerns and our worries. I think we really do bring to Him those things that trouble us. But I know for me, I don’t think about resting in God enough. Yes, that’s something we look forward to in eternity, but I believe God is inviting us - calling us - to enjoy His rest even now. What if we listened to His voice more than we did any other single sound? How much peace would we enjoy? How much less chaos would we encounter? How much less conflict would we get drawn into?

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Yes indeed, let us strive to enter His rest. And then let’s share it with those around us, and let’s bring His rest to counter all the noise that’s keeping everyone else from getting any rest. What a wonderful medicine that will be to all the chaos and noise!