Rest, message 3

Hebrews 4 ESV

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Rest is the place where we communicate the most trust.

There is never rest when you don’t know where you are going. I wanted to pick up on the story of my friend and I being lost in the Cascades. After we realized we were lost we hiked up and down on trails trying to find a familiar spot. IT got late and we found a place to camp and fell asleep. But it was not restful. We woke up before the sun because the anxiety was too much. We got moving. And hiked and hiked. I to date have never walked faster for longer than that. Anxiety was our fuel, trying to find a place where we could find something familiar, to find our way back. It was like we couldn’t stop. We were afraid of stopping

Our ability or inability to rest is a communication.

Rest communicates something. Our ability to live in rest or live in anxiety is communicates what it is we are trusting.

And we often I think live in the movement of anxiety. We are afraid of stopping because we are afraid of what may happen if and when we do.

I’m going to talk about an author, theologian and philosopher, JAmes KA Smith a bit in this message. He writes on desire and love and God. He has a number of books and in his book on Augustine called On the Road with Augustine he talks about our hearts and how Augustine thought of them:

“[Augustine] describes a heart on the run. Where we rest is a matter of what and how we love. Our restlessness is a reflection of what we try to “enjoy” as an end in itself—what we look to as a place to land. The heart’s hunger is infinite, which is why it will ultimately be disappointed with anything merely finite.”

Rest is one of the greatest gifts God can give because it does not only help us to replenish but it also is a communication. When we rest, when we are able to stop we proclaim the position that Christ is a sufficient finisher of our work.

Hebrews 4:1–5 ESV

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Entering into God’s rest is more than just stopping. It is more than just a break. It is the understanding the finished work of Christ and that we are not responsible to do what Christ has already done.

Entering into God’s rest is one of the most important things we can learn.

And this passage highlights the primacy of it.

That rest is the primacy of our desires.

- Our usual goal is to achieve or be able to cover as much ground as possible adding exploits to your cv.

- But the achievement here is rest. The priority is rest

- The economics of the Gospel is one where our end (telos) is defined by Christ and not success

In a different book called Desiring the Kingdom Smith states that we

we are not thinkers primarily but lovers

we chase after that which we love most

our lives are pursuits of the flourishing life.

So the call today is to strive to enter the rest.

We see the nation of israel wanting to enter that rest

Rest communicates that Christ is the complete sufficiency of our work

Hebrews 4:6–10 ESV

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Rest is a place where we can stop. Where we surrender. But it is subversive because it communicates complete trust in Christ.

For the Israelites it is the place where they were to enter. It was a physical location. A response to an invitation. To recognize that God has prepared a place for them.

The true spiritual purpose of rest is to reset our priorities and remind us of the Lordship of Christ.

It is more, we will find, orientation than it is action.

There is no one else that can offer the rest that Christ offers

but we over and over again find that it is not enough

Not even Joshua couldn’t give the Israelites rest. Joshua’s work was not enough.

so what is enough ?

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Moses wasn’t enough. And Joshua wasnt’ enough

But the message is not in what they did or didn’t do, their work.

The issue is where they were able to take the group.

They could not take the Israelites to where they fully needed to be.

There is a further rest that only Christ can offer.

Honestly that is helpful to me. If Moses and Joshua weren’t able to fully provide what their people need then I certaintly can’t.

Zach Eswine, author and pastor, makes an incredible statement about ministry that I come back to quite often

He says “Everything pastors hope will take place in a person's life with God remains outside the pastor's own power.” - Zach Eswine

That is a helpful reminder to pastors but really anyone working in vocational ministry.

our work will never be sufficient to bring people to where we want them to be.

As my friend and I were hiking we found a ridge and a mountain peak that we were at the day before. So we headed on a trail we thought would connect. A few miles into chasing this peak, the trail turned in the opposite direction. Ied up a hill and at the top of the hill was a sign, more of a small monument. IT was something so we headed up. My friend reached it first and I watched him reach it and then cry out in frustration and just slump. I got to the top and read the sign and it was a marker stating that we had reached the boundry between the us and canada. We were further out. Anxiety shifted to despondency.

We thought we had the answers. We thought we knew where we were. Everything we were trusting in didn’t work. It wasn’t enough. IN fact it had led us the opposite direction.

I wonder how often we feel that in ministry.

All this work and it feels like we have gone backward

Even during this pandemic.

Christmas crowd, then 50% less the week after

We think we have a trace on where we need to be and it turns out to be something else.

How do we find rest when we feel like aliens in our situations?

So if we have been chasing and pursuing and running and it feels like we hit the Canadian border, how do we learn rest?

Christ offers rest as the true communication of trust in Him.

We can only rest when we have found our way, when we know who is watching over us while we sleep. The issue for the israelites and the promised land wasn’t stopping from work. It was knowing that the King was sovereign over the promised land. his Kingship

The issue of rest is not just a release from tension or a means for security. Rest is tied specifically to the ruler of the land which is offering rest. True rest depends entirely on who is ruling the land you are inhabiting.

Rest is the ability to cease striving and live in the completed work of Christ.

God is inviting us to more through rest. And we can invite others to the same.

i want to close with this passage in Smiths book:

“Augustine imagines the human condition like that of the émigré in search of not just the security of a home but peace, rest, joy. One of the distinguishing markers of the happy life found in God is a joy and delight that could not be achieved otherwise—a rest and contentment that stems from being found.” — On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K. A. Smith

https://a.co/iHLbmem

we chase and pursue in order to rest. And rest is our ultimate destination. We are all looking for a home. And Christ offers that to us all along. He invites us to rest so that we would know complete satisfaction and sufficiency in Him.

In Him we are found. And that foundness translates to joy in trusting in Christ.

Our rest, our found-ness in Christ is the most complete way of communicating trust in Christ.

We hiked and hiked the opposite direction. For hours. We finally just realized that we had to move west of a certain mountain peak we were moving toward. No we were carrying 50 pound packs and hadn’t stopped for more than a few minutes at a time. We were burning daylight. We kept shifting these small trails heading in a constant direction, desperate to find something familiar.

We were on a small deer trail, still a trail but nothing spectacular and we were wading through some brush when we hit a fallen log. We stepped over it and it was like stepping into OZ. We moved from a small trail that intersected with a beautifully maintained trail, about 5 feet wide, falled logs lining the trail. Signs about 100 yards up detailing exactly where we needed to go. Within an instant we were found. We had found our way. And in that moment the backpacks felt heavy. We didn’t say a word to each other but both dropped out packs, sat down. And honestly, we wept. We were so happy that we coudn’t stop crying. I’m glad no one walked by in that moment. after about 20 minutes we picked our packs up and at that moment I felt I could hike all day, not because I needed to get anywhere but because we had found our way and knew where we were going

I think when we live through being found we live into the rest that Christ offers. We can work because we know where we are going. We communicate trust because we don’t have to desperately find our way.

We all know the way and the truth and the life. But in this moment do we know where we are? Are there people in our lives that don’t know where they are? How can we pray rest into your life