July 9, 2023 Text: Matthew 11:25-30
Dear Friends in Christ,
Remember back to when you were in preschool or kindergarten? You got to enjoy nap time. You got to rest from filmstrips and finger painting. Did we really need to rest from that? Still, it was nice to close your eyes and just relax.
It is still a joy to just close the eyes and relax. To rest. But what are we resting from? Physical exertion? Mental gymnastics? Stress? Do you ever rest from your sin? Do you ever just lay down and think, “Lord, what am I doing?”
We are going to take a few minute respite to hear the Lord’s Word.
“DO YOU NEED A REST?”
Both inside and outside the church we view the Christian faith as primarily about doing the right thing or acting the right way. The truth is Christianity does have a lot of rules. The Bible has whole books just on how to live or not live. Because we know these rules, we live with the knowledge that we need to live up to them. But we know the truth about ourselves – we don’t live up to them. The Apostle Paul struggled with the same thing in our Epistle for this morning.
We come here Sunday after Sunday concealing our worst. We would be outcasts, if people really knew the truth about us. If we start to believe this way, then our Christian life becomes little more than an exercise in hiding our sin so we can keep up the good appearance. Then we perpetuate the lie that being a good Christian is primarily about being “a good person.”
So, we try harder. This time we are serious. We will live the way we should. Maybe it works for a few seconds, a few minutes but then we fall, and we are right back there needing some rest. The people of Israel did this over and over again in the Bible.
In the 1970’s lab rats were used for psychological tests. In one experiment, the floor of their cage was electrified in different spots. They would jump to spots with no electric shock. But then the entire floor was electrified, and they soon learned there was nowhere to go to evade the shock. So, they settled down to be being shocked. They learned they were helpless. Later on escape routes were offered, but the rats had already learned there was no point in trying and failing. They refused to move.
Like the rat, we find ourselves helpless. We do things we know we shouldn’t. We can’t stop the cycle, so we just accept the shock. Oh, we need rest from our sin. We are broken.
Into this reality, Jesus speaks, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (vs. 28 & 30). The Christian life is not about being a better person, and it never has been. The Latin phrase simul justus et peccator, means “at the same time just and a sinner.” We are both. There is great freedom in recognizing and owning that reality. We don’t have to pretend anymore.
We are real, honest sinners with a real, true Savior. The rest we need is given by Jesus Christ. Pull out your mat, lie down, relax and listen to this. Christ carries the burden of our shortfall. Christ is obedient when we are in the vicious cycle of disobedience. Christ took the sin of everyone and died for it on the cross. Christ has carried the load. Wow, this burden is so much lighter. I can rest easy tonight knowing that Christ is in control.
We come to this sanctuary on a regular basis because the world makes us forget who we are. We will leave today with Christ words, and we will know His love, but some of us will continue to live as if it all depends on how we act or how hard we try. That is why the Lord is continually in our ear. In case you have forgotten…this is who you are; you are beloved.
Stop the pretending. We have all faked sleep, right? To our teacher, to our spouse, to our parent who had a job for us to do. The rest of Jesus is real. You can’t fake sleep Him. He is the provider of the rest. You are beloved because you are a creation of the God of the heavens who has marked you with water and Word in your baptism, and who invites you to come rest from sin by partaking of His body and blood at His Holy Altar. You are beloved, not because you try harder and might get it right every so often. You are loved because of what Christ has already done for you. He has died your death. You have eternal rest because of His rest in the tomb and then His rising again.
Put your mats away. It’s time to play “duck, duck, goose.”
Amen.