Invitation to Rest by Senior Pastor Tom Harrison INVITE SERMON SERIES December 10, 2017 Journal intro: This text is a wonderful invitation to those who are weary. Life can certainly beat us up. We mess up, and must deal with limitations and disappointments. With all the bad news surrounding us, it is easy to be worn out, discouraged and depressed. I love it that Jesus invites us to come to Him and He will give us rest. I love the portrayal of Jesus great strength combined with humility. ALL people are invited. It s a great promise! We exist as a church to HELP OTHERS FOLLOW JESUS. APPLICATION: Who can I invite to be part of our services on Sunday morning during Advent? Who can I invite to join me for the other services we will be having during the Advent season (especially on Christmas Eve)? MATTHEW 11:25-30 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "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." Father = used 5x in 25-27. The relationship with God is hidden from the wise/learned and revealed them to little children. I like this quote: If you want God as your Father you can t have pride as your mother. The wise/learned miss the gospel they can t see it. It is hidden from them. It s not about who is dumb/smart or old/young but about who is SELF-SUFFICIENT. Who do I trust? Myself or Jesus? In the gospels, the Pharisee tended to trust in themselves; while the tax collectors often repented and trusted in Jesus. Being proud in your heart is not the way into the KOG, but being poor in spirit is. Jesus INVITATION = COME Just as I am. Now. Today. Don t delay. Don t have to be ashamed of yesterday. Don t have to make promises about tomorrow. This is present tense. Here and now. It s a response to an invitation. Show up.
TO ME. Come to HIM. Nobody else has ever done this in the Bible. Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah or John the Baptist would not have dreamed to invite people to come to THEM. The invitation was always to come to GOD. Verse 27 is very strong. Jesus is claiming to be God. Jesus says to come to Him. ALL this invitation is to all people, regardless of religion (or lack thereof), gender, ethnicity. The invitation is directed towards a certain type of person who will be most receptive: YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED Jesus invitation is for those who are worn-out, exhausted and overwhelmed by life. Any who are struggling. Any who feel inadequate, guilty or afraid. Jesus invites them. This is the paradox those who are self-satisfied or self-righteous don t need Jesus (or God). That s why having money can make it so hard to follow Jesus because we love our money and trust in our money rather than in God. One of the BURDENS that some faced was trying to observe the Law. The Law is a good thing, in that it instructs us about what is right and what is wrong. However, nobody can keep the Law. It informs us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God s will. The Pharisees imposed an additional 613 more laws on top of the Mosaic Law. 365 were negative (one for every day of the year) and 248 were positive. Gentiles were burdened by life, even without the Law. But how much more would the Pharisees have been burdened by life, especially with all the additional do s and don ts. We tend to go in one of two ways either become rule breakers (self-indulgent, hedonistic) or rule makers (try to manage our own sin). Jesus came with a whole new way don t run off and romp wildly through the field doing your own thing like the pagans (it s destructive), but don t try to plow the field by yourself like the Pharisees (it s impossible). Neither way can produce a harvest. Instead, come to Jesus and tie yourself to Him. Let s get the plowing done, but let s do it yoked to the strong ox. We are NOT the strong ox. Jesus is. It is about having a relationship with Jesus Jesus promise: I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Jesus will take our weariness and unburden us.
TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU. Jesus agricultural illustration was understood by his hearers but few of us understand. We think of a yoke as part of an egg, but it was also an agricultural device used on an ox. A yoke is an instrument for work. It s a wooden frame placed on the shoulders of an ox to make a load or burden easier to pull. It distributes the weight more equally on both shoulders. But it is an instrument for work. It is not light. It is heavy. It is uncomfortable. You d prefer not to have a yoke. You d prefer not to have to do the work. Jesus isn t promising that we are unyoked and don t have to get into the field and work, but He does promise that the equipment will be right. His yoke will be upon us, not the burdensome yoke of the Pharisees who put all of their laws on them. Rest doesn t come from not working but rest comes from working out. I feel that when I exercise. I feel rested and relaxed afterwards. It s a paradox. If I expend my energy, I feel better than if I d laid on the couch all day long. Dana s brother, who was Mr. Universe, Dave Draper, always said, Nothing beats being strong. We get strong by working out. Rest comes from working out. Rest comes from labor. Rest comes from obedience. Rest comes from living into the Kingdom of God. Rest comes from doing God s will on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus did not say: Come sit in my Lazy Boy recliner. There s no sleeping or lounging around. He said, come, get involved with me. Get yoked with me. But you re not just going to sit all day. I m going to get you working, walking, moving, carrying. Walk with me and I will give you rest. It s the rest of the Kingdom of God. It s love, joy, peace in the Holy Spirit. It s renewal. A yoke isn t for a single ox it s for two oxen. That means a farmer could plow a field with far greater power. The yoke would be placed upon the two oxen and they would walk together. However, it was possible to team a strong ox and a weak ox. The weaker didn t need to do anything other than stay yoked to the strong ox and keep up. To walk with the strong one. If the weaker pulled away from the stronger, the yoke would chafe his neck. Jesus was saying that if you are going through life and you find yourself overwhelmed, exhausted, despairing and you want to get rid of the burdens of life, then come and get yoked to Him. He will do the work. You just need to: COME TO ME. AND LEARN FROM ME. Learn is a way of saying be a disciple (that s what a disciple is = a learner) It s not just intellectual knowledge but we learn by doing.
It s application. Don t watch a YOU-TUBE video on a yoke DO IT. Come to Jesus. Be a disciple, a learner, a follower. Be harnessed with Him. This is a personal invitation from Jesus. It s not cold and sterile. It s not learn about Jesus like we re in a laboratory, but is a living relationship. It s like Go to school with me. It s a communion with him. It s not in a brick and mortar building, but it s a living, walking relationship. Jesus will be present with us not just hand us a book and tell us to study. FOR I AM GENTLE AND HUMBLE IN HEART. This is the only time Jesus gives us His own assessment of his character. I think that those who are yoked together with Jesus need to learn these character traits: gentleness and humility. Jesus is not harsh, austere, mean-spirited. He is a Gentleman. He is patient with those who are slow (or weary and need rest). He ends with a promise: AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. Jesus words to that original audience are words that we must hear, too. That same invitation still applies. We can be released from our burdens. The invitation is for everyone. The invitation is especially those who are burdened by life (either rule breaking or rule making). The invitation is to learn from Jesus. It s always about Jesus. We are to learn Who He is and what he is about. The invitation is for rest for weary people. It is given, not earned. We are yoked to something in life the Law, your job, entertainment, money, sex, health, etc. It s a paradox be yoked to Jesus and we ll find rest in your souls. We went to see Beautiful the Tony Award Winning Musical about the phenomenal song writer and singer, Carole King. One of her greatest songs was: You ve Got a Friend. She may not realize it, but I think she s singing ab Jesus. He is my BEST FRIEND FOREVER. He can be Yours, too. When you're down and troubled and you need some love and care And nothing, nothing is going right Close your eyes and think of me And soon I will be there To brighten up even your darkest night
You just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come running, to see you again Winter, spring, summer or fall All you have to do is call And I'll be there You've got a friend If the sky above you Grows dark and full of clouds And that old north wind begins to blow Keep you head together And call my name out loud Soon you'll hear me knocking at you door You just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come running to see you again Winter, spring, summer or fall All you have to do is call And I'll be there yes I will Who would turn down a friend like this? We have a friend who is here for us. His name is Jesus. Communion is your invitation to come be with your friend.