Messages
from the Bible
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
Tell me, why are you so tired? What is it that makes you weary? Is it the long hours at work? Is it lack of sleep? Is it due to chronic illness, or a lack of good nourishment, or perhaps a lack of proper exercise?
Maybe your life is filled with stress or frustration, and that is wearing you down. Some might say, it's the kids that wear me out, others will say it's my husband or wife.
Maybe you're just tired of dealing with people, or you're worn out dealing with one problem after another. Or perhaps it's just having to put up with the evil in the world around us, much like Peter's description of Abraham's nephew, "Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men." Peter went on to say, "for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard." (II Peter 2:7,8)
So, what are you tired of and what are you doing about it besides complaining?
Our daily readings in the early pages of the Old Testament are providing an interesting assortment of entertaining, if not inspiring stories. There seems to be a lot going on which doesn't readily fit our ideas of "holy men of God." Some of these "faithful forefathers" were liars and thieves, and according to our standards, even promiscuous and cruel. This seems especially true of Abraham's grandson, the man whose name even today represents the entire nation - Israel. He cheated his own brother out of his birthright and their father’s best blessing. And did you notice that Jacob had children by four women? And did you read about his favorite wife hiding idols she had stolen from her father? They were under the camel saddle Rachel was sitting on, and she claimed she could not get up to allow her father to search her tent because she was having her "period"! Yes, that's in the Bible! Then what about the story of Judah, who had sexual relations with a prostitute who turned out to be his daughter-in-law - and this is the man after whom the Jews are named! Amazing stuff in this "Holy" Bible of ours!
One part of Jacob's story is especially intriguing. After he had deceived his brother and his father, he in turn was deceived by his uncle. When Jacob fell in love with Rachel, her father required Jacob to work for seven years - I guess in those days they didn't know anything about "giving your daughter in marriage." But then Laban switched daughters so that Jacob had to work another seven years to get the woman he loved! Then he went on and worked seven more years to accumulate enough wealth to be able to move away from his father-in-law.
Now it would be very hard in our present day to find a young man who would be willing to work seven years to get the girl! But listen to this very romantic statement, "Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." (Genesis 29:20) Isn't it amazing how hard and tirelessly someone will work when love is involved!
All of this was in the back of my mind when I read what Jesus said in the familiar New Testament text in Matthew 11:28-30:
If we admit that we are listed among the weary, if we are the burdened ones, how can Jesus, who lived and died nearly 2,000 years ago, help us? As an aside, do you know what the followers of Islam believe about Jesus? He was one of history's five great prophets (Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed), but that's all He was. And according to them, Jesus did not die on the cross, but was rescued by God, and Judas was crucified instead. Let's bring to an end the notion that all religions are essentially alike, and so it doesn't matter which one you adhere to - if Jesus had not died, we would sill be in our sins.
But enough of that. Our question again is, how can Jesus make good on His promise to give us rest?
The first obvious answer is related to the story of Jacob we just mentioned - the work we do for love is a light burden.
Seriously, if we truly love the Lord, then what we do for Him is indeed a light burden.
Is your weariness a result of difficulty with sleeping? Then remember what is said in Psalms 127:1, 2: "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat -- for he grants sleep to those he loves." When our trust is in the Lord, our sleep will be most restful, knowing that He is watching over us and will bring us through any and every difficulty we may face the next day. That's why Jesus could say "do not worry about tomorrow" (Matthew 6:34) - lay down in peaceful sleep with the thought, "tomorrow will worry about itself."
If it is stress that is causing your tiredness, then turn to Philippians 4:6, 7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Simple prayer, beginning with thanksgiving and ending with requests, is a most important stress reliever.
Sorrow can also cause weariness, but remember, it will soon pass as is stated in Psalms 30:5: "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." Although the saying is not in the Bible, it is nevertheless true to say, especially when it comes to sorrow, "This too shall pass."
Perhaps you have read this popular poem by Helen Steiner Rice,
If I can endure for this minute
If I can remain calm and quiet
If I can but keep on believing
Then nothing in life can defeat me
That are binding me tight in the darkness
So Jesus promises rest, but how can we get it?
Jesus follows with this counsel, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble." Interesting - the path to peace is through kindness and humility. To say it another way, if you want to be worn out, be harsh and haughty. Earlier, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said that these two qualities, along with some others, would lead to blessedness - "Blessed are the meek." - "Blessed are the poor in spirit." When Jesus said "learn from me," He was literally saying, "Be my disciple - follow my example - learn to be like me."
But, we might ask, if Jesus was so rich, why did He say, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Luke 9:58) Notice that this statement comes right after a man offered to be a disciple - "I will follow you wherever you go." Who would ever want to follow a poor man? Evidently many Westerners would rather follow a rich man, and that's why wealthy prosperity preachers are so popular - the one interviewed by ABC this week has a congregation of 40,000 and a TV show potentially reaching into one billion households.
Furthermore, if Jesus was so rich, why did he have to borrow a donkey, and, for that matter, be buried in a borrowed tomb? Didn't Jesus clearly indicate that the rich would have difficulty making it into heaven? And please notice that the value of His estate was the clothes on His back, two garments, one was divided up so four soldiers could each have a part, and the other, a seamless robe, was gambled away.
No, Jesus doesn't call His followers to be rich and powerful, He calls us to be gentle and humble. To those who succeed will be given the coveted rest. Incidentally, the literal meaning of this word "rest" is much like our word "intermission." This is a pause from work and stress to give opportunity for renewal.
Looking at our text one more time, the most important part is that this is an invitation; Jesus said "Come unto me." However, for us to accept the invitation, it involves a choice - if we come to Him, we must leave something else behind; this is well expressed in the simple song, "The world behind me, the Cross before me."
When Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you" it means that when we accept this invitation to come to Him, we will be connected to Him - as we go through life He will always be there with us, helping us pull the load. That's why the work is easy and the burden light, because Jesus is there with us helping us each step of the way.
Notice that a yoke for animals only has room for two, and if this applies to our being yoked with Jesus, we must let go of other alliances and be joined only to Him.
In the yoke with Jesus, we are also relieved of the burden of being solely responsible to provide for ourselves and others - we have a partner, One who is teaching us of a loving heavenly Father who can be trusted to take care of His children.
Will you respond to this invitation today? Aren't you tired of being tired? Won't you come to Jesus to find your true Sabbath rest?
1. What are some of the different kinds of weariness?
2. What are some causes of weariness?
3. In your daily life, for you personally, what is it that tires you the most - physically? Mentally? Spiritually?
4. In the pages of the Old Testament, there seems to be a lot of people we think to be godly doing ungodly things? Why are these stories there in the Bible?
5. For Jacob, seven years of hard work for Laban seemed to go quickly. Why?
6. Jesus promised rest for the weary. How does love for Jesus help make this possible?
7. How can trust in the Lord help our sleep to be more restful?
8. What does the Bible say we should do about anxiety?
9. Certainly sorrow can result in great fatigue. How can that be treated spiritually?
10. In our text, Matthew 11:28-30, what does Jesus want us to learn from Him?
11. Is poverty a blessing or a curse? Is wealth a blessing or a curse?
12. Is it necessary to leave the "world" to follow Jesus, or can we have both the world and Jesus?
13. How is it that being in the yoke with Jesus makes the burden lighter?
14. What do you think is the relationship between "rest" and "sabbath"?
Come Unto Me
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"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."
Did you hear about the young man who sent a love note to his girl-friend? With deep emotion he wrote, "Because of my love for you I would scale the highest mountain. Because of my love for you I would swim the greatest sea. I'll be over to see you on Saturday evening, if it doesn't rain."
So if you are weary from hard work, remember Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Doing your work as unto Jesus, because it is done out of love, will make of it a lighter burden, and therefore bring about less weariness.
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be-
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me-
What I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
And that this will pass away, too-
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break all of the chains
And trying to fill me with fear-
For there is no night without dawning
And I know that my morning is near.Earlier this week one of our US senators opened an inquiry into the spending habits of some very wealthy preachers, the Senator wants to find out if these lavishly living preachers are using tax exempt donations to finance their rich tastes. One of these preachers, when interviewed on network TV, made the bold assertion that Jesus was wealthy, so that's why we should be rich. It was as though Jesus had said, "I am prosperous and wealthy, learn from me and you will also be prosperous and wealthy." When questioned about this, the preacher defended his statement by this logic, "We know that Abraham was rich. Isaac and Jacob were rich. Joseph was rich. Solomon was one of the richest people in the world. These were all servants of God. Certainly the very Son of God must have been more wealthy than they were."
In the yoke with Jesus, we are relieved of bearing the burden of trying to please, and trying to fulfill the law of God in our own strength.
Come Unto Me
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