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Rhythms of Jesus
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I want to start by acknowledging something serious: tiredness is no joke. After World War II, the Geneva Conventions established international humanitarian laws that govern conduct during war. Common Article 3 of these conventions now prohibits sleep deprivation as a form of torture. We have collectively decided that preventing someone from getting the rest they need is a war crime. Let that sink in.
On April 20, 2017, a man named Ian was driving from Scotland to England when he fell asleep at the wheel and drove into a stationary queue of vehicles. As a self-employed courier driver, he felt he had no option but to keep making these exhausting journeys regardless of how he felt. Several people were injured, and there was one fatality. The signs on our motorways remind us: tiredness is no joke.
But there is also a spiritual kind of tiredness that will kill your joy. There is a spiritual tiredness that will kill your desire and ability to fight temptation. There are Christians who no longer dream of big visions for their lives, for the church, or for the kingdom of God. All they can manage is to think about what is humanly possible between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. That is all a tired Christian can manage to dream of.
You might think the answer is simple: Remember the Sabbath. Stop working. Rest. At the end of the week, at the end of a season of work, even at the end of a journey, we have a Sabbath rest. That is a good thing.
But I am speaking to people who are in the middle of a journey, and you do not know how to get to the end. You are stuck in the middle doing everything you can, doing all the right stuff, but the end is not near. All you get for your labor is tiredness. And maybe worst of all, you feel like Ian—that you have no options but to keep doing the same thing, no matter how you feel.
Every day, maybe multiple times a day, life will speak to you. Life says the same two words: "Carry me." Whenever we carry something, it has the potential to make us tired. Carry it for a while, a long time, and it becomes a burden.
Guilt says, "Carry me." A bad health diagnosis says, "Carry me." A broken heart for a suffering people group says, "Carry me." Our concerns for our children's futures say, "Carry me." Our beliefs, when we carry them the wrong way, become burdens.
I have some bad news for you: nothing I say today will make those words go away. You are going to get old, and one day even your old age will say to you, "Carry me." That might be a burden.
But the good news is there are other words to listen to. "Carry me" is the word of tiredness and burdens. But there are more words. If you stop in the moment and listen, you can hear the words spoken by Jesus. This is the voice of rest.
Let me read to you from Matthew 11, verses 27-30:
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.
"Come to me" is spoken in the imperative mood—it is an order. When Jesus says, "Come to me," he is saying, "Come to me now. Come to me quickly. You must come to me." It is a command.
You might wonder: why an order and not just a kind, casual invitation? Well, the order tells us something about the person speaking. The person who orders you to eat your vegetables before dessert—that is your mother. The person who orders you to do your homework—that is your teacher. The person who orders me to wear trousers instead of shorts—that is my wife.
When Jesus says, "Come to me," he is speaking and behaving like the God of Genesis 2. In Genesis 2, Adam is lonely. He searches his known world and cannot find a partner. No matter how many nights he lays awake, anxious and worried, he cannot produce a partner for himself. No matter how hard he works, he cannot make this person appear. So God gives him rest: "You sleep, Adam." And while Adam sleeps, God produces Eve.
We seem to believe that God only works when I work. But Jesus says, "I will give you rest, and while you rest, I will do the impossible that you cannot do."
"Come to me" is also linked to Exodus 33, where God says to Moses—Moses who is in the middle of his desert journey—"Moses, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest." Jesus is saying, "You will find rest in my presence. In praying to me, in worshipping me, that is where you find the location of rest."
"Come to me" is Jesus linking himself to Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down." Jesus is saying, "I am that good shepherd. The more you know me, the more you will rest. The deeper you know me, the deeper your rest will be. Read about me. Find out about me, and you will find rest."
"Come to me" is Jesus linking himself to Jeremiah 6:16, where God says, "Ask for the good way, walk in it, and I will give you rest for your souls." Jesus is saying, "I am that God who can give you soul-deep rest. This is more than a nap. This is more than a vacation. When you walk in my ways, when you are obedient to me, you will experience a rest that permeates through your entire being."
Jesus is the voice of rest.
So why do we find it so hard to believe that God would order us to rest? We find it easy to believe that he orders us to work. But when it comes to rest, we kind of view it as borderline laziness. Work is productive and good, but rest is like our failure, isn't it? Maybe I have failed to regulate my sleep, my energy, my spiritual life. That is why I need rest.
But when you see rest as an order from Jesus, then obedience becomes nothing but worship. I will be speaking all day today. At some point this afternoon, I am going to find a sofa and lay down on it. If you pass by me, you will hear some noises coming from my nose. I will tell you that is not snoring. That is the sound of worship.
Rest in the presence of God prepares us for what is next—obedience and worship of our Creator.
"Come to me" is also an offer. At the beginning of Matthew 11, we see John, the cousin of Jesus, in prison for doing all the right things. He has served God. He has told the king about his ungodly behavior, and the king put him in prison. Now John has been there for about a year, and he is carrying some things. He is carrying doubts about who Jesus is. He is carrying unmet expectations about the Messiah.
John has no options. But he does this: he gets honest. He sends a message to Jesus: "Are you the one, Jesus? Just tell me." And Jesus responds in the most gentle, humble way possible: "Yes, John. Look at all I'm doing. See for yourself. I am the one." John in this way is rested in the middle of his journey, and he gets to continue.
Likewise, in Numbers 11, Moses speaks to God and says, "I've had enough. This is enough. I should just die right here. Kill me now. This people that you have given me to lead are draining me. I cannot carry this people all by myself. The burden is too heavy for me." But God responds gently. He gives Moses practical advice to get through the rest of his journey. He gives Moses rest.
When we are honest, God is able to provide rest. "Come to me" is the offer to be completely honest with God about what we are carrying.
This is a place to be honest and to look honest about how you are feeling. If you cannot smile, you are welcome. If you do not have the energy, it is okay. If you cannot stand, sit down during worship. If you need prayer, you can come up and we will not ask you what the issue is. We will just pray, knowing that God knows. This is where you meet the words "Come to me," the voice of rest.
"Come to me" is also for others. The month of August is our relaxing time. It is when we plan holidays, time with family and friends in the sunshine. But not everybody feels that way. And we need to be sensitive to those who are carrying things.
Galatians 6:2 says, "Carry each other's burdens." The message of Jesus is "Come to me," so that becomes the message of the church. It becomes our message to each other and to the world: Come to Jesus.
How do we do that? Small things are fine. Invite someone to Summer Nights. Have a picnic outside on the lawn, listen to a talk, and afterwards go out for coffee. When you buy a good Christian book as a holiday read, buy two. Give one to a friend and say, "I'm coming back in two weeks. We are going to go out for dinner and discuss this book." Small things.
Small things make a difference because in Matthew 23, Jesus looks at the crowd who are burdened under spiritual weight and says, "No one is lifting a finger to help them." The leaders are not helping in any small way. How are we going to remember, in the midst of our excitement and joy, to look out for those who are struggling?
When Jesus goes to the cross, he does not just lift one finger. He lifts all 10. He lifts up his body, his feet. And when he is there, he is carrying the weight of our sin. He is carrying the weight of our tiredness. He is carrying the weight of all of our burdens.
"Come to me" is an order to give those burdens to Jesus. And that is worship. "Come to me" is an offer to be honest about what we are carrying so that Jesus can take away the things we should not be carrying, and he can strengthen us for the things we should be. "Come to me" is for others—those around us who are struggling—and we can help carry their burdens in whatever small way possible.
If we do this, my guarantee to you is you will have the best August in Jesus' name. Amen.
Let us stand as we pray. I am going to say a simple prayer: "Come, Holy Spirit." And what I am expecting is that God would speak to you. Maybe he will say something, remind you about something that I have said in this talk. Maybe he will put someone on your heart—someone who just needs you to do something small to help them carry their burdens.
If you are carrying something, tell God about it. The ministry team will come forward now. If you feel like tiredness is normal, like this is just your life and you have had it for years with no way out, let us pray for you. I think Jesus has something for you today. You can come forward. We are not going to ask you what it is. The ministry team will simply lay a hand on you and pray.
If you know someone who is carrying a lot and you feel like you cannot solve all of their problems—and that is fine—you can do something small. Come down and we will pray for them. In their absence, we can pray through you for your friend, for your relative.
Some of you need a new faith, a stronger faith to believe that Jesus can carry you with whatever you are holding. You need to come down so we can pray that you would know that Jesus is strong enough to hold you and carry you through whatever you are going through.
