Rest For Your Soul

Matthew 11:28-30

Immanuel – 6/23/24

Last week we spent the entirety of our time together considering Jesus’ words, “I am gentle and lowly of heart.” How precious these words! For this is the only time Jesus ever directly speaks about the inner state of His own heart. And I pray that the posture of His heart would be imprinted upon our own hearts.

Today we move from considering the inner state of Jesus’ heart, to consider what it is that He is calling us into. What is this rest that He offers? How does He help those who labor by giving them a yoke, and the heavy laden by giving them a burden – which we see in verses 29 and 30?

I finished last Sunday’s sermon by saying these words: A yoke is for working. His yoke is easy. A burden is toilsome. He bestows a burden that is light. Jesus does not promise a rest of laziness. His promise of rest comes also with a promise of work. His way to lift your burden is by giving you a different sort of burden. And when you take up this yoke, and lift this burden, in a way that seems strange to the world, you will find rest for your soul.

Purpose

This is our aim today: to explore the strange sort of rest that Jesus offers, a rest that comes through work.

As you know, while we were in Marrakech we spoke with many Moroccans. I was surprised by how highly they spoke of Americans. Multiple times they singled out one attribute of Americans that they admired. Can you guess what it is? Our work ethic. Generally speaking, people of other countries often regard Americans as hard working.

And for the most part, I don’t think they’re wrong. We do work hard. We are an industrious people. Just take for example one of the most common responses to the question, “How have you been?” “Busy.” “Life is so busy right now.” And everyone accepts that answer as a good answer. They are busy too. It’s good to be busy.

Though some cultures admire the American work ethic, there are others that don’t understand. When Meg and I were in Zambia some years ago, we very quickly learned their name for white people: mzungu. It means “a person who walks in circles,” a restless person. To them, our work ethic just looks like senseless restlessness.

And for the most part, I don’t think they’re wrong. Most of us work at least 8 hours a day, then there are meetings on top of that, there are projects at home, chores that need to get done, hobbies to pursue. We pour ourselves into our children and/or grandchildren. Even our vacations become so full that when we get home, we could use a little vacation.

This is often how my life feels and I’m sure you can relate. Lots of things to do, and almost all of those things are good. But it’s the good things that will kill us. Genesis 3 says that fruit hanging from that forbidden tree was a delight to the eyes – it looked really good. But there was death in that fruit. Perhaps there is death in all the many things we are doing, even if they seem good. There is death in busyness.

Mandarin Character for Busy

So many of us fill our lives with busyness, with good things that will kill our hearts. So ask yourself: Do you really need to start that new project? Do you really need to take on those extra hours at work? Do you really need another hobby? Do your kids really need to be doing another activity?

These can all be good things – and sometimes the answer to those questions is “yes” – but if we allow busyness to go unchecked in our lives, then our lives will be so choked by good things that we will starve to death. We become unable to find nourishment in Christ, our Bread of Life, who satisfies the rest our hearts crave.

I admit, Matthew 11:28-30 is not ultimately addressing busyness. But busyness has so infected the American psyche that it must be addressed. You see, we’ve bought a lie that if we work hard enough, we’ll earn approval, we’ll earn the right to rest, and we’ll teach our kids to do the same. But the dreadful reality is that busyness is separating us from Jesus and killing our hearts.

Let us not buy the lie! Let us not be choked by the cares of the world! We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. Christ has something altogether different for our lives. It is neither working ourselves to death nor is it sitting around on our hands and waiting for Him to make everything all better.

Again, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus has a yoke and a burden for us. A yoke is for work, but His work will be an easy delight. A burden is crushing, but His will lift our souls in unshakable peace.

4 Ways Our Christian Rest is Work

1. Wrestle to abide in Christ’s love.

If you have been a Christian for any amount of time, then you know that it is work to abide in Christ. But from Jesus’ own mouth, abiding is imperative.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. -John 15:5,7

Abiding is all about positioning yourself to experience the Father’s love for you. See how Jesus links His words and asking with abiding?

Of course, we find Jesus’ words in the Bible. We must be in His word! How else will you know God’s love for you if you do not know His word? And Jesus isn’t just asking us to intellectually know His word, but to abide in it. Meaning, His word is meant to house your heart.

A few minutes reading a passage, or merely reading a quick devotional, this is not how you abide. That’s more like checking off another box in a busy life. Abiding in Jesus’ words is to read it and meditate upon it. Spend time thinking about what you’re reading.

Ask some simple questions of the text. What does this teach me about God? What does it teach me about humanity? What commands can I obey and what sins should I avoid? Are there any promises to cling to?

As you read God’s word and seek to answer questions like these, you will find that your reading time will become more fruitful. You will feel yourself growing closer to Jesus. You’ll be in His word and His word will be in you. It is work, but you’ll be abiding.

Then there’s the asking. Asking God for things is the essence of prayer. As sinful humans, surrounded by painful work and heavy burdens, we have all the need. But our God – who is gentle and lowly in heart – He is generous beyond measure. He is so willing to give! How much more will we be at rest when we are trusting in His provision rather than trying to scrape it from the earth?

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Your heavenly Father knows all the things that you need.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

That is a statement of rest. Abide in God’s provision, abide in His word, and a rest will come to your soul that cannot be found in any other place.

2. Fight against the temptation to rest in anything other than Jesus.

As I have already mentioned with busyness, there are so many good things we can pursue. But if we pursue them as the world pursues them, we will not find rest, only turmoil and death.

And indeed, chasing rest in anything other than Jesus is to live in disobedience.

Those who formerly received the good news failed to enter [God’s rest] because of disobedience… Let us therefore strive to enter 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. -Hebrews 4:6,11

See again the inextricable link between rest and God’s word?

I love that statement: strive to enter [God’s] rest. It is work. It is striving. Fight against the temptation towards disobedience. First and foremost, disobedience is not believing that rest is found in God. Busyness, achievements, finances, vacations, activities, fame: Do not be tempted to find rest in these things!

Similarly, if lies begin to creep into your heart, fight against these temptations. The enemy want you to believe that God doesn’t love you, or that He grows inpatient with you because you haven’t done enough, or haven’t been obedient enough, or haven’t abided enough. These are lies that all of us fall into at some point or another. How dangerous it is if we abide in those lies – or give up, lie down, and rest in those lies!

Use God’s words to fight against such deceitful temptations! And what better place to go than to the end of Matthew 11? Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. He does not look down on you. He does not grow frustrated. He is not severe or indifferent or uncaring. He loves you; and still he calls, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

Fight against the temptation to rest in anything other than Jesus. Though we can be disobedient, He is patient. His forgiveness and grace cannot be measured. Come back to the good news of Jesus Christ – slain for sinners, risen as our life, King over heaven and earth – come and rest in this gospel news!

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. -Galatians 5:1

3. Lift each other’s burdens.

All of us struggle a great deal with abiding and fighting temptation. Where Christ has given us rest, we so quickly mutate it into labor. On top of this, we all feel the weight of the burdens of life. And if nothing changes, we will be crushed.

But just as Christ lifts our burdens, so has He given us to each other – brothers and sisters in Christ – to help ease the weight and soften the work.

Listen to these verses.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

-Galatians 6:2

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” -Romans 15:1-3

When we were in Marrakech, we all felt the burden of our work: the oppression of Islam, the struggle for the women to find English speakers, and not seeing anyone respond positively to the gospel. And then we met three brothers – two missions workers and one Moroccan. They prayed over us and for us, praised our efforts, quoted Scripture, and spoke to our hearts.

I can truly say that though we were already exhausted from a full day, and it was late, and we talked for hours, we walked away recharged, ready for more, with a renewed eagerness to work for the gospel. We were filled with spiritual energy, as if we had just rested.

By divine appointment, those men helped to bear our burden. It was beautiful.

So, when you are speaking to someone, and you learn of a burden that weighs on them, don’t wait. Pray for them in that moment, even if it is only a sentence or two. It is so powerful when we care for each other through prayer.

Jesus gives us the words of life. If we abide in Him, then His words abide in us. Let us also let those words out. Speak Scripture to one another. We get more advice than we want to hear, and opinions are cheap. But how rare and precious it is when a loving person speaks just the right Scripture into a situation. What if we were a people that intentionally and lovingly pulled treasures from pages of the Bible, and spoke them into each other’s lives? It was so good when those men did this for us.

Praying for each other and encouraging each other is so important, so also are practical ways to serve. Sometimes we lift people’s burdens by bringing them a meal, or helping them move, or paint, or mow the grass. We can care for children, or visit the sick, or spend time with the lonely. There’s a thousand ways we can serve one another and work to lift the burdens of others.

Let me now quote to you our (Matlack’s) family verse.

I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you…I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. -2 Corinthians 12:14-15

There is something joyful in helping to lift a person’s burdens. Paul says he did it gladly. Certainly, it is hard work! But whether it is through prayer, scriptural encouragement, or service; it is a joy to help people with their burdens. I have experienced it again and again: when the Spirit of Christ has used me in such a way, my heart feels peace, a satisfaction. I might be exhausted afterwards, but my soul is at rest.

4. Work to advance the gospel advance.

It is impossible to read the Bible and not see that there is incredible joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately, upon Jesus’ birth, the angel proclaimed to the shepherds:

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. -Luke 2:10

Great joy! When your heart is filled with great joy, anything you put your hand to, will be a delight. With joy in your heart your work will ease, and your burdens lighten. The news of Jesus is for all the people, to fill their hearts with great joy!

And what a joy it is to watch the joy of the Lord come rushing in to someone’s heart. In all my days following Jesus, there is nothing more energizing and joyful than seeing Christ transform a life, and a soul go from death to life.

All around us people are suffocating under the weight of their burdens. They are struggling to scratch rest from the ruins of their lives, but apart from Christ they will find no rest. The word of Christ is in our hearts, we must proclaim it! We must tell them that there is another way! Do not let your silence condemn them to an eternal restlessness.

“The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

-Isaiah 57:20-21

Jesus took our restless wickedness, our greatest burden, upon His shoulders at the cross. And when He died, He killed that burden. He killed our shame. He annihilated our guilt. He destroyed our brokenness. He cleansed us of all our wickedness.

This beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, did not stay dead, but rose from the grave. And when He did, He secured eternal life for any who would believe Him enough to obey Him. Though there is joyful, peaceful, hope-filled rest for today; He secured a rest that will never end.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” -Revelation 14:13

Your neighbors need to hear about Jesus, and your coworkers, and the people at the grocery store, and the lost in Morocco and Malaysia and Thailand and Russia. There is good news of great joy they must hear, and the Son of God shed His blood that they might know how much God has loved them!

Brothers and sisters, Christ has made us new creations and sent us out as His ambassadors! He has commissioned us to make disciples of the nations! It is your purpose. It is the command over your life. And when you take up Christ’s command – no matter how difficult it may be, no matter the sufferings you may face – your soul will be at rest. For you will know that you have given your mouth, and your life, in obedience to the King of all kings.

Your soul will know no greater rest than that.

So let us wrestle to abide, fight temptation, lift each other’s burdens, and strive to advance the gospel. Though this is a tremendous work, it is an easy yoke and a light burden.

There is one more detail to point out from our passage today. Look at verse 29. Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” I want you to see that this is a learning process.

As with anything we are learning, we start by making lots of mistakes. Jesus knows this, and in His gentle and lowly heart, He is patient with us. Rest in the truth that He treats us tenderly.

But to truly learn, we have to be intentional, we have to exert effort, we have to work at it. It’s not something to put off until later – when the kids are less needy, when work slows down, when you get past this latest hurdle. These things are for now! The work begins now! And the more you put towards it, the more your soul will know rest. Throw away your excuses, they’re killing you; and people are dying all around you. Jesus offers you rest through this glorious yoke!

And while we are learning, and making mistakes, and having successes, proclaiming the gospel, always laboring for Christ; we must constantly heed His call.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let misfortune, sin, death, and whatever the devil and the world loads upon you assail and assault you, if only you remain confident and undismayed, waiting upon the Lord in faith, you have already won, you have already escaped death and far surpassed the devil and the world. -From Martin Luther’s Final Sermon¹

1(2022, February 18) The Last Sermon of Martin Luther, Preached In Eisleben, Matthew 11:25-30, February 15, 1546. Immanuel Lutheran Church. https://immanuellutheran.net/2022/02/18/the-last-sermon-of-martin-luther-preached-in-eisleben-matthew-1125-30-february-15-1546/