Time of year where we set goals and resolutions…
- Todd even dragged me to Manly Surf Club on Friday to do a rowing session on the erg…
- I’ve been saying to Victoria I am never more than 6 weeks away from peak fitness for the last 13 years… still untested!
- But it is good to start a new year with fresh vision and goals and purpose!
- What kind of life do you hope for in 2025?
- And how would you actually see this come to pass in the midst of all the busyness and struggle to stay afloat?
But whatever we set out hearts and minds to, the question I want to ask is, how can do this from a place of rest?
- And I want to contrast that to a life of sin and striving…
- And I think the two are linked…
- We live in a city that values busyness. We often wear it as a badge of honour that we are under the pump!
- Not to downplay hard work! My gosh, we are called to be productive and not lazy or entitled…
- Indeed the book of Proverbs particularly berates the lazy and tells us to study the ants and to learn from them!
- But there is a sweet spot in the Christian life where we stop striving and sinning and begin to enter into the rest of God. We operate from a different reality.
- It’s like we get a new operating system that reboots us. The old striving glitches cease and we begin to run as God intended…
Bible project video summarised what it meant to be the people of God…
- One of the reasons I love these videos (and I recommend them highly) is that they give a biblical theology of the big themes in the scripture.
- And biblical theology is simply that… it traces the big story of the bible through concepts like light and darkness or grace or kingship
- It’s actually a really good way to get into the bible…
- So you can do that yourself. Take something like the theme of God being a shepherd and then trace it all the way through the bible culminating in Jesus!
- So this one traces the theme of rest, sabbath and the time of jubilee.
So the bible paints a story of humanity being in this place of sin and striving! Working endlessly with no real rest…
- Of course it is not how the story starts… In Genesis, God creates for 6 days and then rests… his good creation is brought to completion…
- And I think we live in the 7th day… but unfortunately it isn’t as it was meant to be.
- The fall (where Adam and Eve sin) means work and slavery to sin and struggle define humanities story…
- Which is why we have to work and even sometimes struggle to survive…
God says in Genesis 3, “by the sweat of the brow you will eat your food.”
- And it says God banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden to work the ground.
- So why is life tough, why is life broken and full of struggle?
- Well Christians say it is because of the fall. Sin has entered the world. So things are not as they were intended to be.
- But it doesn’t end there… no, God wants to restore humanity to his rest…
- And he chooses the nation of Israel to be his people… to come into his blessing by following his ways and will.
- You still with me?
So they are invited to live in the blessings of God… part of this is taking a whole day off to rest and enjoy his presence. Right? Sabbath is important…
- Indeed sabbath was a command from God… imagine that – you are commanded by God as a part of the 10 commandments to rest!
- But to be in God’s rest is a bigger picture than just not working one day a week… it is to actually be a foretaste of a restored people and creation.
- That is why in the video it refers to the verses where they were to rest the land, they were to forgive debts, they were to have a year of jubilee every 49 years where things are restored…
You can read about it in Leviticus 25
- This would be a year of celebration and rest, dedicated to the Lord.
- It is one of the greatest examples of social and communal mercy in the Old Testament.
- Debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and property was returned. The people were to learn mercy by giving mercy.
- And this year of Jubilee, this year of restoration, was a physical reminder of the even greater rest God wanted to shower upon his people in His Kingdom to come
So it all points toward how things are meant to be, and of course to a future rest…
- Ultimately though, for Israel, they forfeit all of this through disobedience… historians argue over whether jubilee was ever really practiced… or if land was ever really rested ect.
- And yet there is hope… the prophets point to a coming messiah who would lead God’s people into his rest!
- So the Prophet Isaiah paints a picture of what is to come!
In Isaiah 32:15-18 it says,
“the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field.
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.”
It’s a beautiful picture right?
- So, Jesus fulfils this mandate – ultimate rest will come though him…
- So he bursts onto the scene, liberating people from Luke 4 like things… captivity, oppression, blindness, poverty!
- Indeed that Luke 4 passage is a fulfilment of Isaiah 61 and the promise of jubilee!
Right – all the things that Jesus comes to offer, restores people from the fall and the struggle of life. Sickness is overcome, poverty is dealt with, oppression is freed!
- And it culminates with his death and resurrection which brings about the new creation…
- Sin, evil, death all get defeated… and a new era begins in which you and I can be the children of God.
- And so we live in the age between the struggle and the rest… yeah?
- The full restoration is still a future thing when we die or Jesus comes again…
- But we are to live and experience this new time when heaven is invading earth… where we foretaste the good things that reverse the fall, sin and brokenness….
So let me say this clearly – your Christian faith should be making a massive difference in your life!
- Right?
- You should be quite different to the person you once were.
- If your life is more marked by struggle and sin and oppression… then we need to disciple or apprentice to Jesus to learn his new ways!
So what is the offer of Jesus – well its maybe never more clearly articulated than in Matthew 11:28
Jesus says, “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.” (Read again – slow)
Just exegete what Jesus is saying here… because it is so important!
- Now the yoke refers to what? No not the yellow part of an egg… that’s a yolk, not a yoke.
- A yoke is what was laid upon oxen who worked in the fields… (picture)
- Do you see where this is going? Remember that a part of the fall is to work and toil the soil…
- So Jesus says, you are either going to have the yoke of the fall which is sin and struggle and the burden of the law…
- Or you have the yoke of Jesus… come on!
- Is this on?
A while back Victoria and I watched Two Popes on Netlfix – wonderful film!
- It tells the story of Benedict (who retired from being Pope) and Francis (who is the current Pope)
- And it tells the story of two very different Christian leaders…
- Benedict who is legalistic and driven, and defined by keeping the law. He eats alone, he keeps secrets, he is seen as judgemental. You can kind of see a heavy yoke on his shoulders…
- And then there is Benedict, the Argentinian Archbishop who he gets to know…
- He is scarred and bruised by life and history… and yet a man of the people, more gracious and simple and kind…
- And he has been a Pope who has walked amongst the people, washed feet, fed the poor, seemingly less driven and more comfortable in his own shoes.
- Anyhow watch the film… but the idea is there are ways of living…
You cant have no yoke in this life… something will be steering you. You will be working for someone… yes, you still have to labour… the question is what yoke will you wear?
- Will it be heavy and burdening… will it make you tired and weary?
- Or will you receive from Jesus his yoke to guide you?
- Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden is light…
In Leviticus 26:13 God says; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
- Right? This is the business God is in…
- In the Old Testament God literally breaks the yoke of slavery… that is what the people had controlling them…
- And what God does physically in the OT, he often does spiritually in the NT…
- So all of the sin in your life, all of the struggle in your life, is the yoke of the fall…
- Jesus says come to me… my yoke is easy, and my burden in light…
- What God does in freeing them from actual slavery in Egypt in the OT is now done for all humanity who will come to him…
- That is, by Jesus, by freeing us from slavery to sin and things that bind us!
You know you speak to someone who is under fierce opposition or oppression or addiction and they will tell you what it is like to have a heavy yoke!
- Or a perfectionist or law keeper who can never feel peace or rest…
- Right, there is no rest… you are under a heavy yoke.
- Right? You could be under the yoke of needing constant approval leading you into all kinds of bad actions and attention seeking behaviours
- You could be under the yoke of striving, always needing more, a better house, a better car, a better waist line, a better job… but never feeling fulfilled.
- You could be under the yoke of addiction or bad habits…
- So Jesus says take off every other yoke… come to me… and receive…
Listen to Eugene Peterson’s translation of Matthew 11:28. He puts it this way… (Jesus says)
28 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
So that’s the invitation… get away with Jesus… walk with him, work with him… watch how he does it!
- Jesus says I’ll show you how to take a real rest!
- Right? Whole new ways of being and living and operating…
- Learn from him the unforced rhythms of grace…
- In other words, patterns of life that make you live a little lighter… a little more forgiving
- A little less trying to please everyone… a little less constantly struggling to establish yourself…
- Unforced rhythms of grace… right? Watch how Jesus does it… learn from him…
- And you do that how? Well get to know him this year? Study him this year.
- Imitate his life this year! Be more like him this year.
- And everything else is what? It is a heavy, ill fitting yoke!
One of our main mission partners is African Enterprise and it was founded by a wonderful man named Michael Cassidy…
- I was privileged to be at the 40th anniversary celebrations, 20 years ago in South Africa….
- I remember him telling the story of how Pastors would come to him and brag about working 65 hours a week and never taking a break…
- And waiting for him to say how amazing and hard working they are…instead he would chastise them. Tell them to work less, spend time with family, model sabbath to their people.
One of those comments in a sermon 20 years on that has stuck with me…
- And not just because I enjoy rest and holidays…
- But the burn out rate of Pastors is scary… I hear about Pastors going on stress leave and burn out all the time…
- I remember one Pastor telling me that of his year group of bible college he was the last one left in ministry….
- And we are meant to be the ones modelling the Christian life to our communities!
- Right… So… Jesus says “Come to me”.
- Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
- Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
- Learn the unforced rhythms of grace
And what is it like in your industry or profession? What is it like in your neighbourhood?
- I remember when I worked in corporate in London my boss’s boss was one of British Airways top 10 flyers… and he wore it as a badge of pride!
- And I remember thinking if that is where this is all heading, count me out. I want a family life, I want a church life, I want a LIFE!
- So I left the corporate world and went into a high burn out profession in Pastoring… haha!
But seriously, if we want to do things differently this year and operate with Jesus from rest and not sin and striving what are some practical things we can do? 2 Things… could be so many more..
- Like practising forgiveness…. Being less materialist… but 2 things…
- Spend time with Jesus – Bible in a year with Derek…
- Throw more parties… Make room at your table…
- Have a communal life where you share meals…
- Jon Tyson “I am learning that the church has nothing to say to the world until it throws better parties.”
Let’s finish there… But I do want to encourage us as we start the year…
Are you keen for that?
You God desires that you be a person who experiences his rest!
But there is only one way… come all who are weary and burdened.
Come to Jesus and receive from him and learn from him…
In 2025, why don’t you prioritise your faith and your Christian walk…
God wants to give you a life, in the midst of this broken world and the ongoing reality of sin, he wants you to taste a new way of living.