The Rest of Your Life

2-17-2008 message by Pastor Rich Doebler

I ran across this recently: If you can start the day without caffeine; if you can get going without pep pills; if you can always be cheerful—ignoring aches and pains; if you can resist boring people by complaining about your troubles; if you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it; if you can understand when your loved ones can't give you any time; if you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when through no fault of yours something goes wrong; if you can take criticism and blame without resentment; if you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him; if you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend; if you can deal with the world without lies and deceit; if you can conquer tension without medical help; if you can relax without liquor; if you can sleep without the aid of drugs; if you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, or politics; then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog. [From "Mikey's Funnies," (6-26-02)]

But if you're not a dog, what's the best way to deal with stress? Here's what Jesus said...

Matt 11:28-30 (NIV) ²⁸ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Our country is afflicted with a disease—an extremely contagious disease. If it were a virus, it'd be good to get a vaccination against it. Most everyone you know has battled this disease at some level or another. So, what's the disease we've been infected with?

Busyness. Our culture has infected us with busyness. We feel over-committed. Stressed out. Burned out. Weighed down with obligations. Our time is eaten up with work assignments, expectations of friends, daily duties, and routine responsibilities.

The problem is not just the busyness. It's that the demands on our time and energies also make us feel we have less time to commit to things that really matter—to eternal things, to spiritual things.

So we put our recreation ahead of worshiping God—and we excuse our extracurricular activities because we're "focusing on the family." 

We put social pastimes ahead of spiritual disciplines. We expend ourselves on the job or in some community group and then come home exhausted. We watch TV to unwind—maybe for hours—but we doze off if we try to read God's Word for ten minutes.

We know what nights our favorite shows are on but forget about Wednesday night Bible study classes at church. We drop our kids off for religious training while we run to Wal-Mart to squeeze in an extra shopping trip.

Some of you might be saying, "Yeah, that describes a lot of people pretty well. But thank God, it doesn't describe me."

Unfortunately, busyness has infected the church as well. In fact, some people try to earn God's favor with religious busyness. They're busy doing stuff for God—and they've created a different kind of crazy lifestyle for themselves, a "hectic" holiness, a "frantic" faith.

Religious busyness can be just as bad as social busyness. Just because our chaotic activity is church related doesn't make it healthy. Some people may even fall into the trap of thinking that their religious busyness is somehow winning them points with God.

(I remember the man who bragged about all he was doing for God: "God, I thank you I'm not like all the sinners, thieves, and losers who don't do anything for you. Why, I fast twice a week! I give a tenth of all my income."  But Jesus said this man, for all his religious busyness, was not justified before God. [Luke 18:11-12])

Today we're starting a new series of messages entitled "Calming the Chaos."  In this series, we'll talk about how our faith intersects with our everyday lives: on the job, in our relationships, dealing with material things, growing deeper in God, and finding rest for our souls.

I'm hoping we can recapture the simplicity of our faith in Christ. Some people make their religion so complicated! They've simply replaced secular chaos with spiritual chaos. But we're not interested in increasing religious activity; we simply want our spiritual lives to deepen and our love for God to grow stronger.

Let me be clear up front. I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved in community events. I'm not saying school, sports, community events are wrong. Far from it! I believe God wants us to be fully engaged in life—to be part of our society. God's plan for spiritual growth is not living alone in a cave or up on a mountain. You don't have to join a monastery to be holy.

One guy wanted to escape from his crazy, hectic life and decided to join a monastery where silence was the primary discipline. They were only permitted to say two words a year. They ate in silence. They studied in silence. They did their chores in silence. At the end of the first year the new monk was brought into the superior's office so he could utter his two words for the year. "Food cold," he said. He was dismissed back to his monastic existence where he lived in silence until the end of his second year. Once again he was brought into the superior's office to say his two words. "Bed hard," he said. He was sent back to his place to live in silence for yet another year. At the end of his third year, he was brought into the superior's office to say his two words. "I quit," he said. And his superior said, "I'm not surprised. You've been complaining ever since you got here."

What I'm saying is that God wants us to find a healthy balance in all these things. While we want to calm the chaos in our lives, we should really refocus ourselves on what really matters. We should zero in on God's priorities—more than our own interests, more than our kids', more than our boss's.

In the last book of the Bible, the Lord delivered a message to the church at Ephesus. He was disappointed with them because they "left their first love" (Rev 2:4).

Their priorities were messed up: they were quite religious; they were spiritually active; they were known for their deeds, their hard work, their perseverance, their endurance. But they had left their first love. All of our activities and obligations and stress-filled lives can cause us to become like those early Christians—busy, hard workers, persistent, who left their first love.

If someone were to evaluate your life based on how you spend your time and energy, what would they say was your first love? If someone were to measure your sense of peace against your level of busyness or anxiety, what would they say about your spiritual life?

We can fight the disease of busyness—along with the symptoms of weariness, heavy-burdens, and anxieties. We can reduce the hectic pace of our everyday lives.

Jesus offers a simple solution for those who are worn out by life's demands. For those who are carrying heavy loads of obligations and responsibilities. His solution? "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  (1) Come to Jesus; (2) Receive his rest.

Jesus is not talking about physical exhaustion from a literal load or burden. He's talking about the emotional stress and mental weariness caused by the weight of worries or the burden of too many expectations and responsibilities.

Again this week we heard in the news about someone who was pushed over the edge. He couldn't handle the pressure, and something snapped. And so this honors student methodically assembled his weapons, went to a lecture hall at DeKalb University, and began shooting. We don't know what was behind it all—mental illness, drugs, an emotional breakdown, severe depression, or something else. Whatever it was, it seems like he fit the description of the person Jesus was talking about—he was "weary and burdened (NIV)...tired from carrying heavy loads (TEV)."

We don't know what was behind it, but what we do know is that our society is feeling more stressed out than ever. What we do know is that people are facing more pressures and greater demands these days. And for each one weighed down by stress, worn out and tired, Jesus says, "Come...rest."

Sometimes it's finances that add to our stress. We want a higher standard of living—so we'll work extra hours or take an extra job or have two wage earners in the home to achieve that higher standard. Or we use plastic to buy want we want—and then face the stress of 18 percent interest charges (or higher) on the unpaid balance. More stress! But Jesus says, "Come...rest." Let go of the stress. Let go of the unnecessary extras.

Sometimes it's family that increases our load. If both husband and wife are working, then you've got to deal finding the right kind of childcare arrangements. And of course you're expected to be at every game for every sport every one of your kids is in. More stress!

Some of you are in the "Sandwich" Generation—caught between the often conflicting demands of raising children and caring for the needs of aging parents or other relatives. Others of you may be have "boomerang" adult children—they were out on their own, but now they've returned home again. Whatever family issues you face, Jesus says, "Come...rest." Let me help you and your family.

Sometimes it's just the fast pace of life that adds to our pressure. We have computers and cell phones and all sorts of modern conveniences and gadgets, designed to make life easier. But often they only raise the bar on what we expect ourselves to do. Instead of being time-saving, they are work-increasing.

A piece in the Christian Management Report says that the average office worker gets 220 messages a day—in e-mails, memos, phone calls, interruptions, and ads. It cited a survey of 1,313 managers on four continents that found "one-third of managers suffer from ill health as a direct consequence of stress associated with information overload... 43 percent among senior managers." [Kevin Miller, "Managing Chaos," Christian Management Report (June 2006), p. 9]

Reminds me of the kid who was saying the Lord's Prayer. He did well until he came to the end and got it wrong: "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from email." On second thought, maybe he got it right.

Whatever it is that has you stressed or over-committed, Jesus says: "Come to me...and I will give you rest."  What does that rest look like?

1.     It restores your soul. It helps us recover from the stress and the strain. Jesus lifts the burden to refresh, renew, and reenergize us.

I've heard of people who get a complete "make-over." Spa treatments, mud packs, tummy tucks, face-lifts, the whole nine yards. But we don't need a face-lift! What we really need is s "faith-lift." We need rest and restoration for our soul!

A couple weeks ago in the extreme cold weather, my car started complaining loudly. It was growling and whining. Then the steering became more labored. I started it up one night and could hardly turn the steering wheel. This problem was more than cold weather. So I added some power steering fluid—and immediately the car sighed a deep sigh of relief. No more complaining. No more growling. The steering became easy. All because there was fluid in the hydraulic system.

That's what Jesus is like to our weary, burdened lives. He restores the Spirit in our hydraulic system. Often in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is pictured as oil—soothing, healing, anointing oil. Holy Spirit oil is what refreshes us...it's what gives us power.

...turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord... (Acts 3:19).

... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you... (Acts 1:8).

2.     It balances your life. Jesus gives us rest—not so we can be shiftless and lazy, not so someone else can serve us—but so we can develop a healthy balance between grace that saves and works of righteousness.

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:8-10).

MSG: ²⁸ ...Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. ²⁹ Walk with me and work with me— watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace... (Matt 11:28-29)

3.     It gives you purpose. Jesus gives us refreshing rest—but he also gives us a yoke: something to do.

What is a yoke? THREE PICTURES: Not an egg yolk... But something designed to accomplish work!

A yoke is a piece of wood that links two animals like oxen together to pull a load. The image of the yoke in ancient times is an image of work... hard labor... a heave burden... oppression. A yoke was something negative, something to be avoided.

Ex 6:6  ...the yoke of the Egyptians...

1Ki 12:4  ...harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us...

Isa 58:6 ...to set the oppressed free and break every yoke...

Jer 28:2  ...the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

But the yoke Jesus gives is different. "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light," he says.

How was the yoke of Jesus different? First of all, it is easy. Easy? How can a yoke be "easy"? The original Greek word meant good, useful, manageable, fit for use. A yoke had to be tailor-made, measured carefully to fit each ox individually or else it would chafe and rub and hurt the ox. Jesus has a tailor-made plan designed to fit you and you alone.

Second, his yoke is light. His yoke is not designed to wear us out or break us down. It's not about hard labor, it's about love! SONG: "He ain't heavy, he's my brother."

Paul wrote: "...Christ's love compels us..." (2 Cor 5:14).

His yoke gives us purpose, meaning, accomplishment, significance. We are yoked with Jesus to do his will. Teamed with him to share his love. Walking beside him to fulfill his plan.

One pastor put it like this: "You become a Christian by coming to Christ, but you learn how to live as a Christian, how to live the Christian life, by taking Christ's yoke upon you. You cannot really live the Christian life until you assume the yoke of Christ." (Ray Stedman)

To take on Jesus' yoke means to be linked together with him. To take on his yoke means you go where he goes, you line up with his purposes, you submit to his leadership. It means he is your Savior; but it also means he is your Lord.

Are you weary? Worn out? Burdened down with cares and troubles? Come to Jesus. Receive his rest. Get rid of all the yokes of oppression and take Jesus' yoke upon you.