Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28
We are all restless souls. More so spiritually than physically. Jesus’ invitation speaks primarily to those who have not found peace with God. In God. They do not have a sense of the stillness that comes when the spirit is aligned with the power and grace of heaven. But they want it. The words of Jesus are a welcome mat to the human who is hard at work trying to please the Lord and do righteous things for God, without God. It is common for people to fall into this religious rut. And that is because it is in man’s nature to work, to appease, to stretch himself beyond himself to satisfy the expectations of something greater than himself. Truly, all of the great religions of the world encourage this attitude. They are work oriented. There is some duty that humanity is told they need to perform in order to make the god or gods happy. It is all about what the individual can do to satiate some angry, hungry, and fitful, self-absorbed deity. All this is done merely to have some false sense of temporary security and salvation.
Christianity is not one of those religions. However, its adherents sometimes find themselves slaves to the same thinking. If one could just do enough, perform enough, worship enough, spend time in devotion enough, serve enough, speak enough good words, think enough pure thoughts, then surely God will be pleased. Surely they will inherit the kingdom. But no, they inherit pride, spiritual burnout, and run into a dead end. After all of that work there is still no peace, no stillness, and no rest. This is why Jesus’ words are so profound, so calming. Because true religion is not about what man can do, it is about what Christ has done, can do, and is doing. Performance centered rituals will never satisfy God, or men. God does not need more humanism. He wants spiritually tired and worn out human beings to find their rest in His works, not their own.
Work is an institution, and so is rest. God thought so highly of man’s need for retirement and refreshment that He enshrined it in a day. The Sabbath is a day of rest for the human race. It is a cessation from secular work. But it is deeper than that. It is a sign of cessation from all work, especially the spiritual attempt to work one’s way into God’s favor or God’s heaven. Only the soul that has found peace in Christ, deliverance from sin, stillness in the Savior, comfort in the cross, and rest in the Redeemer, may learn the secret of the Sabbath day. Because this secret is not so well known and practiced, many think they are keeping the Sabbath when they do all of the right things and “put in the work” of attending church and listening to sermons. But they are not really honoring the day. Listen, if your spirit is not aligned with Jesus, if the work of Christ has not been accepted by you in place of your own works, then there is no real sense of the Sabbath. Only the resting soul can enter into the day of rest. Otherwise, Sabbath is just another day of “work”. Only of a different kind. Again, false religions encourage man to labor for God to earn eternal life. And that just won’t work. True religion is predicated upon the labor of the Father, Son, and Spirit. It is their efforts that give rest and Sabbath to mankind. And that works.
Join us this weekend at Clovis as we study The Life and Teachings of Jesus: Sabbath Days. We will learn how Jesus lived out the Sabbath and how Jesus’ conflicts with the Jews about the day of rest ought to inform our own beliefs and experience with Christianity. May God open up our understanding. Looking forward to worshipping the Lord with you!
Pastor Dean