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We Find Our Rest.. In His Cross
We Find our Rest in His Cross
Matt 11:25-30
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† IHS †
As we learn the depth of the grace of God, how it floods our lives, may we learn to trust as children, leaving our burdens behind, and learning to rest in His presence!
A Parker Parable….
Being a Christian is like Playing Golf…..
It leaves me a little in awe how often my life includes lessons that coincide with the message of the sermon for the week. It happens most weeks, sometimes multiple the same lesson learned through the experience of several lessons, and sometimes one of them is perfect to use in the sermon. When those happen, I call them “Pastor Parker’s Parables” even though they are the lessons I learn…the one’s I’ve been taught.
So get ready, this week, the parable is that, “Living the Christian Life is like playing golf!”
No, I don’t mean the part about the frustration, the anger, losing things left and right, from golf balls going in the water to one’s temper, to all desire to keep going.
Well, those things are included, it’s what called the law….
But there is another aspect to golf, that is not about suffering, but actually develops character, and joy….
A Little Success is a dangerous thing!!!!
The day on the course starts our great… well, great for me. Nice strong drives… decent bogies, nothing too pathetic. Then, on the par 5…. confident in my drive, the ball dribbles off the tee, it wouldn’t even make it to the parking lot! The next 6 hits went about as far, one even bouncing off of three trees to land at the base of the first one! The next hole – a par three (that mean you meet the standard by getting the ball in the hole on the third “hit”) the penalty strokes for getting the ball in the water exceed par on their own! Frustration is set in, every possible change to my swing is being analyzed…… I am relying on every bit of wisdom.. and failing.
We are like that in life, things can be going well, we can be doing good, and then confident, we try to do everything on our own, We want to decide not only what is good and right, but we become wise in our own eyes, trying to solve the messes we get into, because we think it is all about us.
Most of us, at one time or another, fall into the trap that Jesus so clearly describes, when He describes those “who think themselves wise and clever.”
Not that we would use those words, but how often do we try to run our lives? How often do we set aside God’s word and do things that we think will be beneficial to us, without considering its effect on others, or on us. The more our playing God fails, the digger the hole we dig ourselves in, Or instead of trying to run our own lives, it is telling others how they should live, or helping them justify their playing god, in the way they deal with others.
Ultimately, all sin, any time we break any of the commandments boil down to our thinking we know what’s best. Somehow we think we are wiser, or more clever than God. That we can handle it all on our own, without any help from Him, or those He sends.
Not only do owe not measure up, but we get more and more frustrated, until we want to give in, or give up…..or just hurl a golf club farther than the ball we hit with it went.
Playing God doesn’t lead to peace, but just frustration and anger and anxiety and….. we don’t ever find ourselves measuring up. We find ourselves so far from par, from being righteous, from being the people God came to share life with, eternal life, that is.
Even long after we’ve left the course, we are going to feel the frustration, the tension, the disappointment in ourselves. We will go from thinking we are perfect, to condemning ourselves, putting ourselves down, and giving up what we love, and are meant to do.
No, I am not talking about golf, but the lesson can be seen there as well.
Finding the Ability to Cease, to Give Up Control…
If those who find themselves wise and understanding struggle, it is amazing to see that the simple, that the naïve, that the very childlike do not.
It is because of the ease, the natural way they come to trust in God, to know Him, to walk with Him. How they accept what is revealed to them by God.
It’s not that they don’t sin, but they learn to seek forgiveness, to count on mercy, quickly. They get to know the Son of God and therefore the Father.
And when Jesus says come, knowing His love, knowing the joy of walking with Him, they come.
And find rest, they find the ability to relax and cease their struggles in life. They learn to stop trying to force life to go the way they think is best, and just revel in His presence.
That is the key to live, it is what those who think they are wise cannot figure out. It is because it is something beyond figuring out, beyond our capacity to comprehend.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t experience it….
The Rest….
It has been said that it is not the power of the swing that causes a golf ball to sail far, but the smoothness of that swing. That a relaxed smooth that might appear to be effortless will cause it to go farther than one is far more powerful but is forced.
The same is true for a believer in Christ.
There is Jesus, saying come to me, and I will give you rest…
I love how the paraphrased translation the Message says this….
29 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. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:29-30 (MSG)
That’s what the yokes are for, as we see in Hosea,
“4 I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.”
The blessing of being yoked to Christ is learning to live in His grace, His love, His peace. It isn’t about God controlling us, or turning us into robots, it’s about teaching us to live.
When you go through physical therapy after surgery, as many of us have done around here, as some are doing right now, the therapists aren’t just trying to cause us pain, but teach us how to move again, so that other places don’t give out. What seems like a curse, or may cause a curse or two, is there to help us live as free as possible.
When a golf instructor has you swing the club over and over, without hitting anything, he’s conditioning you body to do what is right. Same for the martial arts instructor who makes you punch the same spot in front of you 10,000 times.
Hear the Message again,
29 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. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:29-30 (MSG)
Where do we walk, bound to jesus? Learning His grace?
To the cross, and then to the resurrection.
To see God’s handiwork through all of life – even suffering, even death…for even there, in the shadows of death…. we find His life…eternal, everlasting, immortal.
We can stop guessing, we can stop trying to play God, or pretending we are wise and clever.
We can move with Him, through our baptism, to the altar. To look upon His sacrifice, His body given for us, His blood shed to seal His contract with us, to seal us to Him. We can move with Him, as He takes our burdens, as He takes our cares, and anxieties, and binds Himself to us, that we may know how to live.
To live, now as well as then, in a peace that passes all understanding, a peace in which we are kept, heart and soul… guarded by Jesus Himself.
AMEN?
A Blog of/for the Tired and Wondering if it all Matters…
English: Jesus Christ saving the souls of the damned. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Discussion/Devotional Thought of the Day:
25 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. 26 Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 27 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? 28 All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, 29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. 30 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? 31 What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32 People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:25-34 (MSG)
When you pray, but see nothing, and feel flustered and dry, then the way is this: don’t think of yourself. Instead, turn your eyes to the Passion of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Be convinced that he is asking each one of us, as he asked those three more intimate Apostles of his in the Garden of Olives, to “Watch and pray”. (1)
This morning, I am a more than a bit anxious. more than a bit distracted, more than a bit pessimistic about life, and in someways, about the future.
I know part of it is being tired… a long day of driving yesterday… and still recovering from surgery. Part of it is based on what seems to be overload from dealing with some very serious issues within my denomination and the direction it will head. A direction that will very seriously impact the church’s mission of bringing Christ’ love and peace into the world seems to be the way we are being lead. (I know God will work through others… He always His people get stubborn and centered on the wrong things… but I still grieve to see it) And a million other details for which, post surgery, I know I am not ready to deal with, from the idea of strength.
And looking at it all, I have to wonder whether it is worth it at all. Whether the weakness and dryness I feel this morning, will ever be diminished. I wonder if my “neither optimist or pessimist but let’s drink the liquid in the glass” will return.
The fussiness seems to be dominant, (others versions use anxious or worried) easily distracting me from the peace that I know is ours. I have trouble seeing how the “everyday human concerns” and the concern for our churches will be dealt with, never mind how they will work for good for those God has called, those whom He loves.
I opened the wrong book for reading at the end of my devotions yesterday. Meant to open “the Way”, opened on my Kindle, “the Forge” instead. There was St. Josemaria’s quote, hitting me in the face. This morning the gospel passage came to mind… and I know, in the midst of my despair, the hope that is always there. I realize the promise are not in vain, even in the darkness of the day. God is working, the cross is near, the resurrection and immanent as the incarnation. And the gateways of Hell will not be able to stand against God’s will, against the truth that Jesus is the Chosen and Annointed One.. that He is our Savior, and the Lord who loves and cares for His people.
It’s enough… to help me to refocus, to remember that passion of Christ… to count on it… even when, especially when… the gettup and go… fails…………
“The Lord is with you!” (exclamation intended) I will cry tomorrow… and know it today…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2717-2721). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Why I Love the Old Testament (justifiedandsinner.com)
- What Do We Choose to Invite into our Lives? (justifiedandsinner.com)
Overwhelmed? Broken?
Quote to ponder this day:
When you have fallen or when you find yourself overwhelmed by the weight of your wretchedness, repeat with a firm hope: Lord, see how ill I am; Lord, you who died on the Cross for love of me, come and heal me. Be full of confidence, I insist. Keep on calling out to his most loving Heart. As he cured the lepers we read about in the Gospel, He will cure you. (1)
As i read this quote this morning, I recoiled a bit at the phrasing, especially “the weight of your wretchedness”. Wretched? Isn’t that a bit strong? I mean, my life certainly faces a lot of “challenges”, but “wretched”?
If I am honest, those “challenges” do weigh heavily on me, as can the guilt and shame that comes with dealing effectively with those challenges. I want to face them on my own, have the wisdom to deal with them, and I often instead cower in fear, or at least become paralyzed by it. I don’t think my wretchedness is just about my sin, though it obviously would include it. But we live in a broken world, and we live among broken people, and the situation at times does seem “wretched”, and that there is no way out. If I dwell on it long enough, I can become depressed and bitter towards God, – why haven’t You helped me!
It is then that a friend, or a passage like this shows up, and my world which was turned upside down… become at peace.
I may have to cry out to Him until I am exhausted and fall mercifully to sleep. It’s not because He isn’t answering, He does and I am often so overwhelmed, so wretched I don’t hear Him clearly. For what He will say is often not what I want to hear, but it is always there,, and is effective.
James talks about the prayer of a righteous man is very very effective – so is it that I am not righteous enough? Interestingly, that question’s answer is found in itself – the reason someone is counted righteous is because they trust God. because they know His presence, and rejoice in Christ. It is when we draw close, that we find those answers, that peace, that assurance in the middle of being overwhelmed, of being wretched. The situation doesn’t change as much as we think – what changes is that we are not as concerned as we are in awe…
So are you overwhelmed, has the situation nearly crushed you? Or at least, do you think it has? Keep crying out to God – until your heart is ready to listen, to be set at peace. I love the bullet point before the one quoted above, for it states why this is effective.
“Let us marvel at the lovable paradox of our Christian condition: it is our own wretchedness which leads us to seek refuge in God, to become “like unto God”. With him we can do all things.” (1)
Jesus said it this way:
6:31 What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. 32 People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. 33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:31-34 (MSG)
Lord, have mercy upon us, and as we are seeking that mercy, draw us through it to be aware of You Presence.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 927-931). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
