We Americans mostly enjoy the luxury of being able to take vacations. We go off with our family, often in the summer, for some R&R, rest and relaxation. Or perhaps your idea of rest is a more active “see the sights” approach, taking in the museums or doing all the activities. But in any case, for us, vacation means stepping out of the usual routines of work, and into (we tell ourselves) some much needed rest.
Work and rest are two sides of a coin, since the beginning
of the world. God himself worked for 6
days – making everything in creation by the power of his word – and then
resting on the 7th day. Of
course, it wasn’t because he was tuckered out.
He rested for us. To set a
pattern for us of work and rest, times of productivity and times of re-charging. He designed us to need sleep, and not to go
on without rest indefinitely. And, of
course, there is some worldly wisdom also in times of rest to recharge and
rejuvenate ourselves – it makes us better workers.
But Jesus isn’t here offering a vacation. He’s not the butler of the divine hotel ready
to take your bags and set you up by the pool.
He’s not prescribing for you the proper work-life balance, and telling
you that you’re too hard on yourself and you need to kick back and have a margarita.
Just as the peace he gives is not as the world gives, so the
rest he gives is much different as well.
He’s offering a much deeper rest. And he offers it for free. It gives us rest from a different kind of
labor. And he offers it to all who are
weary and burdened.
Another thing Genesis teaches us about work and rest is
this: work is not a result of the fall
into sin. Like Marriage, it is a good
gift that God created and designed before the fall. Adam and Eve had work to do, even before they
sinned. Adam was set to tend the garden,
Eve would bear children and such, and together they would have dominion over
all creation. God put them in charge,
but he also gave them work to do. And
this is part of what he declared “very good.”
But take note when things do go sour at the fall into sin. Then and only then does work become
labor. The good and joyful activities
and responsibilities of life become tainted and corrupted by sin and death and
sorrow.
Gardening now brings weeds, thorns, and thistles that prick
and cause pain. The ground doesn’t
cooperate like it did before, and now man must sweat and toil for his daily
bread. Likewise, Eve finds trouble in
her vocations as mother and wife, pain in childbirth and frustrations with her
husband, Adam. I’d argue, too, that the
pain in childbirth thing extends to trouble raising children, too, at least
through the teenage years.
And so we see today, that sin messes up everything, doesn’t
it? Work and relationships, joyful
callings are made sorrowful, even some of the highest gifts of God are tarnished
with bitterness because of the sin we bring.
People say, “I love my work, but…” and it’s just a shadow of the true
nature of the problem, which runs deep, affects us all, and goes all the way
back to Eden.
And into this swirling mess of chaos, this sad and tearful
pit of despair, this weary well of exhaustion that is our sinful world – steps
Jesus. And the clarion call goes out
from his blessed lips, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.”
Jesus is not messing around.
He knows our burden and he knows it well. He knows how the weight of sin and death
press heavy upon us. He knows, because
he himself shoulders that weight. He
carries his cross, and stacked upon it, we might imagine the infinite tower of
our woes – sins we’ve committed and are yet to commit, along with all the hurts
and pains and tears and troubles they bring.
And at the top of that teetering tower sits death itself, whose hot
breath is always down our necks, crushing us with the weight of inevitability. Jesus takes that all, all of it. He takes it for us. And he nails it to the cross by his work, his
labor – a labor of love for us all.
And in exchange, he gives you his yoke. Now, a yoke, of course, is a heavy wooden beam
placed on the shoulders of oxen as they plow the field. A yoke has long been a symbol of work, or
responsibility.
The pastor’s stole, you might be surprised to learn, this colored
material around my neck, is supposed to remind us of a yoke – that the pastor
has, on his shoulders, a great responsibility – for teaching the pure and true
word of God, both law and gospel, to the people. It’s a reminder of the burden of office that
is not to be taken lightly.
But “take my yoke”, Jesus says, “for it is light.” What?
That’s like saying take my troubles, for they are a joy! Take my sorrow – it will make you happy! Take my cross, the wooden beam I bear and…
well… he does call us to bear our own crosses, doesn’t he?
But the yoke that is light and easy is really the Gospel and
everything that comes with it. HIS work,
accomplished for us. His death in
payment for ours. His blood, shed
instead of ours. His righteousness,
earned by his perfect obedience, placed upon us – not as a burden, but more like
a victor’s wreath or a spray of flowers that marks us as the winner for the
sake of his loss.
Jesus’ yoke is his gift of himself – and he invites you and
me and all people to come and simply receive it, receive him, by faith, and be
saved. Be at rest. It’s that simple and easy.
Notice, he doesn’t place a heavy yoke of law upon you, a
yoke of more and more work and labor. He
doesn’t add a laundry list of commandments (we have trouble with 10 or 2
anyway). He doesn’t tell you to be sure
to dot your T’s and cross your I’s if you want your work to make the
grade. He says I will “GIVE” you
rest. He’s not selling it or offering it
with strings attached. This is pure and
free grace, just like Jesus, isn’t it?
But this doesn’t mean there is no work for us to do. Remember work itself isn’t evil.
The work of salvation is done. The work of justification is done. The work of accomplishing our forgiveness,
winning our life, and procuring our eternal reward – well, as Jesus said, “it
is finished.”
But the work for us that remains is the light and easy work
of the Christian. It is fulfilling the
good works that God has already prepared for us beforehand, that we should walk
in them. It is loving God and loving
neighbor, not on fear or pain of death, but in the grateful response of the New
Creation that lives in us!
It is also, like Christ’s example, work that is done
humbly. We don’t need to point to our
list of accomplishments, either to prove them to God, or to our neighbor, or to
ourselves. The work that really counts
is Christ’s and it’s done. The labors of
our life of faith are a joyful response, not a toll that must be paid and
measured. For the Christian, there is no
need to keep record of wrongs, for all is forgiven in Christ. And there is no
need to track our spiritual progress, or buff up our resume’ of righteousness,
for Jesus has already done it all for us.
Or take St. Paul’s helpful comments from Romans 7
today. What a useful passage for every
Christian to consider, when we think of our yoke of good works before God. The evil I hate, I find myself doing. The good that I want to do, I can’t seem to
do! Like Paul, our flesh still labors
under the burden of sin, but our spirit is freed from its yoke. Or, as Paul says it, “It is no longer I who
do (this evil), but sin that dwells within me.”
And so, the Christian is at rest in one sense – our
salvation is secure in Christ. In
another sense there is no rest as the flesh and the spirit continue their war
within us. But even this will not last
forever. Jesus’ promise of rest will
ultimately win in the fullest sense.
Paul cries out in frustration, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver
me from this body of death?” And of
course we know the answer is Jesus.
One day, God will call you home. Jesus will say, in yet another way, “Come to
me, weary one. Come and leave your
labors behind you. Come to me, and rest.
Come receive the reward that is prepared for you. Come enjoy the mansions of heaven. Come to live and not labor under death’s
heavy burden. Come to the peace and
tranquility of eternal joy where all tears are wiped away by the very hand of
God. Come, dear child, and rest. Rest in peace.
Jesus calls to you today, by his Spirit, through his
word. He calls you to a rest as he alone
can give, rest for the weary, rest for your soul. A yoke that is light and easy because he’s
done all the heavy lifting at the cross.
And all that is left for us is to believe it, and live out that faith in
joy until we receive our final promised rest.
In Jesus Christ, Amen.
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