19^th July 2011

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 3 July 2011

Lessons -- Psalm 116:1-9,12-19; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 11:25-30.

Jesus said, 'Come to me, all who labour and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest
for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'
(Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus' words are very familiar. When we are going through tough times, and illness, tragedy, death and disappointment threaten to overwhelm us, it is good to know that God sympathises with us.

However, they will be misunderstood if we do not read them in 'context' -- so that we see that the 'text' is connected to what comes immediately before and after this episode as well as to the whole of Christ's ministry.

Jesus has just spoken of 'bringing a sword, not peace' (10:34) and of persecution coming to his disciples (10:16ff). He has criticised the 'self- righteous' for condemning him as 'a friend of tax collectors and sinners'
(11: 19), and the 'unrighteous' for ignoring his call to repentance (11:20ff). And he and the disciples are about to be embroiled in a dispute with the Pharisees over what is permissible on the 'Day of Rest' (12:1ff).

Jesus' invitation to come to find 'rest' is given amid strong opposition on all sides. The situation is hardly restful! Jesus and his disciples will meet opposition from people 'weighed down' by religious pride and others burdened by irreligious contempt for God. Disciples will be 'weighed down' by the prospect of hostility as they preach the Gospel.
Jesus himself will be 'weighed down' by human evil on a barbaric cross.

Yet in the face of intimidation, fear and apprehension, Jesus offers 'rest' to 'all' (v28). He invites us to come to him with a childlike openness and wonder (v25), not letting pride, contempt or fear get in the
way of experiencing 'rest for our souls / ourselves' (v29).

What kind of rest is to be enjoyed in the company of Jesus?

It certainly does not mean resting on our laurels or resting from work (as Sabbatarians would have it) or peacefully living out our days in retirement. It does not mean about avoiding strife and conflict.

The rest that Christ gives 'to all that are weary and carrying heavy burdens' (v28) is the joy of knowing that the 'gracious will of the Father has been revealed and embodied in the Son' (vv25-27).

When Jesus says, 'Come to me . . . ,' he is inviting us to share in the mutual love that already exists between him and his Father. Because he invites us to 'Come . . . and rest' in the communion of love that already exists between Father and Son and which overflows in mercy for our restless world, we can be assured (to use Paul's words) that nothing in the whole creation 'can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 8:39).

If the Creator and Redeemer of the world has disclosed his gracious purposes for humanity in Jesus then, no matter what we have done or failed to do or have suffered, we may 'rest' in his love! There is 'rest' for 'all' who have been 'crushed' by the 'burden' of the religious law or by their irreligious sins, or by persecution. We are free from the burden of insisting on our own righteousness or on our right to do whatever we please, and from the burden of self-pity.

We do not have to be 'weighed down' by our (religious or irreligious) sins, nor by opposition to the Gospel! We may 'rest' in the knowledge that God's gracious will has been revealed in Jesus who is 'gentle and humble in heart' (v29b). We can 'rest easy' knowing that God's free grace has been embodied in the One who says 'my yoke is easy, and my burden is light' (v30).

Despite our shortcomings and the many challenges to our faith, these words give us confidence and courage to serve the One who, in the face of evil done by the religious and the irreligious alike, 'humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross' and 'took the form of a slave', 'emptied himself' (v7) 'of all but love' (as Charles Wesley put it in his fine hymn, Australian Hymn Book 138; Philippians 2:5-11).

So when Jesus says, 'Come to me, all who are weary and burdened,' he does so as the One Person who is to suffer the full weight of evil. As the 'Son' of the 'Father' he knows what it is for God to be despised and rejected by us.

At the same time, as the 'Christ Hymn' in Philippians affirms, his humble death is not the end of the story. Because of his self-giving love on the cross, God has 'highly exalted him' as 'Lord'. Through his costly life and death, and by the power of God, Jesus has triumphed over the power of evil and death and 'now rests at the right hand of the Father'. Therefore we may be assured that, in his company, we may find 'rest for our souls'.

This assurance is deeper than simply believing that God cares for us in all tough situations. No doubt that is true, even if at times it is not obvious or believable! But the assurance of rest is based on the remarkable fact that in Christ, God our Creator, Judge and Redeemer has come into our broken and disordered world, suffered and died at the hands of sinners, yet triumphed over evil and death, thus taking the burden of our sin on his own shoulders.

That ultimately is why 'Jesus' yoke is light'. He does not throw us back on our own efforts to do better or condemn us because of our failures. Nor does he abandon us in face of opposition. As the whole of his ministry demonstrates, God welcomes us into the 'community of grace' where there is 'rest' for our restless souls.

Such deep rest is not to be confused with relaxation, idleness, the absence of work or retirement -- as necessary as they may be for our health and sanity.

The 'yoke' is not removed from our shoulders. There is much for disciples to do. We are to make known to all -- religious and irreligious alike -- the costly mercy which God has revealed in Christ; to support those who are overwhelmed by life's hardships; and to stand up against those who trample on the dignity of the weak and vulnerable. Resting commits us to action!

And there is much work to be done in a society where self-righteous, self- willed and self-centred people increasingly ignore the claim of God's mercy and goodness on their own lives and on public policy, and where humility and gentleness and forgiveness are treated as signs of weakness.

There is much work to be done. And it can be costly! But now it can be done, not with a restlessness that hides a faithless and desperate desire to bring in the Kingdom of God, but with a childlike sense of freedom and joy (vv25,26). We do not have to despair of the present or the future. It is more than enough to know that Christ invites us to share in his and the Father's love for our broken world. It is more than enough to know that the One who has suffered and been crucified, dead and buried and been raised from the dead now 'rests' at God's right hand and prays for us.

On this 'Day of Rest', when we praise God for raising Jesus from the dead, let us 'come to the table of our Lord' -- at his invitation -- to celebrate our God-given freedom. May we rest in the grace of God and recommit ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit to the costly ministry of Christ in the world, so that many people who are restless will find their rest in God.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia and Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.