March 10 2019
first Sunday in Lent Matthew 11:28-30
“Rest” Pastor Jacqueline Hines+++
As we continue
our journey of Lent, we have the hope that by intentionally studying God’s word
and walking in God’s way, our spiritual life will show signs of growth and
development. What does spiritual growth look like for you? [slide # 1 spiritual growth]
Is it the ability to participate in worship doing what ministers do? Is it
going on a mission trip, or doubling your tithes to give 20% of your income
instead of 10%? Can we see that we have grown spiritually when we are nice to
our kids or sweeter to our spouse or is it when we have forgiven ourselves, and
set up clear boundaries to make ourselves safe?
[slide # 2 cousin Marjorie]
I have a little cousin who is a social worker. She posted a helpful saying regarding
personal boundaries on Facebook that said, “I set boundaries to respect myself,
not to offend you.”
Healthy
congregations are made of healthy Christians, so borrowing from the United
Methodist criterion for vital congregations we can ask ourselves as individuals
#1 are we filled with the Spirit, #2 are
we making disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit, #3 welcoming all
people, #4 serving in justice and mercy ministries, #5 getting other Christians to work in mission
and outreach, #6 affirming gifted, empowered, and equipped lay leadership and
clergy, #7 participating in small group ministries and #8 supporting strong
children and youth ministries. These are signs of health and vitality in
churches as well as in individuals.
Like growing a
garden, growing a church or growing as a Christian can be hard work. Nurturing
spiritual growth can be tiring at times. God has a way of helping us do the
work. God also revives us with blessing upon blessing and celebration upon
celebration. Indeed the joy of the Lord is our strength. Our modern society encourages
us to work like machines, mass producing results, faster and faster in shorter
amounts of time. How often have we heard someone say on their job, they
downsized personnel and expected everyone else to take on more work in the same
amount of hours?
More than ever
we are afraid for our lives. Mass shootings, race wars, men with suits and ties
who’ve traveled the world are in prison alongside drug dealers who like Jesus,
never traveled 30 miles away from home. We exhaust ourselves with safety plans,
putting guns in our night stands and
locks on our
doors. Women are in a struggle to be safe and to avoid hitting the glass ceiling
in their careers with the 63% lower wage gap between them and men for the same
job. Experts say it will take 202 years to close the gap. John tells us that
Kenya in some ways is 100 years behind us in development and their struggle to
survive. We just help them get water in their school in Kenya. [slide # 3 Bethel Kenya] At
the same time, could Rev. Moses get heart surgery in Chester County for a mere
$13,000? No, costs begin at $40,000. With the crazy cost of living, we sometimes
wish we could go back a hundred years? [slide # 4 Rev.
Moses] Several of us have already answered the invitation to help pay
for his surgery as he races against the clock for his life.
We need rest
after dealing with the rat race of life. [slide # 5 rat race] When God guides us, we are
always given opportunities for rest and revival. The world is ruthless and cold
hearted when it rules.
Rev. Dr.
Marcia McFee has a PhD in worship. [slide # 6 Marcia McFee] She has provided the inspiration for
our Lenten series in the next 6 weeks entitled “Busy: Reconnecting with an Unhurried
God.” [slide # 7 Busy: …reconnecting] In her online
worship resources, she shows the image of a relaxing chair near the seashore,
reminding us as we remember to slow down and be fully present with God. You
will see that chair throughout the course of this Lenten season.
Slowing down,
gives us a better chance of growing spiritually and soaking in the wonderful
presence of God that blesses us beyond all we could ever ask or think. Jesus
invites us to come to him, to slow down, to be still and know that God is God,
to rest and revitalize.
In this age of
technology we get more done and the world rewards our productivity. Experts say
that Americans check our cell phones from 80 to 300 times per day. We take
pictures, get directions, answer phone calls, respond to texts, and ask Google
all kinds of questions. Dangerously so, we may experience the phone as perfect.
The phone is often more accurate than our friends and family. The phone is
immediately available and a more constant companion than humans. Oh, how we are
tempted to demand good things and to demand that they be
constantly and immediately available.
Several years
ago when I went to a diner on Thanksgiving Day, it was full to capacity with
families of all ages and sizes. I could not help but notice a table of 8 where
each person had their head in a cell phone. It’s been years later, and
preoccupation with our phones has become the norm. With all that blue light
exposure and energy expended for social media clips, we need a rest and
probably a couple walks around the block to get the knots out of our necks and
the ear worms out of our brains. Every generation, no matter what the predominant
occupations and recreational activities, needs to find ways to shift gears from
work to leisure, to sleep and to rest as a part of staying healthy.
Pediatricians
tell us that it is normal for a newborn baby to sleep from 14 to 17 hours in a
day. [slide # 8 sleeping baby] The main reason is for
their brain to grow and develop properly. Sleep experiments have shown that
when a persons is sleep deprived, they may become very, very distressed. Many
of us, for various reasons, go about our day deprived of sleep.
Our text from
Matthew is a message especially for those who are tired from a long day on the
job, those who are not sleeping through the night for worrying, and those whose
applecart has been upset by unexpected, unpleasant, and unsettling
circumstances. Jesus’ invitation is for any of us when we are carrying heavy
burdens, when we are exhausted and driven to distraction.
In such times,
Jesus invites us to come, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, that
is, who have heavy burdens to carry.” Are you carrying a heavy burden today? Jesus
invites you to come. Is the global church carrying the heavy burden of trying
to live together in peace? Yes we are. It is time to hear his voice and come. Is
your family member or friend in trouble? Hurting? Grieving, lost, forsaken?
Hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Come.”
How do we
handle Jesus’ invitation? Do we open it up and excitedly mark our calendars
with a time to meet with Jesus and bring our heaviest burdens? Do we rip the
invitation up and put the invite into the recycling bin? Do we toss it into a
pile of things to deal with at a more convenient time? Do we mutter our
disappointment about what happened the last time we brought our heavy burdens
to the Lord? Recently a sister in the Lord told how she prayed and prayed day
after day to avoid a certain medical condition. She prayed for a miracle;
instead she got a mess. She was mad and sad and believed God had forsaken her.
I knew exactly
how she felt. I was prompted by the Holy Spirit years ago to pray for someone
who I believed was headed for trouble, but I did not know exactly what kind of
trouble. I prayed like I have never prayed before. I prayed in the morning. I
prayed in the evening. I begged God. I bargained with God. I fasted and prayed.
When the person I prayed for got very sick, I felt totally betrayed by God,
even though God had only invited me to serve and pray. God had not promised
that my prayers had magic powers or that by praying I could guarantee a
particular result. Still, I was so upset that God had not met my expectations
that I refused to pray. For three days, I turned my back on God, but after
three days, I had to go back to my time of prayer. I had to stop blaming God
for not answering prayers in the way that I demanded. The person is alive and
well today, but I had to accept that God was God and I was not. The truth can
be a heavy burden. The truth can keep you awake at night.
It is during
such sleepless nights that we hear most clearly Jesus’ invitation: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. If you want rest, go to
Jesus. [slide # 9 Jesus
invites]
After accepting
Jesus invitation and finding rest, [slide # 10 yoked oxen] Jesus then asks us to take on a yoke. A
yoke is serious business. Once you are in a yoke, you cannot come out of it
quickly or easily. The clergy collar is a symbol of being yoked to Christ. [slide # 11 clergy collar/shirt]
Jesus says 29Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls.30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.’
There is no
way to get around hard work and hard times in this life. Why not go through
with one who cares and has all we will ever need. Like Bob Dylan sang, in this
world no matter who you are, “you’re gonna serve somebody. It may be the devil
it may be the Lord, but your gonna serve somebody.”
The Lenten
season is our reminder to bow down low and come to Jesus with all of our heart,
and all of our mind, and all of our soul. If we gotta serve somebody, it might
as well be Jesus. Amen. [slide
# 12 serve Jesus]
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