Pastor Tim Patoka
July 9, 2023 Rest in Jesus Matthew 11:25-30 1) When You’re Weary and Burdened 2) When You’re Wearing the Wrong Yoke
There’s a certain kind of rest that only comes from God. As one of your pastors, I get to regularly see it. When your pastors visit a homebound member, we get to catch up, share a devotion, and distribute the sacrament. While they enjoy the chitchat, it’s the devotion and sacrament that brings them a restful smile. When your pastors visit someone in the hospital, there’s usually a sour mood. Yet when God’s Word is shared, a certain kind of rest comes upon in the room. When your pastors assure a sinner that their sins are forgiven by God himself, there’s rest in their hearts whether it’s a public setting like today or a private meeting. When communicant members come to the table and receive Christ’s body and blood together, with, and under the bread and wine, there’s rest in the eating and drinking. As we continue to define who a Christian is, we learn that a Christians finds their rest in Jesus as we’re told in Matthew chapter 11. When we’re weary and burdened, we rest in Jesus because he alone will give us God’s unique and lasting rest. And when we’re wearing the wrong yoke that makes our Christian life a heavy burden, we rest in Jesus who gently and humbly fits us with the correct yoke of his blessings and promises and make our burden light. When You’re Weary and Burdened There are lots of ways we can feel weary and burdened. Just look to the struggles, troubles, and stresses we go through living in a sinful world surrounded by fellow sinful people. We don’t always get along or make the best choices. Within each of us, there’s that nagging feeling that we haven’t done enough. We need to keep up appearances so we’re not silently shamed. Our conscience is never satisfied. Perhaps you saw yourself in our Second Reading when the Apostle Paul said, “The desire to do good is present with me, but I am not able to carry it out. So I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing.” (Romans 7:18-19 EHV) There’s a constant fight between our sinful nature and our desire to live as a child of God. That fight wears us out and feels like a burden.
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