{"id":1895,"date":"2023-07-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2023-07-21T18:07:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T01:07:27","slug":"sixth-sunday-after-pentecost-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/09\/sixth-sunday-after-pentecost-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixth Sunday after Pentecost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Pentecost-6-07-09-23.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew 11:25-30<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His Holy Ministry\u2014 Is Our Source of Rest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>25<\/sup>At that time Jesus said, \u201cI praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.&nbsp;<sup>26<\/sup>Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>27<\/sup>\u201cAll things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>28<\/sup>\u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.&nbsp;<sup>29<\/sup>Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.&nbsp;<sup>30<\/sup>For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How important is rest?&nbsp; Studies have shown that after 36 hours without sleep, most people will experience extreme fatigue and hormonal imbalances that result in decreased attention, poor decisions, and even speech impairment.&nbsp; Other studies show that if someone does not take breaks during their workday, their productivity is lower than those who do take periodic breaks throughout the day.&nbsp; To put it very simply:&nbsp; We&nbsp;<strong>need&nbsp;<\/strong>rest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How important is rest?&nbsp; Scripture gives us a clear irrefutable answer to that question.&nbsp; In the opening chapters of the Bible we\u2019re told that God incorporated rest into His design for His Creation.&nbsp; We\u2019re told,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBy the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.&nbsp; And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>(Genesis 2:2). &nbsp;Was God \u201ctired\u201d by the time He finished creating the heavens and the earth?&nbsp; Of course not!&nbsp; God&nbsp;<em>\u201crested\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;on the seventh day to model and to sanctify a time for rest for His people.&nbsp; When God established His covenant with His Chosen People He codified&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;when He gave His people the Third Commandment,&nbsp;<em>\u201cRemember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Exodus 20:8).&nbsp; God\u2019s command to&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;applied to&nbsp;<strong>everyone<\/strong>\u2014 adults and children, masters and servants, foreigners and animals.&nbsp; God even commanded that every seventh year was to be a year of&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;for the land.&nbsp; (See Leviticus 25)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, sin led God\u2019s people to take God\u2019s command to&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and twist it into something God never intended it to be, namely, a futile attempt to show how&nbsp;<em>\u201cwise and learned\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;they were by strictly following all the Sabbath rules and regulations \u2014 which they&nbsp;<strong>added&nbsp;<\/strong>to God\u2019s command to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today as we conclude our sermon series on&nbsp;<strong><em>His Holy Ministry&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;let\u2019s see how&nbsp;<strong><em>His Holy Ministry\u2014 Is Our Source of Rest!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew begins our text by saying,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAt that time Jesus said, \u2018I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.&nbsp; Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.\u2019\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; What are the words,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAt that time,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and the words&nbsp;<em>\u201cthese things\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;referring to?&nbsp; We find the answers to those questions by looking at what Matthew reveals to us just prior to our text.&nbsp; Jesus had just sent His Twelve apostles out to proclaim the message,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThe kingdom of heaven is near\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Matthew 10:7) and gave them the authority to prove the validity of this message by performing miraculous signs. (Matthew 10:8)&nbsp; At the beginning of chapter 11 Matthews tells us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAfter Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(11:1).&nbsp; This is when John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAre you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(11:2)&nbsp; This is when Jesus revealed to the crowd of people following Him that John is the fulfillment of Micah\u2019s prophecy,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Micah 3:1).&nbsp; This is when Jesus,&nbsp;<em>\u201cdenounced the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(11:20).&nbsp; All of this is contained in Matthew\u2019s statement,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAt that time\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The people\u2019s response to the ministry of John the Baptist and the people\u2019s response to Jesus\u2019 ministry typifies the response of many people right down to this very day.&nbsp; Their own&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and their own&nbsp;<em>\u201cintelligence\u201d \u201cblinds\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;them to Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>everyone\u2014 including them!&nbsp; The people who pride themselves on their \u201cobjectivity,\u201d the people who boast that they are not among the masses of the \u201csimple\u201d and the \u201duneducated\u201d and the \u201cna\u00efve\u201d tend to find Jesus\u2019 teachings to be irrelevant and unacceptable.&nbsp; When this is their mindset, when this is how they view Jesus then&nbsp;<em>\u201cthese things,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>namely, the Truth concerning Who Jesus is and what Jesus came into this world to accomplish,&nbsp;<em>\u201cthese things\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;are&nbsp;<em>\u201chidden\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does this mean that highly educated people can and will never be able to understand Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>this world?&nbsp; Not at all!&nbsp; In His grace and in His mercy God&nbsp;<em>\u201creveals\u201d \u201cthese things\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<em>\u201clittle children.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; This is a reference to everyone who believes, marvels, and clings to God\u2019s holy revealed Truth\u2014 with a simple humble childlike trust!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is to those who despair of their own&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and their own&nbsp;<em>\u201clearning,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;it is to those&nbsp;<em>\u201clittle children,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>that is,&nbsp;<strong>everyone&nbsp;<\/strong>who trusts in Jesus for their eternal salvation, it is to people like you and me that Jesus speaks the words that are at the heart of our text,&nbsp;<em>\u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.&nbsp; Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.&nbsp; For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; On the surface these words are very easy to understand.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because we understand how easily our work leaves us feeling&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; We understand how often our work can feel like a&nbsp;<em>\u201cburden.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; We understand work, don\u2019t we.&nbsp; The nature of our lives here on this earth involves work.&nbsp; It\u2019s what we do as human beings.&nbsp; We work the ground.&nbsp; We work at our jobs.&nbsp; We work at school.&nbsp; We work to provide for our families.&nbsp; We work to take care of the house.&nbsp; Word, work, work.&nbsp; It\u2019s what we do all of our lives!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, when Jesus promises to give&nbsp;<em>\u201crest,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;when Jesus promises to provide&nbsp;<em>\u201crelief\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to those who are&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary and burdened,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;He is not talking about people who are physically or emotionally exhausted because they\u2019ve been working too hard for too long.&nbsp; No, my friends, when Jesus promises to give&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to those whose work has left them feeling&nbsp;<em>\u201cburdened,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;when Jesus promises to give&nbsp;<em>\u201crelief\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to those whose work has caused them to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;He\u2019s not talking about a burden and a weariness that is caused by a mountain of credit card debt, or a pile of regret, or a failure to achieve all of their personal goals. &nbsp;He is talking about providing&nbsp;<em>\u201crelief\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to someone whose soul is&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;because their conscience is&nbsp;<em>\u201cburdened\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;with guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever fit that description?&nbsp; Has your soul ever been&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Has your conscience ever been&nbsp;<em>\u201cburdened\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;by guilt?&nbsp; Has an unrepented sin ever led you to say along with great King David,&nbsp;<em>\u201cWhen I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.&nbsp; For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer\u201d<\/em>? (See Psalm 32)&nbsp; Have you ever taken a long, hard, honest look at your own life and realized that you have more than enough reasons to say along with the apostle Paul,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.&nbsp; For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.&nbsp; For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do\u2014 this I keep on doing\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Has your life ever led you to a point where you come to the same conclusion as Paul,&nbsp;<em>\u201cWhat a wretched man I am!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Romans 7:18-19, 24)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the person to whom Jesus says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cCome to me\u2026and I will give you rest.&nbsp; Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.&nbsp; For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; These words are also very easy to understand\u2014 when we stay focused on the cross of Calvary\u2019s hill!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; Jesus graciously invites us to take His&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014 the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;He did to accomplish the Father\u2019s Plan of Salvation for this world\u2014 to take His&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and consider it our own!&nbsp; Take His perfect life and consider it your own perfect life.&nbsp; Take His innocent suffering and death and consider it your own suffering and death.&nbsp; Take His victorious physical resurrection from the dead and consider it your own victorious resurrection from the dead!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, my friends, the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill enables us to understand what Jesus is promising us when He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor my yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; What goes through your mind when you picture a&nbsp;<em>\u201cyoke\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Most of us probably think of a piece of wood that&nbsp;<em>\u201cyokes\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;two animals together.&nbsp; Together they are able to plow more ground.&nbsp; Together they are able to pull a heavier wagon.&nbsp; Together they are able to share the&nbsp;<em>\u201cburden\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of the work.&nbsp; Now picture that you are&nbsp;<em>\u201cyoked\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;together with Jesus\u2014 the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, the One who loves you so deeply and so completely that He was willing to pour our His holy precious blood to completely pay for all of your sins!&nbsp; Jesus\u2019&nbsp;<em>\u201cyoke\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>is&nbsp;<em>\u201ceasy<\/em>\u201d and Jesus\u2019&nbsp;<em>\u201cburden\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201clight\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;because Jesus does&nbsp;<strong>all the work!<\/strong>&nbsp; We love Him\u2014 because He first loved us!&nbsp; We are committed to Him \u2014 because He was first committed to us!&nbsp; Jesus\u2019&nbsp;<em>\u201cyoke\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201ceasy\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and Jesus\u2019&nbsp;<em>\u201cburden\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201clight\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;because He has already paid for all of our sins!&nbsp; He fights&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>of our battles\u2014 especially the greatest battle of all!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; Jesus is our relief, our rescue, our rest throughout our entire journey here on this earth!&nbsp; And&nbsp;<strong>when&nbsp;<\/strong>we stumble and fall in our walk with our Lord we have&nbsp;<strong>nothing&nbsp;<\/strong>to fear!&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Why?&nbsp; Because Jesus is&nbsp;<em>\u201cgentle and humble in heart.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The instant we turn to Him and humbly say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cGod, have mercy on me, a sinner\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Luke 18:13), He picks us up, dries our tears, wraps His arms around us and says, \u201cI already have!\u201d&nbsp; That\u2019s the&nbsp;<em>\u201cgentleness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<em>\u201chumbleness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;that we will&nbsp;<strong>always&nbsp;<\/strong>be able to count on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; When you stop to think about it, my friends, that\u2019s the central message of His holy ministry.&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; Through His holy ministry Jesus invites everyone whose soul is&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;because of their own sin, Jesus invites everyone whose conscience is&nbsp;<em>\u201cburdened\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;by guilt to come to Him.&nbsp; He is our&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>Source of rest!&nbsp; And when you stop to think about it, that\u2019s one of the main reasons we come to church on a regular basis.&nbsp; Gathering together for worship not only gives us an opportunity to \u201cunplug\u201d from our busy, hectic, demanding, and sometimes exhausting life, but gathering together for worship gives us an opportunity to \u201cplug into\u201d the One who is&nbsp;<em>\u201cgentle and humble in heart,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>the One whose&nbsp;<em>\u201cyoke\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201ceasy\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and whose&nbsp;<em>\u201cburden\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201clight,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the One who freely gives us&nbsp;<em>\u201crest for our souls.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Gathering together for worship gives us a unique opportunity to meet with Jesus, to listen to Jesus, to learn from Jesus, to receive from Jesus the&nbsp;<em>\u201crest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;He promises to give us as He comes to us through His holy Word and Sacrament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How important is rest?&nbsp; Studies have shown that a lack of rest can have serious consequences for our mind, our body and even our health.&nbsp; That\u2019s why God Himself commands His people to take some time for rest on a regular basis.&nbsp; But God\u2019s command to take some time to rest does not begin and end with making sure that you take a day off from work or school or take a vacation so that you can get away from the \u201crat race\u201d for a week or two.&nbsp; The Sabbath day, the \u201cday of rest,\u201d was&nbsp;<strong>always&nbsp;<\/strong>designed to give God\u2019s people\u2014 to give to you and to me\u2014 an opportunity to come to Him so that we can receive&nbsp;<em>\u201crest for our soul\u201d<\/em>\u2014 especially when our soul is feeling&nbsp;<em>\u201cweary\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;because of our sins, especially when our conscience is feeling&nbsp;<em>\u201cburdened\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;by our guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cCome to me,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;our Savior says to us.&nbsp; May God grant that we will always treasure the fact that His holy ministry is indeed our source of rest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew 11:25-30 His Holy Ministry\u2014 Is Our Source of Rest! 25At that time Jesus said, \u201cI praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.&nbsp;26Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 27\u201cAll things have been committed to me by my Father. No one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1916,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}