Sunday July 28, 2013 | Mark Moore
“Come to me, all you that are weary 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 in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
As disciples of Jesus, we are to spend time with, know, and reflect Jesus and his life. Yet, we oftentimes replace Jesus with things of this world. In this sermon, Mark Moore tells us about waiting at the feet of Jesus.
In Matthew 11, Jesus invites people that are weary to come to him for rest. In Jesus’ time, he was speaking to the Israelites. The Israelites were conquered by many different kingdoms, and the Romans were the present day conquerors. The Israelites were burdened and weary of all that they have done. In addition, Jesus was speaking to his new believers who would need to come to Jesus often in order to find rest.
The work of the Church should reflect the gentleness and humility of Jesus. However, the Church has often abdicated this in favor of things of this world. It tends to follow the rules and systems of measurements that corporations use when it should be at the feet of Jesus, measuring its success by His standards. The church spends much of it’s time running around trying to be a church instead of disciples at the feet of Jesus.
The Church has also taken a cue from political discourse. Instead of humbly and gently representing the Kingdom, the Church makes beliefs something that all society must adopt. And, the Church can begin to demean and degrade those who don’t think the same way. This sounds more like politics and less like Jesus the more we walk down that road.
The language of repentance is important for us to truly come to Jesus. In Minnesota, we like to ice fish. This requires going out onto a frozen lake, drilling a hole in the ice, and fishing while freezing. But it provides a great way to understand repentance. A person can decide to go ice fishing, and it seems like a great idea. So, they begin to walk on the ice. However, when the ice begins to crack, the person has a choice. They can choose to confess that going ice fishing at this time was a bad idea, and they can turn around and head back to safety. Or, they can confess the ice is not too sturdy, continue on, and fall through. Repentance is very similar, in that it requires us to confess something that is wrong in our own life, turn around, and do the opposite of that wrong.
It’s interesting how the church can sometimes mess up the idea of Jesus among us. Imagine for a minute that Jesus walks through the door into the church that you attend. Some people would cower in fear because they want Jesus to talk to them about their life. Some might continue to give Jesus tips on how to better his ministry. Yet, Jesus would be genuinely interested people and giving them rest. Jesus is great for all people, even if people don’t get it right.
At no other place should we go to be the Church than at the feet of Jesus. We should quit looking like everything of this world, and instead draw our cue from Jesus and be something unique and God-given to this world. When the Church spends time being with Jesus, learning from Jesus and acting like Jesus, it fulfills its God-given mission to this world. Only at the feet of Jesus do we find the rest of being what God made us to be.