Monday, January 27, 2020

And I Will Give You Rest

If you recall "Alice In Wonderland" is a children's story.  If you recall it in detail you remember it is not a pleasant children's story.  Alice faces some very scary and confusing circumstances.  The difficulties Alice faced were fantasy.  Most of us will never be confronted with a Cheshire cat or nasty Queen of Hearts.  (The jury is still out on TweedleDee and TweedleDum – although McConnell and Pelosi come close). 
But the crises that trouble our lives are as much perplexing as Alice's walk through the looking glass.  All through her adventure she is looking for direction, a road to travel.  Like Dorothy in the Land of Oz, there is the anticipation of rest and home, if we can just get where we're going. 
In the 1960's, my generation, the rebellious flower children, were frantically searching for themselves and finding they needed something from without to help them understand that which was crying-out from within. 
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel expressed the inner turmoil of that day, and Alice, and Dorothy’s as well:
All my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity,
Like emptiness and harmony, I need someone to comfort me....
Homeward bound, I wish I was homeward bound. 
Home, with my music playin',
Home, where my thoughts escapin',
Home, where the love light's waitin' silently for me.
There is not a person in this room that doesn't want the kind of rest Simon and Garfunkel sang about in their longing for home, or Alice frantically needed down in the rabbit hole, or that rest Dorothy couldn’t find in Oz. 
Jesus told his followers how to find it:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

We once had a toaster that provided entertainment more than toast.  It had a frayed wire.  The sparks were like Disney's light parade.  Electricity knows when you are not its' master.  I have learned to have a lot of respect for electricity. 
When I "fixed" that toaster, it became like other things that didn't get professional care in our house.  My kids called it a Dad-fixed thing.  Whatever dad fixes is sure to come unglued, undone, and certainly the results are unholy! 
It is like that with the Christian's walk with the Master.  Without a good connection, our power leaks out, and we become short-circuited.
Jesus' offer to us is to Come.  That is an invitation to come closer to Him, so we might be restored to a closer relationship with Him.  Too often believers are willing to be in the family of Christ, but not under His daily control and direction.  That is like trying to live in two different worlds at the same time; and THAT will wear you out.  Jesus offers rest, the kind of rest that allows you to be peaceful inside and out.
There are SEVERAL DYNAMICS at work about responding to Jesus’ invitation to come to Him and receive that rest.  That call is an offer of restoration, a repairing of what we started out to be, but messed-up.  And even more, Jesus’ brand of restoration goes beyond just a new start; it’s a start on a higher plane than where we began.  
For that restoration touch we turn in our Bibles to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and pick up where we left off last week (2 Timothy2:15)…with seeking God’s approval by becoming right handlers of God’s Word. 
In the next chapter(#3) Paul tells Timothy right handling of that Word means listening to what God has to say to us, about us.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17

Paul did not hiccup or stutter when he stated flatly that every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, and training us to live God’s way.
Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.  And that brings rest to our souls.
Let’s take a look at the process:

I.  God’s Word Showing Us Truth  

(to teach us what is true)

The truth God shows us is how we are in need of being in line with God’s pattern for human beings as He created us. 
Last week in the children’s message I showed them my new electric power saw.  I then showed them the owner’s manual and compared that with how the Bible, God’s Word, is the manual for humans.  Just like my power saw is dangerous if not understood and operated properly, so the human being must operate within God’s will. 
We were created to respond to God’s nature…not our own whims and desires.
The current tension and impending split in the United Methodist Church is a textbook illustration of this truth.  When humans begin to reject (rebel) against God’s truth with their sexuality, choosing to live in a rebellious perversion, rather than as God created us, it should not surprise anyone that the world will be flipped upside down in judgment.
When that happens God’s Word will move from teaching to exposing…

II.  God’s Word Exposing Rebellion  

(make us realize what is wrong in our lives)

The King James word is reprove; the Word of God rebukes us by showing us where the error lies.  And there are only two responses possible when God speaks a definitive word:  increased rebellion or cleansing repentance. 
This “exposing” of our rebellion is something God’s Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.  This can happen under many different circumstances, but often God uses a preacher speaking the word of truth, and the Spirit bringing conviction to the hearer’s heart.  Sometimes that leads to the end of a rebellion; too often it leads to a firing of the preacher because the pride of a backslidden Christian doesn’t want to hear all about his rebellion.
So…the process begins with the God-breathed truth of the Word which exposes our rebelliousness, and then the Word tells us what must be done to get back on course, walking with God, not away from Him in rebellion…

III.  God’s Word Correcting Rebellion  

(corrects us when we are wrong)

Correction is what the doctor does.  We’re sick, and he gives us medicine to cure it.  This may be the hardest step in the process. 
It’s like the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.  He’d been a good person all his life, but he was married to his money.  He wanted to know what further good thing he needed to do; Jesus said Give up your love of money.  That was the living Word of God correcting the man’s rebellion.  But the man turned and walked away.  It’s hard to let go of our favorite sin!
But what does the Word have for us if we do?  What if we hear the truth of God’s Word, find out we’re off course in rebellion, hear how to change our ways, swallow our pride, and lay it all on the altar, asking God’s forgiveness?
What if we’re willing to change our way, surrender our life’s pattern for following the pattern of Jesus? 
That’s when the Word of God teaches us how to stay on course…

IV.  God’s Word Training to Live  

(God’s Word…teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work)

By this point in the process of being restored to peace in our lives, both within our hearts and minds, and with other people, we’ve learned that God teaches us truth, exposes our rebellion, and shows us how to stop rebelling and start cooperating with God. 
Those are wide-pathway principles that cover every area of life.  Accepting those principles is a momentary decision.  It’s like responding to the evangelist, saying yes at the altar, and signing a pledge card.  It’s a simple yes or no decision.
However, this next – final – step in the process lasts from that moment on, until that fateful day you step on Heaven’s shores and meet Jesus. 
Until that day it is training, becoming a disciple, learning constantly how to live denying self, taking up the cross, and following Jesus.[2] 
It’s being conditioned to follow the pattern of right living, the kind of living only God’s Holy Spirit can empower.
There is so much more to this last discipleship step than can fit in a sermon, or a library of sermons.  But, perhaps the testimony of one who found rest after being restless for years can help.

The Story of One Who Moved from Rebellion to Rest

This one who moved from rebellion-to-rest was a young boy, raised in church.  He heard the truth about loving and cooperating with God in his home, and at church.  By the time he’d reached 9 years old he had accepted that truth and the Savior of that truth.  He became a Christian.
But in the two decades that followed, old rebellion showed its ugly face and stunted the spiritual growth of this newborn babe in Christ. 
Married by this time, and having suffered enough unrest because of his rebellion, he was searching frantically for a way home where the music played, and the thoughts escapin’ were waiting to comfort.  Like Dorothy longing for Kansas, or Alice wanting desperately to climb out of the rabbit hole, this young man anguished for rest!
Finally, the Word of God began coming back, making sense, calling him to the home not made with hands.  And the Word who had become flesh and dwelt among us had those hands of flesh outstretched, opened wide in invitation to come and learn of the meek and lowly. 
It was the old, old story, and it told the young man to take the yoke again; it was easy and light…and it would lead to rest…restoration of all that was really needed.
That young man swallowed his pride and took that yoke; he felt the outstretched hands wipe away the tears. 
And the Word of Truth spoke again – rest; enter into My rest, Russell…there is rest for your soul.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth (original work)      All Scripture from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated) 
[2] Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24

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