From Religion to Restoration in Christ - Finding Rest in Christ Mark 2 & 3

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone

Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan

Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message

strengthens your faith and draws you closer to

Christ. Let's dive in. We're going to dive into

something that is hard for all of us, not just

myself, and that is specifically resting. but

resting in a way that is from religion. And you

guys are gonna be like, wait, what? So the title

of my sermon today is From Religion to Restoration

in Christ. And so the big idea that we're gonna

drive home this morning is the essence of Christianity

is not about religion and its constraints, but

about a vibrant relationship with Jesus who restores,

brings joy, and offers life. And so let's go

ahead and I'm going to Read Starting in verse

13, we're gonna unpack quite of a big chunk here

and we're gonna go all the way into chapter 3

and Then we'll start unpacking it little by little

So he went out again beside the sea he being

Jesus and All the crowd was coming to him and

he was teaching them And as he passed by, he

saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the

tax booth. And he said to him, follow me. And

he rose and followed him. Who is Levi? Who does

he ultimately become? What do we know him as?

Matthew. So Matthew was a tax collector. And

he's the one who wrote the book of Matthew. And

as he reclined at the table and is in... in his

house many tax collectors and sinners were reclining

with Jesus and his disciples for there were many

who followed him and the scribes and the Pharisees

when they saw that he was eating with sinners

and tax collectors he said to his disciples why

does he eat with tax collectors and sinners and

when Jesus heard it he said to them those who

are well have no need for a physician but those

who are sick and I came not to call the righteous

But, what's that word? Sinners. Now John's disciples

and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came

and said to him, why does John's disciples and

the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your

disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them,

can the wedding guest fast while the bridegroom

is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom,

they cannot fast. The days will come when the

bridegroom is taken away from them. and then

they will fasten that day. No one sews a piece

of untrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does,

the patch tears away from it. The new from the

old and a worse tear is made. And no one puts

new wine into old wine skins. If he does, the

wine will burst the skins. And the wine is destroyed

and so are the skins, but the new wine is for

the fresh wine skins. Once Sabbath, he was going

through the grain fields, and as they made their

way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.

And the Pharisees were saying to him, look, why

are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

And he said to them, have you never read what

David did? When he was in need and was hungry,

he and those who were with him, how he entered

the house of God in that time, of the high priest

and ate the bread of the presence, which is also

called the showbread, which is not lawful for

any but the priest to eat, and also gave it to

those who were with him. And he said to them,

the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the

Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the

Sabbath. And again, he entered the synagogue,

and a man was there with a withered hand. And

they watched Jesus to see whether he would heal

him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse

him. And he said to the man with the withered

hand, come here. And he said to them, is it lawful

on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save

a life or to kill? But they were silent. And

he looked around at them with anger, grieved

at their hardness of heart, and said to the man,

stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and

his hand was restored. And the Pharisees went

out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians

against him on how to destroy him. So, brothers

and sisters, what are we picking up on these

different gospel accounts with Jesus? What do

you see that they connect together? Because there

are different things that are happening, but

the same theme continues on. So what do you see

connecting them? What's the theme that you're

seeing? I don't know, Pastor Logan. Tell us.

I know you guys see it. So we're just, we're

looking at how the Pharisees took something that

is meant to be good and they twisted it into

be something that is wicked. And Jesus is going,

these things that I have made for you, given

for you, meant to be a blessing, you have turned

into something that is not only work, but it's

harmful. And so, with that being said, I'll go

ahead and get this party started. So before,

well, I've already read, but I wanna talk about

something that many of us struggle with, and

it's really hard to admit, and that's rest. I

know for a fact that so many of you guys work

insanely hard, and so I want to go ahead and

say this up front. Pastor Logan is not. Coming

up here this morning and trying to berate anybody

about hard work because hard work is a good thing

What pastor Logan wants to put before you in

in a humble way is? Remembering that rest is

crucial and so we're gonna talk about that But

we're not just talking about physical rest We're

also talking about spiritual rest so years ago

when I was in the army I noticed something super

interesting about military life Also, we see

this with people that have gone to jail or been

in prison and I hated things about it and also

there were things that when I was in it, I noticed

that I thrived in it. What do you think that

would be? What would things about the military

that would be insanely frustrating but also insanely

easy? Any thoughts? Anybody that's been in the

military have any thoughts? Telling you what

to do. That's exactly right. It's frustrating

and it's also easy right like they make it super

simple Everything is laid out for you What you're

supposed to wear right what you're supposed to

do what you're supposed to eat like all these

things are put before you So it makes it super

easy. So when you're in it You're meant it's

meant to be simple. So that way you can focus

on the mission at hand and it's great and at

the same time it drove me crazy I Couldn't stand

it. Why do you think I couldn't stand it? Yeah,

it's exactly right. I was not my own person.

I Had to you may be like well. Yeah, we do that

with jobs Yeah, but it's even more like you are

stuck in this in this bubble And you can't get

out of it, and it's great, and it's good in certain

ways and then in other ways It's very frustrating,

but they take away the freedom so My schedule

wasn't mine, my time wasn't mine, my life belonged

to Uncle Sam, and over time I realized something.

Systems can make life simple, but they can also

make life exhausting. So the reason why I bring

this up is because religion often works with

the same exact way. Religion gives us a system

that we can manage. It promises that if we follow

steps, we'll be okay. If we surround ourselves

with the right people, if we work hard enough,

if we gain the approval of the right voices,

if we do the right things that we're told that

make us good Christians, then everything will

work out. We'll be happy, we'll be secure, and

we'll be at peace. But the problem with that

way of life is twofold. First, the problem is

what you already know. If you spent any time

in church, you already know this. What happens

with that? What's one of the problems with that?

You'll never be good enough, right? That's not

the gospel. So no matter how hard you try, no

matter how hard you work, no matter how disciplined

you become, no matter how carefully you attempt

to manage your life, religion always whispers

the same thing. Try harder, do better. And that

leads to the second problem. When your life becomes

about proving your worth, it doesn't produce

peace. It actually produces exhaustion. It produces

dissatisfaction. It produces pressure. And ultimately,

if left unchecked, it leads to death. And so

now here's the difficult part. You already know

this. You already know these things. I'm not

telling you anything new, right? You guys hear

me say this week in and week out and if you've

walked with the Lord for any length of time You

already know these things. So why am I saying

it again? Yeah, we we naturally fall back into

it You will hear me say it today and I guarantee

you by the time you get to your car You will

have already fallen back into our religious system.

So we return to striving, we return to proving

ourselves, we return to working ourselves into

the ground, and that's why today's passage may

step on some toes. Because today we're going

to talk about rest. And if we're honest, many

of us struggle deeply with it. Some of you refuse

to do it because it's in your blood, it's in

your DNA to keep working, to keep pushing, to

keep producing. But I want to be clear that work

is not bad. Work was something that was already

a gift from God. We see it before the fall in

the garden. But when work becomes the thing that

defines us, defines your worth, when it crowds

out your worship and when it chokes out your

walk with Christ, it becomes spiritually dangerous.

Now hear me, there's two types of work. There's

spiritual work, which is works, and then there

is physical work. And I'm talking about both,

so don't get confused. So here's the irony sometimes

when someone calls that out we feel like they're

being a Pharisee Here's what I mean When someone

tells you hey You should probably Take the Sabbath

seriously and rest What do you think about that

But that's what you were taught to work on the

Sabbath or not to? But when someone calls you

out for working on the Sabbath, in a way that's,

I don't mean, hear me, I understand that, let's

say, like with Keith, and you've got a heifer

or something that needs to be managed, that's

not what I'm talking about. I'm just saying when

you cannot stop, when you cannot take a break,

when you cannot let things rest, What does that

say when someone says, hey, you should probably

rest? You have no right to judge me, right? You're

being a Pharisee. You're taking that way too

literally. And so I want to talk about both religious

rest and I want to talk about physical rest.

So the truth is what often drives our constant

striving is On its own, a form of legalism. It's

the belief that everything ultimately depends

on us. That should be right up here. You think

that if I don't work. Nothing will get done.

If I don't do this, it's not going to get done

and then I'm behind. And yet. This is what we

know. Constantly of ourselves, this depends on

us. We know legal legalism is not the gospel

and yet we still run back to it But the good

news is I want you to hear this this morning.

Jesus did not come to polish your religious rags

He came to burn them. I'm gonna say it again

Jesus came not to polish your religious rags,

but he came to burn them So if you're not catching

it yet When you think of working constantly that

is a form of legalism Everything depends on me.

Legalism is what? Everything depends on me. My

religion depends on me. Me being saved depends

on me. So do you see how I'm dovetailing these

two things together so I don't want you to get

lost? He came to say to tired people, Jesus did,

rest in me. You're tired, you're burdened, you're

trying to control every outcome in your life,

but that is religion. That is not Christ. Christ

comes to bring rest and restoration. So this

morning as we walk through these passages in

the gospel of Mark, I want you to listen carefully

Listen for the voice of the Savior the tender

voice of Jesus Christ calling us to lay down

the exhausting performance of religion and Step

into the rest and restoration that only he can

give Something of note by the way before we dive

in I want you to notice how Mark is building

up pressure points He's building and building

these points where Jesus is constantly poking

at religion. Last week we saw one of those pressure

points when he said he had the ability to forgive

sins and now we're going to see these other four

pressure points. Do you notice how Jesus every

story Mark begins to ramp up the frustration

of the Pharisees? Do you see that? So here we

go with point number one. If you're taking notes,

religion separates Jesus restores. So we see

in that first passage from 13 to 17, Jesus calls

Levi and then he goes to Levi's house and he's

surrounded by tax collectors and sinners. So

we see this contrast between what religion does

and what Jesus does. Religion separates and Jesus

restores. And so in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter

Mark 2 · chapter mention

2, Jesus calls Levi the tax collector and he

sits down at the table surrounded by people that

the religious world of the day wanted nothing

to do with. Tax collectors, sinners, and social

outcasts. And the Pharisees see it and immediately

begin questioning. And they say to the disciples

essentially, why is he eating with these people?

So to understand why that bothered them so much,

you have to understand how the religious culture

worked at that time. These weren't just people

who made bad choices. These were people who had

been labeled by society as unclean, unworthy,

and beyond redemption. And religion had a very

simple solution for people like that. What do

you think that is? If someone is unclean, someone

is unworthy, Stay away from them just like lepers

right we talked about the lepers two weeks ago.

They were cast out of the city and Jesus yet

embraced and healed So they said stay away from

them don't associate with them keep your distance

So they don't contaminate you and if we're honest

that instinct still shows up today So I want

to tell you guys about this post that I saw And

I saw it again this week, even though I wrote

this last week, I saw it again this week. It

says, so on social media, there's this picture

that comes up, and it's meant to provoke people.

And it's a picture of a transgender individual

with bright pink hair and a very revealing shirt.

And so the person who shared the image asked,

OK, Christians, tell the truth. Would this woman

be welcomed into your church? So it's meant to

farm comments, right? It's meant to get people

upset. And so I'll ask you, you don't have to

say it out loud. If that person walked in, would

they be welcomed in our church? I'll say it for

you if you feel uncomfortable saying it, yes.

I didn't comment on the post, and I don't even

know who the person was that shared it, but my

immediate thought was simple. Of course they

would be welcomed. Not only would they be welcomed,

but I would gladly invite them to sit wherever

they felt comfortable because every human being

is made in the image of God and deserves to be

treated with dignity and kindness. But don't

hear something that I'm not saying that doesn't

mean I would lie to them. If a conversation about

identity comes up, I wouldn't pretend something

is true when it isn't. And if someone came to

the church wearing some revealing clothing, I

would handle it the same way I would handle it

with anyone else, with kindness and with respect.

You see, loving someone and telling them the

truth are not opposites. Jesus never treated

them as opposites. Look at what Jesus says when

the Pharisees question him. What does he say?

When they say how could you be sitting there?

Right here amongst them. What does he say read

it? Healthy people don't need a doctor is Jesus

saying they're righteous nope He knows they're

sick he knows they're sinners and what he's saying

is is they need me more than you do So He isn't

saying these people are righteous. He isn't saying

nothing that is wrong. He's saying this is the

mission. This is why I came. These are the very

people he came to seek and to save and they deserve

dignity and truth just as much as anyone else

whom society deems respectable. And this is where

we meet the heart of Christ. I'll have this right

up here. I want you to write this down. Where

religion builds walls, Jesus builds tables. Where

religion excludes, Jesus invites. Where religion

says stay away, Jesus says come and sit. And

if we're going to follow Christ, we must learn

to do the same. Now I know that that can be uncomfortable.

I want to tell you a quick story. Janaro, I'm

going off script. I apologize. I'll try to tell

it slowly. So when I was youth pastor in Mena,

Arkansas, we I took them back to Tracy and I's

hometown and we did what I called a missions

buffet. We did inner city missions. We did overseas

missions at this missions training ground. And

we also worked at a homeless facility. And my

friend who runs this homeless facility, he says

to all of them, he goes, listen. So you got to

remember, so MENA is about the same size as O

'Neill, all right? So we've got about 60 kids

from MENA, Arkansas, now in this very suburban

setting. And my buddy says to them, hey, I want

you to make sure that you sit down with someone

that is homeless. Not only are you going to feed

them, but I want you to have a conversation.

And at some point, you should share the gospel

with them. Get out of your comfort zone. Now

the good thing about this is kids will typically

take you up on it adults would be like mmm, right?

But I'll never forget after we got done We my

buddy gathers them all up everybody's gone at

this point. We're cleaning up. He sits them all

down and And he says alright, so tell me what

you learned And I'll never forget Girl raises

her hand she says she very first one she says

I met transgender person today I've never even

seen one before and she said and I was first

shocked and then as I begin to hear his story

I begin to find like at first she wanted to build

a wall but then as she began to talk to him she

sees the Holy Spirit beginning to build a table

she shares the gospel the guy doesn't come to

know Christ but that's not the point God was

doing more in her heart in that moment and so

she didn't just act like it didn't happen you

know or act like that like this this person is

all messed up and I can't I can't talk to them

she talked to him but what ultimately ended up

happening was is in her own discomfort Jesus

was working in her heart And that's why Jesus

invites us into uncomfortable situations, because

he's not only looking to save those that are

sick, but he's also looking to make you better,

trim the trees. So, one of the hardest ministries

Tracy and I ever were involved in was when we

served as foster parents to teenage boys on a

ranch for kids who could not be placed in normal

foster care homes. We had 10 teenage boys come

through. Well, we had more than that come through

the house, but at one time we had 10. And every

one of them came from backgrounds that were deeply

broken. Stories I could not have imagined growing

up. Many of them carried emotional scars. Some

carried physical scars. And most of them had

never experienced what it meant for someone to

love them without hesitation. They didn't know

what it looked like for someone to keep showing

up for them, even when they wanted to push them

away. There were moments in that ministry that

were incredibly, incredibly hard. We saw things

that were super dark, things that were spiritually

heavy, and it was very exhausting. We worked

two weeks on and we had two weeks off, and those

two weeks off felt like it went by super quick,

and the two weeks on felt like they drug on.

But God taught me a lot about forgiveness. God

taught me a lot about showing up in discomfort

God taught me a lot about sitting in the midst

of someone who is completely broken spiritually

physically in every way and they don't understand

why you continue to love them even in the midst

of their their own murky sin and they're trying

to push you away and you keep coming and coming

even though you want To give up the Lord's not

allowing you to and you begin to see them soften

It was hard, but it was probably one of the most

beautiful ministries experiences we've ever had.

Because we also saw the love of God work in ways

we never expected. We were able to share the

gospel with all of the boys. And some of them

came to faith in Christ, others did not. But

one young man in particular had one of the hardest

stories of them all. And today he's a believer.

He serves in the Air Force. He has for over 10

years. He has a wife and he has children. Also,

he just messaged me this past week and It was

funny because he was 17. I was 24 and he would

call me dad which if you saw me back then I looked

about like I was 12 and I had to take him to

court because he had been in trouble with the

law and I'll never forget the judge going who

is the parent of this young man and I'm standing

right next to him and I said I am and the judge

was like How old are you? But he messaged me

this week and he said He said how old are you

and I said 41 and he goes oof and I go Are you

saying I look older than 41 or younger and he

goes much older? So anyway, but I couldn't be

more proud of who he is and what he's become,

especially knowing his story. But that only happened

because we were willing to step into the discomfort

of the mission and trust the work of God. You

see, the mission of God has always required stepping

towards people who are broken. Religion says,

stay with your kind, avoid the outcast, keep

your distance so you don't become unclean. But

Jesus says, these are the very people I came

to seek and to save. And now that doesn't mean

we adopt the lifestyle of the world. It doesn't

mean we go participate in sin just to fit in.

But it does mean we sit at tables with people

who need grace. We go to lunch. We invite them

into our homes. We treat them with dignity. Because

the mission of God has never been about protecting

our comfort. It has always been about restoring

people. I want you to write this person's name

down because you should read her book. That's

why one writer, Rosaria Butterfield, who herself

came to Christ out of a completely different

worldview says this, I think I'll have it up

here, radically ordinary hospitality seeks to

make strangers neighbors and neighbors family

of God. Rosaria Butterfield was a very, very

liberal lesbian professor in the Northeast. And

she wrote an op -ed in the New York Times that

a local pastor ended up reading. And her whole

thing was why the world would be much better

off if religion didn't exist, why Christianity

didn't exist. And so the pastor of this local

small congregation in town invited her to dinner

at his house, and he sent her an email. She deleted

it after she read it. She was like, I'm not doing

that. Then for whatever reason, we know it now

to be the Holy Spirit, she could not get the

invitation and the kindness of his email out

of her head for weeks. So then she found out

who he was and she wrote back this really kind

of nasty email back to him and then he responded

once again in kindness inviting her that if she

ever changed her mind The invitation always stood

well she ended up coming And at that table she

tried to push his buttons in every way with his

wife and children sitting there and he just continued

to respond in kindness continue to put scripture

before her and she says that one of the things

that kind of blew her away is everything that

he said made sense and she began to see that

her worldview was beginning to break down by

what he's saying and he wasn't combative ultimately

he leads Rosaria to the Lord she goes home this

is over a span of about a year then she decides

that she's like this is not godly so she gets

a divorce from her wife and then Rosaria Butterfield

now she's it's been a long time ago she's married

has kids grandkids writes about all this stuff

but specifically about hospitality and how we

are to build tables. So that's exactly what Jesus

is doing in this passage. He is sitting at the

table with people The religious world had already

written off. Let's go to point number two religion

burdens, but Jesus brings joy The next contrast

we see in mark is this religion burdens, but

Jesus brings joy in this passage The Pharisees

noticed something different about Jesus' disciples.

They aren't fasting like they're supposed to,

and immediately they ask, why don't your disciples

fast? If you don't know what fasting is, fasting

is a way that you deprive yourself specifically

of food. You can fast different things. Some

people can fast social media. Some people can

fast any sort of media. Some people fast Sugar

some people fast just different things whatever

it is that you're kind of Addicted to if you

will but food specifically is what you're supposed

to fast and and be just drink water and the purpose

of that is not to be as one of my Former bosses

said to be radical It's meant to show your dependence

upon Jesus and that he is the sustainer So when

you're hungry you go to him and he sustains you

so they're saying Why aren't they fasting? So

fasting wasn't wrong. It was deeply ingrained

as a religious practice, as a way to show devotion,

humility before God. But notice how Jesus responds.

He doesn't argue or condemn. He points them to

a new paradigm. He says, can the wedding guests

fast while the bridegroom is with them? And Jesus

is pointing to a truth the Pharisees cannot see.

His arrival is like a wedding celebration. The

kingdom of God is breaking into the world and

his presence brings joy. This joy is not something

that can be manufactured by duty, obligation,

or rule following. It is a gift that flows from

relationship with him. And so then he uses two

more images. He talks about a patch of an old

garment. He talks about new wine and old wine

skins. These images are about capacity and readiness.

So think of it like this, new wine expands as

it ferments. You can't pour it into a container

that it isn't ready for. Or, if you do, it'll

burst or fail to hold it. So Jesus is saying

this, what he has come to do, the life, the freedom,

and the joy he brings cannot be contained by

the old religious structures. It cannot fit into

systems that rely on external compliance or rigid

duty. The new life he brings requires a new kind

of openness, a new kind of vessel, a heart prepared

for joy rather than for rule following. Religion

tends to focus on obligation. It tells us that

what we must do, what we must avoid, and how

to measure our worth by compliance. But Jesus

flips that paradigm when he says, it's not about

your performance, it's about the joy of the kingdom

being present. It's about relationship with me,

the bridegroom. And notice how Mark structures

this. Immediately after this, he moves to the

next pressure point, the Sabbath conflict. The

joy of the kingdom challenges every legalistic

assumption the Pharisees hold. It's not about

duty, it's about freedom. And that freedom is

what allows people to rest, to live, and to be

restored. So the invitation for us today is clear.

Find joy in Christ. Don't let religious obligation

weigh you down. Don't let duty dictate your worth

instead Step into the new life. He brings in

life of freedom celebration and restoration,

which is our next point religion and slaves Jesus

gives rest Now that we come to the part of this

passage that might ruffle some feathers, I don't

think so though. I Think you'll be okay Because

this congregation is full of hard workers, many

of you spend long days laboring on farms and

ranches. Some of you work from sunup to sundown,

tending cattle, planting fields, repairing equipment,

running businesses, and caring for your homes

and your families. And like I said earlier, work

is a good thing. It is a gift from God. But we

see in this passage that even something good

like work can become spiritually dangerous when

it begins to control us. So Jesus and his disciples

are walking through grain fields on the Sabbath

as they walk the disciples begin plucking heads

of grain and eating them Immediately the Pharisees

object to them and they count this as work. So

what is happening in this passage? Why are they

picking grain and eating it? Because they're

hungry, right? So they're just walking through

because they're hungry and they're picking these

heads of grain right and they're eating it And

the Pharisees go, hey, that's work. And we're

all chuckling because it's like, that's insane,

right? My guys are just trying to eat. And that's

why Jesus actually points to David. And he's

like, hey, what happened? What happens when David

did something even more bad? He ate the bread

that only meant for priests. And the priest gave

it to him. Why? Necessity. So, Jesus pushes back

and he does this by pointing to scripture. He

brings up the story of David eating the show

bread. And yet David and his men ate it because

they were hungry and in need. So why does Jesus

bring the story up? Because it shows that the

heart of God's law has always taken human need

into account. I'm gonna say that again. The heart

of God's law has always taken human need into

account. David and his men weren't rebelling

against God, they were surviving. And the disciples

are doing the same thing here. When Jesus makes

one of the most powerful statements in the entire

passage, he says, the Sabbath was made for man,

not man for the Sabbath, so the Son of Man is

Lord even of the Sabbath. This completely flips

the Pharisees' understanding of the Sabbath.

Do you see what Jesus is saying? The Sabbath

is meant to be good. It's not meant to be work.

You're making it work. You're making it a burden.

They have made this into a rule to guard, a system

to enforce, but Jesus says the Sabbath was actually

given as a gift. It was meant to bring restoration,

rejuvenation, and yes, even enjoyment. You can

write this down. Remember back to creation. God

rested on the seventh day. Did Jesus, did God

need rest? So why would he rest? He's enjoying

his work. That's exactly right, Doug. He kicked

back and he just looked and he goes, wow. That's

pretty incredible, right? Now that my kids are

all growing up, I make the boys go out and mow

the grass. But I do love to mow grass. I love

to mow grass. I'll put a podcast in or a book,

and I will just go to town. And after I have

weeded and I have edged and I have done all the

things and blown off the sidewalk and all the

stuff, you want to know what I do? I sit back

and stare at it. And I'm like, yeah, that's one

fine looking yard right there. Dave, my neighbor

across the street, has a fantastic looking yard,

but I want to be like, Dave, look at my fine

mowing job, right? That's what God does here.

He delights in his work, the work that's been

done. The Sabbath was meant to give humanity

the opportunity to do the same, to stop, to breathe,

and to look at the work week and say, this is

good. You can write this down. But when you never

stop working, when you never pause long enough

to enjoy the fruit of your labor, you're no longer

working as unto the Lord. You're working as unto

something else. You're working for the bills,

for the government, for the business, your own

sense of self -worth. And I want to speak very

pastorally here because I understand the reality

of the lives many of you live. There are seasons

in an agricultural life. when we cannot simply

stop. During calving season, which I've been

learning all about, animals need attention. During

planting or harvest, there are windows that can't

be missed. But here's the beautiful thing about

scripture. God already understands this reality.

The commands about rest were given to an agricultural

people. The people knew that crops had to be

planted and livestock had to be cared for. And

yet, even to farmers, shepherds, and laborers,

he still gave the command in Exodus to rest.

Now someone here might be thinking, Pastor Logan,

you sound a lot like a Pharisee right now. But

I want you to hear me carefully. If our instinct

is to defend why we cannot rest, then we might

actually be closer to the Pharisees than we think.

Because at its core, religion is about control.

It's about proving we are worthy. It whispers

to us, there's more to do. You can't stop yet.

If you rest, everything will fall apart. And

when we begin to believe that, what we're really

saying is everything ultimately depends on me.

But Jesus says something radically different.

He says the Sabbath belongs to him. He is the

Lord of the Sabbath, which means rest is ultimately

about trust. When we stop working, we are declaring

something with our lives. We are saying, Lord,

the land is yours. The animals are yours. The

business is yours. The bills are yours. I'm going

to lay this down today and trust that you are

still holding everything together. And then I

will pick it up tomorrow and get back to work.

But for today, we rest. We enjoy the fruit of

our labor. We spend time with our families. We

worship the God who provided everything in the

first place. So one of the best modern examples

of this kind of conviction comes from Truett

Cathy. Do you guys know who Truett Cathy is?

Chick -fil -A, he's the founder of Chick -fil

-A. From the very beginning Truett Cathy has

always had Chick -fil -A, which back then it

wasn't called Chick -fil -A. It was always closed

on Sundays. Why do you think that that is crazy?

You don't think it's crazy? Well, he's been considered

crazy for a long time because the number one

eating out day in America is Sunday. So everyone

said you will never flourish. The restaurant

will never go anywhere if you are constantly

closed on Sundays. But Truett Cathy had a deep

conviction. I must rest on Sunday, and I must

be at church. And he was very, very involved

with Sunday school, even till the day he died,

which he died in his 90s. He led a small group

of boys of second, third graders. But his whole

thing was, I have to make sure that I'm faithful.

Nothing will ever flourish if I'm constantly

burnt out. But one of the things Drew and Kathy

said, Was rest is not the enemy of success. You

can write that down Rest is not the enemy of

success Sometimes it is the very thing that keeps

us from destroying ourselves So I want you to

hear me clearly I'm not preaching this to scold

you for missing church That is the least of my

concerns I'm preaching this because I have lived

on the other side of not resting There was a

reason in my life when I was there was a season

in my life when I refused to stop and that refusal

led me straight into burnout in ministry I never

thought I would be back in ministry And if I'm

honest my family was hoping I would not go back

into ministry Because the burnout had hit my

family so hard If you never stop you will ultimately

drag yourself into exhaustion So I'm speaking

to you Not from a place of superiority. I'm speaking

to you as someone who has learned the hard way

that God's command to rest is not meant to restrict

us, but it's meant to protect us. So Jesus knows

something about you. He knows that you have limits.

He knows you were created with an expiration

date. And if you keep pushing without rest, eventually

your body, your mind, and your spirit, it will

crash. So the invitation of Jesus in this passage

is simple. Lay the burden down. Trust Him. with

what you cannot control and rest in the Lord

of the Sabbath. And our last point, religion

kills. Jesus gives life. So one of our final

points, my final point here is in this scene

that I think is one of the most painful scenes

in all of scripture. Jesus enters the synagogue

and there's a man with a withered hand. And Luke

tells us that it was his right hand. Why do you

think Luke would tell us that? It's the one he

used the most. Meaning, he would have depended

on it for work, for providing for his family

and his life. This man isn't just dealing with

a minor inconvenience. His condition had affected

his ability to earn a living and care for himself.

So here he stands. a man who is clearly suffering

and Jesus is about to heal him. But the religious

leaders are watching closely not because they

care about the man but because they are looking

for a reason to accuse Jesus. And so to them

healing on the Sabbath would count as work. So

think about how twisted this moment is. This

man cannot care for himself or his family. It

is affecting his life in a big way. And the Pharisees

would rather him continue to suffer than to be

healed. That's twisted, man. That's what we call

spiritual abuse, by the way. It's using the scripture

in a way that is meant to harm and maim, ultimately.

That's why I tell you by the way whenever you

see a counselor you see a pastor or someone and

they are a biblical counselor if they're a good

biblical counselor if they're a good pastor They're

not going to use the scriptures in order to berate

you the scriptures are meant to heal. Yes, they

will pierce Because it's truth But it's also

meant to bring healing And so here they are the

Pharisees and they're like hey Don't heal that

man. Don't you do it? So he's been suffering

for years and Jesus is like, oh wait a second

You don't want this to happen So we have this

final pressure point So a man stands in front

of them has likely been suffering for years and

the power of God is present to restore him and

they would rather him continue suffering than

see their interpretation of the rules challenge

And now we have this final pressure point in

the section of Mark. Jesus has shown us that

religion separates, that religion burdens, and

religion enslaves. And now we see something even

darker, and I want you to write this down. Religion

is willing to sacrifice people on the altar of

its system, but Jesus will not allow that. Mark

tells us that Jesus looked right at them with

anger, grieved at the hardness of their heart.

That's an important detail. Because we often

picture Jesus as this endlessly gentle, and he

is, but we also see him with a righteous anger.

Why? Because the Sabbath was never meant to be

a cage. It was meant to be restorative. It was

meant to replenish the drained. It was meant

to repair the broken. So to heal the man's withered

hand on the Sabbath wasn't breaking the Sabbath,

it was actually fulfilling it. Jesus tells the

man, stretch out your hand and immediately it

is restored. Life where things have been broken,

or life where there had been brokenness, strength,

where there had been weakness, restoration, where

there had been suffering. But look at the shocking

response of the religious leaders. Instead of

rejoicing, instead of praising God, and instead

of celebrating the restoration of this man, Mark

tells us that they went out and immediately began

plotting how to destroy Jesus. And that moment

reveals something that's deeply tragic. The man's

hand was shriveled, but the hearts of the Pharisees

were even more shriveled. They were like the

Grinch. Their hearts were two sizes too small.

They had become so committed to protecting their

system that they could no longer recognize the

life of God was standing right in front of them.

They were missing the forest for the trees, and

this brings us back to something I said a couple

of weeks ago. Religion, like atheism, is ultimately

about advice. It tells you what you should do.

Do better. Try harder. Follow the rules. But

the gospel is not advice. The gospel is news.

Good news about what Jesus Christ has done. He

came to restore what sin has broken He came to

live a life where religion that religion only

religion only produces pressure He came to bring

healing to people whose lives have been shriveled

by guilt shame exhaustion and striving and that

is the invitation placed before every one of

us today Where we can continue to cling to systems

that exhaust us or will we continue? To come

to the one or will we come to the one that restores

us? Jesus stands in the synagogue that day not

just as a teacher but as the Lord of the Sabbath

the one that brings true rest And where Jesus

is present the result is always the same the

broken things are restored Burdened people find

rest and those who come to receive Those who

come to him receive life So I'm gonna close with

this Let me give you one final picture years

ago farmers used horses for nearly everything

plowing fields, pulling wagons, hauling heavy

loads. A good horse was incredibly valuable.

It could work long hours and pull tremendous

weight. But experienced farmers knew something

important about those animals. What do you think

that is? Gotta rest them. So what happens if

you don't rest that horse?