Real Rest For A Restless Soul | Labor Day Sermon

Well, tomorrow is Labor Day.

A day where we honor the contributions of workers by not working.

It's supposed to be a day of rest, but if we're honest, how many know that our days off are not always restful?

Men, how many of y'all have a honeydew list for tomorrow?

Come on.

Then how many are having cookouts tomorrow?

Those are fun, but they can be exhausting.

You've got to get the house ready.

You've got to cook and then clean up.

If you're traveling, that's exhausting, especially with Labor Day traffic.

And here's my point.

This is what I want to talk about today.

It is possible to take a day of rest, yet experience no rest at all.

Are you with me?

That's why you need to take sometimes a vacation from your vacation.

I want to read you Matthew 12, verse 1.

Matthew 12:1

So we're ending in uh the at the end of chapter 11, verse 30.

In the very next verse says this, at that time, so Jesus is talking about rest, and it says, At that time, Jesus went through the green fields on the Sabbath.

Did you catch what's going on here in relation to what I just said?

Jesus is talking to Jews who are likely observing the Sabbath, and what's he say?

I will give you rest.

Why?

Because it's possible to rest physically and yet have your heart not at rest, to be in turmoil.

It's possible to take every Sabbath day and yet not truly rest.

Jesus is speaking to Jews who were already trying to tediously keep the Old Testament law.

And by the way, there are 613 commands in the Old Testament.

How would you do with that?

Imagine you get saved today, I go, all right, here's the rule book, 613 commands.

Good luck.

And it's as if those commands were not burdensome enough.

The religious leaders, these rabbis through the years have added to the law of God.

That they have given all these other rules to the people that have become back breaking.

And they're saying, listen, if you want to be righteous, if you want to know God, you've got to keep the law.

And here's all these other commands as well.

And these are the people to whom Jesus is talking.

These are the people who are laboring and are burdened.

And Jesus says, folks, you who are trying to keep the 613 commands, you who are trying to follow the back-breaking legalistic rules of the rabbis of this day, just come to me and I will give you rest.

I love this.

Because the invitation is not just for first century Jews, but the invitation is for you and for me today.

How many know our bodies need rest?

Yes?

It's a good thing to take the Sabbath, it's a good thing to slow down and to allow your body to recover.

But more than physical rest, how many know that our souls need rest?

And we know that.

As a matter of fact, I would argue today that so many people cannot stop working.

They stay so busy, partly because if they stop, they have to deal with the fact that their souls are not at rest.

Can I get a witness?

Augustine famously said this.

He says, Lord, thou hast formed us for thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee.

Hear me, friends.

The world will tell you how to how to get rest.

And let me just say to you, Hunter, I don't care how much yoga and meditation you do, if you don't have Jesus, your heart will never be at rest.

The rest that we need so deeply comes from Christ alone.

And you may say, well, Pastor, you know, most of us today were from your church and we're saved.

So why would this be applicable to me?

Well, because let me tell you what happens, especially in this area with many Christians.

We all come to Christ celebrating that we're saved by grace through faith in Christ.

Are you grateful for the gospel of grace today?

But watch what happens.

Many of you have sat under preachers who have given you the gospel of grace wonderfully, and you've received it wonderfully, but there are men and women, and maybe even yourself, you've taken back on this gospel of works and you've added this idea to your life.

You're like, yes, I'm saved by grace, but I still need to do some things to earn favor from God.

And what's happening is again, as a Christian, you you are not enjoying the grace of God, and you have become burdened by extra biblical rules that are weighing you down, and your heart's not at rest.

I can't tell you how many people have come to real life like this.

They've come from other churches and they've been saved for 30 years, and their hearts are not at rest because they don't get the grace of God.

There's an invitation for each of us today that our hearts, the rest that the world is looking for, can be found in Christ.

So, what is the invitation here?

The result of the invitation is rest.

It's not the invitation itself.

What is the invitation that we've all received?

What are the first words?

From Jesus, come to me.

What a glorious invitation.

I mean, how many of you have ever been invited before, you know, to a banquet that a king or a president or some dignitary is putting on?

Not many of us.

But do you know that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords invites you and I today?

He says, he doesn't say, you know, come to one of my assistants, come to one of my conferences.

He says, Come to me.

Wow.

You know, I've I've seen the churches, and I'm not trying to um assume the motives or or but but it's just kind of humorous to me.

Um the large churches, and and maybe this is necessary, but you ever seen uh guards around the pastor, you know, you know, they're they're brought in and nobody can get to them.

I I I don't want you, you know, when you got a lot of people, maybe that's necessary.

It's like don't get too close to the pastor.

Maybe you all got that message today because you're pretty far away.

But but listen, Jesus Christ Himself says, I don't need anybody to block me from you or you from me.

Come to me.

Wow.

That's the invitation.

Notice here, Jesus does not give an invite to church.

And listen, I love it when you invite people to church, but the church without Christ will not give you rest.

Jesus doesn't say, you know what, you're just in the wrong denomination.

You come over here.

He doesn't invite them to a conference or a seminar.

He says, Come to me.

Why?

Well, let's go back up to verse 27, the verse just preceding our text today.

Jesus says, All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows the Son except for the Father.

And watch this, no one knows the Father except for the Son, and anyone whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Wow.

You know why that Jesus bids us to come to Him for that rest?

Because we can only rest in God in the only way to God.

I'll say it in downtown Richmond today.

There's one way to the Father, He's not a way.

Jesus Christ is the way to the Father.

I wish I could get a witness.

He is the way to the Father.

There's one way to receive salvation rest, and it's through Jesus.

So that begs the question well, who's it for?

Look at verse 28 again.

Come to me, say the next word.

All.

And then there's a qualifier.

All you who are burdened and heavy laden.

Well, what's this mean?

You know, most invites are exclusive, yes?

Birthday parties, how many of you have you guys got hurt feelings growing up?

You weren't invited to the birthday party that everybody else was invited to.

Weddings are exclusive invites, galas and country clubs, the Oscars.

Anybody been to the Oscars?

All right.

You know, I I didn't get invited to a lot of parties uh growing up, but but there was one invite I've received in my adult life that I I want to tell you I'm pretty proud of.

I don't want to brag, but it but it was an honor.

And here's it's when I was in Colorado, I got this prestigious invite to go to the opening of a new Chick-fil-A.

And let me tell you why.

Because when I was in my undergrad studies, I would go to the Chick-fil-A.

I lived in Greeley, Colorado.

I would go just west.

Greeley didn't have a Chick-fil-A, they weren't anointed.

And so um uh we went to Loveland uh just west of us, and I would go and I would study.

And I had the same booth every Thursday on my day off.

I would go there and I would spend all day there and I would study, and I got to know the owner because I ate so much uh chicken waffle fries, and at that time I drank sweet tea.

I got convicted about that.

Now I uh I keep the fries, but I drink unsweet tea.

I think that's all right.

But um, here's the deal.

I I sat in the booth so much that one time I walked in there, the owner and some of the staff are having a meeting in quote unquote my booth, and he looks at me in all seriousness and he says, Do you want us to move?

So they decided, the same owner decides to open a store in Greeley now, my hometown, and I get this beautiful invite.

About 50 of us, the most prestigious people in Richmond, except me, I get invited, and I listen, I even get to meet the mascot, the cow, you know.

It was it feels good to be invited to something exclusive, doesn't it?

See, invites are generally exclusive.

And Jesus says here, listen, all you, all you come to me, but but there is a qualifier.

Who is he talking to?

The burden and heavy laden, and then and here's what that means.

Here's what that means.

Think about the crowd to whom he is speaking.

He's speaking to people who are hungry for God.

They're just trying to get him to him in the right way, or the wrong way, excuse me.

Let me say it again.

These people are hungry for God, this crowd.

They want to be close to God, but they're going about it in a way that is futile.

And they'll never get to him.

But here's what I want you to see, they're hungry.

See, see, Jesus is not saying it's just a certain class of people who can come to me.

He's not saying those of you who have your life together come to me.

He's not saying those of you without a past come to me.

No.

He says, all of you who are burdened and heavy laden, come and I'll give you rest.

Aren't you grateful today?

Your social status doesn't matter?

Your talents and successes don't matter, your gender, your nationality doesn't matter, your pedigree doesn't matter.

There's one qualification.

Here it is.

Let me say it like this: to come to Jesus and get this salvation rest.

You know what it is?

It's a hunger for God.

It's a desire to know the Lord.

John 37 and 38.

Remember, Jesus once said, I'm the bread of life.

If you hunger, come and eat.

And now in John 7, he says, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me.

As the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Did you get it?

Whoever thirst, come to me.

You know, how many of you will admit that you hate being invited to things like parties?

Yeah, I see some heads.

You don't have to be ashamed.

Some of you go, man, you get a you get an invitation and you're not honored, you're like, why in the world did they invite me?

I don't like people.

Or at least I don't like crowds.

I hope you like people.

But but parties are uncomfortable, uncomfortable for you.

Like it's football season now, you'd rather sit on the recliner.

You know, when you get an invitation from someone, a family or a family member or a friend, like you feel a little bit compelled to go even if you don't want to.

But you know what I think the Lord's saying here?

If you're not hungry for God, I'm not going to force you.

All you who labor, remember who are the ones laboring?

They're the ones who are trying to get to God.

You who labor, you who are hungry, come to me and I'll give you rest.

The invitation is simply for the spiritually thirsty.

The broken, thirsty, the sinful, thirsty, the messed up, thirsty, thirsty failures, thirsty outcasts, thirsty you and thirsty me.

Is anybody grateful for that today?

Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Maybe you're someone that doesn't get invited to many functions.

This invite is for you today.

And what's it mean, finally?

What's it mean?

What's the invite mean?

Well, in other words, what's it mean to come to Jesus?

Like we use this terminology in the church a lot, but what in the world does it mean?

Like, there's times you don't want to hear those words.

Like, how many of you had a mama growing up that says, we need to have a come to Jesus moment?

Like, that's not good.

What's it mean to come to Jesus?

Because this is a good invite.

Well, look at verse 29 and 30.

Jesus says, Come to me, then he says, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

For I'm gentle and I'm lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Now, we read this, and I remember as a kid, kind of breezing past it, uh, because it confused me, because I thought I thought the word was yoke, and I thought, what do eggs have to do with anything here?

Come on, guys, that was just a little yoke, all right?

Um, finally.

I had to go there.

I'm a dad.

So here's the thing yokes are these wooden beams that fit over the beast of burden, the oxen, that allow them to pull a heavy load and to be guided by their master.

This is very common in this culture in the first century.

So there's two implications here.

Don't miss this.

Number one, to come to Jesus, here's what you have to do, here's what it means: it means to cast off the yoke that you're already wearing.

The crowd to whom Jesus is speaking, they are wearing the yoke of the religious leaders who are giving them all these legalistic rules.

It's clear, uh, it's made clear in Matthew 23:4, these leaders, it says, tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders.

Matthew 23:4

But they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

These leaders are burdening people again with extra biblical rules.

Have you ever had this happen?

It's hard enough sometimes to live for Jesus without adding to it.

Oxen couldn't wear two yokes at once.

The implication is that if you want Jesus, if you want the Lord, if you want rest, you've got to throw off the yoke that you're already wearing.

You can say like this: it's freeing yourself from the yoke of works.

Uh, as a matter of fact, in Acts 15, you might remember from our study, some of the Christian Jews have preached the gospel of grace in Gentile, and Gentiles have been saved, but now the Jews are going, okay, you got saved by grace, but now you've got to be circumcised men, and you've got to keep the Mosaic law.

And these Gentiles are floored, and it's a burden they cannot carry.

And this is spreading throughout the ancient world, and so they they meet together.

Some of the apostles, and here's what they say in verse, this is Peter speaking in chapter 15, verse 10.

He says, Therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

But we believe, here it is, that we will be saved through grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will.

If you're gonna receive rest, beloved, you've got to put off the yoke of trying to earn favor with your works.

You know, this is hilarious.

I found when I I was first at real life a really old membership card.

And there was promises on there.

If you want to be a member, you know, you know, you contribute with your time, talent, and treasure kind of thing.

You live for the Lord Jesus.

But then there started there's some rules attached, and one of those is you can't go to movies, you can't go to the movie theater.

So apparently we're saved and made holy by Jesus and by not watching Star Wars.

Not going to the movies.

See, this happens more than we think.

This is not just a first century thing, it's Jesus plus, and it will be a yoke that you cannot bear.

They tell you you gotta dress a certain way.

By the way, I'm in the illustrated sermon today.

I'm in shorts.

Some of you are floored.

You're like, I'm in a this can't be real life.

And I'm in these ugly sandals because I have plantar fasciitis.

All right, y'all need to pray for me.

And they're comfortable.

And I can tell you how many people have come up and said, Why are you wearing those?

Why are you wearing those?

Let me tell you why, folks.

Because I can be saved and wear shorts and sandals.

All right?

But but in all seriousness, if we know this, they're just giving me a hard time.

But but listen, where's my wife at?

I cannot believe you didn't say anything to me today.

I know you did.

But they tell you this: listen, you you gotta dress a certain way.

Now you know you're saved, you get saved by grace, but you can't have tattoos.

Men, you can't have long hair, women, you can't have short hair.

Women, you're saved now, you can't wear pants, you can't wear makeup, can't wear jewelry, can't go to movies, can't dance.

And how many of y'all, uh, Stephen, you probably grew up in a church like this and you're breaking the rules.

You can't play cards.

That's right.

And they play rook at the church on game night.

Holy rook.

Holy rook, all right.

You can't listen to non-Christian music, which we ought to guard from a lot that's out there.

But you can't celebrate certain holidays, or you can't associate with people outside the church.

You gotta use King James only.

Because it's grace that saves you.

Plus, reading the King James Bible.

You gotta worship in a particular way.

You must abstain from the things Scripture leaves to Christian conscience.

Oh, that's a big one.

Ticks me off.

Here's here's Here's one.

You must follow their political or cultural preferences to be considered faithful.

Oh, it's quiet now.

You must look, talk, and vote like everyone else in the church, and I'm preaching to our church now.

Here's the thing.

Here's what they're saying.

This is what so many preachers and Christians say.

Jesus gives us the gospel of grace, but legalism adds a dress code, a cultural mandate, and a behavioral checklist.

I want you to know it real life.

I want you to know this.

We really believe you're saved by grace through faith in Christ.

Okay?

Now, you say, well, does that mean that you go easy on sin?

No.

Obedience is important, and the Bible's black and white about a lot of things and those things we hold to when we hold one another accountable for.

But let me tell you the difference.

Because you might think, well, that's a burden.

Here's the difference in this.

When you strive to follow rules so that you can earn your way to God, to earn God's favor, then they become a burden to you.

But when you realize that you've been saved by grace and that you have the favor of God, you know what happens?

You want to obey out of joy and gratitude.

It changes everything.

So if you're going to come to Jesus, you've got to put off the old yoke.

But then Jesus says, put on my yoke.

Now this is interesting.

Because you might argue, well, Jesus, why would you ask me to take off one yoke just to put on another?

Well, here's why.

Because it is impossible to go through life without some yoke.

Every one of you, in other words, you are carrying some burden.

You are being guided by something or someone.

You're carrying a yoke.

It might be sin.

It might be addiction.

It might be the yoke of the need for approval.

It might be a job.

It might be the yoke of a relationship or the yoke of trying to get rich.

The yoke of success or social status or anger or bitterness or shame.

Some of you, and this is tragic.

I see this in the Church of Lot, and I've wrestled with it.

We put back on the yoke of shame and the yoke of regret.

Your life is guided by some yoke.

It's impossible to be free of any yoke.

So Jesus is saying, take off all those other ones, and he says, Put mine on.

But here's what he says.

My yoke is easy in my burdens light.

My yoke is easy in my burdens light.

And then he says, I am gentle.

And I'm lowly in heart.

This is where, this is the place in the New Testament we get a glimpse into Jesus' heart explicitly.

What is Jesus' heart like towards us?

It is gentle.

Some of y'all might think that Jesus is going around waiting to strike someone down with the lightning bolt, or that if you come to Jesus, he's gonna take all your fun away and make your life miserable.

It's like don't be so sure.

His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.

The yoke that Jesus asks you to put on is the only yoke in the universe that will not crush you.

So if you're guided by, you have the yoke of money or success or the need for approval or the yoke of shame or the yoke of sin, you will never be at rest.

You could take off work for a year.

Some of you are like, try me, you could take off work a year, and you can never be at rest.

You could sleep 12 hours a night, and yet your heart will never be at rest.

Come to Jesus.

So if you're here today and you're not a believer, you're not a Christian, maybe like most of the world, you're trying to, if you believe in God, you're trying to earn your way to Him.

You say, Well, my life's pretty messed up.

But but I'm gonna try.

I've done some bad things, but I'm gonna serve, uh I'm gonna serve the poor and the marginalized.

I'm gonna give to people, I'm gonna be generous, I'm gonna help people, and maybe in the end my good works will weigh out my bad.

Uh, don't be so sure.

You'll never be at rest when you play that game.

Because what the Bible teaches is that we can never earn our way to God.

Well, Jesus says, good news, you can't earn your way to God.

The good news is this come to me.

Because Jesus knows the Father, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.

Jesus took the yoke of God's wrath upon him so that we don't have to face it.

So today, my cry to you, if you're here, you're watching online, or you're here with us in person today, you're within the sound of my voice.

If you don't know Jesus, you know your heart is not at rest.

I I know it.

I can say it definitively.

Take Jesus' invitation.

Somebody needs to RSVP right now.

Jesus says to you, Come to me.

And if you're here and you're a believer, here's my my cry to you.

Here's my cry to you.

Don't go back into salvation by works.

Don't put the the yoke of works back on you.

Don't put the oak, the yoke of shame and the yoke of sin back on you.

You've come to Jesus.

Now stay with Jesus.

Walk with him.

Enjoy his grace.

Obey out of obedience or uh out of joy and gratitude.

Not to try to earn favor.

Let me just give you one story as I as I close here.

I have a lady uh who's still at our church.

She's been saved.

Matter of fact, uh I I would guess 45 years, 50 years.

She came to our church probably eight years ago.

And I preached on the grace of God.

I don't remember the exact passage.

And here's this lady, precious woman of God, who comes up to the altar, crying her eyes out.

And I said, Do you know the Lord?

She said, Yeah, I know the Lord.

I've been saved for decades.

But she said, Pastor, I've my soul has never been at rest.

She said, I've grown up in churches that all they preach about is how we're not good enough.

And if we mess up, if we misstep, we're going to hell.

Can I say to you, the cross is not that fragile?

You are secure in the arms of Christ.

This lady could not sleep at night because she did not know from one minute to the other if she was saved or not.

If she were to take her last breath and she would be with Jesus, she had no clue.

Read her Bible, went to church, loved Jesus, and she didn't know.

You know why?

Because she had the yoke of legalism upon her, the yoke of extra biblical rules that had been forced on her for decades.

But in that morning, this weak and broken preacher just got up there and talked about the grace of Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit spoke to her, and she came down and she just broke.

And here's what happened: the yoke of works went off of her, and she put on immediately the works of grace.

And Jesus began to put her back together.

Well, you are SVP today.

Jesus has invited you.

Come to me, and I will give you rest.

Some of you come came here today.

I had no intention to preach this until about Thursday of this week.

I was going to preach on how to be a good employee and glorify Christ.

But I believe the Lord showed me that there's going to be some people here who are broken and ashamed.

And they need to hear about the rest that's available in Jesus.

Here's the word for you.

It's the scripture.

Listen to me.

Be still and know that I am God.

Unfortunately, I can't give you rest today.

The church can't give you rest, but Jesus can.

These words, hear them again from Jesus, come to me.

All you who are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Let's pray.

God, today, put the broken pieces back together.

Lord, with the power of the Holy Spirit, would you begin helping people remove the yoke of works, the yoke of trying to earn favor with you, the yoke of regret, the yoke of shame.

Lord, you died to take all of those things away.

Let them experience freedom in Christ and joy in Christ.

Break the chains of legalism today that have bound them for so long.

If there's one here, the broken, the hurt, the bruised, the batter, the one with a past.

And they're ashamed of.

Feel like they fall short.

Lord, let them know we all fall short of the glory of God.

But Lord, let them know the invitation to come to you is for them today.

And may they respond in faith.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.