“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
I really love reading The Message every now and then. It breathes new life into some of the stories or verses that have become repetitive or too familiar. Of course becoming familiar with Scripture is a good thing – an amazing thing even! Somewhere along the way pieces can almost become too familiar though. So familiar that when you start reading the first part, you kind of recite bits and pieces in your head as you skim ahead to the next part? (or is that just me…)
I can’t help but wonder if sometimes we become too familiar with the concept of rest.
When people bring up the topic of a day off, it can be easy to shrug it off and “yada-yada-yada” them in the back of your mind while nodding along? When people suggest or talk about the importance of rest do you recite a few go-to lines about needing to stop and do nothing, about taking a step back… and then go right back to your lists and striving?
If this resonates, you’re definitely not alone in this. Learning to rest and learning “the unforced rhythms of grace” doesn’t come easily for 21st century humans living in the West. Everything around us tells us to do more and to try harder and to get ahead and stay ahead.
I can’t help but wonder if maybe it didn’t come easily for the people Jesus was originally addressing either. They too were living in a society that told them about all the things they had to do to please God. About all the sacrifices and rules they needed to follow in order for their lives to be clean and good.
Just before this passage, the disciples of John the Baptist came to ask Jesus if he was the one they had been waiting for; if Jesus was the one John had been preparing the way for. Even John the Baptist had his moments of doubt and questioning.
Jesus, in classic Jesus style, responds with a riddle that might confuse those around him but would cut to the heart of his imprisoned cousin.
“The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”
As chapter 11 continues, Jesus moves from explaining more about how awesome John the Baptist was, to denouncing unrepentant cities! Calling them out for their pride and comparing them to places like Sodom. Saying that known-for-their-sins Sodom would be better off on judgment day!
As unrelated and bizarre as all of this might seem to us reading about it today, I wonder how meaningful it must have been for the people who were physically with Jesus that day. To hear Jesus praise and talk about how great a wild prophet in the desert had been… how right John had been all along, regardless of how different he was from the rest of their religious leaders. How comforting it must’ve been to know that even John the Baptizer had his doubts about Jesus, who was even more radical than John had been with his locusts and honey diet.
Those who were great according to the laws and rules were being denounced by Jesus?! None of this would have been making sense and yet I can’t help but imagine the peace that was beginning to settle in their spirits as they continued to listen to their Teacher.
“Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.” (Matthew 11:27)
May we be people who are willing to listen!
May we be people who hear the invitation of Jesus, not just to bring our heavy burdens to him, taking on instead that which is light and easy, but to “walk with him and work with him”. May we be people who keep company with Jesus.
Lord, we want to understand you more. We want to learn about the closeness you have with Your Father because we want to be that close to God too!
There are so many things we don’t understand that we think we do Lord… would you please humble us and go over things with us, line by line?
We want to be those with eyes to see and ears to hear what you’re showing and speaking!
Bring Scripture to life in new ways for us!
Increase our hunger for your Word and to understand your ways… even when we think we understand them.
May we be people who rest well. Who walk and work with you, experiencing and learning more about the unforced rhythms of grace.
We love you Lord and want to keep company with you today.
Amen.