"R AND R"
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9)
July 9, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
"Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
Well, it's that time of the year again, isn't it? It's summertime--time for vacation--time for a little "R and R," as they say. And whether you personally define "R and R" as rest and relaxation, rest and recreation, or rest and recuperation, you know all too well that it's something that everybody needs. At this time of the year especially, most of us are thinking about vacation--either about the vacation that we have just returned from or the one that we are about to begin and are very much looking forward to. This is a very busy and stressful world that we live in--a world that takes a lot out of us as we struggle to live in it and face its challenges from day to day. We all need the opportunity to get away from it all--away from all of the things that cause us so much frustration and stress and heartache. It's nice to be able to retreat into the soothing (albeit unrealistic) world of vacation and leisure.
We need that kind of retreat in our spiritual lives as well, since we face many tensions and frustrations there also. We certainly don't need to get away from our Savior or from the New Life that is ours in Him, but we do from time to time need a break from the constant war that rages within us--the war between good and evil--between righteousness and sin--between what Martin Luther in his Small Catechism calls the New Man and the Old Adam. The words of Jesus that serve as our sermon text for this morning make up what is perhaps the best known invitation to rest and renewal that can be found in the entire Bible. What our Savior offers us here is not an escape from the harsh realities of life that we have to live with every day, but rather the strength that we need to bear those harsh realities. That strength comes to us only in the rest that Jesus offers and in the easy yoke that He invites us to take.
The rest that Jesus gives to those who come to Him is, above all, a relief from weariness. And the weariness that people need relief from most of all has nothing at all to do with being physically tired; it is the spiritual weariness that we experience because of the burden of our sin. Sin is a very heavy burden to bear--far too heavy to be borne by human strength. If you look at the spiritual endeavors of people who do not know the joy of forgiveness in Jesus Christ, you will find that, whether they are aware of it or not, they become totally consumed by the effort to overcome their sin and its consequences. That kind of activity makes people hopelessly weary, because it is something that simply cannot be done. Martin Luther tried to deal with his sin by locking himself up in a monastery, but he found that, even there, his sin was still with him. Anything that sinners do in an effort to do away with their sin or make up for it is futile. But Jesus tells us that coming to Him results in rest from that spiritual struggle because He Himself has already engaged in that struggle on the sinner's behalf and He has prevailed. The victory over sin and death that He won by His perfect life, His innocent suffering and death, and His glorious resurrection is a victory that He shares with "all who labor and are heavy laden" and come to Him, seeking the needed rest that only He can provide.