Sermons

Introduction:

Being in a busy environment often breeds busyness. All too many of us are running around like the proverbial headless chicken. We may wonder just when we can take a break and get some rest. But if you are like my family growing up, you may feel like you need vacations from your vacations. How can one enter into a rest? As the patriarch Joseph looked toward his death, he had a great sense of peace. His peace came from the only source of true rest, God. This message reflects on the faith we need to experience this same kind of rest.



People of Work

Does any one here feel like they need more rest? 

We had dinner with my uncle down in Irvine. As the evening wore on, we worried that it might be too late for him. He told us that this week is the week for him to rest and not work. That is true for many people during the Holidays--many people take time to get away from work. Students are on break (parents working twice as hard!). We take vacations, take time to work around the house, shop, and spend time with family. Sometimes these activities are restful, many times they are not. I told Lori that I need a vacation from my vacation. Traveling is a break from my work, but may not be restful.

A vacation is that brief period of time between trying to get ahead so you can leave and trying to catch up when you get back. --Jim Vorsas, Saratoga

What has been documented not only in print but in our own lives is that Silicon Valley lifestyle is hectic. In a recent Mercury News article, groups all around the South Bay have started forming. What is their purpose? To live a more simplified life. To get back to basics like quiet time, family, cooking and gardening. 

Mark Emmons in the Mercury News called wrote an article called Simplify, Simplify: IT IS A GATHERING of the faithful. Or perhaps the faith-seeking. This may be a potluck dinner, but the main discourse for the 45 or so contrarians at a Palo Alto community center is about everything that's wrong with our workaholic, flagrantly consumerist, increasingly complex lifestyle in Silicon Valley. These are people who are looking for rest from our harried lifestyle through simplicity.

I have more and more conversations with people who would love to move out of the area. Perhaps this is our way of saying that we need a break from the pace of work, school, church, and family.

A Newsweek poll (1/27/97) found that 64 percent of those surveyed believe they will have less leisure time in the future than they have now. -- Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4.

God Made us to Rest: Sleep
I'm not surprised that we often talk about the need to rest. We are people that need rest. GOD CREATED US TO REST. We only need to look at our need to sleep. Sometimes I wish I did not have to sleep every day. There are times I actually think I can get by with minimal sleep--maybe a few hours. I did this especially in my college and seminary days. But those nights always caught up with me. I would spend the next day or two just recovering.

So we may think we need more rest, but are at a loss to find it in our lives. What is the problem? Perhaps the way we go about trying to find rest shows us that we may not really understand what rest is. Our activities in the name of rest do not always give us the rest we desire. 

Defining Work and Rest: Internal and External
Let's say you could sleep all week. No one would bother you or call you. You would have nowhere to go and no responsibilities. Sound good? Or you could do anything you wanted--money was not an issue. After a week, would you be rested? You might be, but what about returning to school or work? Any rest you may have received would be gone the first day or week back! It would not be a lasting rest, and we could not drink from that well very often.

Too much rest itself becomes a pain. -- Greek proverb

We need to understand this concept: What we need from our Work is Rest, not Leisure. This puts the concept of rest from outside of us--from where we can go, our schedules, our activities, our responsibilities, our vacations, to inside of us (calmness, contentment, peacefulness, letting go of our worries, etc). 

Our primary need is to deal with this internal restlessness, not finding more Leisure. Leisure: Hobbies, travel, vacation, sports, surfing web, TV, and even sleep all have their place. But they will not provide us the REST we need for our souls.

Let me give you an example. One Saturday night while I was thinking about this sermon I couldn't sleep. Much of my life I have struggled with insomnia. I will get a problem in my head to figure out and I cannot fall asleep. Or I might begin to worry about something. Then I cannot let go of those thoughts. My inability to sleep causes me to feel tired in my body the next day. But my inability to sleep is only a symptom of an internal struggle, my restlessness. When I am restless I am agitated inside.

The African proverb understands Biblical Rest when they plead:

Lord Jesus, make my heart sit down. -- African proverb, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 2.

God desires we have an inner rest. In the Creation Account, Rest is something that God did on the seventh day. It is a pattern He set for all of us. The author of Hebrews writes an extended section on this topic of rest. We will examine some of those verses as we go along today.

Hebrews 4:4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."

Rest is something that He has wanted for his people since the Creation. He gave promise to Abraham that he would find rest in the land of Canaan. 

These are the promises that Jacob (grandson) held onto…

• 147 years of life…lived to see family saved in Egypt
• But home is in Canaan…where God's blessings lie
• Swear oath--Knowing he could go there gave him final rest. (50:5)

Joseph (great-grandson) inherited these same promises…

• 110 years of life…overcame much and did great in Egypt
• Faith in returning to the Promised Land (50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.)"

These are the promises that the Israelites as a nation inherited…

But the author of Hebrews tells us the generations of Hebrews never did enter into God's rest. What happened? Their way of trying to enter that rest was flawed. And so may be our ways as well.

Our Solution? Believing that…

1. Leaving Tough Circumstances will bring rest.

Joseph wanted his bones to be carried to the Promised Land, Canaan. He could die in Egypt, but that was not His home-where someone wants to be buried shows you where their heart and affections are.

• That would not happen until Exodus/slavery under a new Pharaoh. Israel thought leaving slavery would bring rest. But when they left Egypt they complained night and day. The cloud and fire of God led them, but they rather have had slavery.
• Result: they were not allowed to enter their Land of Rest. They wandered in the desert for 40 years and every single one, except Caleb and Joshua, died there (even Moses) (Hebrews 3, Numbers). 
• We too may think that leaving our job, home to go to college, our class/grade/school, family circumstances, etc. will bring rest. Let's learn a lesson from the Israelites and their thinking.

2. Going to What We Perceive are Better Circumstances Will Bring Rest.

Joseph's hope became the hope of generations after him.

• Joshua did what Moses and his generation could not. He entered the Promised Land. (Joshua 1:8?). But there the Israelites did not find rest as well.
• In the same way, the Babylonian exiles returned, but they did not find rest.
• We, too, may get to where we want to go. But we only become wandering souls like the Israelites in the desert. Our restlessness goes with us.

Why can't we find rest? Because of our Unbelief.

Moses-Unbelief and Doubt in God as exhibited by complaining and bitterness toward God (hardening of heart).

Heb 3:7-12
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,
9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'"
12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

We will not have rest if we have a hardened heart. To enter into God's rest we need to have an open, sensitive, and tender heart toward God. Otherwise we will easily go astray and find ourselves complaining and bitter about life.

Joshua and Successive Generations in the Land. (Hebrews 4:8 contrast with Joshua 1). In Joshua 1 when the Israelites heard the command of God, they believed. They entered the land of Promise with great hope--but when they finally arrived their was sin. Joshua did not give them rest either.

Heb 4:6-8
6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.
7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

These Israelites, unlike those in Moses' time, entered the land. They believed God, but what happened to them? They stopped believing.

We have are Christians may wonder why we do not have rest in our hearts. The reason is because we thought that entering the Promised Land--or becoming a Christian, would mean Rest. But actually, that faith decision only led us to the place where we could find Rest. Now that we are Believers, we must continue to live in faithfulness to God to have His Rest.

Their unbelief caused them not to enter into the Rest of God. Hebrews 11:22-By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones. By faith Joseph looked forward to the exodus and returning to the land. Wasn't that the case with him-he was at peace at the end of his life.

Rest in Abiding Faith in Jesus
That is why Jesus is so important. The question we should be asking ourselves is in Whom is it possible for us to rest in God? Not, in What can we find inner rest!

Jesus deals with our restlessness regarding Sin

• Atoning death and sacrifice for our sin
• We were enemies of God (Romans 5), now we are at peace with Him.
• Have salvation and promise of eternal rest
• In Him God has forgiven us every sin.

Jesus deals with our restlessness regarding daily struggles.

• He is our High Priest (Heb 5-brings us to God today)
• He understands our temptations and trials (struggles)
• He accepts us-died for us while were sinners.

How do we enter into God's Rest?
Joseph's peace at the end of his life-not the promise that his bones would enter into the promised land-but in the GOD who would make it happen. We too can go to that same God because Jesus makes possible our Rest in God.

Heb 4:14-16
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin.
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(NIV)

Enter into the throne of Grace
Share your time of need with Him
Receive God's grace (grace=what we need INSIDE to feel a calmness and peace in the most troubling of times).

This takes FAITH! The very ingredient missing from those generations of Israelites who went before us.

Conclusion:
Today is Today. There is still an opportunity to experience God's rest here on earth.

Heb 4:11
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. (NIV)

Augustine said, "You [God] have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no rest until they rest in You."

Time of Meditation

Psalm 46:10 Be Still and Know I am God.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
 

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