Before Adam and Eve began to go about their God-given task of stewarding God’s creation, before they put into motion their divinely given calling to be image bearers, they were given a day of rest. They were created on day 6. Their first day of life, day 7, was a day of rest. Rest preceded doing. Their very identity was rooted in being, not doing. To be made in the image of God involves resting in God.
As in creation, so with Jesus, who is the agent of new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). For us in Christ, who are being formed into a new humanity, the pattern remains.
As the previous week’s post suggested, discipleship begins with Jesus’ invitation:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders together, and learn from me together; I am humble and gentle at the center of who I am, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is simple, good, and pleasing, and my burden is light."
This is Jesus’ original call to discipleship. The first part of this is rest for the weary and burdened. Have you thought of this before as the first step in discipleship?
Jesus doesn’t say, “Come to me…and I will give you clearer direction.” He doesn’t say, “I will show you the path to heaven.” He doesn’t say, “Come to me, because you are filthy sinners under God’s judgment and if you don’t come to me your eternal destiny is in trouble.” In fact, this sort of rhetoric never comes from Jesus.
It’s an invitation to come to Jesus and find rest. Because we can forget. We can forget that our calling is not about what we can accomplish, the mission God's given us (God gave Adam and Eve a mission, too), or the numbers or the “success” or the failure. Our calling is to be formed in his likeness. Period.
The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:19 that he is in labor pains over the Galatians “until Christ is formed in you.” Paul’s expressed mission that drives what he does is that Christ would be formed in the people in his churches. This language is all over the map of Paul's letters. It's horribly difficult to read Paul's letters and not come away with this. Yet, somehow churches across America do it. Paul's primary mission is not about reaching the lost or making more disciples. Though these are important, they are not primary. The point of Paul’s work of discipleship formation is that Christ would be formed in the people. Interestingly, Paul writes this amid competition over discipleship and what the objective of it all is. Paul makes it clear: it's about likeness to Christ. We can forget that, just as Paul's "competitors" in Galatia forgot it. Peter even forgot it.
What's this have to do with rest? Well, to be formed in such a way means one must be in the posture to be formed. It is a posture of receiving. I am reminded of Psalm 23:
As in creation, so with Jesus, who is the agent of new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). For us in Christ, who are being formed into a new humanity, the pattern remains.
As the previous week’s post suggested, discipleship begins with Jesus’ invitation:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders together, and learn from me together; I am humble and gentle at the center of who I am, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is simple, good, and pleasing, and my burden is light."
This is Jesus’ original call to discipleship. The first part of this is rest for the weary and burdened. Have you thought of this before as the first step in discipleship?
Jesus doesn’t say, “Come to me…and I will give you clearer direction.” He doesn’t say, “I will show you the path to heaven.” He doesn’t say, “Come to me, because you are filthy sinners under God’s judgment and if you don’t come to me your eternal destiny is in trouble.” In fact, this sort of rhetoric never comes from Jesus.
It’s an invitation to come to Jesus and find rest. Because we can forget. We can forget that our calling is not about what we can accomplish, the mission God's given us (God gave Adam and Eve a mission, too), or the numbers or the “success” or the failure. Our calling is to be formed in his likeness. Period.
The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:19 that he is in labor pains over the Galatians “until Christ is formed in you.” Paul’s expressed mission that drives what he does is that Christ would be formed in the people in his churches. This language is all over the map of Paul's letters. It's horribly difficult to read Paul's letters and not come away with this. Yet, somehow churches across America do it. Paul's primary mission is not about reaching the lost or making more disciples. Though these are important, they are not primary. The point of Paul’s work of discipleship formation is that Christ would be formed in the people. Interestingly, Paul writes this amid competition over discipleship and what the objective of it all is. Paul makes it clear: it's about likeness to Christ. We can forget that, just as Paul's "competitors" in Galatia forgot it. Peter even forgot it.
What's this have to do with rest? Well, to be formed in such a way means one must be in the posture to be formed. It is a posture of receiving. I am reminded of Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I am not in want; I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in open fields of grass; he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
Psalm 23 is about the life of following the shepherd. The sheep are in a posture of following and receiving from the shepherd. And in Psalm 23, where the Lord leads is peace and rest. It is rest from need and from striving. Rest from fear and scarcity. Rest from worry and hurry. Rest from fragmentation of the soul. Rest from the burden of thinking you have to prove yourself or impress others with all the things you’ve done. Rest from thinking you have to make God happy with your obedience. Rest from feeling inadequate in a world that just keeps demanding of you.
In the logic of Jesus' words (and of Scripture as a whole), we can’t begin the life of discipleship until we first learn to receive from the Lord. This means we must first learn that what we receive from the Lord is everything—our very existence and the mind, hands, eyes, ears, and feet to work or earn a living. Everything is received, not earned. The life of receiving is the life of rest in the Biblical story. This was the case in the exodus narrative. God called them out of the demands of productivity under Pharaoh and into a new life of rest and receiving from the Lord. They made it hard on themselves because they objected to the Lord's rest and provision; they were so used to the ways of Egypt that they couldn't adjust to the Lord's ways of rest and receiving. Bummer, huh?
When we come to the Lord and unburden ourselves from the myth that it’s up to us to make our lives meaningful, then we find rest. We find rest because we realize that our lives are in the hands of a merciful God who loves us. And this realization brings peace to our souls. When we are brought to this point, only then are we in a place where the Spirit can transform our lives into Jesus’ likeness. Before that, we’re too busy trying to form our lives into our own likeness. Or in the likeness of what the world tells us is the “good life.”
That’s why the order of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 is so important for understanding discipleship: come to me…rest…take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Notice that before learning is unburdening and resting. We can’t receive from Jesus if we’re already carrying the burden of striving to make something of ourselves. When we learn to receive from the Lord and find rest, we also find that Jesus is the one in the business of making us into something. It’s his work, not our burden.
This reinforces a fundamental truth: discipleship to Jesus does not require that you first get your act together. It is precisely for the weary and burdened. It is for the ones who can’t seem to catch a break. It is for the ones weary from keeping up in a race that feels like is going nowhere. It is for the poor in spirit who are tired of trying to act out a role that is concocted by a culture bent on using us for some other agenda.
You are made for discipleship. We all are. It begins with receiving, and the unburdening and rest that flow with it.
Come to the waters of life. The way of discipleship to the Lord who gives rest and peace. The Lord is calling you.
God's peace, my friends.
In the logic of Jesus' words (and of Scripture as a whole), we can’t begin the life of discipleship until we first learn to receive from the Lord. This means we must first learn that what we receive from the Lord is everything—our very existence and the mind, hands, eyes, ears, and feet to work or earn a living. Everything is received, not earned. The life of receiving is the life of rest in the Biblical story. This was the case in the exodus narrative. God called them out of the demands of productivity under Pharaoh and into a new life of rest and receiving from the Lord. They made it hard on themselves because they objected to the Lord's rest and provision; they were so used to the ways of Egypt that they couldn't adjust to the Lord's ways of rest and receiving. Bummer, huh?
When we come to the Lord and unburden ourselves from the myth that it’s up to us to make our lives meaningful, then we find rest. We find rest because we realize that our lives are in the hands of a merciful God who loves us. And this realization brings peace to our souls. When we are brought to this point, only then are we in a place where the Spirit can transform our lives into Jesus’ likeness. Before that, we’re too busy trying to form our lives into our own likeness. Or in the likeness of what the world tells us is the “good life.”
That’s why the order of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 is so important for understanding discipleship: come to me…rest…take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Notice that before learning is unburdening and resting. We can’t receive from Jesus if we’re already carrying the burden of striving to make something of ourselves. When we learn to receive from the Lord and find rest, we also find that Jesus is the one in the business of making us into something. It’s his work, not our burden.
This reinforces a fundamental truth: discipleship to Jesus does not require that you first get your act together. It is precisely for the weary and burdened. It is for the ones who can’t seem to catch a break. It is for the ones weary from keeping up in a race that feels like is going nowhere. It is for the poor in spirit who are tired of trying to act out a role that is concocted by a culture bent on using us for some other agenda.
You are made for discipleship. We all are. It begins with receiving, and the unburdening and rest that flow with it.
Come to the waters of life. The way of discipleship to the Lord who gives rest and peace. The Lord is calling you.
God's peace, my friends.
Posted in Articles
No Comments