Restless

"O Rest, where doth thou reside? The heart and the mind doth run like lions in the sun. Upon the bed thee I doth seek, only to find thou art not sleep." (Jeffrey Gassler 2/16/2016).

We seek rest and seldom find it. Our problem is that rest is defined as physical, neurological, and emotional state. While these are real aspects of rest, there is another facet of rest in our lives that is deficient and that one is spiritual. St. Augustine of Hippo said, "You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." (Confessions). What a profound statement and in fact the very answer to why our world is bound in restlessness and an insatiability that cannot be stop. The saint of Hippo is in fact quoting Jesus Christ, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV). Jesus is addressing many levels of weariness and rest, he begins with the cares of world that cause us to feel burdened, but when He speaks of yokes, Christ is talking about spiritual disciplines and burdens. A yoke is a type of neck vice for an oxen to help direct it to plow, Rabbis in the day used this imagery to describe their teachings or yoke, and disciples would choose a Rabbi based on the yoke or teachings that either could be very strict or lax, or somewhere in middle. Jesus says of Pharisee' yokes, "They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." (Matthew 23:4).

The religious elite of 30-33 A.D. were strict, they put heavy loads and yokes on people. These yokes did not profit the people of Israel, for they did not lead people to Kingdom of God, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matthew 23:13).  The apostle Paul even encounter these types in the early Church, "having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people," (2 Timothy 3:5), and "Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:19-23). This self made religion creates a spiritual restlessness, and those who seek Christ's "rest for your souls" become despondent because churches copy these "forms of godliness" and strict yokes that do not lead to "Kingdom of Heaven" but to a living hell on earth. You cannot find rest in religious platitudes and tradition, it must come from Christ Jesus Himself, just as Saint Augustine said!

The irony is that Sabbath was created for man as a day of rest from toil. Now it is when beleivers must spring away early and rush to service to merit and prove themselves at the Neo-Temple (Churches). Pastors and church leaders can be like Pharisees in this Gospel account, "And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" To which Jesus said, "And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" (Mark 2:23-26). Jesus addresses how Pharisees have turned the day of rest, known as Sabbath into this strict asceticism and self made religion (Colossians 2:19-23). What Christ says next should shake sympathies of the Church today. Jesus Christ said, "Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28). Christ can change what is to happen on the Sabbath, because he is Lord of Sabbath! He can tell you, "just rest at home, skip church" or "go on picnic with your family." But more importantly, the Sabbath was always meant to be day of rest, "By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3). Jesus Christ was trying to remind the Pharisees that the Seventh Day, the Sabbath, was suppose to be time of spiritual, physical, neurological, and even other forms of rest for man and even God! And yet how we violate it with Church! We make people get up early, and the pastor and worship team try to make Holy Spirit work on the Sabbath, when the Seventh Day was suppose to be day of rest for God and man! In fact, the writer of Hebrews sets it in the perfect sentence, "For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his." (Hebrews 4:4,9-10).

Before any notion that we should neglect the assembly of believers enters anyone's mind, let me say this. The Sabbath was for rest, but we should at some point in week meet with other saints and believers. For the writer of Hebrews says, "not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25), and "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:42). But even here we see the purpose of gathering: encouraging one another, eating together, fellowshipping, and praying, something you seldom see in churches today which are now more like music concerts and seminars. There is nothing that says we have to meet on Saturday or Sunday, for Paul says, "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17).

Jesus Christ wants us to have rest from harsh religion, and to find true spiritually in Him as Paul said in Col 2:17. Christ also knows we need physical rest, "And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." (Mark 6:31). Jesus recognizes that people need physical rest, that they need to take nap or lay down. It even says that He took note that people were running about so much they had no time to eat, in another place it says the same thing and that He fed them (Matthew 14:13-21). Christ is not without compassion for our physical needs to rest, and even for our stomechs to rest via having some food to digest.

The ultimate rest for our hearts, souls, spirits, and body can only be found in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is reason why world is weary, it cannot find the rest it seeks because it seeks to find it in riches, prestige, pride, power, and precious gems. You cannot find peace or rest in riches, for God is not money, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24), and Jesus who is God tells us not to, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19-20). Jesus is not saying wealth is evil, but you will find not rest or peace in earthly riches. This is why the titans of Hollywood, Wall Street, Washington D.C., and the World after building palaces, gathering hordes of gold like dragons, and having all pleasure they can muster find themselves restless still and without fulfillment. For the promise of peace and rest only comes in the Lord, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV). This promise comes for those who place their trust, faith, and security in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The promise of rest awaits us, for it is written, "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." (Revelation 14:13). Even if we must suffer great persecution and even die for sake of our Lord, we are insured and promised that we shall have rest from our labors. This rest permeates are lives now, and it will consume our very being when we repose and live with Redeemer in the heavenly realms. While the world around us spins with anxiety, fear, terror, and tribulation, we have rest promised to us and rest to sustain us from within through Christ Jesus our Lord. For He said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). The only rest that can tame our restless hearts as St. Augustine said, is if "our heart rests in you O Lord."