So often we are consumed in the cogs of the religious machine to please Christ. We find ourselves having to put up slogans, "Repent isn't crying, its changing," and touting in some way that we are more ardent, more serious, and more devout. We spend all our time trying to prove to others that we are the most sincere, and yet we refuse to listen to our Dear and Caring Savior. Being busy is our token, we proclaim to the LORD that we are leaving Him a grand legacy. All the while, He wants to hold us, His Sheep, close to His side, offer us a cup of refreshing water, and rest from our labors. It is not that Christ doesn't want us to do things for Him, but the doing can as Thoreau once put it, "turn a human being into a human doing." (Walden, Chapter I-III, Man on a Farm). There is a deep rooted insecurity in human nature, always we are tying to prove we are worthy, competent, trustworthy, and honorable; while this zeal isn't completely without some merit, the point is we often miss what God would have us relax into, and end up muscling our way into a sea we didn't want to sail in first place.
We get it into our head that like Jacob, we must wrestle with Jesus to get a blessing. But Jacob was pre-Christ coming incarnate to die for our sins and rise from dead. The blessing is being with God, in His tent, and presence (Psalm 27:4), and we have that guaranteed by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:19), and now God lives in us and we live in God (1 John 4:15). So then what are we muscle and striving for? What causes us to not rest in Christ, and instead be restless at night? What is this craving inside us to prove ourselves? What is the drive behind our endless wandering? Some have explained it as the flesh, unwilling to accept that it is dead (Romans 6:1-18), other say it is a thirst for the regeneration, when our bodies and souls become completely conformed to Christ in character and behavior, and some believe it is a yearning for perfection we were meant for in paradise in Eden. While these are all good explanations, and perhaps they are part of larger wheel of reasons, but I think the chief reason we strive and refuse to relax in God and God relax us from within is simple: religion. This word have been supercharged since its first use, originally it was good word, it meant right religion, Christianity, orthodox Christianity that believes the Bible and Nicene Creed, but overtime it became a word to define practice, rite, and tradition; a methodology. From infancy, our exposure in the church scene is ritualistic, we learn whether Catholic or Protestant, Eastern Orthodox or Charismatic, to be busy bees. The pastor or priest tells us at the meeting that God wants us to work, work on our character, work on our sins, work for the church, and do unto others. The emphasize is "love your neighbor," (Mark 12:31) and to "be zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:14). Charitas (Charity) becomes a chief virtue, and action is emphasized in name of holy mother church. In of themselves, these things are not bad, to give to others and love others is commanded by Christ, but the chiefest commandment of Christ, He desire was for our first to "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, this is the chief and most important commandment, the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39-41). The key in there is Jesus, He is the Lord, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved," (Romans 10:9), and "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:11). So the most important thing is to love Jesus. When we love someone, do we only pay them homage, make petition to them, or speak to them as distant monarch or ruler? No. When you love someone you spend time with them, shower loving words, hugs, and time spent on them. Hence why Christ said, "And this is the way to have eternal life--to know (ginosko, epignosko) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth." (John 17:3). We are meant to have depth in God the Trinity, to be in Him and He in us, "All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God." (1 John 4:15), and "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." (John 17:20-23). This is Christ's desire, that we know Him, the Everlasting Father, and Holy Spirit so intimately that we realize we are in God and God is in us, and we are One! Then from there we love others, which is done more easily when we have loved God and lived in Him and Him in us, who is love, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:18). Because when we fully realize that Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27), and God's Spirit dwells in us, His new temples (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 3:6), then we can love, which is chiefest of all good works, and in love we can share the Truth, help the needy, and do unto others, because once we are joint at Christ's hip, and so in love with Him, we will notice Him in our brothers and sisters in need; and we will want the lost to know His limitless and unquenchable love.
Religion by stark contrast squelches love. It promotes a archaic and monolithic relationship with God. It is relationship at a distance through laws, rules, and ritual. While loving Christ in close relatishion can be painted as Bride and Bridegroom, Religion is like approach God who is an impersonal judge, lawyer, and tax collector. Religion transforms the all loving One into a lording over One, and the result is a insecurity, a need to appease the judge and get our pardon, despite that we know on conscious and theological level that the pardon was achieved by Jesus Christ Himself (Hebrews, Peter). Religion is a shadow, Relationship is the substance, "For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality: These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:17, cross ref to Hebrews 10:1-23). Religion is poor substitute teacher when you can have close relationship with Christ the Teacher (Matthew 23:10) and in Him is all wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3). Religion is the box or walls outside of Christ, a parameter forged by men, while Relationship is the door Christ Jesus Himself opened through His death (Matthew 27:49-51, Hebrews 10:20) and Has broken down all separation between us and God. In many ways religion tries to reduce us back to state we were prior to salvation, insecure and pinging for God's mercy and love; while reality is that we are saved (John 6:40), and can have full confidence (Ephesians 3:12, Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 10:19) and full security in God's mercy and love (Romans 5:6-11, 1 John 2:1-4).
The pitfalls of religion were well known to our Lord Jesus Christ, who rebuked the most religious and blind members, the Pharisees on many occasions. Our Lord even in once instance went to a dinner of Pharisees and said this, "Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first [aa]ceremonially washed before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40 You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.
44 Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
5 One of the lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the [ah]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ 52 Woe to you [al]lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54 plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say." (Luke 11:37-54);. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not shy from telling the religious men of the day what He really thought of them hypocrisy, and how they often lead people astray. In same way, many religious leaders of the day (today) lead people astray, not only into destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1), but they block the way into the Kingdom (Matthew 23:13), with their man made tradition (Mark 7:8, Mark 7:13, Matthew 15:6), and worse they keep people from a close and bountiful relationship, friendship, and Oneness with Christ. Man made tradition, religion, and rite can be the enemy of Jesus Christ the Word of God, "While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed. ”But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luke 11:27-28), and "But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘The help you would have received from me has been given to God,’ they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition." (Matthew 15:5-6).In the former case Christ is rebuking a woman who is trying to venerate Mary (the beginning of Roman Catholic Madonna heresy), and He redirects the attention and focus to the Word of God, who Jesus is (John 1:1-17, Revelation 11:16). In the latter situation, the Pharisees had made their own tradition which was canceling out and replacing what Jesus the Word of God had breathed and taught the elders. In both cases, the religious responses here distract from a relationship with Jesus Christ, and Christ has to redirect people.
Christ Cares for us, and while certainly He will call us to do good deeds in tandem with His Will(Hebrews 13:21). However, we should never place our relationship with our LORD on a meritus basis, or let it fall into a business type relationship. Our Savior, God, and Friend wants to be close to us. He chose us (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV), and Has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13), but we are the apple of His eye, and He should be joy of our life, and desire of our heart; that is to know Him and count all things lost in comparison (Philippians 3:8-11). Christ is not some overbearing lord that wants us to "sacrifice, sacrifice, and then sacrifice some more," He already was Ultimate Sacrifice (1 John 2:2, Hebrews 10:1-18). What Christ wants is our heart, our love, and bond (John 17:20-23); not empty hymns and begrudging beatitudes sung from a pew. The Lord Jesus is gentle and humble, and He wants to give us rest (Matthew 11:28-30), He does not put us to the test like some lab rat, but He does let tests come, not to prove ourselves worthy as religion has us believe, but to make us run to Him and rest in Him (Christ) when test is happening! This is where we so often error! We think when test from our Enemy comes, or when we are tested in some other way with trial and temptation, that God is somehow checking to see our worthy level, but in truth, it is a test that can only be passed if we turn, and Rest in Him. If we go to Jesus, and relax into His Way, and His answer to the test, there in the rest and leaning on His chest as the Apostle John did (John 13:23 NASB), we find the breath and tender loving voice of our Lord telling us, "I've got this." Now in battle we may cry as apostles did sinking in Galilean sea, and our flesh may be thorn in us; but if we learn to take each test, and rest in Christ, and let Him in who all wisdom and knowledge dwells (Colossians 2:2-3), then we will not fail, but realize the test isn't the trial or temptation, but to see will we choose the relationship over our religious response? Will we turn to Christ instead of our good ideas? The tests aren't to see if we can beat devil in spiritual warfare, prove our prowess in Bible memorization, or give up something to prove our love to Jesus; the tests are to see will we rest in Christ and go To Him, and let Him be our full reality; that is the test is meant to show us we depend on Jesus, we need Him, His rest is only way to defeat the test; in Him is the only 100% passing. God isn't testing us to prove our love, it is to lead us to His love; it presses us, like sheep who go astray towards Him the Good Shepherd. The test isn't to show how spiritually powerful we are and whether we have mettle to withstand the firebrands of the many devils; but it is meant to make us come to Christ, rest in His arms, and let Him win the battle because He already has. The purpose of test is direct us to rest in Jesus and His love, and want Him, not religion. The test is to see if we will rest in Christ, and be One with Him, and let Him be victor over all evil (1 Corinthians 15:57). Let me say it one more time to make it clear, the test's purpose to see if we will choose the reality of resting in Christ and coming to Him and laying in His lap and letting Him help us, and lead us; or if we will muscle it with our religion and man made ideas. Amen.
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