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Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Suzy Shin, and I'm part of the Monthly Oakland Family Group.
Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, verses 30 to 43, as printed in your liturgy.
The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
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.
And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
And he began to teach them many things.
And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages, and buy themselves something to eat.
But he answered them, You give them something to eat.
And they said to him, Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?
And he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see.
And when they had found out, they said, Five, and two fish.
Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties.
And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing,
and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.
And he divided the two fish among them all.
And they all ate and were satisfied.
And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Good morning.
Christ Church, it's good to be with you.
My name is Jesse Robinson.
I am not a pastor on staff here.
I'm a friend of Christ Church, friend of Jonathan's and Andrew's.
I'm a pastor of a church called Indelible Grace.
We're in Hayward, North Hayward.
But Andrew is a dear friend of mine.
And since he's taking a sabbatical, I'm trying to give him a favor.
With the hope that he'll give me a favor, too.
That's how the kingdom works.
It's a tit for tat.
You might know this, but we're halfway past the middle of summer, right?
If you're anything like me, summer is always a tease.
I have all these hopes of rest, a slower pace, vacations, catching my breath.
But summer never delivers.
It never delivers.
Actually, many things that we look for, look to for rest, don't deliver.
Are you going on vacation or holiday this summer?
You know the saying, right?
That I need a vacation from my vacation, right?
You get back and you're more weary in a couple of days to recover.
Recover.
Or just the daily places where we go for rest, right?
A brief break on your phone.
To check Instagram.
Or some TikTok.
Does it really give us rest?
Maybe after you collapse on the couch from putting the kids down, you turn your brain off and just put on a show or a movie.
Does it give us rest?
So in honor of summer and of the fact that Christ is going on a retreat very soon, I want us to think about rest.
Now, while I do it through a text, we might not think about as about rest.
The feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6.
As we look at this, I want us to look at three things.
We're going to first look at the offering of rest, the subversion of rest, and the shepherd of rest.
The offering of rest, subversion, and the shepherd.
So first, the offering of rest.
It's largely overlooked in this story that the feeding of the 5,000 begins with rest.
The disciples have been commissioned by Jesus.
They've been on an extended missions trip since they come back.
And they're reporting to Jesus everything they said and did.
And they've done a lot.
They've been on the move nonstop.
Meeting people.
Confronting demons.
Healing the sick.
Teaching.
They are spreading the word about the kingdom of God.
And Jesus' response when they get back?
He doesn't say,
Oh, you didn't do more?
What does he say?
Look at verse 31.
And he said to them,
Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.
Let's grab an Airbnb down by Yosemite.
Right?
Or the Santa Cruz Mountains.
And let's rest.
You're depleted.
You're tired.
You've got no gas in the tank.
Let's get away just you and me.
And let's go somewhere with no cell service.
And rest.
Jesus offers rest.
And that's on brand.
That's who God is.
Maybe you've been a Christian your whole life.
Or maybe you're not.
And you're just curious about this church thing.
But it's easy to miss.
Christians and non-Christians alike miss how much the Bible is actually about rest.
In fact, the Bible opens with rest.
God creates everything in six days by just speaking.
But then this all-powerful God, all-creating God,
he does something strange on the seventh day.
It says,
And he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
The rabbis, the Jewish rabbis in their commentary on this,
say this is not about God needing rest.
God's setting an example for us.
Setting a pattern that we are created for rest.
Rest is not a bug.
It's a feature of our humanity.
And it's like that our culture easily loses sight of.
Journalist Oliver Berkman has a book, 4,000 Weeks.
Your pastor, Andrew, referred me to it.
And it's a great book.
He points out how much anxiety,
modern anxiety comes from thinking that we can do everything.
How anxious we get.
This optimization culture that we live in.
I'm going to optimize so I can get the most out of my work, my vacation.
He says, this is a farce.
It's a farce.
We can't do everything.
That's the first step of wisdom,
is to learn our limitations.
Berkman is not a Christian,
but he's talking about the Christian concept of creatureliness.
That we are made by an infinite God,
but we are finite.
We are made to rest.
And God cares about that.
He built it into the very fabric of our creation.
This was so important,
it even made it into the Ten Commandments.
Right?
This doesn't get much publicity.
Usually it's don't murder or don't steal.
But right in the middle,
right in the middle,
no less morally important,
superior,
is this command to rest.
God says,
honor the Sabbath.
Six days you shall labor
and do all your work,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath.
Your boss,
your divine boss,
wants you to take a break every week.
week.
Is this who you thought God was?
He actually cares about your rest.
Jesus is offering his disciples rest.
In fact,
this Sabbath command
comes on the heels
of the Hebrews being freed from slavery in Egypt.
In his little book,
The Sabbath as Resistance,
scholar Walter Brueggemann,
he connects a culture's economy
to its religion.
The God of Israel is different
than the Egyptian gods,
the Egyptians.
Pharaoh is a slave driver
because his gods are slave drivers.
He makes the Hebrews
produce more and more bricks
for less and less.
When you read the passage,
the story in Exodus,
the Egyptians actually accuse the Hebrews.
They say,
why have you not done more bricks?
You are lazy.
The God of Israel,
meanwhile,
has a different value system.
Rest is baked in.
God tells us
there's something more valuable,
more essential,
more human
than productivity.
In fact,
modern labor laws
were profoundly shaped
by Judeo-Christian values
about work
and Sabbath.
the work week,
the 40-hour work week,
was originally championed
by Christian reformers.
But in a secular economy,
if there is no God
to regulate
either work or recreation,
then what happens?
In the absence of God,
something must rule
our work
or rest.
And when there is no God,
what is it?
Profit.
Greed.
If profit is ultimate,
there can be no true rest.
The more you work,
the more money you'll make.
But how much different
is Yahweh,
the God of Israel?
God is not a slave driver.
He's not an angry middle manager
trying to squeeze out
more productivity from you.
He's not Pharaoh.
He's a God
who frees the slaves
and gives rest.
Last year,
I was on a pastor's retreat
in the Rocky Mountains.
I'm in a cohort
of younger pastors
and we're led
by this gray-haired pastor
named Scott.
And we went on
a group hike.
Now,
I have a moderate condition
of cerebral palsy,
a disability.
I like to say
that my balance
is impaired,
but my sense of humor
is improved
by this condition.
And so,
we're going on
this hike together
and we're hiking
up some moderate inclines.
We're 8,000 feet.
So we're breathing,
I'm breathing kind of heavy.
This is very different
to the Bay Area.
And there were
some difficult parts
and Scott,
our leader,
over and over
kept checking with me.
Hey,
are you okay?
Hey,
do we need to stop
and rest?
His sensitivity
was attuned
to my work,
my output.
my exhaustion.
Prince,
that is who
Jesus is
to us.
He knows you
better than you.
He sees you.
He sees your exhaustion
even when you deny it.
That is who Jesus is.
Jesus takes a look
at his disciples
and says,
you need a break.
And they don't even
ask for it.
He just gives it.
He initiates.
He offers it.
So here's a question
for you this morning.
What would Jesus say
to you
this morning?
How are you doing?
Are you depleted?
Are you tired?
Maybe you're
physically tired.
Maybe it's emotional.
You're carrying
a lot of disappointment
and hurt.
Or maybe it's spiritual.
Listen,
maybe you're living
a life where you
are serving
a slave-driving God.
Maybe you
are the slave-driving God.
You are Pharaoh
constantly pushing
yourself or others.
And you're exhausted.
Or maybe you're
the disciples
and you're simply
coming off a season
of faithful ministry
and you're like,
hey, Jesus,
I'm tired.
Whatever it is,
God sees your weariness
and he offers rest.
And he said to them,
come away by yourselves
to a desolate place
and rest a while.
That's our first point,
the offering of rest.
Second point,
the subversion of rest.
Now, emotionally,
Jesus is a bit
like summer here.
He's a bit of a tease.
He offers a retreat
and on the way
to the Airbnb,
an instant crowd
appears.
Look at verse 33.
Now, when he saw
them going
and recognized them
and they ran there
on foot
from all the towns
and got there
ahead of them.
And when he went ashore,
he saw a great crowd.
So instead of a retreat,
we have a needy crowd.
And so Jesus
starts to teach them.
That's what Jesus does.
He's a teacher.
And then verse 35,
it says,
it grew late.
And the disciples
are like,
hey, Jesus,
this sermon
is fantastic.
But the call
of the pillow
is starting
to be stronger
than the Holy Spirit.
Right?
Can we go
get some rest?
And they see
an opportunity.
The crowd's getting hungry.
In verse 36,
they tell Jesus,
send the crowd away
to go buy themselves food.
They take control.
They tell Jesus
what to do.
Now, that never goes well
in the Gospels
when you tell Jesus
what to do.
Look at verse 37.
But he answered them,
you give them
something to eat.
Wait.
Wait, what?
Jesus,
you offered us rest.
And now you want
us to cater
5,000 people
in the wilderness?
You know when you're
exhausted
and life springs
something on you?
Back when our kids
were little,
we had this getaway plan.
My wife was grinding
in her job.
I was trying to work
on a PhD
while also working
part-time.
We had two little ones.
We were exhausted.
And we had this weekend
on the calendar.
We're going to go
to a lake house.
We're going to go
to a lake house.
We're so excited.
There's beautiful
waterside views.
We're just going to sit
in the window
and just watch the lake.
That's all we wanted.
We're still ready.
And the morning
we're about to leave,
my wife wakes up
with a fever.
A fever.
I still feel
the disappointment
and the rage.
Like,
I'm mad at God,
but she's,
I was a very,
very terrible husband
in this moment.
I'm like,
this is your,
you're sick
and you're ruining
everything.
Now I'm solo parenting
this weekend
with two babies.
Right?
This is the opposite
of that.
This is what the disciples
are feeling.
Like,
Jesus,
we want rest.
We're tired.
And now,
you want us to feed
these people?
What is Jesus doing?
Why is he moving
the finish line
on them?
Right?
They're on fumes.
They're running a marathon.
They see the finish line.
All of a sudden,
Jesus is like,
nope.
Why?
You see,
we think rest
comes from changing
our circumstances.
Don't we?
Go on the vacation.
Get away from the demands.
Oftentimes,
one of the primary ways
that our culture
envisions rest
is really escapism.
It's escapism.
But you know
that doesn't always work.
Right?
On vacation,
you are still
the same person.
Your kid is still
going to tantrum.
Or maybe your spouse
is going to tantrum.
Or maybe you're
going to tantrum.
The scenery changes,
but your soul
doesn't.
Jesus isn't being
cruel here.
He's exposing
the poverty
of our rest.
And he subverts
their notions
of rest
in two ways.
First,
there's self-protection.
The disciples' instinct
are like,
hey,
let's send them away.
Let's send them away.
Then we'll get rest.
And we do that too,
right?
We think that rest
comes from self-protection.
I've got to block
off my time.
I have to have
better boundaries.
But Jesus
calls them
to compassion.
To feel
for others' rest.
There's a contrast there.
When Jesus
sees the crowd,
it says he saw them
and had compassion
because they were sheep
without a shepherd.
Actually,
the Sabbath command
in the Old Testament,
in the law,
the two commandments,
it's the first law,
the commandment,
to mention others.
All
the others
to this point
mention God alone.
It's your vertical.
The Sabbath rest,
he says,
God says,
remember the Sabbath day
you shouldn't work
and neither should
anyone in your charge.
Not your spouse
or your child
or your employee
or your servant
or guest.
In other words,
compassion
was built
into the Sabbath law.
Jesus
got this.
This is why,
when did Jesus
heal?
He healed people
on the Sabbath.
It angered the Pharisees,
but he was restoring
the meaning
of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath
is about serving
other people's rest.
It's giving yourself
so that someone else
can rest.
You see,
the world says
to us
that rest comes
from self-care.
Camper yourself,
indulge yourself,
treat yourself,
in the words of Donna
in Parks and Rec.
There's a whole lot
less millennials
in this room
than there is
in my church.
Parks and Rec.
It's a great show.
Great philosophical show there.
Jesus says,
look to give rest.
Look to give rest.
That's the backwards kingdom.
Oftentimes,
the way to get rest
is to get rest.
And we know this,
right?
Have you ever sacrificed
this Saturday morning
to help a friend move?
Or maybe you stayed up late
to fix a meal
for someone else?
It's tiring,
but in a restful way.
Like,
you've done something
good and beautiful.
But the second thing
he does,
so he confronts their,
subverts their
self-protection.
He also subverts
their self-sufficiency.
Jesus says,
you feed them.
And they're immediately like,
we can't cater a party
for thousands.
We're in the middle
of nowhere.
And it would cost
a fortune.
A denarii
is a day's wage.
So 200 denarii,
that's like a,
that's almost
an annual salary.
We're going to,
we're going to drop that.
On this like,
impulsive feeding
these people?
They don't have that.
But Jesus knows that.
He knows he's asked
the impossible.
And what if that's the point?
He wants them to realize
that they don't have
what it takes.
He wants them to come
to the end of themselves.
Listen,
the self
is our primary issue
when it comes to rest.
The self is exhausting.
It's not your spouse
or your kids
or your boss
or your parents,
but you.
You are your most
worst enemy
when it comes to rest.
And the stronger
your self is,
your ego,
your ambition,
your reputation,
the stronger
your hold on life,
the more you think
that life is about you,
the more exhausted
you will be.
Why?
Because you're constantly
trying to get what you want.
The control.
And you'll be constantly
anxious
that you won't get
what you want.
It's all up to you.
You see,
self-protection
and self-sufficiency
are really the same root.
One says,
I'll protect myself,
and the other
I'll provide
for myself.
And they're both exhausting.
Both assume
that I know it's best
and I'll get my rest.
And here's the deeper truth
about rest and religion.
Rest reveals
your true religion.
Where you rest,
what you do
to get rest,
it actually says something
about what you believe
life is about,
about who your God is,
about where you get
renovation,
or restoration.
Maybe you rest
in your bank account.
And you think,
once I get this amount
of money,
then I can rest.
And I can retire easy.
Or maybe you look
to your family.
If I can just,
if everyone,
if all the members
of my family
can just be okay,
then I can rest.
Listen,
that's a recipe
for never resting.
They will never
be all okay,
moms.
All you anxious moms
out there,
they will never
be all okay.
If it's not money,
you will never
have enough to rest.
You will never
have enough.
All these
are forms
of self-sufficiency.
But the Bible
says we're made
to rest in God.
That's what
we are made for.
The African theologian,
St. Augustine,
put it this way.
You probably know this.
He says,
you've made us
for yourself,
O Lord,
and our heart
is restless
until it rests
in you.
Any other thing
that we rest in,
our accomplishments,
or our reputation,
or our pleasure,
it will ultimately
leave us
restless.
Because we were
made to rest
in God alone.
So Jesus
subverts
these false
notions of rest
because he loves us.
Which brings us
to the surprise
in our last point,
the shepherd
of rest.
So Jesus
gives them
an impossible task
and they bring it
back to him.
Verse 37.
Should we go
and buy this?
200 denarii
worth of bread?
And Jesus
says, no.
Go see what
we have on hand.
And they come
back
with five loaves
and two fish.
This is a very
pitiful haul.
There are
5,000 men.
We don't know
how many others
and that's all
the food they have.
This is a
massive failure.
Okay?
Appearance
throughout.
They brought
no snacks.
Then what
does Jesus
do?
Look at verse
39.
Then he
commanded them
all to sit
down in groups
in the green grass.
And they sit
down.
Verse 41.
Jesus takes
the five loaves
and the two
fish.
He looked up
to heaven
and said a
blessing and
broke the loaves
and gave them
to the disciples
to set before
the people.
Jesus breaks
off piece
after piece
after piece.
And the
disciples pass
the meal out
to the people.
Can you see
this in your
mind?
Imagine a
beautiful field
of soft
green grass.
It's like
Berkeley and
March.
Clumps of
people seated
hungry and
hopeful.
All eyes
on Jesus.
Mark usually
doesn't fill us
in on the
condition of the
grass.
Why does he say
green grass?
It's one of
several Easter
eggs within this
passage.
The line in
verse 36.
They were like
sheep without a
shepherd.
Jesus has a
great herd of
people on
green grass.
And they're
beside the
water, still
water.
And this
shepherd is
preparing a
table for his
people.
This whole
passage evokes
Psalm 23,
the most
famous of
psalms.
The Lord is
my shepherd.
I shall not
want.
He makes me
lie down in
green and
green pastures.
He leads me
beside still
waters.
He restores
my soul.
He prepares
a table before
me.
My cup
overflows.
Psalm 23 is
the premier
psalm of
rest, of
peace, of
provision.
You see, when
you have the
Lord as your
shepherd, there
is rest and
peace and
ample provision.
Mark is
telling us who
Jesus is
here.
He is the
shepherd of
Psalm 23.
He's the
God who
fed Israel
with manna.
Remember that
in the
wilderness?
How God
miraculously
rains down
bread?
And then here
in the
wilderness,
Jesus, not
raining down
bread, but he
is multiplying
abundantly,
miraculously.
Why?
Because he's
the good
shepherd.
He is the
Lord.
He is God.
Mark is
making a
claim about
Jesus'
identity.
Jesus is
making a
claim about
his identity.
The shepherd
has finally
come.
He is not
merely performing
a miracle.
He is telling
us who he
is.
And he
is God.
He is
the manna
giver.
And the
bread he
gives is
the bread
of life.
What about
rest?
You know,
the disciples
never get
the retreat
Jesus
promised.
Or did
they?
Jesus
says,
come away
and rest.
And then
comes the
crowd, the
teaching, the
hungry people,
an impossible
task, the
serving food,
and the
cleanup.
But it
says, and
they all
ate and
were satisfied.
They all
ate and
were satisfied.
That includes
the disciples.
And that
word satisfied,
the Greek
means filled,
gorged.
It's that
pleasant feeling
when you
haven't eaten
all day and
you come home
and you have
a tasty
meal.
One that
you get
seconds on
and you
just sit
back and
you're like,
yes, life
is good.
They're
satisfied.
Jesus
always
fulfills
his promise,
although it
is rarely
in the way
that we
think it's
going to
be.
Rest did
not come
from a
retreat.
It came
from him.
This rest
that he was
offering is
fulfilled in
him.
He gives
them himself.
He is the
shepherd who
alone can
give his
sheep rest.
He is the
manna giver
who gives
the bread
of life.
It satisfies
not only our
stomach but our
souls.
rest is a
person.
The miracle
here is not
that Jesus
gives exhausted
people a day
off.
The miracle
is that Jesus
gives exhausted
people himself.
Himself.
He is God
come in the
flesh.
That quote
about Augustine
that our
souls were
meant to
rest in God.
The way we
rest in God
is through
Jesus.
It's only
in Jesus.
He is how
we enter into
the rest of
God.
And this
rest, if you
think about
it, it's
freely given.
It's
utterly free.
What did the
crowds contribute
to this meal?
Nothing.
What did the
disciples contribute?
Their
skepticism.
Jesus
satisfies
for free.
He does
all the
work.
And actually
verse 41 is
the foreshadowing
of another
work.
Jesus in
41, he
takes the
bread, he
blesses it, he
breaks it, and
then gives it.
And that's the
same order as
Mark 14 at the
Last Supper.
Jesus takes the
bread, blesses
it, breaks it,
and gives it.
But then he
says, this is
my body.
See, at the end
of Mark, we
find out the
bread is
really Jesus'
own life
given for
us on the
cross.
My body
broken for
you, my
body given
for you.
And on the
cross, Jesus
did all the
work of
salvation, that
you might
rest.
And what did
Jesus cry on
the cross?
He said, it
is finished.
My work is
finished.
Your work is
finished.
His work of
salvation is a
finished work, and
you don't have to
add anything to
it.
But Jesus did
not stay dead.
In order for him
to be the good
shepherd, he had
to walk through
the valley of
the shadow of
death and
conquer it.
Conquer it.
And so he is a
living shepherd.
He's a living
shepherd.
And he did all
this that you
might have
rest.
That you may
rest from all
your strivings to
justify yourself.
Rest from all
the guilt before
God and before
others.
Rest from all
the shame before
man.
Rest from all
the condemnation
that you feel,
the self-hatred.
Rest from all
the fear and
the anxiety.
You can have
rest.
All you must
do is become
his sheep,
is to accept
the shepherd
as Jesus.
Jesus.
And he says,
I will do
everything for
you.
It's all you
have to do.
This is why
Jesus invites us
in Matthew 11,
28.
He says,
come to me.
Come to me.
All who labor
and are heavy
laden.
All of you who
are cynical
and exhausted.
All of you who
are broken
and bruised.
Come to me
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.
I want to
end asking
the question,
what does it
look like to
rest in
Jesus?
And I want
to give you
three quick
portraits.
First,
come to the
shepherd.
Maybe you're
not a Christian
this morning.
What does it
look like to
rest in
Jesus?
Let me ask
this question.
Who is your
shepherd?
Do you have
one?
Who is
looking out
for you?
Are you on
your own?
You either
have God as
your shepherd
or you have
no one.
Is that
you?
Jesus wants
to be your
shepherd this
morning.
He offers
you true
rest.
And for you
resting in
Jesus is
simply coming
to him.
All you
must do
is simply
ask him
for rest.
And you
must know
it's dangerous.
It's a
surrender of
control.
You will
no longer
define your
own rest.
But the
gains are
tremendous.
Jesus is a
generous shepherd.
He provides
far beyond
our imagination.
Look at how
many baskets
they took up.
There were
12 full
baskets.
That's
symbolic.
They say,
hey,
Jesus is
extravagant.
You will
have
leftovers
when you
come to
the shepherd.
And you
will know
true
satisfaction
and true
filling deep
in your
soul.
Stop
trying to
provide your
own salvation.
Or maybe
secondly,
maybe you
are a
Christian.
And the
lesson here is
to rest for
the shepherd.
A lot of
us are
learning to
daily rest
in Jesus.
It is a
daily
discipline.
In the
wilderness,
God gave
manna every
day.
And Jesus
taught us
to pray.
Give us
this day
our daily
bread.
Which means
that you
need him
every day.
You need
him every
day.
So many
of us
live life
like the
disciples.
All we
see is
the hard
facts.
Hey,
we need
200
denarii
to make
this
happen.
But
resting
in Jesus
is trusting
him as
the provider
for
everything.
Everything
you need.
Berkeley
people,
one of
the primary
problems
for us
is that
we don't
realize how
much we
need Jesus.
We think
because of
our skill
and our
bank
accounts,
we can
provide for
ourselves.
But it's
an illusion.
The way
that you
are meant
to live
is actually
to live
daily,
asking Jesus
for his
provision.
No matter
how big
your bank
account,
no matter
how skilled
you are,
intelligent,
this is
what life
is.
And the
rest in
Jesus is
actually
prayer.
That's
how we
rest in
Jesus.
It's
praying,
seeking
him,
pouring out
your life
to him.
So many
of us,
our prayer
life is
so deficient.
We're like
whispering up
little SOS
prayers here
and there.
That's not
how life
resting is.
Resting in
Jesus is
these prolonged
periods of
Jesus,
I need
you.
I need
you.
It is
pouring out
your heart,
your weariness,
your lack,
your thanksgiving,
your praise,
and saying,
Jesus,
I need you
today.
I need you
for my
kids.
I need you
for my
work.
That is
rest.
And when
you rise
from prayer,
you will
have been
with the
shepherd and
you will
feel rest.
He is
rest.
And finally,
we need to
rethink our
rest.
Remember how
Jesus subverts
our instincts
about rest?
We think
that rest
comes from
getting away,
going on
vacation.
Why?
Because we
listen to the
credit card
companies.
It tells us
all about
this amazing
rest,
right?
Go to a
resort and
you will
feel rested.
You might
not.
In fact,
being in
vacation mode
is a very
spiritually
dangerous
mode to
be in.
You know
why?
Because we
tend to
indulge,
to splurge,
we overeat.
There's a
sin called
gluttony that
no one
talks about.
We over
drink.
Our desires
are inflamed.
And we
lack the
routines that
keep our
desires and
indulgences in
check.
Some of us
become little
tyrants,
bossing everyone
around.
We've got to
keep on
scheduled.
This is how
vacation happens.
Others become
hedonists,
right?
Others become
slothful and
lazy.
But at the
heart of it,
the reason it's
dangerous,
vacations are
not bad.
We need
them.
But at the
heart of it,
it becomes my
kingdom come,
my will be
done.
That's not
where rest
comes from.
Rest comes
from surrender.
Your kingdom
come,
your will be
done.
It comes
from Jesus.
So stop
asking vacations
to provide what
only the shepherd
can give you.
Jesus offers you
rest this morning.
He wants to
give you rest.
He offers it
freely.
So friends,
sit in his
green grass.
Look at his
hands of
provision.
He says,
I will feed
you.
I will satisfy
you.
I will give
you rest.
Would you
pray with me?
Oh,
Father in
heaven,
we are so
silly about
what we
think will
satisfy us.
Oh,
Father,
we thank
you that
when you
look at
us,
you don't
condemn
us,
you see
us through
the eyes
of compassion.
Oh,
Father,
and your
Sabbath
is actually
work to
give us
rest.
Oh,
Father,
I pray
that we
would avail
ourselves
of that
rest,
even this
morning.
Oh,
Jesus,
you are
a provider
beyond our
imagination.
Oh,
Father,
you love
us so
much,
so much
that you
died for
us.
Oh,
Father,
we come
to you.
Please feed
us with
Jesus.
And I do
pray for
Christ's
church as
they go
away to
a desolate
place,
that they
would meet
Jesus
there,
that he
would be
where they
get rest,
that they
would enjoy
the love
and the
beauty of
your covenant
grace to
us.
Oh,
Lord,
we love
you.
In
Christ's
name we
pray.
Amen.