Let Us… Enter That Rest | Hebrews 4:9-11

Thirty years, I was told that I was burning the candle at both ends. And it didn’t help that I was driving my very first car. When I was 18 I bought a Datsun 180B. It was a good car. Notice that I use that word “was”.

In those days, I was

• living at Roseville on Sydney North Shore;

• dating Leisl who lived in Engadine which is in Sydney’s South;

• a full-time student in Carlingford in Sydney’s north-west;

• working part time in Sydney’s West;

• And I had a student church close to Cronulla on Sydney’s South.

I used to travel from the north, to the south, to the west back down to south, then back home to the north. Back then I was clocking up over 1000 km a week!

The problem was, my car couldn’t handle it. In one year, I had 7 NRMA Road Call Services and 6 NRMA Tow-trucks services! At least I got my money’s worth from the NRMA.

One day, my future father-in-law wanted to have a special chat with Leisl and me and I was petrified! He told us that we were burning the candle at both ends! And he was right. We were. I wanted to ask if I could move in with them but didn’t think that would be wise to ask. Graeme said that we will burn out if we didn’t slow down.

And he was right, we all need to put some margin back into our lives. Margin is breathing room. It’s time out. It’s rest.

Over January, we have a month’s window before we launch into an exciting year with vision, new sermon series, ministry groups returning. I’m really looking forward to 2018.

In recent years, it’s come to my attention that talking about making new year’s resolutions is a waste of time for we will inevitably break them. So don’t bother.

I find this kinda sad as many people will simply go into the new year doing the same things as last year, which was probably the same as the year before! It’s like going in a merry-go-round, going around and around and not hoping off.

I believe there are always room for improvement – in relationships, health, work. Certainly, for the Christian our faith shouldn’t be static, doing the merry go round thing. We are called to grow. Peter wrote to Christians and told them, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).

And so, in January, we are looking at Hebrews chapter 4 and at the three times the writer uses the phrase “Let us”. Three times in chapter 4 the writer says, “Let us”. I like that instead of saying, “You need to do this”, he says, "Let us." He's encouraging all of us together to do these things and so, what I want to do is cover one "let us" per week over the next 3 weeks.

The writer has written, “Let us enter a spiritual rest”, he said, "Let us hold firmly to what we believe”, and he said, “Let us enter before God's throne to find help”.

Today we are starting with the very first one in Hebrews chapter 4 when he says, “Let us enter a special rest”. Let’s start in verse 9, “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall” (Hebrews 4:9-11 NLT).

Now, notice that this is a very special rest and you may ask, "What is that rest?" Well, some believe the author to the Hebrews was talking about an eternal rest, like rest in peace after you die – heaven. Others believe that he was referring to a deep, meaningful spiritual Sabbath rest where we actually rest from our work.

It’s interesting when you study the word for rest in verse 9 is the word from which we get Sabbath. It can be used for both heavenly rest (in the future) and rest from our daily work (present). Today, I am going to actually apply this principal to both, an eternal rest in heaven and a temporary rest on Earth. For example, eternally, the good news is, we will rest from our labour. We will rest from sorrow, rest from sickness, rest from loss, rest eternally from sin. We will never ever sin anymore. Isaiah 57:2 says, “For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die” (Isaiah 57:2 NLT).

Craig Crochel tells of the time when he was on a mission trip and they were visiting a Compassion International site that his church was involved in. Craig was with the President of Compassion International, and they were in a home. It had no floor, no plumbing, no electricity, and there was actually a garbage dump outside that the water would flow through this house when it would rain in this horrible just flooded dump area. Inside was a precious lady that was always hurting, grieving, in deep poverty, and the President of Compassion prayed with her, something that Craig has never forgotten. He just prayed about eternity and he thanked God that one day, she wouldn't suffer and her kids would have everything they needed. Afterwards, Craig looked at him and he was curious because that's not how we typically think when we're praying with people in the West, where we're so blessed and prosperous. The President of Compassion said, "You have to remember, these people, they're going to suffer and suffer and suffer on Earth, and so their faith is really an eternal blessing where there is rest from all the suffering”. That's a special rest.

Even though we westerners have a pretty good life compared to this lady, and billions like her, I realise that you may be suffering in some way, maybe some physical ailment. So many people battle with depression. It could be your kids are doing something that really is difficult. There'll be an eternal rest from all the hardships in this world for those who are followers of Christ.

In a vision, Jesus gave the Apostle John a glimpse of this future rest: “Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:3-4 NLT). That’s eternal rest!

On a different level, I want to look at this. What if God has a special rest for us on Earth? What if we can do our best today to enter into that rest? Well, its important for us to understand this wonderful truth that and God values “rest”. In our culture today, many of us, just work work work work work work work, but God deeply values rest. He worked six days, and on the seventh day what did He do? He rested. Genesis 2 says, “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work” (Genesis 2:1-2 NLT).

In fact, we have to remind ourselves, that one of the Ten Commandments is to observe the Sabbath, to keep it holy, to take a day and commit it to God, that on this day we are not working. This is a day we're setting apart for God. What does the word holy mean? Holy actually means set apart. This is a day set apart to glorify God by doing what He did, by resting from our work and from our labor, and so I have to recognize rest as a holy act before God. A day of rest is actually pleasing to God.

Most here, I know, are very busy. Busy with paid work, busy raising a family, busy caring for a sick loved one. So I'm going to ask you the question: Does your body need rest? Does your mind need rest? Does your soul need rest? If you're not keeping the Sabbath, if you're not taking a day off, I can almost answer absolutely and completely, the answer is yes.

Psalm 37:7, in the King James Version reads: “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him”. I love that phrase that we are to rest in the Lord.

I’ll be honest with you, by the end of last year I was so very tired and so Leisl and I took the opportunity with it being so quiet around here to take a week off between Christmas and New Year. After Christmas, we went to Nelson Bay which is north of Newcastle. We have been going there – on and off – for 23 years thanks to Leisl’s parents who have an apartment there. What did we do? Nothing. Except for when we bought an ice-cream each night, we did nothing. We rested. And I felt so rejuvenated.

Some of you right now, where are you? You're wearied, you're burdened, you're overwhelmed, you're freaked out. The weight of the world is on you. You feel like there's too much for you to do. You can never get it all done, you're always tired, you're always overwhelmed. What do you do?

First, you go to Jesus with your concerns. That’s what Jesus invites us to do in Matthew 11:28: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).

What we need to do is to rest in the Lord. Rest in His promises, rest in His provisions, rest in His faithfulness. Whatever is a burden to you, say, "You know what? I'm trusting this to Jesus. I'm giving this to Him. I can rest because my God has this." So first, go to Jesus.

Second, put some margin into your life. Margin is breathing room. It's keeping a little reserve that you're not using up. It's not going from one meeting to the next to the next with no space in between.

Margin is the space between your load and your limit. Hopefully your load is not heavier than your limits. But the truth is that most of us are far more overloaded than we can handle, and there is no margin for error in our lives.

Dr. Richard Swenson, MD says this: “The conditions of modern day living devour margin… Marginless is being 30 minutes late to the doctor's office because you were 20 minutes late getting out of the hairdresser because you were 10 minutes late dropping the children off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from a gas station and you forgot your purse. That's marginless”.

“Margin, on the other hand, is having breath at the top of the staircase, money at the end of the month, and sanity left over at the end of day. Margin is grandma taking the baby for the afternoon. Margin is having a friend help carry the burden. Marginless is not having time to finish the book you're reading on stress. Margin is having the time to read it twice. Marginless is our culture. Margin is counter-culture, having some space in your life and schedule. Marginless is the disease of our decade and margin is the cure."

The way you create margin in your life is to stop doing some things. There are things you are doing in your life that you really don’t have to do. Stop them. It may mean limiting what you are doing. Create margin in your life. Jesus create margin in His life by withdrawing to quiet places (Luke 5:16).

Third, practice a weekly Sabbath, the way God intended. Now I’m not talking about whether it ought to be a Saturday or Sunday. The Apostle Paul actually said to the church in Rome to make up their mind which day they were going to keep special and holy (Romans 14:5; also Colossians 2:16-17). Likewise, Jesus spoke about keeping the spirit of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-12).

The point is, God designed us in such a way that our bodies need rest and so He worked out that all that our bodies required is a weekly day of rest. Rest from work, rest from running around, rest from meetings.

Now for most, this would be a huge commitment. You have kids to drop off, meetings to go to, domestic duties at home. I know what it’s like. For some, its about changing our perspective. You are a high energy person and doing such a day every week [you think] will kill you! Some of you have a strong work ethic. Jesus never demanded us to be lazy, but he never wanted us to be workaholics either. It’s something that if you really want to see your mind, body and soul rejuvenated, then take the Sabbath challenge.

If you don’t make a New Year’s resolution in coming to Jesus, making margins, and taking Sabbaths, then it will be like being on a merry-go-round and you will keep being in that cycle of feeling good then tired, then near burn out, then feeling ok again only to be tired again.

Some of us do burn the candle at both ends. When you burn a candle at both ends not only does the candle burn twice as fast but it will drip wax making the life of the candle short. Back in those days that was considered waste.

When we burn the candle at both ends by living a crazy lifestyle, we become inefficient, tired, and eventually burnt out. The light that we are called to radiate is snuffed out.

That’s not what God original designed us to become. When you come to Jesus, He will give you rest. I love the way this is translated in the Message version, it's actually a devotional version of the Bible, and the Message translates Matthew 11 this way. Jesus said in that version, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me, and work with me. Watch how I do it." I love this line. "Learn the unforced rhythms of grace." Isn't that good? "Learn the unforced rhythms of grace," Jesus says. "I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

The first "let us" from Hebrews chapter 4 is this: "Let us do our best to enter His rest."

New Year's Eve

The Glorious Hope of Christmas | Matthew 2:1-12

Now, here’s a spoil alert! Most Christians should know that the Magi, who more often than not portray in nativity scenes around the world for generations, did not visit the baby Jesus. They actually visited Jesus who was a 2-years-old child. The Magi were not kings as we sing in the well-known carol and what the King James Version calls them. And we don’t even know how many there were? Its been assumed three because of the three gifts. Sorry if I have destroyed all your preconceived ideas. But please, you don’t need to go home and remove those three Magi from your nativity sets.

The reason why I want to look at them today is that because they are often associated with the Christmas story, and as such I often find myself challenged by what these guys did and the context that surrounded them.

The phenomenon of all times, never to repeat itself in history was the account in the Bible of a significant birth which is closely marked by a star in the east. To see it once was to view a spectacle that nature would never repeat again for the naked eye to see. It must have been incredible to say the least, to see something that magnificent. To consider the events from a spiritual and Christian perspective is nothing short of stunning.

It is why we need to embrace with new eyes and heart the story of the Magi. To understand what this event meant for them ought to challenge our faith.

Here are three challenges that the Magi ought to present us.

First, does our lifestyle actually clash with our culture? This seems rather strange to say when talking about the Magi. Let me explain. We are told in verse 1, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem” (Matthew 2:1 NIV). What happened here is in many respects a culture clash.

Magi were the professors, philosophers, and priests of their day, originating from the country we now call Iraq. These professionals were highly educated scholars who were trained in medicine, history, religion, prophecy and astronomy. Our modern word “magistrate” is a direct descendant of the word magi. Since these men thought deeply about life, it certainly makes sense that they have been called “Wise Men.”

They were also trained in what we would call astrology. Back then, astrology was connected with people’s search for God. The ancients studied the skies in order to find answers to the great questions of life - questions like: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?

Matthew simply tells us that they arrived in Jerusalem, the home of the Jews. The Magi entered a world foreign to them. Their arrival and search reached all the way to the top – King Herod who wasn’t pleased at all about this news. Matthew says in verse three, “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3 NIV). Their arrival, news and search was perceived as a threat to Herod’s throne. It was a threat that had to be terminated. The Magi were warned in a dream not to tell Herod because of his execution plot for Jesus so they travelled home another way.

The Magi left their families and culture to find the truth of God in the person of Jesus Christ. They actually risked imprisonment, torture or possibly death by rejecting King Herod’s instructions of reporting where exactly this child was. There was a lot at stake – religious culture clashed, social structures clashed, and ruling authorities clashed.

Seeking Christ will clash with the world-view cultures that our society exposes us too. For generations Christians in various parts of the world have experience hardship because their faith is counter-culture to that of their governments. In Australia, I think this year has seen the clashes between the Christian and secular cultures in regard to same sex marriage and the proposed religious freedom discussion. Even just last week, two Green Senators McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson took the opportunity to put down Christians by posting an image of a banner which reads: “merry non-denominational seasonal festivity”. We are going to face more challenges in the future such as funding of private schools such as Christian Schools, religious education in State Schools, prayers in parliament, and the list continues. The challenge for the church is how do we remain a witness without surrendering our core beliefs and practices? Like the Magi, we have to be a part of our society that is counter-culture of the Jesus’ way. And for any of us who are seeking, like the Magi, you to will have to journey from whatever your cultural understanding of God, to find and understand Jesus and His teachings. You will not understand Jesus and His Ways unless you surrender your preconceived ideas.

This leads us to the next challenge that this story presents. It is the tension between Faith and the Supernatural. Do you reason your belief without faith? Matthew wrote in verse 2 that the Magi asked Herod, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matt 2:2).

The mysterious star captured the hearts of the Magi. They knew something momentous had just taken place. God must had revealed to them Christ’s identity as the king of the Jews. It was this mysterious star and who it was pointed to that led them to Jerusalem. This was a big step of faith. This wasn’t just a day visit. Coming from the East, some 1500 kilomtres away – would had taken several months. They would had packed their caravans and camels and made the huge trek across mainly desert. They left behind their employment and even family – all to follow a star that they were told by maybe some angel or dream that the king of the Jews – a race that were different to them – has come.

Over the years, scholars have tried to rationalize this star. One astronomer from Rutgers University in New Jersey argues that it was an alignment of stars and planets that ancient astrologers would have recognized as significant. Jupiter was considered the planet of kings, and a lunar eclipse of Jupiter in the constellation was an ancient symbol of Judea, would have excited expectations of a divine birth in Jerusalem. According to calculations, this would have appeared in the year of Christ’s birth. In this same article, a British astrophysicist argues that the Bethlehem star was indeed a real star that can still be seen by telescope today. Back when Jesus was born, it was a bright nova. In fact, ancient Chinese astronomers report that an unusually bright star appeared in the exact year that Jesus was born. Like the astronomer from Rutgers, this guy argues that ancient astrologers would have found the nova significant because of where and when it appeared ­ during a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces.

These people could be right, but somehow, I agree with the carol that maybe it was simply a “star of wonder” – a supernatural star? I mean, we are told that when the star reappeared it stopped over the house (v9). What star does that?

Whatever it was, the Magi were amazed, excited, even questioned what this all meant. They knew something different and unexplainable was in the air and so they decided that this mysterious would give way to faith and off they went on that long journey.

While I certainty agree with the Apostle Peter to be ready to give a reason for why we believe (1Peter 3:15), the Magi story challenges me that there is a time to put aside archeological search and apologetic reasoning for all the answers and simply decide that not everything can be explained scientifically or logically. We must not become so engrossed with proving God that we miss the place of faith.

As the writer of Hebrews in the Bible reminds us in chapter 11 verse 6, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).

Faith recognizes a place for mysterious, unexplainable events that are beyond human understanding – some things don’t make sense and we cannot explain everything logically. Faith recognizes this and simply accepts that some things are the way they are and happen as they do because God knows more than we do and we simply have to trust that He especially knows what’s going on and what he’s doing when we can’t figure it out.

And the next challenge that the Magi presents us is their act of homage. Homage is a word we don’t hear much these days but it sums up what these Magi were doing. Homage is more than respect and even more than honour. It all these and more. Homage comes from the middle ages and it was a ceremony in which a feudal tenant pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position (investiture).

The Magi, by what they gave as gift to the Christ Child, was showing an act of homage in which they were pledging reverence and submission to their Lord, the Christ Child. Matthew says that, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him…” (Matthew 2:11 NIV). And then as an act of worship we are told that “they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11 NIV).

Traditionally we have been taught that the gifts are symbolic of who this Christ Child is and will do. ⦁ Gold is one of the rarest and most expensive metals. It represented the wealth and power of a king. ⦁ Frankincense was used in the temple worship of the Lord. It represents the child’s deity – that He is truly God born in a human body. ⦁ And myrrh - a kind of perfume made from the leaves of a rose. It was used in beauty treatments, but when mixed with vinegar it became like a painkiller. After a person died, myrrh was used to anoint the body and prepare it for burial. John 19:39 tells us that after Jesus died, his body was wrapped in linen along with 35 kilograms of myrrh and other spices. The gift of myrrh then, pictures his suffering and death. ⦁ Gold pointed to his majesty… for He is king. ⦁ Frankincense pointed to his deity… for He is God. ⦁ Myrrh pointed to his humanity… for He was destined to suffer and die.

Did the Magi understand all this? Maybe not. But God arranged it so that their gifts to the Christ Child King would point us to who Jesus really is and why He came.

After making the homage to the Child, verse 12 says, “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route” (Matthew 2:12 NIV).

I’m challenged by what the attitude of the Magi and by what they gave. They didn’t just give Jesus their respect. They humbly submitted to their Lord because this child was the King of the Jews. Not only did they cross cultures and show faith by searching for Jesus, but when they found Him they worshipped Him in humble submission. What a challenge

To go seeking Christ is to leave behind whatever is necessary in that search. It is not an act of respect but homage – it is not recognizing Jesus as some significant figure in history but to offer at his feet whatever we have to give because we know He is the Messiah of God. As we journey toward God… 1) we will not fit well with the world around us. It will feel less comfortable and the culture that we live and work in doesn’t understand nor accepted the culture of God’s kingdom. 2) There is reason to appreciate digging into the mystery of the supernatural in an effort to understand life better. Yet, there is a point where the digging must give way to faith, a time to simply accept things on the basis of faith and for no other good reason. 3) God is not calling us to be respectful. He is calling us to obedience and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ which is a call to offer up everything we have.

And so, the story of the Magi is a lot more than some well-dressed guys presenting their gifts to a baby in our nativities. Here are some guys who were captivated by such a star and its significance, that they were prepared to cross from their culture into another (to their own risk) to find the Truth, who took the journey of faith, and who humbly submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. Am I like this? Are you like this?

This Christmas, we ought to be challenge to live a life as a follower of Jesus that at times contradicts what our culture wants to believe and do. This means faith and obedience to the Lordship of Jesus.

Jesus said “whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39 NIV). The Christmas story of Jesus coming into the world as God’s Son is good news. It is a message of love, hope and peace for all those who obediently step up and out in faith.