“I Will Give You Rest”
Matthew 11:28-30

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost—July 6, 2014

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

We meditate on Jesus’ beautiful invitation to you in today’s Gospel Reading: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, 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 light.”

The readings we use in our services are on a three-year cycle, so the last time I preached on this text was in the summer of 2011.  Rest was something we didn’t get much of that summer.  On Memorial Day, everyone in our community was given notice to move out, immediately, for four months, due to flooding on the Missouri River.  Like most members of our church, Terry and worked round-the-clock, with family members who came to help, packing up everything in our home and moving out all our possessions.  Because our own church members were all busy with their homes, members of other Missouri Synod congregations in the area moved everything out of our church, all in one night.  They were taking the pews out when I drove by at two o’clock in the morning.  Many of our members’ homes were flooded, but thankfully the water didn’t reach our home or the church itself, which was closed for four months.

The National Guard kept us all out of our homes, so thousands of people were looking for someplace to sleep.  I counted up that during the first 21 days of that June, Terry and I slept, or tried to sleep, in 16 different beds.

“Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  What are the burdens you are bearing in your life right now?  Where will you turn for help, comfort, strength?  Where will you find relief from your burdens and rest for your weary soul?  “Come unto me” Jesus says, “I will give you rest.”

“Come unto me,” Jesus says, with the burden of your sin.  He carried your guilt to Calvary, he bore your sins in his body on the cross. “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.”  In his heart God is not angry with you, for he is gentle and humble in heart.  He forgives you, he loves you, he tenderly invites you to receive the salvation earned for you by your Savior.   “Come unto me . . . for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  That’s another way of saying you will find in him forgiveness, salvation, eternal life.  “You will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” 

The radio and television host Laura Ingraham recently said that on a trip to Disney World she saw Islamic women in heavy black robes, with only a small slit for their eyes, standing in line for hours in the sizzling Florida sun and stifling humidity.  That’s an illustration of the difference between Christianity and all other religions, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and cults such as Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They all burden their followers with a heavy, crushing yoke.  But, Jesus promises, “You will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

The yoke that a Christian must bear is faith, trusting in him as your Savior.  “For my Father’s will,” Jesus says, “is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”  Faith in Jesus is not a hard yoke or a heavy burden, but an easy yoke, pleasant to wear, a light burden, a joy to bear.  Come unto Jesus with the burden of your sin.  Take his yoke upon you, trust in him as your Savior, and you will find rest for your weary soul.

“Come unto me,” Jesus says, with the burden of your fear.  As Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  The book of Hebrews puts it this way, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.’”  “So fear not,” says the Lord in Isaiah, “for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will hold you up with my righteous hand.”  Come unto him with the burden of your fear.

 “Come unto me,” Jesus says, with the burden of your troubles.  The psalms say, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you.”  Come unto him with the burden of your troubles.

“Come unto me,” Jesus says, with the burden of your needs and wants.  Paul says in Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  “Ask, and it will be given you,” Jesus says.  “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you.”  The psalm promises, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”  Come unto him with the burden of your needs and wants.

“Come unto me,” Jesus invites you.  “Come unto me with the burden of your sin; come unto me with the burden of your fear; come unto me with the burden of your troubles; come unto me with the burden of your needs and wants.  I will help you, I will comfort you, I will strengthen you, I will give you rest.”

“Come unto me, I forgive all your sins; come unto me, I relieve all your fears; come unto me, I ease all your troubles; come unto me, I supply your needs and satisfy your wants; come unto me, and I will give you rest.”

On February 15, 1546, Martin Luther preached his last sermon, on this text.  Three days later he entered eternal rest.  Luther closed his last sermon with these words: “Christ says, ‘Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’  It is as though he were saying, ‘Just stick to me, hold on to my Word and promises and let everything else go.  If  things go badly, I will give you courage even to laugh about it.  Just come to me, and if you are facing oppression and death, do not be afraid; it will not be for you a heavy burden, but light and easy to bear, for I am helping you carry the load and giving you power and strength.”

“Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, 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 light.” 

A yoke is used for animals such as oxen to pull a load, like the oxen pulling the pioneers across the prairie in their covered wagons.  Sometimes a yoke is a single yoke, for only one ox.  But, if the load is heavy, you need a double yoke, two oxen, pulling together, side by side.  Picture in your mind a weary ox, all by itself in a double yoke, awkwardly struggling lopsidedly to pull a heavy load. 

That’s a picture of what life is like for you when you try to bear your burdens alone.  But, you are not alone.  Christ is there with you, pulling alongside you, bearing with you your heavy load.  Trust in him, turn to him, seek his help, his strength, his power.  He will make the yoke easy and the burden light, and you will find rest for your weary soul.  “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”