I’ve been thinking about this passage in response to yesterday’s conversation:
Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
28 ?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. 29 Walk with me and work with me?watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won?t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you?ll learn to live freely and lightly.?
Which phrase from this passage means the most to you? Why?
What would it be like for a church to extend this invitation to the world on behalf of Jesus?
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Hi Wade, great thoughts these last couple of days. The most meaningful aspect to me in the passage you quoted is the last phrase; v.30.
It seems here that Jesus is reminding them that His way is a “freeing” of the paradigm under which these common people currently lived. A type of Christianity that focuses on the “externals” as you talked about Saturday is conducive to burnout. It is not that there isn’t a standard of any type, I believe there is. But how do we view this standard? Yes, we want to follow Christ’s lead, but if “rules” are the primary goal as opposed to our hearts being right, we have missed what Jesus came to offer.
I think verse 28 fits our time. Half the world is stressed out trying to be more religious and the other half hates it.
It’s fascinating to me that the next event in Jesus’ ministry, in chronological order, is the sinful, burdened woman who comes to Him despite the legalists and anoints Him with her tears of gratitude (Luke 7:36-50).
She took him up on his offer.
“What would it be like for a church to extend this invitation to the world on behalf of Jesus?”
Heaven.
That’s what it’d be like.
Reading this for the first time sold me on the Message paraphrase…in many ways it opens the Word in a fresh and relevant way.
“Unforced rhythms of grace” is pure poetry, knowing that it describes how I continue breathing and how I should be living with the others around me but fail to on a most consistent basis…
“I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” because it frees me to be who he has made me to be rather than who the world, or even myself, wants me to be.
I’m not sure how this statement could be extended off the top of my head….
“Come to me.” because in my darkest hours, he has been my shelter – he has been everything for me.
It seems that a church, in light of this passage, should be a refuge for broken people. “A church for the losers, drop-outs and fools.”
Hope all is well for you and your family in Austin. You are missed here in T-Town.
Great discussions.
For me “get away with me and you’ll recover your life”.
That is the phrase that I long to come true in my life. This culture is constantly pulling and calling for more of my time. I am a champ at failing to protect my time. I feel like I get spread more thin every day. That reality results in a focus that is distracted at best, a schedule that is bloated with “stuff”, and no time to do the things that matter. Rest, to me that is THE factor that will get people’s attention and grab their hearts.
The part of the passage that means most to me is
“keep company with me and you will learn to live freely and lightly”
This is what so many fail to realize. It is in the relationship with God that we learn to live. It is not in trying to do good and it isn’t not in knowing all the right answers. It is living in Him.
Teach people to do this and your church plant will be sucessful in all the right ways.
11:28 ..tired…worn out….burned out… Doesn’t that describe all of us in our walk from time to time? It’s Faith, I think, that keeps us going forward.
However it is packaged, the Truth, is what most seek. An open and uplifting environment where people can connect, grow, and reach out to others.
That is the kind of church that would be welcome to both Christain and non-Christian folk. I think people like to be challenged but not beat up.
For me, it’s the “unforced rhythms of grace” that grabs me every time. I don’t know that I’ve ever lived this way, but I’d like to learn.
Wade,
It hits me hardest saying, “are you burned out on religion”? I was raised religiously, and am still learning to let religion go and embrace faith being enough for me and for (the harder one) everyone else, too.
“I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” This passage strikes a cord with me because for all the years I lived life without Christ, this describes the world to me. Everything was heavy and ill-fitting.
Not what typical ministry is in most church contexts.
I think it is wonderful that Jesus is the solution to burnout. Come to me…over and over again Jesus tells us to come to Him. When it boils down to it, it is about our relationship with Jesus. Comming to Him and enjoyin Him. I think many pastors miss that point and get burned out. They don’t come to Jesus…Instead they come to his work. His duty. His ministry but not Him. I believe there is a huge difference. Comming to Jesus is comming to the living water. Reviving. When you come to Jesus, excepting His invitation then you leave changed, renewed, revived. It is my prayer that ever pastor, minister, shephard, believer will understand it and do it. Enjoy Jesus Christ.