When you’re discouraged, where do you turn for hope

I was having a discussion with some folks that I’m close with and they mentioned some discouragement some of us are facing, some confusion and frustrations. Depending on how long your walk with Christ has been, will depend on how solid your foundation is. And everyone here, myself included, needs a bit of encouragement more than theology sometimes.

So tonight will be the first night of a series of messages on encouragement. I may go back on John, but it won’t be for a couple of weeks for sure.

Tonight, we start with the love of Christ. Many of us reformed folk often focus on the judgment of God, and on doctrine so hard, that we forget that Jesus had emotions, and he was very, very touched when he was here on earth.

Turn with me to Matt 11: 28 Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Starting with verse 28, Christ is giving a completely open invitation. When he says come to me. It’s wide open. Good looking, ugly, disabled, blind, old, young, man and woman, murderers, thieves, and the list goes on. There is absolutely no exception in his invitation.

Imagine if you invited someone to your home. For a gathering. I’m suspecting you would be selective. I know I would. Kleptomaniac, nope…I like my things. Murderer, sorry, I would like everyone to leave alive. That certain cousin, that ironically I was talking about to my banker…he’s not only ruined his life with drugs, he’s pretty near an embarrassment to the family. He’s that cousin we don’t talk about.

What about the disabled? Well, they are going to be a burden, I don’t have a ramp, or a wheelchair for them to move around in my house. What about the blind? They will get hurt.

Think of your children, would you think they were safe around every person you invited? No, well that person isn’t coming.

With Christ, they are all invited. Christ already knows the mess we are. But here’s a factor that we can’t change. We can invite people over for a hymn sing along, bible study, movie, food, whatever. But we can’t change a person’s heart. They come and they leave pretty much the same way.

Christ invites them, and if he changes them, they never leave the same way.

He’s inviting the ones that are trying to earn their heaven. So much work they are doing. Did you know there were 613 Jewish laws to keep? Somewhere on different days of the week, some were during weddings, some were during different occasions, but regardless, 613…good luck keeping all of them.

So now, when he says All who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What do you think he means here?

He’s talking about people trying to earn their heaven, no matter which way. I’ll also mention here that this text is not limited to people of Jesus’s time. But it is also extended to us today.

How many of us, before we were saved, tried whatever we could to earn heaven. Whether by trying to cut down the amount of sins we committed if you already believed in God.

And there are 2 different types of burdens mentioned here. First the labour which gives indication that there is incomplete work. All the time.

Then the other one, heavy laden, which means there is so much riding on your shoulders, that you just can’t do it all.

Then the text I wanted to get to.

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.

First of all, do you guys know what a yoke is? Let’s start with that. If you google it, it’s actually the piece of wood that joins 2 oxen, bulls, horses or whatever animals you want to join together. It joins them at the neck, and they can’t break away from it. If you don’t know what it is, I suggest you google it, at least to get a visual.

When the yoke was on, the animal, or the person wearing it (typically slaves) knew there was much work to be done. Possibly even work that won’t be completed. It’s going to be hard, laborious, on going and wishing someone else could do it.

So when Jesus here says take my yoke upon you, he is gentle and lowly in heart. You will find rest in your souls.

The teaching of the Pharisees was a yoke so grievous to be borne that people just couldn’t do it. Jesus is pointing at himself, giving some relief.

Can anyone here give any thoughts on what Jesus means by these 2 statements?

So first of all, when he says to take his yoke, the first thing to point out is you have to drop the yoke you’re already in. And that can be very difficult. Either long standing in traditions, the pride of saying you did it. Reputation, image, all these things factor in on how hard it can be.

Whatever your reason might be, you have to take that yoke off. Especially since it won’t be compatible with the one that’s offered by Christ.

Then you have the true heart of Christ. I am gentle and lowly in heart. How many times did Jesus heal people, bring back from the dead, cry with people. He would never turn anyone away. I have been reading a book called “Gentle and Lowly” by Dane Ortlund. I have to admit, being in my reformed theology and Calvinistic leaning, I have forgotten about the love Christ has for his people.

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think “Gentle”?

Someone / something that is categorized as gentle, usually has no malice. They are not there to start trouble, strife, or invoke revenge. We all know some people that are gentle. Many that know me would say I’m a gentle giant. I’m only using myself as an example because I know myself better than I know the rest of you.

I’m gentle with Joanne, my dogs, my parents and all the people I’m close with…but being a sinner, even my gentleness has bounds, very much unfortunately.

Then you have “lowly” or other translations have it “humble”. He’s not proud, and bragging about what he’s doing.

He invites us not as someone that is giving us an ultimatum and a guilt trip, like many of our friends, families and bosses can sometimes do, but an offer that is free of strings attached.

He knows our situation. He knows our burdens, our struggles, sins, traditions, and everything about us.

Jesus is the absolute perfect pinnacle of love. He doesn’t just show us how to love, he IS love. Anyone here remember the movie "TheTerminator”? How when the skin was peeled back, it was a machine, or a robot under it. If we could do that with Christ, all we would find is love. Don’t ask me to describe what that would look like, but Christ is pure love for his sheep.

Once we take on his yoke, he does expect us to obey, love, cherish and worship him (along with many, many other actions that reflect upon him). But he also knows it’s impossible for us to do it in this body, and in this world.

There are too many distractions that grab our attention. Even writing this message, I was on FB as much as in this document. Quite embarrassing…

There are lots of verses in the bible, where Jesus took his time to heal people. Mentioned many times that he didn’t turn anyone away.

Remember in the episode of The Chosen, when there was a long line, and when he was finally done, he was exhausted, and his feet were hurting. When he brought the dead back. There was absolutely no malice in his character. Even dealing with the Pharisees. I’m reading a tone of desperate plea to turn from their heavy laden traditions of rules and laws.

Mind you when he flipped the tables, it was no doubt an act of desperation and frustration. Don’t forget, Christ is the only one to walk the earth, that could have a Holy rage, that didn’t come from sin or could lead to sin.

Most of us, when we fall into a frustrated rage, sin usually follows, in some capacity.

Back to Jesus being in love.

John 11:35, where he wept. This is more than just a cry. We have all cried, with sorrow. But here Jesus is showing some deep, deep sorrow, that his friend Lazarus died. Jesus knew what the outcome will be. But that doesn’t mean his humanity wasn’t grieved.

We have to remember, Jesus didn’t come to judge the earth, he came to love it and to save his sheep.

He wants to give us rest, he wants us to give up on our burdens, and we're always trying to “please” in order to find acceptance. He wants us to please him in the way that we show appreciation for what he did when he died on the cross and was resurrected.

He did the work already, so it’s time to just rest on him. And essentially, decompress our lungs, as if we are going to do a rush of work. Like anyone that hits the gym…mental focus for the heavy lift…then when you’re done, it’s a huge exhale, it’s done. I can rest now.

And he concludes it with “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”.

What do you think he means with this?

At this point, he’s referring to the workload the Pharisees had on their people. How heavy the load was, how guilt was driven on the people that couldn’t keep their laws and so forth. The burden was heavy.

Compared to everything that people were accustomed to, with the laws, this was going to be “easy” since Christ did it all. All we have to do now is live under grace.

Christ knows it’s absolutely impossible to live under the burden of religion. He knows it’s absolutely impossible to stop sinning while in this body (remember when he told Mary in The Chosen “Did you think you wouldn’t sin again?”), that hit me like a brick.

This was NOT an excuse to keep sinning. This was him telling her, you’re still a sinner, but with a different destination. And now, the Holy Spirit bears witness that you are saved, due to the guilt you are experiencing when you do sin.

The fight that we have now is not with keeping rules and religious laws. But now it’s the fight of trying to keep in the word, keep in prayer, keep obeying Christ. But the reason it’s such a battle is because of sin that is still in us. It absolutely hates that we want to serve Christ. That’s why it feels like such a burden to follow Christ.

But try following 613 laws, and the fear of missing one, and you’re out of heaven?

Now, repent and believe in Christ, and your sins are forgiven, and within minutes…a bad thought crosses your mind. Then, your boss asks you a question, and you lie to get out of bad consequences…well, in the religious world, there’s work to be done.

Under Christ…a confession, and move on.

Dane Ortlund gives this example.

A doctor, well studied for a particular tribe in the jungles of Brazil…a particular disease is ravaging a fair size village, isolated from all civilization. He learns the language enough to get by with a translator. And the village is very hostile to his medical treatment, but not to him to want to cause him harm

He’s a rich, rich man, so he needs no funding. He has everything he needs and the finances are well taken care of. He gets to the village, with more than enough medication to treat the entire village, and possibly surrounding ones.

But the village keeps doing their voodoo, idol offerings and whatever home made medication they have.

Nothing seems to be working. So the doctor treats cuts and scrapes in the meantime, trying to make friends with the villagers, and patiently waiting for the first one sick of the disease he came to treat, to finally approach him in desperation.

Finally, the first person shows up. And you know for them to come, they have exhausted every other method they knew. They are literally giving up.

The doctor treats them, and within a few days, the disease is gone. That patient is so excited, he goes and tells everyone. You have the skeptics, and you have the believers. All the while, the doctor is just beyond happy that occasionally, there’s a new person showing up in his clinic to get treated.

He’s not giving guilt trips “I told you I was here for that, why don’t you believe me”, but with love, he simply treats, and loves them and waits for the next one.

This is Christ, but infinitely more.