At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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 is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30 NIV)
Have you heard about Shrek the sheep? It’s a true story. I saw it on Facebook! There’s a sheep named Shrek who lives in the mountains of Scandinavia. For some reason, Shrek wandered off from his flock years ago and lived by himself for years. Finally, after six years, his shepherd found him again. Can you guess what Shrek looked like? One big ball of wool. You can see Shrek’s picture with this blog. A sheep living on its own for six years grows a lot of wool!
So what did that shepherd do? He wasn’t upset. He gently brought Shrek home. Then he sheared him. He cut off all that extra wool. Do you know how much wool that one sheep was carrying around? Sixty pounds of wool! Can you imagine that? Walking around every day with sixty pounds of wool hanging on you, holding you down, covering your eyes… What a burden! Do you know how long it took the shepherd to shear it all off? 28 minutes. Six years of burdens gone in just 28 minutes. Imagine having that weight lifted off your back. Shrek was one happy sheep!
But why I am telling you about Shrek the sheep? Because that’s how you look today. Don’t get me wrong, you look great! There’s no problem with your hair. You picked out the right clothes. But you’re carrying a lot of burdens. Pandemics. Uncertainty. Tension… Shrek’s not the only one weighed down by a lot. Weary and burdened? Is that how you feel? You need some rest!
So it’s great to have a holiday weekend, isn’t it? Happy 4th of July! I’m thankful for the freedoms we have. I’m thankful for the sacrifices that have been made. I’m thankful we get to worship Jesus like this. We’re blessed to live in a free country! But when you look around—even on the 4th of July, even with all the freedoms we enjoy—do you see rest? I don’t. I see people tearing each other apart. We can’t even let people wear masks or not wear masks without insulting each other. We all see problems, but we absolutely refuse to work together or sacrifice to solve them. So what do you see? A bunch of Shreks—people walking around carrying huge burdens. Weary.
In fact, I’d say there’s less rest in America than in other countries. What do we pride ourselves on? Hard work! What’s the American Dream? If you work hard enough, you can do anything you want. Is that true? No! If it were, I would be in the NBA. I can work as hard as I want to, but I’m not good enough for professional basketball. There are a lot of things that we can’t do. So the harder we work, how do we end up feeling? Worn out. Weary. Ever feel like that? You can work as hard as you want to work, but you’ll find that getting stuff done doesn’t bring us rest.
So when we get weary, when we get to our breaking point, what do we try? Vacation, right? Relax. Sleep in. Stop working—period! I bet you’ve tried that too. Maybe that’s what you’re doing this 4th of July weekend. You’re just going to hang out. Rest. So when Monday comes, are you going to get up with a smile on your face, filled to the brim with energy to go back to work? I doubt it. Does it ever happen to you that the more you rest, the more tired you are? It sounds backwards, but resting doesn’t bring rest either. If you’ve ever struggled with depression, what do you spend a lot of time doing? Sleeping. Doing nothing. And you still feel tired and weary…
Rest for your body isn’t enough. Rest for your mind isn’t enough. You need rest in here. In your heart. Isn’t that what we need? Rest in here. How much baggage are you carrying around? If I could take a picture of your insides, would it look a little like Shrek the sheep? Your sins grow like wool, except they are even heavier. You want to go back. You want to do it over. You want to take back what you said. You want to erase what you did. But you can’t. Sin clings to you. It hangs on you. We feel so weak and dirty and unworthy. My sins are over my head. They are more than I can bear. A burden too heavy for me.
And the devil piles it on. He reminds us of our sins every day. “Why didn’t you call her yet?” “How could she ever forgive you?” “You call yourself a Christian?” “You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” Guilty regrets… How do they feel? Like walking around with sixty pounds of wool all around you. See what I mean? You look like Shrek: Weary and burdened beyond what you can possibly bear. Weary from work. Weary from long days and short nights. Burdened with guilt. Burdened with sin. Know how Jesus describes us today? “Weary and burdened.” He hits the nail on the head, doesn’t he? If that’s how you feel, you are not the only one.
But do you know what Jesus says? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” When you’re weary and burdened, Jesus says, “Come to me.” Isn’t that great to hear? When we go to people for help, how often don’t they point us in another direction? “Go to the doctor.” “Go see a specialist.” “Go and talk to…” “Go and get counseling.” “Go…” Not Jesus. What does he say? “Come to me.” If you’re looking for rest, Jesus will never turn you away. No matter what has made you weary or burdened, there is rest in Jesus.
Like a shepherd shearing a sheep, Jesus cuts all of our burdens away. Do you feel this anxiety about all that you have to do? God says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Jesus shears that anxiety away… Are you weary of having to fight and claw to earn everything in life? God says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Jesus shears that pressure away… Do you feel tired of being rejected? God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Jesus shears that rejection away… Are you weighed down by the burden of your sins? God says, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Jesus shears those sins away… Are you afraid of dying? Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). Jesus shears that fear away… Do you want to know where to find rest? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The devil’s going to tell you to run. He’s going to tell you to get as far away from God as you can. He’s going to tell you that you’re better off on your own. What a lie! Shrek the sheep knows the truth: It’s so much better with your Shepherd. No matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’re wandered, no matter how long you’ve been gone, Jesus hasn’t forgotten about you. Jesus loves you. Jesus searches for you every day. Listen to your Shepherd’s invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”
When we take our focus off of our working, when we take our focus off of our relaxing, when we take our focus off of us and put it on Jesus, what do we find? Rest. Rest for our souls. I bet there have been times in your life when you have been dead-tired, completely exhausted, and yet have felt beautiful peace and rest in your heart. That’s what Jesus does. No more striving. No more comparing. No more fretting. No more guilt. In Jesus there is rest for your soul!
So how come I don’t feel it? How come I still feel so anxious? Before he offered his rest, listen to what Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.” There is something that gets in the way of Jesus’ rest: Me. My wisdom. My learning. My self-reliance! In every moment in which the anxiety spikes, in which the anger surges, in which the burdens weigh heavy, I can guarantee your focus is on you. But rest doesn’t come from you. You can’t find rest—or God—on your own. It comes from Jesus.
So Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Jesus gives us this encouragement: Be like a little child. Jesus’ rest comes to child-like hearts that trust in him. I know a thing or two about little children. What can little children—babies—do? Nothing. That’s the point! We don’t need more wisdom or knowledge. We need to understand how helpless and incapable we are. We bring nothing to Jesus except our need, and he fills it! He rocks us and soothes us and says: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
When is a baby at her best? I’ll tell you! When she does nothing. When she stops crying and fussing and squirming and just looks up at you. She looks up at you with eyes that say, “I don’t know. I can’t do. But I’m in your arms, and this seems like a good place to be. So I’m going to rest.” When you trust that your life is in the arms of the Lord of heaven and earth, when you look up to your Savior, not knowing what’s next, but knowing that he’s got this, you find rest. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”
There’s just one strange part of all this. Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon us. Do you know what a yoke is? It’s the bar that binds two oxen together so they can work. That sounds like the last thing we need—a yoke. More work. What? Except, think of the picture Jesus paints for us. You and Jesus—yoked together. Instead of us bearing our burdens alone, Jesus yokes himself to us. Who do you think is really going to carry the load? Jesus! Jesus forgives our sins. Jesus calms our fears. Jesus takes us to heaven. With Jesus by our side, every burden is so much lighter!
Sometimes you hear people say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” That’s not true! God gives us way more than we can handle. But God never gives us more than he can handle, and he invites us to let him carry our burdens. To rest in Jesus. So let’s learn a lesson from Shrek. Whenever you’re alone, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Whenever you’re depressed or broken, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Whenever you’re burdened by your sin, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Whenever you face death, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” There’s rest in Jesus!
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