Concordia Lutheran Church
February 7, 2010
Let Us Strive…to Rest
Hebrews 4:9-13
† IN JESUS NAME †
May you grasp the gift of rest that has been purchased and given to by God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ
Dismissed!
The men, dragging and weary, get off their bus, and unload their gear. It has been a long hard couple of months, with very few moments of peace. Their clothes, which were once cleanly pressed, are dirty and ragged. Their bodies, barely moving, are sore and worn down. Their eyes are tired, and almost vacant…
They line up, at least trying to appear somewhat like the military unit they are. But the days have been too long, and the nights contained no rest.
And after a few words, barely listened to, about how they should behave, one word makes all the difference in the world. Dis-missed!
And with that word, those who thought the battles would never end, realize it is time, a time they have longed for, but recently, never thought would come.
So begins a time known as R & R… rest and recuperation leave. Given to those who have been in the battle to long. It will take a few days for their bodies to realize the truth, but then, energy and enthusiasm for life will return…as they “rest”.
People of Concordia – the battles have gone on too long. Souls that are too tired need to know this – it is time to realize we can rest.
Indeed, the writer of our epistle this morning urges us to strive to enter that rest, to realize we are there..
The Need for “Rest”
Without it – Disobedience/Unbelief
In verse 11, there is a pretty strong warning about putting off our “rest”. Hear it again,
“11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience”
If we define rest, as inactivity, as decisive laziness and inaction, this will make no sense. We will get to the nature of that rest later in the message, but the effect of not entering into the rest is pretty ominous.
The falling referred to in the passage, is referring to what went before in the chapter and in chapter three. Falling away from God, as the people of Israel did as they did during the journey from Egypt to the promised land. Hear what it says there…
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Heb 3:16 (ESV)
I think it benefits us a little, to understand this word disobedience, and how it relates to unbelief, and therefore to not entering God’s presence, or his rest. The prefix dis in English creates a negative – to disobey means you do the opposite of obeying. In greek, there is a similar prefix, usually just a “a”. In the case of disobedience though, the word that is negated isn’t obey, but rather persuaded.
In the case of Israel, the question of being persuaded is in reference to God’s salvation – whether He would be faithful to the promise of making them His people, and delivering them to the land He had prepared for them. Despite the miracles, despite the power demonstrated over and over in their presence, they could not be persuaded that they were God’s people, and therefore chose not to follow, and not to believe. I often wonder what would have persuaded these people to enter God’s rest.
Another parting of the red sea? Maybe some more Manna and quail?
The Cut of the Word
If you can grasp this concept of unbelief/disobedience/unpersuaded, the mentioning of God’s word as part of this discourse makes sense. For the word of God promises that rest, and testifies to God’s faithfulness. For it is there, in the words they constantly heard, that they were reminded of God’s faithfulness, of God’s power, of God’s love and care.
The Holy Spirit, through those words, creates the life, yet also convicts the actions and beliefs that destroy faith, Those words, calling to mind the actions of God, can build up and strengthen the trust we have in God’s promise of salvation
And yet, if we aren’t persuaded by them, if we don’t grasp the height and depth and width and breadth of God’s love, those very words leave us, as it did them, without excuse, yet apart from God. Unpersuaded, we stumble away, not trusting in God’s love and wisdom, and fall prey to Satan,
The word of God gets to the heart of the matter, does this relationship really matter? Do we grasp His love, not just for us as individuals, but for us all?
It would be concerning, if a army private, while on R & R, started to carry his rifle around, and be constantly tense, and alert for battle. By no means, would he be at rest, and in reality, there would be no safety for anyone around.
Yet how often do we walk through our lives that way? Unable to rest, constantly alert for those who would attack us, and sin against us? Unable to forgive, and know forgiveness, unable to rest, always alert to dangers and threats, the tension grows, until we are ready to break+.
The Nature of Rest
The work is Done
On R & R – very few soldiers expend less energy than they would in combat. But the energy is expended differently. They are at liberty, free from the concern of attack, free from the oppressive nature. The energy instead is directed towards living, to enjoying the company of comrades, and depending on the situation, one’s loved ones. There is life.
It’s the difference between work, and play. Or the difference between dating someone, trying to impress them and win their affection and the realization that you are loved.
The “work” is over, the job complete. But that doesn’t mean that the reward doesn’t take energy and effort. It is different. It is enjoyable and filled with all sorts of blessings, unrealized when it is “work”. The actions might be the same – yet they are different in how we approach them, and in how they play out.
The idea of shooting a gun in combat, is far different than shooting beer cans out with some friends. The idea of buying flowers or presents for one you are dating, is different than buying something nice for one’s spouse on valentines day.
But in regards to our spiritual lives, how do we enter that rest? How do we go on R & R? IS it just taking a week off from church and heading to the beach and playing? Or perhaps is church our R & R?
The Rest in Our Context…
Paradise or something more?
There remains a rest!
If my thoughts are right, church is part of our R & R. It’s not supposed to be the combat zone, but the place where we celebrate together, that the work is done! Even more so, the idea of church is to remind us that we are “resting”, for the work IS DONE.
Remember – God rested when the work was done, and that is that is how Hebrews pictures the spiritual life. Hear it again, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his!
The work in our case, is re-establishing the relationship with God. For if you read all of chapter three and four, entering God’s rest is akin to entering His presence, but unconcerned about judgment – even to boldly come to the throne of Grace. We enter by the blood of Christ, and know, we belong. We don’t have to fear being judged, because that was taken care of, we don’t have to balance the scales of righteousness, that’s been done as well. The burden has been lifted, and our joy is in realizing we all made it through, together.
Joy reigns, tension destroyed
Peace reigns, the war is over.
Love reigns, for that which would destroy it, anger, malice, jealousy, is shown to be something less, in the light of Christ.
Striving …
And so we strive, not to accomplish the task, but to remind each other, God reigns, we are at peace, the incomparable peace of God, which guards our cleansed hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
AMEN?
