Don't just do something, sit there

We are continuing a sermon series on the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 11 and let me Begin by reading that passage of scripture then Jesus said come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.

Now there's a pattern In this passage as we look to to apply this passage to our lives as we look to get that piece that Jesus offers as we look to give the burdens to him and not carry them ourselves. And we see this pattern where he says come to me and we've talked about that the past couple of Sundays about having a heart that hears his words and responds about overcoming fear like the woman who had the issue for 12 years and was afraid and said if I could just touch the edge of Jesus robe His Garment, I'll be healed of giving over the fear that Jesus might not want to hear less like the leper who came to him and said if you're willing to heal me and Jesus said yes, I'm willing be healed until hearing Jesus voice Revelation 3:20. I stand at the door and knock and that's a verse to Christians to the already converted and if you'll hear me if you open the door, I'll come in and fellowship with you. And so we've talked about hearing Jesus words his Meditation to calm him over coming our fear and coming to him in the second pattern we seeing these verses is to set with Jesus to let him teach us that imagery of sitting with Jesus is all throughout the gospels where he says to those following him sit down and listen to my teaching and Luke 14. He talks about sit down and count the cost of what it will mean to follow reflect upon my teaching and consider these things and then we see the pattern of staying with his teaching and we're going to talk about that over the coming weeks. But today I want to talk about that second movement about sitting with Jesus and listening to his teaching and it is really hard to sit still and be a student of Jesus, right? Think about it how many have tried that? I read one author One woman's experience and she said here's what it's like I start out with good intentions. It's early in the morning. I get my Bible out. I've got my computer sitting right next to me because I might research something I'm reading and I start to read the words of the Lord and then I hear this little thing and I think old it's an email. Well, I should keep reading but maybe it's an email from one of my Christian friends that offer something really encouraging or insightful in the passage. I'm reading this morning. So I'll check it because she's a connected person. She said it might be Chuck Colson or my friends like that. You know, this is a few years old the story she shares it says she checks the email she says indeed it is from the noted Theologian LL Bean and they've got jackets on sale and I think the kids need jackets and so I start looking at that and before you know, what I'm on the internet singing this size is in the colors of the I got to go back. I've got to I've got to sit with the Lord and read the scripture and so she starts to do it again. That familiar little thing and it's another email and she thinks well, this really could be something from a friend of missionary. I'm connected with her support. So I'll check this one too and sure enough. It's about a wonderful sale from Groupon on liposuction and carpet cleaning and other things and she says I need all those things and so I start I start to look them up on the internet not a good deal and before you know it she's trying to concentrate and can't it makes me think of the movie If I see the movie Up The old man who ties all the balloons who was almost a beautiful movie and then that movie they meet this dog and the little boy says set and he sets and he says, hey he's trained and he says speak and then the dog says hi and the boys said that all is well. I have a the other device on his throat. He says my master is good and kind and created this invention so that I could speak to you and my master is good and kind and I've just met you and I love you all ready and then he go squirrel. It looks over to squirrel watch. Is it for a minute and then go back to go so high my master created. This is starts all over again that he loves him and they play that little gimmick through the whole movie whenever there's a crisis moment and the dog needs to come through the dogs ready to do what needs to do and then it goes coral and sees a squirrel and runs over there and I can relate to that because when we strive to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from him, we live in a world that offers many many squirrels many many things that we can suddenly be distracted with him. Any of those things are good things stuff that we need to get done. stuff that we need to do

Francis Schaeffer on his commentary on Romans where it talks about submitting yourself in the Lord noted this you and I have the possibility every moment of Our Lives to hand ourselves to the Lord that people are naturally afraid of what is only passive but we should be afraid of what is only active as well. Then he continues are calling is to active passivity. God will bring about our sanctification, but we are called to be active Partners in the process as we yield ourselves to him. They were tempted to kind of create this economy that says well, I can't just don't just sit there. Right? We say that don't just sit there do something but Jesus calls us to sit there.

to listen to him to learn from him and just sitting there listening to him learn from is not passive. You see the logic of that it is not passive. It takes a lot of effort done it because you've got to stop chasing those squirrels that pop up every minute. It is not passivity to say I'm going to reflect on scripture. I'm going to listen to the Lord that is not being passive that takes a lot of intentional effort and energy because as soon as you set still and you get quite there will be squirrels all over the place your mind will remember how I was supposed to call so and so and if I don't like that down I'll forget to do that. So I'll start a to-do list. Also remember this before, you know, what you forgot what you said down at the table with your Bible for so it is an act of being active when we seek to be before the Lord. We fall asleep sometimes equate activity itself with accomplishment and or significantly falsely equate inactivity with failure or slaw so we get in this mistake. Sometimes I thinking well, I haven't got time. You know, I suppose it's nice for preachers or missionaries are other people they can get up in the morning and spend an hour with their Bible, but I've got stuff to do and I haven't got time. That's a waste of time. I've got too much to get done. I can't and we fall asleep had this thinking that says to be active and to do things that's automatically accomplishing stuff and doing stuff that's significant and we have this false idea that says to be inactive to just sit there and watch the birds and think about how God cares for all the birds and therefore he cares for me is Jesus in the gospels at slot. I got stuff to do. You see how in our culture that's the way we think and so it's really difficult and challenging to slow down and obey the second pattern. We see in this passage. We all come to Jesus if we believe he's the one but sometimes we spend our whole life coming to him over and over and over and we don't get the results that we want and part of that is because we come to him but then we don't sit at his feet we come to him and we say Jesus I need help and if you can give it to me in the next 30 seconds, you're my man. 1 2 3 4 5:30 move on I'll solve the problem myself. I'll take matters into my own hands. I'll just assume it was not your will for that to work out since you didn't give me the answer in the first 30 seconds. I asked if we slip into that sort of thinking where we slip away from understanding that even when Jesus calls us to be still like this. Amma says it's on 46 be still and know that I am God cease striving is the original Hebrew there cease striving and know that I'm gone. We miss out on that wisdom because we're just built to think activity get things done it going to going there's this frantic scene in Moby-Dick where Melville rides that that Sailors are running all over the deck of the ship. They're preparing for battle with this. Well, I mean, they're hoisting and grabbing and getting everything ready. It is just frantic yet in the novel. He writes there's one sailor. Just leaning up against a post they're perfectly still.

What about that guy? Lazy it up not part of the team. Here's what Melville says about that scene. He says to ensure the greatest efficiency of the dart the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness and not out of coil.

That's what we're so often missing. In following the Lord in obeying the Lord in in benefiting from the blessing of his promise come to me those of you who are burdened and way down come to me and I will give you rest. But sometimes we don't slow down enough to sit at his feet and benefit from his teaching and know what it's like to have that piece and that rest that he gives us instead. We moved from frantic activity to frantic activity to frantic activity. And then we go to bed exhausted and we get up the next morning and if someone would say to us, hey, honey, why don't you spend the first hour of the day just praying about all the things that that you're concerned about and reading scripture First hours today. What planet are you living? Are you insane? I can't carve out an an hour. I've got so much to do. What kind of worthless sloth would I be if I didn't let my feet hit the floor and be showered and out the door within 20 minutes. I've got so much to get done and we're missing out on doing things of significance because we're settling just for activity sometimes. I look I'm not suggesting activity is to be avoided I'm saying it should flow from it should have a connection to setting with Jesus and hearing from him. Okay, so I don't want to I don't want to be miss her. I'm not saying that we don't take action that we don't do in the name of the Lord but that activity and that action should stem from the connection we have with God and not simply be satisfying to us because we want to stay busy because if we sit still and we get quiet and we get reflective we might have to hear our own heart. We might have to deal with the sins in our life. We might have to realize that one of the activities God wants us to do is to go and forgive somebody who wronged us. So it's much easier just to say I just want to let my feet hit the floor and jump into 5th gear immediately and go until I can't hold my eyes open at the end of the day and then let my head hit the pillow and do the same thing again the next morning, but we're invited. To slow down and let action arise out of our connection with the Lord, you know in Exodus 14 when they're approaching of the Red Sea the people panic at first and they say, you know what we're going to die. I mean they're coming behind us and here's the seat and we're not going to be able to cross it and you should have just left us better a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness. And Moses says you know what? Just shut up and be still and trust God will you not present and all the Miracles that he's performed for us already do not know that he can provide for us and so he tells them just to be still and wait and then the Lord said to Moses. Okay. Now it's time to ACT stand up raise your staff. I will work and part the sea. It's never no activity, but it's never jump to the activity without hearing from the Lord without trusting in the Lord in Acts chapter 9 of the early church here is that Paul is in danger and is in trouble and they seek the Lord now sometimes the scripture the Lord seems to answer with just be still and wait, I'll take care of it and other times he answers with here's the action. I want you to take right now. And so they end up lowering Paul down the side of a wall in a basket to get him out of the city that's taking action. That's not sitting on your hand sink. What are we going to do? If Paul gets caught they here for the Lord and they take action. So I'm not saying you don't take action, but the actions you take a rise out of being still like that Harpoon has to still in the midst of that frenzy the actions you take rise out of sitting with the Lord now, here's the problem. If we don't slow down enough to sit at the Lord's feet. Then are the actions that make up our days and weeks and months and years. the Lord's work in our life

or we just busy for the sake of being busy. We just confusing activity with accomplishment are we just confusing busyness with significance? Because the Lord can do amazing things in our lives the Lord can heal our hearts you may have pain in your heart. You may have unforgiveness in your heart. You may have doubt about your own faith. You may have things that you struggle with every day. You may wake up every morning so I can't imagine not caring this pain and the Lord longs to forgive and restore you he says come to me come to me those of you who are tired and weary and burdened and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you listen to my teaching learn from me. Those things that you wish the Lord would do in your life that you want to see happen in your marriage or your relationship of God or your career. God is waiting to answer those prayers, but he requires a bus that we come to him. And we send his feet and we learn from him what those answers are. and when we skip But slowing down that sitting at his feet, we robbed him of the opportunity to bless us to give us the piece that he longs to give us. Like I said, it's too easy just to skip that and suddenly just stay busy for the sake of staying busy. When Arthur said it this way, I am saying that we can rely on God.

I think about the statement. It's both fundamental and simple but to me, it's practical and challenging. I am saying that we can rely on God not on how fast or efficient or multitasking Lee which I don't think that word but this was published author Trump to me or multitasking Lee talented. We are he can equip us to get everything done in each day that is his will for that day sitting with him is a way to demonstrate that we trust him.

think about the implications of this passage and what we've been saying. I have always let myself off the hook. Of not being as disciplined or not being as sometimes as a preacher every time you look at scripture you look at it thinking in terms of preaching and teaching and and and sometimes I say you got a car about stuff that has nothing to do with your preaching or teaching and sometimes when I don't pray as much as I know I should pray. I'm not in the word on a very personal level as much as I should be in the word. I let myself off the hook because I say this to myself. I'm just too busy. And you relate to that? If we're really honest, I bet a lot of you listening to the sermon are saying that's great Robbie, but you just don't know you just don't know how busy I am. You just don't know how much I've got to do. My job is incredibly demanding. My family needs a lot for me. I've got a relative who's ill and I'm taking care of them. I've got so many plates that I'm spending. You just don't understand. I am so busy. Can I buy relate to that? Have you narrated that to yourself This Is Why I'm not doing for the Lord and with the Lord all the things that I wish I was doing for the Lord and with the lord, it's because I'm so busy. Can I get an amen? We could write a worship song couldn't we were so busy Lord were so busy Lord. We will listen to you later. Everybody's so busy. Busy Lord were so busy will baby you a later time that could go National that could be if we're all honest and what we say, I'm just so busy when I read this quote. It's not necessarily beautiful or poetic but it broke my heart. Because the author correctly says it's not an issue of busyness. It's an issue of faith. It's an issue of trust in Jesus. If I get up tomorrow morning, and I give the time that I need to give to scripture and prayer and my day is a little bit shorter than it would have normally been when I get up at 6 and hit the road running. Do I trust Jesus to help me get done what I need to get done tomorrow.

I mean he resurrected from the dead everything, but he he didn't know my schedule. I mean I got so much I got nothing. I got two babies. You guys know that I got two babies. Can you imagine what his life like in your house with two babies? I got five kids and two of them are babies. They don't sleep normal. They don't say I don't know Dad you just do whatever you need to do will be. Okay. We'll sit here and wait patiently until you get done before you're doing and then you can take know that.

Constantly interrupt your day. You can like that, right?

There's all kinds of things that demand our time and if I'm not careful, I'm guilty of not having faith in Jesus.

Because I simply don't trust him. To take care of my demanding day. I passed my to-do list my career my family my finances. I've got to take care of those things. And then when I get those things taken care of on that rare occasion when the house is quiet and the days pass have ended early. I'll get a cup of coffee and open my bible and sit at the feet of the Lord.

should be the other way around shouldn't We should start our day or week or month or year by saying I trust God. I trust him enough to give time to the word to sit at his feet to study to listen.

And then he I trust him I have faith that he will help me get done in the rest of this day this week this month this year the things that I need to get done.

Are you willing to take that step? Are willing to trust God this week? And make a decision to give him the time that maybe you've not been given him. Will you make a pact with me?

Will you do that this week? Will you make that the first priority and trust that God will take care of everything else? If you lose an hour one day because you're in the word. What about what about this month? are there things that you could do to serve the kingdom that you said yourself while I know they need to volunteer in the nursery, but I just don't have

you know, I Pop Tarts because you can do come in 3 seconds and out the door. That's how busy I am 3 second breakfast. Boom out the door. There's no way I can. Which would you trust him? And and look at things that are on your radar in the next month and say you know what? I can trust Jesus so I can say yes to doing that. What about the next year? As an order print your heart to get involved in Ministry at a new level or is he challenged you to go on a mission trip or to rearrange your finances? That's what you're able to bless others more and bless the kingdom more but you just get busy and you say you know what? I don't get around to that one day. I'll have time to do all the paperwork and figure it out change that account or fix this and then I'll be able to get a little more do a little more when I'm going to set up my estate to bless the kingdom after I've gone I'm going to that one day someday, maybe one day I'm going to talk to my child about God cuz I'm not sure they know him one day. I'm going to win this to my neighbor who I know doesn't know Lord one day Sunday. We can make the decision now to trust God for your time.

I'm serious. Will you make the decision now?

Will you go home today and tell your neighbor if this applies to you he can we have coffee sometime this week. Will you make the decision to commit time to the things of God? And trust him. With managing your time your day your week your year.

Because the invitation to do this is the invitation for us to know the life that we long to know.

To go to bed tired because our day has filled not simply with activity but with significance. Took to end a month or a year or a lifetime and be able to look back and say I gave my time to things that mattered two things of significance to the things. I asked the Lord for the Lord asked me to do. You realize this is invitation from Jesus to say come to me those of you who are carrying things that are actually burdens that weigh you down that put you down and give those things to me learn for me. Take my yoke upon you learn my teaching live your life the way I asked you to live it and you will have this piece and this rest. I'm going about the worship team to come forward. Look I'm preaching to myself. first in line here I struggle with this. I've been I've been practicing this thing for a couple of weeks now because I felt so hypocritical as I've studied this passage in Priestly sermon, I thought man, how do I get peace in my life? How do I slow down? My pace is so fast, sometimes one of the areas that I think it manifests itself in the mosso make make a commitment to me to commitments. Okay one that you will find time for the Lord this week and listen to him in the air is in your life that you're struggling with or that you're a joyous out of it. You may just need to meet with him and say hey I just wanted me to say I love you and thank you for the blessings in my life. Maybe that's the time you need to carve out or maybe you're going to meet with him and say these are things that are weighing me down that I'm keeping myself and I need to bring to you and listen to you and hear your wisdom on. In addition to that another practical way, I believe to open up your life for the Lord wants to do in your life. And this is where he's been working in. My heart is the way we interact with people. They Mathis said it. I remembered it since he said it when he was here months ago that the only thing that matters is eternity and the only things that are Eternal are people and I getting this habit sometimes I don't do it at church. None of you now. You ever get so busy that when somebody interrupts your life or you're talking to somebody you're just thinking about when are they going to finish so that I can get on my way? You're just thinking yeah. I know that just get it done. What's your what's your conclusion? I got things to do. I got a busy to do list ever. Ever do that. It might be somebody behind the you go to McDonald's and the person just decides. They're just really chatty. I love that. She wants my biscuit so I can get out of here because I'm as busy as the day is long. I've been trying in any of those moments where I sense that that part of me that wants just to I've been trying to take a deep breath inside and say Lord is is this is a person. And their Eternal the only thing that's eternal. I've been trying to take a spirit that says.

There's no rush.

Drop some of you not to pass out here for 15 seconds and do anything.

Are we supposed to get on with the sermon we got to get we got to go get lunch stuff to do this afternoon.

I believe that Holiness in in North America today. Might find its primary form in terms of us being different than the culture around us holding us in that regard might find its primary form and Christians learning to slow down.

How different would our world be I mean, I'm I'm I'm really going to know if my wife is here. She would say, that's true. Lord knows it no point me not confess. I can sometimes you drive really bored as a different dealer follow somebody just right behind them or doing that yesterday. You know, what are you doing? I'm getting through this life. This guy's going like a grandma and he's going to make me get stuck behind of y'all lights. I'm going to hook my front bumper to his in a matter what color the light is. I'm going through. Can you buy relate to that? that we sometimes feel this impending sense how the traffic would be different when it all the Christians are like Go ahead. It's okay. You can cuddle on here.

or at restaurants all of us today, we're patient and kind to everyone we encountered if we really trust in God we weren't doing it on the surface as some sort of other preachers. We took a deep breath and said I believe that Jesus is actually in charge and in control. And I could do the things that he asked me to do and my life won't unravel and fall apart parts of it might part that you don't need might might be a blessing that he let some of it unraveling fall apart. But for those things that are Eternal those things are important you can trust them with him. You could get somewhere 15 minutes late because you were patient in traffic or because you listen to Somebody McDonald's tell you about their dad and then you found out a few men to the conversations because their dad died about a year ago, and I've been figuring out how to deal with that and suddenly they said why don't you know anything about going to church and you said I actually I'm a pastor but those moments never happen when we say yeah. Yeah. Yeah a nice shirt. Give me my biscuit. I've got stuff to do. The Lord calls us to slow down and hear him and slow down and hear one another and hear others. And that is the way to the blessings in this passage. I'm sorry, there's no shortcut. There's no quick way, you know, we want that in every area. We don't I want a pill that will make me lose weight and I constantly realize I'm going to have to change the way I eat and exercise and I still keep hoping that there's a shortcut out there, but the reality is the weight of those blessings is to slow down listen to Jesus. hear from him and Obey him It's a fundamental change in our life. It's a dying to self is the language that Jesus uses.

We're going to have a time of prayer now and decision. If you have a decision on your heart, I'll be in the back. You can come to me. I'd love to pray with you or talk to you about any decision on your mind. If you're thinking I want to give my life to Jesus, you might be thinking. I didn't know if I'd actually give my life to Jesus including my schedule in my time and my ambitions of my anxiety my desire to be first and be on time and be a head. Yes, you have to give it all to him and trust him. You've got that decision on your heart come talk with me. They'll be folks in the back and the front for prayer if you've got prayer concerns. Use this this time as a time to start something that you're going to continue this week. Just slowing down in this time of worship and thank the Lord I'm here. I want that piece. I'm not just come to you, but I'm going to sit at your feet. Mary and Martha, I'm going to sit at your feet and learn from you. I'm going to make the wiser decision.