WHY IS REST SO IMPORTANT? Fr Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

 

WONDERING GURU

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 21st July 2024

Jeremiah 23: 1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2: 13-18; Mark 6: 30-34

Introduction-Yoke Pictures Three Things:

1. Connection “Be with Me.” Yokes are made for two, not one. We were not meant to go through life living apart from God. His yoke fits well and is lighter than the one we’ve been pulling by ourselves. Be connected to Jesus!

2. Direction “Follow Me.” The idea of a yoke pictures the forward motion of two connected together. You cannot be yoked to Jesus and go your own way anymore. We follow Him and His direction for our life. Follow Jesus!

3. Cooperation “Work with Me.” To be yoked together means that we cooperate with His work. Before we come to Him, we were living for this side of eternity. Now we are joined to His work and discover that our lives make an eternal impact.

 

Reflection:

The story is told of a lady who became very angry at the pastor. When she finally caught up with him, she said, "I called you all morning at the church and dropped by to see you in the afternoon on Tuesday and you were not there." The minister said, "I’m sorry Madam, but Tuesday is my day off." "Your day off”, she said very self-righteously. "I’ll have you know that the devil never takes a day off". The minister replied, "you are absolutely right my dear, and I suppose that if I did the same thing, I would become just like him."

In the gospel reading today Jesus says “Come and rest a while”. We need to learn how to experience rest. If all we needed was physical rest, we can always take a nap. If we needed only emotional rest, we can always take a vacation. But where can we find spiritual rest? How can we obtain relief regarding the deepest issues of life at the deepest level of our hearts?

WHY IS REST SO IMPORTANT? 10 commandments of rest.

01) To calm our souls and wait on God- Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless...the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart usually leads to a reckless life.”

02) To listen to God- Often, we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life that we become deaf  to the voice of God. We become so busy doing things for Christ that we forget to simply be with Christ. Time away from our labors helps us to regain our perspective and realign our priorities. It helps us to remember what’s most important. It reminds us that the things of God are eternal, while the things of this life are temporary.

03) To remember God’s Covenant- In the Old Testament, the idea of rest was tied up in the divine concept of Sabbath. In Exodus 31:13-14 we read: "Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the Lord, who makes you holy”. Sabbath rest was required by God in order for His people to constantly remember who rescued them from Egypt and who it was that provided for them as they wandered the deserts for forty years. In other words, the Sabbath was given in order for Israel to rest, and in that rest, worship their God and Savior.

04) We must have free time to worship- We must plan our week so that we finish early enough to have that free time. It does take time to be holy.  Someone wrote: “…think of how successful Satan has been in hindering the worship of Christians in the 20th century. We are workaholics, and, in addition, worn out by the time demands of our day. It is no wonder that the quality of our worship is so shoddy.

05)   To experience the redemption rest, secured in Christ found in Zeph. 3:17: For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

06) To enjoy sinner’s rest found in Mat. 11:28: Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. What a magnificent blessing we receive when Christ becomes our Savior!

07) To understand apostles rest found in Mark 6:30: The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught. Then Jesus said, "Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest."

08) To celebrate what is beautiful and sacred- In his book, SABBATH: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest, Wayne Mueller writes: Sabbath is more than just a day to catch up on television and errands. Rather it is time when we take our hand from the plow and let God and the earth care for things, while we drink, if only for a few moments, from the fountain of rest and delight.   In Sabbath time we remember to celebrate what is beautiful and sacred; we light candles, sing songs, tell stories, eat, nap and make love. ...we become available to the insights and blessings of deep mindfulness that arise only in stillness and time. When we act from a place of deep rest, we are more capable of cultivating right understanding, right action and right effort.

09) So that we don’t hurt others-We need rest just as we need air, water and food to survive. The fact is, when we fail to rest fully and deeply, we not only hurt ourselves, we run the risk of hurting others. Physical rest is every bit as important as emotional and spiritual and let us not underplay this reality.

10) To be more fit for work- According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens the great storyteller Aesop said, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.” People are also like that.

We need rest to learn compassion-A boy went into a pet shop to buy a puppy. He looked and looked. He told the owner that he would be back with the money to buy the puppy in a couple of weeks. During those weeks he worked so hard. Washing cars, mowing lawns, doing chores around the house. Finally, he had the money the next day he went back to the pet shop. He got out a puppy that was crippled he walked up to the storeowner. And handed him the money. When the owner saw the puppy he picked he told him to go pick another puppy because this puppy would never be able to play or run because it was crippled. The boy just smiled and said he was sure this is the puppy he wanted and that it was just the puppy for him. As the boy walked out the owner started to say something but remained silent. Suddenly he knew why the boy had picked that puppy for extending out of the boy’s trousers was a brace on his leg.

“Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you”. (Psalm 116:7)