Reboot Following

What’s in it for me?  Ever heard yourself saying that?  Now, we may not say it, but if  we’re honest with ourselves we often think it when we are asked to do something.  We want to know if what is being asked of us is worth our time, our energy or our investment.  We want to know that if we commit to a project or give our ourselves to what is being asked of us, if it’s going to benefit us in some way.  What’s in it for me?  Now this sounds like a very self-serving question.  But that’s not always the case – especially when it is Jesus who invites us to come follow Him.

Now, for some reason, many people are reluctant to actually follow Jesus Christ.  Oh, for sure, they want Jesus as part of their life.  They want the salvation He gives, the forgiveness He provides, and the hope of eternal life – but to actually come and follow Jesus as His disciple, as His apprentice in life – to surrender to Jesus and let Him call the shots in your life – well, that may be too much to ask.  And there are reasons for this.  Some fear that following Jesus is too demanding.  They’re afraid of going all in with Jesus because they don’t think they have what it takes to fulfill such a commitment.  Or perhaps they are hesitant to follow because they think following Jesus is too restrictive: thinking he might cramp their lifestyle or restrict their freedoms. And still others think that following Jesus can’t possibly be for them, but for some superior breed of Christian who is somehow more spiritual than they.  But the biggest reason most people don’t really follow Jesus, is that they don’t want to surrender control to Jesus.  Now, you can probably come up with a few other reasons.  But here’s the truth:  Most people who are reluctant to follow Jesus have never really understood all that Jesus wants to give them, when they trust Him enough to surrender to his leading.

So today, we’re going to look at what’s in it for you when you come to Jesus and follow Him.  For Jesus Himself tells us what you can expect to receive from Him when you answer His call.  And His promises to us are found in his words to us recorded in Matthew 11:28-30.  So, if you’d like to see what’s in it for you when you’re ready to follow Jesus, then let me encourage you to open your Bible to Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus says: “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.”

So what’s in it for you when you come to Jesus? 1. You Get to Be With Jesus   Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Jesus personally invites anyone who is weary or burdened to come be with Him.  Jesus doesn’t invite you to a cause, or to a religion or to a Church – He invites you to come be with Him.  And His invitation is loaded with grace.  For when Jesus says, “Come to me,” he uses a directional term that instantly alerts you to the fact that something is to be found in your coming.  That’s how this word is used in the New Testament.

The Samaritan woman used this word to call people to come with her to meet Jesus: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Messiah?” John 4:29.  The angel at the tomb used this word to show the women who had come to anoint Jesus that He had risen:  “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay.”  And Jesus used this same word after the resurrection to invite his disciples to join him for breakfast: “Come and have some breakfast.” John 21:12.  So, Jesus gives all people a specific invitation that something is found in their coming.

In other words, when Jesus says, “Come to me” he gives the greatest invitation ever given.  He invites you to enter a relationship with him – a relationship with Him where you can expect to receive what He wants to give you: REST.

What kind of rest is this? First of all, you get rest from weariness – that state where you are at the brink of physical or emotional exhaustion.  And those who heard this invitation in Jesus’ day understood the weariness and burdens Jesus was referring to.  For in Jesus’ day, the religious leaders made it their business to pile law upon law on the Jewish people.  They piled on so many rules for living that no one could possibly learn them all, let alone keep them all.  So then, no matter how hard you tried, there was always someone around to remind you that you were not good enough for God.  There was no relief.  And as a result, the weight of sin and the burdens of the law placed on them weighed them down to the point of physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion.

Ever been there?  Ever been so exhausted with trying to be good enough for God?  Ever felt like the harder you try the worse things get?  Ever felt the weight of your sin? Ever felt the impossible weight of trying to measure up? This is why Jesus’ invitation is open to anyone exhausted by religion.  Jesus invites you to come to Him, so you get Him, not another burden.  Jesus calls you to Himself, so He can give you rest.  This is the Good News of God’s grace found in Jesus.  When you come to Jesus, He removes the weight of your sin, the burden of your guilt and gives you a full pardon so you can enter His rest.  No more striving to be good enough.  No more weight of sin.  No more fear of judgment.  Instead, when you come to Jesus, He gives you rest.

However, you don’t just get rest from weariness…  You get rest from striving.  You no longer have to try and measure up under a standard of law you can never meet.  You are now free to be who God created you to be – to enjoy a relationship with the One who set you free.  Not only that but You get rest from searching.  You no longer on the treadmill of searching for meaning in your life: running from philosophy to philosophy, from religion to religion, or from looking to the latest thing to find life, truth, happiness or peace.  For when you come to Jesus, you find life, you find truth, you find contentment and you find peace.  Jesus gives you rest.  Not only that, but You get rest from insecurity.  When you come to Jesus, you’re coming to the One who you can depend upon for all of life.  He knows your need for love, for acceptance, for meaning and purpose.  And He can meet every one of those needs.  That’s why when you come to Jesus, He gives you rest.

Jesus is very clear about this.  Jesus speaks emphatically here.  He says, “Come to ME and I will give you rest.”  That’s not usually what we think of when we think of coming to Jesus.  We think that coming to him means were are signing on for all that we might be doing for him, not about what He wants to do for us.  So, right from the start, Jesus’ invitation to you is all about GRACE.  When you come to Him, Jesus gives you Himself.  You get Jesus and Jesus gives you rest for your weary soul.  That’s what’s in it for you when you come to Jesus.  But there’s more.

The next thing Jesus says you will get when you come to Him is this: 2. You Get the Yoke of Jesus   Jesus says, 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 11:29

I don’t know how much you know about yokes, so let me get you up to speed. A yoke was made of wood, hand-hewn to fit the neck and shoulders of the animal that wore it to prevent chafing.  The yoke was part of the harness used to pull a cart, plow, or mill beam and was the means by which the animal’s master kept it under control and guided it in useful work.  For obvious reasons, the term was used in the ancient world as a metaphor for “submission.”  It’s used the same here.  Embedded in Jesus invite to be with Him is the command to bow our necks and come under His yoke with Him.  To trust Jesus enough to let Him lead you in His way.

Now, this is right where many people draw the line. They don’t want to submit.  They don’t want to surrender control.  If they do, not only do they believe they’ll lose control, but they’ll lose their freedom or even lose their sense of self.  But look at the picture Jesus paints for us in a relationship with Him:  When you take theyoke of Jesus upon you, Jesus is under the yoke with you.  This is Jesus as the servant leader.  He doesn’t Lord it over you.  Rather he comes alongside to help you follow Him.  That means He will never ask you to do anything where He will not be right there with you to help you.  He will always be at your side.  He calls you to follow Him under His easy yoke.

Now here’s an interesting thing: If Jesus commands you to come under His yoke, under His leadership, then you have the freedom to choose not to.  You have the freedom to go it alone; to carry life’s burdens yourself; to serve God in your own strength, with your own wisdom and resources… But let me ask you: Why would you ever want to do that?  Why would anyone come to Jesus to receive His rest and then try to live the Christian life alone?

But sadly, that’s what many do, and that’s what many are wrongly taught – and the ensuing result is a lot of joyless, weary and burnt-out Christians.  This is why so many walk away from the Church and why many seekers refuse to darken the door of a church, because what they’ve seen of Christianity is a joyless religion that’s too hard, too demanding and void of grace.

But that’s not what Jesus gives us when we come to Him.  Jesus gives us His yoke so we don’t have to go it alone.  That’s the good news of following Jesus.  When we take His yoke upon us, we get to walk with Jesus, get to join Him in His work, get to rely on His strength, get to receive His help and His guidance. When we take His yoke, He gives us His grace to love difficult people. When we take His yoke, He gives us His power to endure temptation.  When we take His yoke, He gives us His faith to keep us going. In other words, When we take His yoke upon us, He enables us to do what we could never do on our own. He’s with us to help us every step of the way. That’s grace.

Christianity was never meant to be a lone ranger religion but a communal faith.  Jesus never intended for you to walk alone, but to take this journey with Him together under His yoke.  And that is why He yokes us together with other believers when we come to Him. Under His yoke we are united in one purpose, with one Lord, and one hope.  Under His yoke we get to show the world a new way of living where we love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, honor one another, pray for one another and carry one another’s burdens.

I don’t know about you, but when you surrender to the yoke of Jesus in this way, it no longer sounds controlling, but freeing.  Jesus wants your life with Him to be easier not harder.  That’s why He says, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   Life with Jesus is meant to be good, mild, and pleasant in contrast to that which is hard, harsh and bitter.  That’s why Jesus invites you to follow Him under His easy yoke.  That’s what’s in it for you when you take His yoke upon you. That’s what you get from Jesus when you follow Him.  You get His easy yoke.

Now, there’s one more thing Jesus wants to give you when you follow Him.  And what He gives here is definitely His best gift:  3. You Get to Learn from Jesus  As Jesus says, 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 follow Jesus, we don’t just get a relationship with Jesus, and we don’t just get help from Jesus, we get to learn from Jesus.  That’s why there must be a willingness in us to yoke ourselves with Jesus – to surrender to Jesus. For when we trust Jesus, Jesus entrusts His heart to us. And that’s what we see here.

For here is the only occurrence in the New Testament where Jesus reveals who He is at the core of His being.  Jesus wants us to learn about Him.  He wants us to know what He’s really like. He wants us to learn His heart.  You see, being a follower of Jesus is not about learning rules, but learning about Jesus.   And the way He’s chosen to reveal Himself to us is by revealing His heart.  He is gentle and humble in heart.

Jesus is gentle in heart.  This means many things.  First, this means Jesus holds back any anger toward offense.  He is meek.  I love how Dane Ortlund expresses the gentleness of Jesus.  He says, “Jesus is not trigger happy.  Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated.  He is the most understanding person in the universe.  The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.”

Consider what this means when you fail him by sinning.  Again, let me share from the pen of Dane Ortlund who describes Jesus’ gentle heart toward us: “Jesus deals gently and only gently with all sinners who come to him, irrespective of their particular offense and just how heinous it is.  What elicits tenderness from Jesus is not the severity of the sin but whether the sinner comes to him.  Whatever our offense, he deals gently with us.  If we never come to him, we will experience a judgment so fierce it will be like a double-edged sword coming out of His mouth at us.  If we do come to him, as fierce as his lion-like judgment would have been against us, so deep will be his lamb-like tenderness for us… Consider what this means.  When we sin, we are encouraged to bring our mess to Jesus because he will know just how to receive us.  He doesn’t handle us roughly.  He doesn’t scowl or scold.  He doesn’t lash out, the way many of our parents did.  And all this restraint on his part is not because he has a diluted view of our sinfulness.  He knows our sinfulness far more deeply than we do.  His restraint simply flows from His tender heart for His people… Rather than dispensing grace to us from on high, he gets down with us, he puts his arm around us, he deals with us in the way that is just what we need.  He deals gently with us.”  Jesus is gentle in heart.

Jesus is lowly in heart.  He is truly humble of heart. Typically, throughout the New Testament this Greek word refers not to humility as a virtue but to humility in the sense of destitution or being thrust downward by life circumstance.  Paul uses the word when he tells us to “not be haughty, but associate with the lowly” Romans 12:16, referring to the socially unimpressive, those who are not the life of the party but rather cause the host to cringe when they show up.

What this tells me is that Jesus is accessible. There is no one more approachable than Jesus. There are no hoops you must jump through to get to Jesus.  You don’t have to clean yourself up to come to Jesus.  You don’t have to unburden yourself to come to Jesus. Your very burden is that which qualifies you to come.  That’s the goodness and grace wrapped up in the heart of Jesus.  Jesus is lowly in heart.

This is who Jesus is.  He is gentle and tender. He is kind and welcoming.  He is understanding and willing…  Doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done.  He came to us, so we might come to Him and learn His heart.  This is what He wants to learn:  How we might live in a world of slander, hatred, injustice and division.  How we might suffer an offense without retaliating.  How we might be selfless and kind, never condemning. And how we might draw near those Jesus loves with a gentle and lowly heart.

I have to admit, as I am learning of Jesus’ gentle and lowly of heart toward me; I know I need to learn from him.  For when I compare my heart with His, I see that I am too easily offended, too quick to judge and too harsh when wronged.  So, I know that if Jesus is going to change me, I need to stay surrendered to Him.

And my guess is that you need this too.  That’s why when it comes to rebooting our faith, our life together, our mission as a Church – we need to learn what it means to follow Jesus in the way He calls us to follow Him.  We need the rest He gives.  We need the help He gives.  We need the heart He gives.

Let me remind you of the grace that Jesus wants to give you when you come to Him.  Think about what He wants to give you.  He wants to give you Himself so you will find rest.  He wants to give you His leadership so you don’t have to go it alone.  And He wants to give you His heart, so He might change your heart to be like His.

So, let me ask you this morning:  Do you hear His voice?   Do you hear His invitation to you? He who is gentle and humble in heart is calling you to follow Him.  To trust Him.  To surrender to Him.  To walk with Him and learn from Him. To draw near His heart so He might change yours.

“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.”

If we’re going to be a people who are helping people become friends, family and followers of Jesus…  it all begins with answering His call.  Will you come to Jesus and follow Him?  Let’s pray.