Tired People Come to Me

Declaration of Freedom

As we celebrate Independence Day. I thought you might enjoy these thoughts from an unknown author:

Only in America . . . can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Only in America . . . do people order double cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a DIET coke.

Only in America . . . do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America . . . do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America . . . do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America . . . do we use the word "politics" to describe the process so well: "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "blood-sucking creatures."

Well, maybe we're being a little harsh on politicians . . . Naaw!

On July 4th we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This document has had a profound effect on the world in many ways. Certainly, we can come before God and thank Him for our freedom. In so many ways we could call this document the “Declaration of Freedom.” And we need to continue praying that we as a country and individuals will contribute to the coming of the day when all the world’s people will be free.

I will be preaching on Matthew 11: 28-30 on July 9th. “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.” We could call this the “Declaration of Rest”.

Today, Christ still extends this declaration of invitation to all: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest . . .”

Is there anyone reading this who knows what it is to be tired?

Do you know what it is to be really tired?

I heard of a mom who was playing cops and robbers in the backyard on a summer evening. One of her boys pointed a toy gun and shouted, “Bang, you’re dead.” She slumped to the ground, and when she didn’t get up, a neighbor ran over to see what was wrong.

As the neighbor bent over, Mom opened one eye and whispered, “Shhhh . . . don’t blow my cover. It’s the only chance I get to rest.” (1)

Busy moms are not the only ones who are tired, of course. Fatigue can take a toll on the best of us. Biologically speaking, fatigue produces slow reflexes and sleepiness. Cognitively speaking, fatigue causes poor decision-making. 

Do you have trouble sleeping at night? It’s almost as if Christ had us in mind when he spoke those beautiful words, “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.” Jesus is describing many of us. I know He is describing me. He knows our situation. Tired. Stressed out. Battling fatigue. Our nerves are on edge. 

Driven by a Sense of Purpose

It is amazing how much energy people have who are driven by a sense of purpose.  If individuals can align themselves with some great purpose or calling it is amazing how much power, how much energy they can produce.

These words of Jesus speak of the source of that energy: “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.” The yoke suggests that we are getting prepared to work in concert with him. The rest that Jesus gives is not the rest of lying around doing nothing. The rest that Jesus gives is the rest of a renewed mind and a refreshed spirit. It is the rest of a new purpose for life.

One of the great missionaries of the twentieth century was a man named E. Stanley Jones. Jones was a man of amazing energy who wrote several best-selling books. It is hard to imagine that his career was once threatened and nearly cut short by chronic worry.

When he first arrived in India, Jones wore himself out, working and worrying. “I was suffering so severely from brain fatigue and nervous exhaustion,” he later wrote, “that I collapsed, not once but several times.” Aboard a ship returning to America, Jones collapsed again and the doctor put him to bed. After a year’s rest, he attempted to return to India but became a bundle of nerves on the return trip and arrived in Bombay a broken man. His colleagues warned him that any attempt to continue ministering in such a state of anxious care could be fatal.

While praying one night, groping in emotional darkness, Jones seemed to hear a Voice ask him, “Are you yourself ready for this work to which I have called you?”

“No, Lord,” replied Jones. “I am done for. I have reached the end of my resources.”

“If you will turn that over to Me and not worry about it,” the Voice seemed to say, “I will take care of it.”

Jones answered, “Lord, I close the bargain right here.”

A great sense of peace closed in over Stanley Jones. His energy returned, and his enthusiasm spilled over into his work with a strength and deepness he had never before known. Jones spent his entire life ministry in India. 

He later wrote, “This one thing I know: my life was completely transformed and uplifted that night . . . when at the depth of my weakness and depression, a voice said to me: ‘If you will turn that over to Me and not worry about it, I will take care of it,’ and I replied, ‘Lord, I close the bargain right here.’” (2)

Jesus says Take My Yoke

Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” A “yoke” is most commonly associated with oxen and other animals that are harnessed together so they can help farmers plow. To be yoked with Christ is to allow him to share the burden of our daily lives, to allow him to take off our shoulders the weight of trying to solve our problems alone. Being yoked with Christ is one of the secrets of a productive life.

How about you? Are you tired of being sick and tired? Are you ready to trust him with your worries and emotional conflicts? “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” says the Master, “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.”

1. Mort Crim, Second Thoughts One Hundred Upbeat Messages (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communication, 1997).

2. Robert J. Morgan, Preacher’s Sourcebook Creative Sermon Illustrations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007), p. 807.

3. Photo by Do Nhu on Unsplash

Special thanks to Dynamic Preaching Third Quarter Sermons 2011 by King Duncan for illustration suggestions, basic outline, and some ideas for content.