"Restoring Weary Souls"
Sermon Transcript for June 29, 2003Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:28-30
By Rev. Mike Beck
Many of us were feeling a little “weary” following the “Imagine Grace” campaign. So I thought I’d better talk about that some Sunday before too much time lapsed. And in reflecting on that felt need, I came across a message by Rev. John Ortberg who is a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Church outside of Chicago. I want to share from that message today, hoping that the insights will be helpful to many of you, and I am sure there are many, who may be feeling a little weary and burdened in your life right now.
It’s true! We live in a world where the pace of life has simply become insane. And correspondingly, we have come to believe that weariness of body and spirit are somehow the norm for living. But friends, weariness is not God’s plan for our lives. In the passage we read today from Matthew 11, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” And then another place we find Jesus saying that, “He had come that we might have life.” And He said, “I want you to know life more abundantly than others who don’t know the secret to it.”
Now, I am not saying this morning that we’ll never get tired. I’m not saying that we won’t experience down times spiritually where we feel spiritually dry. I think those times come to all of us. I’m not saying that stress and busyness can somehow be eliminated from our lives. In fact, I heard someplace that the only time we are going to get all stress removed from our lives is when we die. I’m not ready for that yet! But what I am saying is that God has designed some principles for living that when we know them and follow them will help us keep our life better balanced, more energized, more focused. So as we begin I want to quickly give you five signs of “soul fatigue”. That’s the term we are going to use. Do a mental checklist as to how many of these five apply to you.
Ongoing Sense of Feeling Rushed: First of all, there is this ongoing sense of feeling rushed. We are on this constant merry-go-round that keeps going faster and faster. And here’s the problem, we kind of insist that it go faster and faster. If you don’t believe that, listen to these words of author Richard Swinson who laughingly says, “We send packages by ‘Federal Express’; we use a long distance company called ‘Sprint’; we manage our personal finances on ‘Quicken’; we schedule our appointments on a ‘Day Runner’; we diet on ‘Slim-Fast’; and we swim in trunks named ‘Speedo’”! But in the midst of the rush, on the inside we’re sometimes tortured that there are really important things not being done. There are no margins on the pages of our lives. And when that happens one of the most tell-tell signs is we cannot be fully present in the moment. In other words, what’s going on, I’m there, but I’m not really there because I’m so rushed and I’m thinking of the next place I’ve got to be.
Difficulty in Making Decisions: The second characteristic of “soul fatigue” is we have difficulty making decisions. In our world, friends, we live with “choice overload”. One hundred years ago, people washed their hair with lye soap. Do you realize that today there are 1,260 different kinds of shampoo to choose from? You young kids won’t believe this, but it’s only been about four decades ago that when we turned on the TV we had four channels to choose from. And I’ll bet you can name them with me—4, 6, 8, and 13. Contrast that to the hundreds of choices we have today! And here’s what often happens, the more choices the more indecisive we become.
There is a Surplus of Information but a Deficit of Wisdom: Thirdly, we live in a world where there is a surplus of information but a deficit of wisdom. There is a mass of information out there to be processed like the world has never known before. Those of you that use the Internet know about that mass of information. There is a young man in our church that we got a prayer card related to an illness that he’s been diagnosed with. Dan went on the Internet, brought me up two pages of information related to an illness that I’ve never heard of before. It was only a click away. We’re the most informed generation in history, but are we the wisest? Have we confused information with wisdom? Wisdom is knowing how to live in a way that brings honor to God. And the writer of Proverbs said, “Seek wisdom above all else.” But, friends, wisdom comes slowly. You cannot microwave wisdom. And wisdom will not come to a mind that is constantly rushed and fatigued. We may have a ton of information, but do we have wisdom?
A Sense of Stagnation or Superficiality in my Relationship with God: A fourth sign of “soul fatigue” is a sense of stagnation or superficiality in my relationship with God. Here’s what it ends up looking like. I may be in church; my body may be here, but my mind’s out there someplace. I’m distracted; I’m not really engaged with what is taking place. I’m not experiencing the presence of God in prayer. My mind isn’t being transformed by being deeply immersed in Scripture. I’m not experiencing character growth. I may be going through the motions of religion, but I’m not experiencing the joy, the intimacy, or the power that comes from a deep relationship with God.
Decreased Ability to Love: And then the final sign of “soul fatigue” is a decreased ability to love. If you are weighed down by soul fatigue, your heart is in the right place. You want to give, you want to love, but when you go to do that you find the tank of your life is on empty! The desire is there to love and to give but you just can’t muster it up.
How many of those five do you check this morning? And as always, remember the preacher is preaching in many ways to himself today for soul fatigue is deadly serious business. It creates people who are constantly rushed, indecisive, superficial, unconnected with God, and too tired to love. And our world produces them by the millions. If we are not careful, to use a computer analogy, we slip our life into “default mode” and we just get carried down the stream of an unending list of demands. And while all of that is happening because we are in default mode, the heart keeps getting smaller and smaller, the spirit withers. And I think one of the most tell-tell signs—we are no longer able to experience awe and wonder.
We never intended that to happen! But instead of allowing our minds to be transformed by God’s Spirit, which takes time, we’ve slowly gotten sucked in to the world’s mode. But God says there is a better way to live. And we find some clues of how to live that kind of life in these familiar words of the Psalmist. Psalm 23:1-3, “The Lord is my Shepard. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters.” And then our text for today, “He restores my soul”. Each of the four statements in these verses gives us a “choice point” where we have to make a decision as to how we live. If we follow spiritual wisdom in those four choice points, we’ll experience the result found there at the end of Verse 3, “He restores my soul”.
So I want to walk us through those four choice points. I want us to see what David was referring to in shepherd imagery. I want us to look at what the alternative is to the choice God wants us to make. And then I want to give you a key word that summarizes each choice.
The Lord is my Shepherd: First of all, David says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” In those days, the shepherd would place a mark on his sheep indicating to whom that sheep belonged. So I ask you? Have you allowed God through faith in Christ to place His mark on your life? Do you ask God each day to shepherd you? For the alternative here is to say I have no shepherd, to experience the constant anxiety of going through life essentially on my own. And there is nothing more dangerous, my friends, than a sheep out there without a shepherd. Life without a shepherd is a life of increasing unceasing worry. But there is another way to do life, to live in the constant care of the Good Shepherd.
And the key word I want you to remember for this first statement is this—it’s the simple word “ask”. This week instead of worrying ask God to shepherd your life. Dennis, pass this on to Letty, take your worries and turn them in to prayer. And, friends, if we will do that God will answer those prayers. Hear me carefully; we may not always understand in the moment just exactly how God is doing that. But if you will talk to any believer with the experience of many years of trusting Christ, they will tell you “God will take care of you”. In the words of the old song, “Through every day, o’er all the way.” And gosh, I’m looking out at some saints of God and I’d love to have the time just for them to stand up and give that word of witness. “Yes, he’s a good shepherd. You can trust him. Honest!”
I Shall Not Want: Because the Lord is his shepherd, David makes a second statement. He says, “I shall not want.” The second statement implies that because God is a Good Shepherd, I can go through life in a joyful, contented state regardless of my circumstances. And the alternative here is chronic discontent, insatiable desire, and the never-ending, unfulfilled quest for satisfaction. Consider this sobering fact, friends. Some of the smartest people in the world spend most of their waking hours thinking up ways to make you and me discontent. That’s what they do. Some of the smartest folks in the world want to tell you that what you’ve got is obsolete—you need the newest, slickest model. And they are telling you that contentment and satisfaction are just one purchase away. If you can move from the 3-bedroom home to the 5-bedroom home, you’ll be happy. If you don’t believe that, just look at the billboards along the highway, just thumb through the Sunday paper, just watch the commercials on TV. They are all designed to make you discontent. But there is another way to do life. There is a Good Shepherd who knows what you need and who knows what you don’t need.
And here’s the one word for living in contentment. It’s the word “simplify”. Is your life full of “stuff” and “clutter” today? Then simplify! Get rid of some of the stuff. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of a garage sale, if you look out there and you see stuff you haven’t used in the last two years, give it away to somebody! Cut some things out of your calendar. I heard a story of a businessperson, who every week would schedule four appointments with imaginary people. And obviously, they never showed up for the appointment. And they had a little time that they didn’t anticipate having. Leave some things undone, and don’t feel guilty about it! When I make a pastoral call at a home, do you know what I almost always hear? “Oh, I’m sorry, Reverend Mike, the house is a mess.” And I will say to them, “I did not come to see your house! I came to see you. I could care less if your house is a mess. In fact, I much whether your house be in a mess, than your life be a mess. Simplify!
Makes Me Lie Down: The third thing David says is that the Good Shepherd “makes me lie down in green pastures.” The alternative here is frantic activity, constant busyness, and an over-committed lifestyle. Phillip Keller a few years ago wrote a wonderful book, A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm. And he said in that book that sheep are rather nervous creatures. They will not lie down if they are afraid. They won’t like down if there are two sheep butting heads over the pecking order within the flock. They won’t lie down if they are hungry. That sounds a lot like us humans! Many of us this morning are battling fears. We are experiencing friction in relationships. We are hungry for love in our life. And we don’t want to lie down! Keller goes on to say the thing that would cause the sheep, to give them the assurance to lie down, is the presence of the Good Shepherd.
And the key word here is the simple word “rest”. Those of you who are parents or who have been parents previously, note the words, “He makes me lie down.” I don’t imagine Emma always wants to lie down for a nap. But I’ve got an idea you make her because you know she needs that nap for her well-being and also for yours. And Florence, isn’t it true as you think about our lives, God sometimes has to resort to using illness or failure or brokenness to finally get us to lie down. But it is a whole lot easier if we would just learn to rest in the assurance of the Good Shepherd’s presence with us. And again, I’m not painting an idealistic picture of a life free of stress this morning. That kind of life does not exist. But what I am talking about, if we can learn to rest there can be green pastures for us to lie down in even in the most difficult moments of life where our soul can be restored. I was talking to Bill Frosch the day after Marsha’s memorial service. He said something very healthy to me. He said, “Reverend Mike, there’s a path not too far behind my house. And I go out early in the morning. And I walk on that path and I talk to Marsha and I talk to God and my soul is restored.”
He Leads Me Beside Quiet Waters: And then finally David says, “He leads me beside quiet waters.” Phillip Keller in his book goes on to say that sheep do not like rushing water. First of all they are afraid they will fall in or drown. Or from experience they may know when they got out in that rushing water their thick wool got wet and it became very difficult for them then to move around. The obvious alternative to stillness and quiet is noise. But here’s the ironic thing. In our world, we are addicted to noise. We really get very uncomfortable if it gets quiet. Because if it gets quiet, I’ve got to look within and I may not like what I see. If I ever took, and I don’t think I’ll do it, five minutes of total silence at worship, do you know what would happen after about 45 seconds? You’d hear rustling all over the sanctuary because people haven’t learned to be still. There was a recent survey as to why people have the TV on. Do you know what the #1 reason was of why people have the TV on? Noise! They may not be even watching the show, but were addicted to the noise. Friends, I watch TV. I’m not telling you to go home and throw it away. There’s some good stuff on there. But I am urging us this morning in this matter for our need for stillness is maybe turn it off periodically. Do you know the average person spends four hours a day in front of the TV which means that if you live to be age 72, you can be very proud that you have spent 12 of your 72 years watching TV. Doesn’t that just make you feel really great about yourself? In fact I read there is one thing you will never see on TV. You will never find people watching TV on TV because it is one of the most boring things in the world to watch somebody watch TV. Here’s another interesting fact. The average child at age six has already invested more hours watching TV than they will spend talking with his or her father over an entire lifetime!
If you want to find rest for your soul the key word is stillness. And if we’re going to know any stillness in our life in this age in which we live, we’ve got to turn off the electronic noise. With the voice problems, I’ve known more than my share of quiet times. They get kind of forced upon me. But you know, in those quiet times I’ve learned the reality of the true meaning of the phrase that’s on the little plaque on top of my dresser in my bedroom that I see every morning. It just says these words from Scripture, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Friends, there is a Good Shepherd who loves you and loves me so much that he laid down His life for us. And he invites us this morning to come to Him and find rest for our souls. These four words can help our weary souls to be restored: Ask—instead of worrying this week ask the Good Shepherd, simplify, rest, stillness.
If you want your weary soul to be restored, those principles from God’s Word have to be a part of your life!
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn