Trust = Rest
When I was 22 I was invited to speak at a small Free Methodist Church down the street from the Christian college I attended. The pastor's name was Jan. He was a surfer like myself. I met him while surfing a well known surf spot called Steamers Lane in Santa Cruz. Jan was an interesting character. He was from the country of Hungry and had a very thick Hungarian accent. When he surfed he would sing gospel songs very loudly to the dismay of some of the surfers. I was thrilled to have an opportunity to speak.
I arrived at the church Sunday morning wearing the only suit I owned. I was greeted by a hippie congregation. This was Santa Cruz in the 70’s after all. The service got off to an awkward start when the hippie girl singing a solo forgot the words and ran off the stage crying. Pastor Jan took the stage and started sharing about some upcoming events while his dog, a large german shepherd barked loudly. As Pastor Jan spoke he ran off the stage a couple of times to yell at his dog. After the offering was taken I was invited to come up to the stage and be introduced to the church.
Pastor Jan introduced me as a fine young man who was going into ministry. My sermon text for the morning was from Hebrews chapter 4. The theme of Hebrews 4 is about rest. Actually it’s a very complex chapter that requires a good understanding of the Old and New testament. Did I mention I was 22 and didn’t know much about the Bible at the time? I could have spoken on John 3:16 and done a pretty good job I think. As I stumbled through the text that morning trying to explain what I didn’t understand a hand came up from a long haired dude in the congregation. I tried to ignore the hand but this guy was persistent. Finally I stepped back for a second and said, “Yes, you have a question?” He said, “Yeah man, like I was wondering, what are you trying to say? I don’t get it.” And it was at that moment I realized I had no idea what I was talking about.
When The church service was over Pastor Jan handed me a twenty and told me to go to the grocery store next door and bring back two tens. I obediently did so and he handed me a ten dollar bill and thanked me for preaching that morning. Honestly, I probably should have handed the money back to him because I don’t think that sermon was worth ten bucks.
Well, all these years later I finally get a chance to redeem myself. The author of Hebrews was writing primarily to a Hebrew audience. He assumed they were familiar with the first five books of the Bible, the Torah. They would certainly know the story of Moses leading the children of Israel towards the promised land. If you know the story you know that the children of Israel wandered around the desert for 40 years. At the end of 40 years God declared that none of those who had rebelled against him by consistently complaining and disobeying Him would enter into the promised land. In Hebrews 4:6 it says, "So God's rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.”
How did the Israelites disobey God? They didn’t trust him. Time and time again God performed miracles to show the Israelites He was with them. Despite everything God did they repeatedly ignored God’s ways and strived to get to the promised land their own way. You see, trust = rest. Had the original group of Israelites chosen to trust God not only would they have made it to the promised land, they would have arrived blessed, refreshed, and rested. That’s what God wants for all of us. That’s what it means to enter into God’s rest. It simply means we trust God to help us navigate life. It means we don’t have to do everything ourselves because God is helping us.
Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “So there is a special rest still awaiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.” Are you tired, maybe even exhausted from trying to take on the problems and battles of life? God wants you to enter into His rest and the way to do that is to trust him.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve