Teaching Text

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“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."

Sermon Recap

This Sunday, guest Pastor John Mark Comer brought a timely word about receiving true rest in the gentle and humble heart of Jesus Christ when He reveals the Father to those who believe.

Burnout has become a “right of passage” not just for New Yorkers, but for this generation and culture. Many of us who say we love God still find ourselves weary, tired, and even burned out on religion. We struggle with a chasmic gap between our experience following Jesus and His invitation to rest. Pastor John Mark called us to consider that more often than not, this is because we actually have a misunderstanding of who God is. Many of us map our experience with authority figures on to our experience of God. From our parents to bosses to people we look up to for guidance, we often feel pressure to perform, fall into pride, or cling to controlling how we are perceived, and it leaves us exhausted.

God reveals His nature through Scripture and creation, but it is only through the person of Jesus that we can truly know the Father and His heart and His desire for us. Jesus’ invitation to come to Him for rest is a call directly from the heart of the Father to lay these pressures and perceptions down and follow Him into a life of humility. Pastor John Mark pointed out that throughout the works of the New Testament writers, Early Church Fathers and Mothers, and Church history, we see over and over that experiences with Jesus are marked by gentleness and humility, and this is how Jesus chose to reveal His own inner life.

It is through Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, that we are able to learn what it’s like to be in relationship with God. In Christ, the Father is described primarily as gentle and humble, rather than powerful or mighty or glorious, although He is all those things, so as believers we too must be in pursuit of becoming both gentle and humble. When we actively meditate on the heart of Jesus, we can receive the true rest that comes through confidence in who Jesus is instead of our own striving to manage and manipulate the outcomes of the world, and be more deeply formed into His image.