The Community of the Rested

 "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."Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) Many claim to believe in Jesus. Many testify that they have asked Jesus into their heart (even though nowhere in the Bible are we compelled to do so). Many claim to have received some form of Christian baptism. And many testify to awesome spiritual experiences they have had as believers. But why is there so much turmoil, so much anxiety, so much heaviness, such a lack of souls at rest and of lightness among Jesus followers and in his church?If the church is made up of those who have “come,” who have slipped into Jesus’ “yoke,” who are “learning from him” then this rest and lightness should be evident, not just in us individually but also in us collectively. We are not just the community of the saved (true as that is), but also the community of the delivered, and the community of those being changed by the power of God. The church is not just a self-help group, or recovery group, or social action group, or a charity, or a service club, or a patriotic organization, or a political action committee, or a community organization (although it/we might be engaged in any or all of these). The church is a community of once tired and weary people who have come to Jesus and found forgiveness without having to work for it, found redemption without paying for it, found reconciliation instead of condemnation, found justification though guilty. And that makes it, or should make it a super happy and grateful bunch. Amen!Some are quick note, “What about repentance Hans?” Well, when Jesus says, “Come to me ..,” and someone turns to and comes to him with all of their baggage isn’t that an admission that life is not working out without him, that you need him, that he has what that person has not? But when do we celebrate? When do we butcher the fatted calf? When do we rejoice with someone who has come to Jesus and found rest, because rejoicing should follow repentance?After pastoring our church for almost thirty years I still love being part of it, I still look forward to us coming together, I still imagine what it will be like if we who have come to Jesus learn even more from him – we’ll be more at rest, we’ll experience even more exquisite peace, we’ll walk even lighter in a world that remains heavy. What will it be like among us when we learn to love even more like Jesus, when we learn even more to serve others like Jesus, when we learn think and act ever more like Jesus? All I know is that I want to be part of it with you.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans