Text: Mark 6:30-34 Proper 11B
SN: 0056 07/21/24
True Rest is Found in Christ
In Mark 6:31 Jesus says to his disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest awhile.” This passage is a powerful reminder to us that we need to take time out of our busy lives to find peace and rest in the presence of our Lord. This passage always reminds me of one of my favorite places at Camp Phillip. There was a clearing way back in the woods up on a tall hill. The clearing was surrounded by massive oak trees and there was a granite plaque with this passage engraved on it. I loved that spot because when you were there it felt like you were miles from anyone else. It was a secluded place where I could rest and think about the beauty and majesty of God’s creation. In our Gospel lesson this morning Jesus emphasized the importance of finding true rest in him.
There is a lot that happens in Mark chapter 6. A few Sundays ago, we heard how Jesus was rejected by the people of his hometown of Nazareth. After this, Jesus sent out his Twelve Disciples two-by-two to preach a message of repentance to the people of Galilee. We also hear in chapter 6 that it was around this time that Herod had ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded. As the disciples returned from the mission we can guess their emotional state. They were probably filled with joy at the successes they had as they taught the Word of God drove out demons and healed the sick in the name of Jesus. But they were probably exhausted after this period of intense ministry.
Jesus knew how important it would be to go away with his disciples for a while to rest and recharge before continuing their ministry. He probably wanted to talk with them about their successes and failures and give them a chance to recover. Jesus most likely also wanted to take this time to mourn for the loss of cousin John the Baptist and prepare his disciples for the opposition they would face from Herod and other Jewish leaders as they continued to proclaim the message that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Jesus wanted to take a brief period to rest and recharge his disciples.
Rest is something we all need. We know how we feel if we don’t get enough rest. We feel tired and exhausted. We know that we are not as mentally sharp as we should be, and we know that a lack of rest makes us grumpy and irritable. Not getting enough rest is not good for our physical health. When we get run down and exhausted, we are more susceptible to illness and disease. The same is true of our spiritual health. If we do not get enough spiritual rest, we can become spiritually weak and exhausted. And what happens when we are in this spiritual state? We are more susceptible to the attacks of Satan. We are more prone to give into temptation and fall into sin and we are more tempted to doubt that God is watching over us.
God does not want us to be in his weakened condition. God is our Good and Loving Shepherd. He wants to watch over and care for his sheep. He wants us to be healthy and happy. One of the best ways to do this is to take time to rest and refresh ourselves in the Word of the Lord. God’s Word is our source of strength and comfort. God’s Word reminds us that we have true peace and rest because all of our sins have been forgiven by the death of Christ. God wants us to find joy resting in him. The Bible often talks about resting in the Lord as times of refreshment, just think of the beautiful words of Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He causes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.”
Unfortunately, we live in a world that seeks to do everything possible to distract us from finding our true rest in the Lord. We are bombarded by a never-ending stream of messages telling us that we should never be content with what we have. The only way we can find joy and happiness is if we have the next newest and best thing. We have social media that is teaching us to compare our lives to other people and covetously desire what they have. We are told that the only way we can be happy is if we work hard so we can earn more money to buy more stuff and then this stuff will make us happy.
But what’s the unfortunate truth? None of this leads to happiness. If we are constantly comparing our lives to others, we are never going to be happy. If we think that we will find joy in having enough material possessions, then we are never going to have enough to fill that void in our lives. If we are constantly worried about working harder and making enough money, we are filled with stress and may even suffer burnout. Satan loves to take advantage of us when we are in this weakened state. He does everything he can to look for rest and
relief in every place except in Jesus. Just think of some of the sins that come from being stressed and burned out. Maybe we give in to unhealthy habits like overindulging in food or alcohol. Maybe we let our stress get the better of our emotions and we lash out in anger at others to make ourselves feel better. Or perhaps we seek to escape and waste hours and hours binge-watching television or aimlessly scrolling through our phones. We do everything we can to escape except doing the one thing that would bring us true rest: refreshing ourselves with God’s Word.
This is why God in the Old Testament made keeping the Sabbath Day such part of the 10 Commandments. He knew that his people needed a constant reminder of their need to find peace and rest in him. We need this reminder as well. On our own, we sinfully look for rest in all the wrong places, but God’s Word reminds us that it is Christ alone that we find true rest and contentment. Paul reminds us of this in Philippians chapter 4 which we wrote while he was in chains for the Gospel, “I know what it is to live in humble circumstances, and I know what it is to have more than enough. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation while being full or hungry while having plenty or not enough. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”
Paul knew that the secret to rest and contentment was found in Christ alone. It is only through Jesus that we have peace with God. Jesus restored our relationship that sin had destroyed. Christ took all our sins upon himself and paid for them with his life. When we were baptized, we were connected to the death and resurrection of Christ and born again as children of God. Christ sacrificed everything to redeem us. We see this sacrificial love of our Savior in our Gospel. Christ and his disciples were exhausted and wanted to rest. But when Jesus saw the crowds, he was filled with compassion towards them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
In the same way, Christ was filled with compassion toward us. He saw that by nature we were lost and condemned creatures who could do nothing to save ourselves. Christ came to this world and lived a perfect life in our place. He then offered his life on the cross to make full and complete payment for the sins of the world. His perfect sacrifice becomes our righteousness through faith. Because we are righteous, we now have peace with God. We have a peace that the world does not understand because we are freed from the burden of guilt and shame. By the resurrection of Christ, we are also freed from the fear of death. We know that death has been swallowed up in victory and that those who have faith in Jesus as their Savior will know the joy of eternal life with him.
Dear friends this is the peace and joy that we have which is found only in the glorious revelation of the Gospel. This is the rest that we need to be reminded of again and again. Satan and the world want to rob us of our rest. They want us to try and find peace and rest everywhere except in Christ. But we know that true rest is found in Christ alone. The message of the Gospel that we hear each Sunday is an invitation to “come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” What a joyous opportunity to gather together with our brothers and sisters in Christ and find rest from the trials and temptations of the world. What a joy to gather around the Lord’s table and receive the peace of forgiveness as we eat and drink the blood of Christ.
Our Gospel lesson this morning reminds us of the importance of taking time to find rest in Christ alone. We are refreshed and encouraged in our faith as we gather together around the Word of God. This is the reason we are emphasizing the importance of family devotions in our weekly Bible study. God’s Word is what gives us strength and comfort, peace, and joy. God’s Word reminds us of all the mighty deeds that our God has done for us and reminds us of the peace and rest we have in Christ alone.