(This sermon was delivered in fall/winter 2012 during a nursing home ministry event)
I am so tired!
I work in a very busy and stressful industry and sometimes I wonder just how long it will go on! I would love to retire right now and enjoy a well deserved rest!
Every time we visit a retirement community like this I feel a little bit like staying and moving in!
Does anyone here remember 1965? Or a singer named Lee Dorsey? I know it was a long time ago, I was only 4 years old at the time, but Lee Dorsey had a hit song that made it to #5 on the billboard R&B chart named “Workin in a coal mine” – at the end of the first verse Lee sings “I am so tired! How long can this go on?”
In 1981 the pop music group DEVO did a version of the same song and before the song even starts the singer exclaims “I am soooo tired! How long can this go on?”
That’s how I feel a lot of times and I often mimic that song when I’m beat and wore out. You have all worked longer than I have and probably have said the same thing way more than I have.
We have to work all week long to earn money to pay the bills and then we get to the weekend where we can rest. Then Monday morning rolls around and we have to start all over again, going down into the coal mine so to speak until the end of the week when we can rest again.
It’s a vicious cycle, and there always way more work than there is rest. So it seems that we are always chasing that rest period. We say to ourselves “Is it break time yet?” Or “Isn't it lunch time yet?”. And “if I can just make it till Friday”. Or “I can’t wait for the weekend!”.
I work in a very busy and stressful industry and sometimes I wonder just how long it will go on! I would love to retire right now and enjoy a well deserved rest!
Every time we visit a retirement community like this I feel a little bit like staying and moving in!
Does anyone here remember 1965? Or a singer named Lee Dorsey? I know it was a long time ago, I was only 4 years old at the time, but Lee Dorsey had a hit song that made it to #5 on the billboard R&B chart named “Workin in a coal mine” – at the end of the first verse Lee sings “I am so tired! How long can this go on?”
In 1981 the pop music group DEVO did a version of the same song and before the song even starts the singer exclaims “I am soooo tired! How long can this go on?”
That’s how I feel a lot of times and I often mimic that song when I’m beat and wore out. You have all worked longer than I have and probably have said the same thing way more than I have.
We have to work all week long to earn money to pay the bills and then we get to the weekend where we can rest. Then Monday morning rolls around and we have to start all over again, going down into the coal mine so to speak until the end of the week when we can rest again.
It’s a vicious cycle, and there always way more work than there is rest. So it seems that we are always chasing that rest period. We say to ourselves “Is it break time yet?” Or “Isn't it lunch time yet?”. And “if I can just make it till Friday”. Or “I can’t wait for the weekend!”.
You all here have completed your careers of years and years of working hard week after week, and are now in a well deserved rest phase of your life, and the youngsters here haven’t even begun to work yet so you don’t really know how exhausting work will be…but you will find out I guarantee it!
The bill collector says we have to work, the tax man says we have to work, and our stomachs say we have to work.
Another reason to work is we were cursed to work:
The bill collector says we have to work, the tax man says we have to work, and our stomachs say we have to work.
(2 Thessalonians 3:10)Some of us have to work more than others because we like to eat!! I am one of those people!
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Another reason to work is we were cursed to work:
(Genesis 3:17-19)
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
So that 4-letter word called “work” is something we just cant get away from. But we can enter into periods of rest. And it’s in these periods of rest where we can sit back and appreciate things in our lives, and see what the work has all been for.
Its also a much more positive Bible study experience to study the topic of rest than the topic of work!
When I study The Bible I am always fascinated by how real life presents real examples of Bible truths. Like how a marriage between a bride and a groom is an example of our relationship to Jesus, and how a parent and child relationship is an example of our relationship with God the father.
The work week and the days of rest are real life examples of what Satan offers us compared to what God offers us. The devil offers hardship and strife, and God offers us rest and peace. You can view the whole Bible is one long narrative contrasting the two ideas.
In the beginning God rested on the seventh day after creation, and in the law of Moses the Israelites were told to take that same day of rest. In addition to that, every seventh year they had to let their fields rest and go fallow for one whole year. The Sabbath day is called the day of rest, and The Bible says the reason for it is that we may be refreshed.
Its also a much more positive Bible study experience to study the topic of rest than the topic of work!
When I study The Bible I am always fascinated by how real life presents real examples of Bible truths. Like how a marriage between a bride and a groom is an example of our relationship to Jesus, and how a parent and child relationship is an example of our relationship with God the father.
The work week and the days of rest are real life examples of what Satan offers us compared to what God offers us. The devil offers hardship and strife, and God offers us rest and peace. You can view the whole Bible is one long narrative contrasting the two ideas.
In the beginning God rested on the seventh day after creation, and in the law of Moses the Israelites were told to take that same day of rest. In addition to that, every seventh year they had to let their fields rest and go fallow for one whole year. The Sabbath day is called the day of rest, and The Bible says the reason for it is that we may be refreshed.
(Exodus 23:12)
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Jesus also rested from time to time. Jesus and his close group of disciples traveled on foot and attracted huge throngs of people. And it got to be a bit much at times with everyone wanting to touch him, to be healed and to listen to him speak.
So there ya have it, it’s in The Bible – vacations are necessary!
Another way we can have rest is through peace. God gives us peace if we meet certain conditions.
Now, whenever we discuss any Biblical topic, it’s helpful to take a look in the Old Testament and examine the Israelites experiences in dealing with the same thing.
(Mark 6:31)The Bible says that Jesus experienced all the things we experience and one of the things he experienced was the need for a vacation!!
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
So there ya have it, it’s in The Bible – vacations are necessary!
Another way we can have rest is through peace. God gives us peace if we meet certain conditions.
(Isaiah 26:3)
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
(Proverbs 16:7)It doesn’t say that our enemies will automatically start loving us, it just says they wont pester us.
When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Now, whenever we discuss any Biblical topic, it’s helpful to take a look in the Old Testament and examine the Israelites experiences in dealing with the same thing.
The people themselves enjoyed some rest...
But in all honesty, I am human and I do make mistakes and I have gotten in trouble for my mistakes. But I have noticed that Proverbs 16:7 is true – that if a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies be at peace with him.
Accidents happen, and as long as my behavior and my heart are pleasing to God, he often protects me from the wrath of people who are mad at me.
The last type of rest I want to talk about is the spiritual rest.
(Joshua 1:13)...the land rested...
Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.
(Joshua 11:23)...and there was no threat of war with enemies.
So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
(Joshua 21:44)I mentioned that I have a very stressful job. In my line of work, which is construction, there is often someone getting angry at someone else. And, unfortunately, I have had many people over the years get mad at me! I know it’s hard to believe since I’m such a sweetheart and never do or say anything wrong – right honey? Wait…she’s the wrong person to ask!
And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
But in all honesty, I am human and I do make mistakes and I have gotten in trouble for my mistakes. But I have noticed that Proverbs 16:7 is true – that if a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies be at peace with him.
Accidents happen, and as long as my behavior and my heart are pleasing to God, he often protects me from the wrath of people who are mad at me.
The last type of rest I want to talk about is the spiritual rest.
Like I said before that real life things are examples of Biblical truths – work and rest in real life are examples of sin and salvation. Work is sin (amen?) and rest is salvation.
Now all of this stuff is optional. We don't have to work, and we don't have to be pleasing to God if we don't want to. But then we may not be able to eat, or be at peace with our enemies, or even be at peace with God...
Now all of this stuff is optional. We don't have to work, and we don't have to be pleasing to God if we don't want to. But then we may not be able to eat, or be at peace with our enemies, or even be at peace with God...
(Isaiah 57:19-21)Some things are optional and based on choices, but some things are certain and not affected by our choices – for example - we are cursed, the ground is cursed and the devil is cursed. And God, through Jesus Christ, offers his rest to us – that offer is certain.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
(Matthew 11:28-30)Jesus pleads with us to accept him, and yet some people still reject him. It’s like my boss offering me a surprise vacation and I say…naw I’d rather work. The Bible has a name for this type of person, and it calls him a fool. That sounds kind of harsh but the truth is harsh sometimes.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Israelites had harsh things happen to them often when they turned their backs on God and lost their peace, they turned away from God and lost their land, they turned their hearts away from God and lost their rest.
Each time they turned from God they became enslaved by their enemies and had to work doing manual labor with no rewards of rest or reaping the fruit of their labor.
The same thing can happen to us in a spiritual sense. And we need to be aware of how our behavior and our decision to accept or reject Jesus as our savior affects our peace and our rest.
There is a long passage in The Bible I’d like to read, in the book of Hebrews that says what I’m trying to say much better than I could ever say it…which is why it’s in the Bible and my words are not!
Each time they turned from God they became enslaved by their enemies and had to work doing manual labor with no rewards of rest or reaping the fruit of their labor.
The same thing can happen to us in a spiritual sense. And we need to be aware of how our behavior and our decision to accept or reject Jesus as our savior affects our peace and our rest.
There is a long passage in The Bible I’d like to read, in the book of Hebrews that says what I’m trying to say much better than I could ever say it…which is why it’s in the Bible and my words are not!
(Hebrews 3:7-19)Belief is the key to entering his rest.
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Our work week from Monday to Friday, our years of working before retirement, wars and the troubles of life are examples of how eternity will be without knowing God.
Our bodies, our minds, our souls know how unpleasant all those things are and God allows them in this world so we can experience them and know how bad they are and to provoke us to choose something better.
Weekends or days off from work, vacations, peace and tranquility are examples of how eternity will be if we believe in him and accept Jesus Christ as our savior.
Our bodies, our minds, our souls know how wonderful all those things are and God provides them to us so we can be motivated to choose that thing that is better…and that is eternity with him.
I have a saying I like to use when things aren’t going well. When my day is bad or I am going through a bad spell, I like to say:
Our bodies, our minds, our souls know how unpleasant all those things are and God allows them in this world so we can experience them and know how bad they are and to provoke us to choose something better.
Weekends or days off from work, vacations, peace and tranquility are examples of how eternity will be if we believe in him and accept Jesus Christ as our savior.
Our bodies, our minds, our souls know how wonderful all those things are and God provides them to us so we can be motivated to choose that thing that is better…and that is eternity with him.
I have a saying I like to use when things aren’t going well. When my day is bad or I am going through a bad spell, I like to say:
“This is as close to hell as I’m ever going to get – this is my hell. For some people this is as close to heaven as they will ever get – this is their heaven”So no matter how bad things are we still get moments of rest and breaks from our work, and we should use them as reminders to us that the ultimate rest, when we rest in peace, that eternal reward will be worth all the work and toil we went through down here on earth.
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