COME WITH ME… AND GET SOME REST!
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson; Ephesians 2:13-22
Old Testament Lesson; Jeremiah 23:1-6
Sermon Text; Mark 6:30-34
Today, let’s talk about your job, your work, your vocation, your calling in life. Let’s imagine that we have two carpenters, one is a Christian and the other is not. How different are they at doing their jobs? They really are not all that different. There really isn’t a Christian way and an unchristian way to build a house. A Christian and a non-Christian cut the wood with the same saw, the same way. A Christian and a non-Christian hold the hammer the same way. And they each drive the nail the same way. A Christian and a non-Christian install the windows the same way. And they put up the siding the same way. They both put in the doors the same way and they put the paint on the same way. There really is not a Christian way to build a house and a non-Christian way to build a house.
But, there is a big difference between a Christian carpenter and non-Christian carpenter. Look at it this way. Did you ever say, "God healed me"? What do you mean, by that? Well, what you are saying is that you were feeling sick, so you went to the doctor. The doctor had the nurses run some tests. The lab technicians looked at what was going on from the results of those tests and told the doctor, who then wrote the prescription. You then went to the pharmacist, who gave you some medicine. You took the medicine, and then you felt better. It is true that God healed you, but how did He do it? He worked through earthly vocations and earthly jobs. He worked through the doctor, the nurses, the lab technicians, the pharmacist, and the medicine to heal you.
Did you ever say, "God protected me"? But how did He do it? He protected you through the police officer, which was standing on the street corner. It is true that God protects us, but He very often He does it through earthly vocations, earthly jobs that He has given to certain people serving us.
The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is a Christian understands whatever job, or vocation, or calling God has placed you in, you have a very specific purpose in that job.
My job
is to serve my neighbor.
That is my job.
That is why
God has given that job to me.
And so, if I am a carpenter, my job has a specific purpose. It is to see to it that my skills and my abilities are used to help my neighbor have a place to be safe, a place to lay his head, a place to raise his family. By doing that, I am serving my neighbor.
If I am a custodian, a Christian custodian, I realize that my job has a specific purpose. The purpose of my job is to serve my neighbor. So, I go about my cleaning, making things sanitary, so that the employees stay healthy at their place of work. Those people will then take pride in their place of work. And, because they are healthy, they will be able to work hard and be productive for their boss. By doing that, I am serving my neighbor.
When I look out over this congregation, I see people in many, many different callings in life, but all having the same purpose. Our purpose is to serve our neighbor.
And, there is not one calling that is better than another calling. We believe, as the Bible tells us, that we are a Royal Priesthood. All of us are a Royal Priesthood. And, what is the job of a priest? The job of a priest is to serve God, by serving others.
One of the most profound ways that we live out our Christian life, is in our occupations. Forty hours a week, we have the opportunity to live out our Christian life, by serving God in our occupation. However, our occupation is not our only vocation, or calling in life. God may have also called you to be a husband or a wife. He may have called you to be a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter. He may have called you to be retired. Even in those positions, our purpose is to serve God, by serving others.
For example, if I am retired, I have a wonderful opportunity to serve others with my prayers, by writing letters, and by volunteering to help in other certain ways.
And so, no matter what our vocation is, a Christian understands that this is where I live out my Christian life, by serving others. What an opportunity God has given to me, to serve my neighbor!
We also recognize this, about our vocations, whatever they are. Our vocation is connected with sin. The reason that work is difficult, hard, and wears us down, is because it is connected to sin. One of the curses God gave to Adam and Eve, after they fell into sin was this,
"Now cursed is the ground because of you.
In painful labor you will work.
By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your bread."
Thorns and thistles will grow up, because of sin. Because of sin, work is hard. Because of sin, work can be very difficult, and it can wear us down.
If we work in a restaurant, we may get yelled at by our boss, or yelled at by the people who are in the restaurant. That can wear us down. It can be hard. It can be difficult. It is because we live in a sinful world.
If we sit behind a desk at the office, we may struggle with thoughts coming into our heads and can’t perform the way we want to. We wish that we could do better, but it is because we are not perfect people. We live in a sinful world. Work can be hard, laborious and wear us down. We all know that.
But it is also connected to sin, in another way. I was reading a book the other day where the author said that you can really look at sin as a violation of your vocation. Sin is a violation of the calling in life that God has given to you. When you are at work, and your mind is wandering, thinking about things that you should not be thinking about, that is a violation of your vocation. You may have evil thoughts about some coworker, or your boss. That is a violation of the calling God has placed you in. He called you there, to serve others. God has called us to a great purpose and it is to serve others. We sin against that calling God has given to us, when we don’t serve others by our thoughts.
We may go to work and not look at it as a great opportunity to serve others, but rather as a burden. That is a violation against our calling. God has called us to a great purpose and it is to serve others. It is a sin, when we see our job as nothing but a burden, a way to make ends meet, and that is it.
It is a violation against our calling, if we don’t put our full energy into our job, if we are lazy at work. God has called us to a great purpose and it is to serve others. So, when we don’t put our full energy into it, we violate the very calling that God has given us.
How many times can you look at your calling as a husband or a wife, your calling as a father or a mother, and see how you have violated that calling, by mistreating those you are intended by God to serve? So what do we do about all that? We go to God’s Word. There we have a beautiful passage, in today’s scripture reading. The disciples had been busy with their job. In fact, they were so busy, now that they were with Jesus, that they didn’t even have a chance to eat. And, they were feeling burdened. What did Jesus say to them?
"Come with me
by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest."
And to all of us, Jesus says the same thing,
"Come with me
by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest."
And that is what you are doing right now, today. You have laid down the tools of your vocations, and you are here with Jesus today, in a quiet place. You are getting some rest.
I don’t see any hammers in here, with the carpenters. They have been laid down. I don’t see any stethoscopes here, with the doctors. You have laid them down. I don’t see any wash baskets here, where mothers are folding clothes. You have laid them down. We have laid down the work that God has given to us, and we have come by ourselves, to a quiet place, with Jesus. That is what the Third Commandment is all about. Scripture says,
"You should keep the day of rest holy."
One of the greatest ways to honor God is to rest from our labors, to come and meet with Jesus, here, in a quiet place, in our church. What happens here at church? When we gather around the Word of God, we do rest from our labors. We are not serving, in our occupations. Someone else is doing all the serving and all the work. And, that someone is God.
Here in church, God serves you!
Here in church, God works for you!
Here in church, God builds you up!
Here in church, God gives you the spiritual food that you need.
Here in church, we come with our Savior to a quiet place.
Here in church, God gives us the rest that we need.
Here in church, we hear the Words of Jesus in scripture.
Here in church, we learn what Jesus has done for us.
As we confessed our sins this morning, you maybe thought about your failings in your vocation. Then we hear Jesus speak to us the words of forgiveness. What has Jesus done for us? Jesus is the one person in this world who came and carried out His vocation, which was to save lost souls, in an absolutely perfect and holy way. He served His neighbor. He served you and He served me, in an absolutely perfect way. His preaching was perfect. His healings were perfect. He went about His work in a perfect way.
And yet, what happened to Jesus? Jesus was treated like someone who had totally failed, someone who had violated His vocation. Here was a Man who preached the pure and total Word of God. But, why was He put on a cross? He was put on the cross because He was accused of blaspheming God! He was accused of a terrible violation against His calling. There, we see Jesus going to the cross, because we violated our callings. There on the cross, Jesus was willing to suffer for our violations.
Jesus was the perfect citizen. And, one of the callings we have is to be a citizen. He was the perfect citizen, and yet He was accused of violating that calling. They said that He claimed to be a king and was trying to rebel against the government. Jesus was nailed to a cross and put to death, because He was seen as someone who totally violated the calling that God had given to Him.
There on the cross, we see the love of Jesus. Jesus was willing to suffer and die for all of the sins I have ever committed against my calling. (And I sure do know that I have sinned against my calling many times, and I know that you have too.) Jesus died and has washed away all of our sins. And, now for Jesus sake, God sees us as if we had been perfect at our place of work, as if we have perfectly served those around us in our home and in all of our various callings! He gives us the grace of knowing that our sins are forgiven. Here at church, the Holy Spirit works. He pours into our hearts that saving Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Do you know what that does? That makes me, the Christian carpenter really ready to pick up the hammer again, and drive nails again, because I know what my Savior has done for me. I know how He has served me. And, I know how He loved me and died for me. And now, if I am a carpenter, I want to go out and live my Christian life by serving others in the occupation that God has given to me. It refreshes me and rejuvenates me.
If I am a mother, it refreshes me to know that Jesus died for me. That builds me up and it strengthens me, knowing how He serves me. And now the Holy Spirit works in my heart, giving me the desire to go home and fold the clothes, serving my family.
It is certainly true that here in church, we find a time of rest from our labors, a time of rest where God rejuvenates us, sending us forward out into the world, to go and serve Him again.
After Jesus and His disciples found a brief time of rest, in today’s scripture reading, what happened? Immediately the people were upon them again. So what did Jesus do? Jesus looked out on them and had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless.
"He had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without shepherd.
So He began to teach them many things."
There we see how our Savior was so willing to serve others.
You have been refreshed today, through the saving Gospel message. And, as we leave this building, we will pick up the tools of our trades again. We will go back to the computer. We will go back to the hammer. We will go back to the broom. Whatever your occupation may be, see it as a wonderful opportunity to live your Christian life, serving others.
Amen.
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