WEBVTT 00:00:05.929 --> 00:00:09.050 Kia ora and welcome to the St Francis Church 00:00:09.050 --> 00:00:11.570 sermon podcast. We're so glad that you've joined 00:00:11.570 --> 00:00:14.970 us. Our prayer is that as you listen, you would 00:00:14.970 --> 00:00:17.910 encounter God's presence. Be refreshed in your 00:00:17.910 --> 00:00:20.769 faith and equipped for everyday life with Jesus. 00:00:21.629 --> 00:00:24.289 As a church, we are learning to faithfully follow 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:27.879 Jesus by practicing His way at His pace. For 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.899 more info about who we are and what God is doing 00:00:30.899 --> 00:00:36.799 among us, head to stfrancis .co .nz. Grace and 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:45.520 Peace. Welcome today and welcome to August. It 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.820 seems to arrive quite quickly and hidden in some 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:53.859 ways. Over the month of July we did the series 00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:56.229 about the Slow Apprenticeship. We finished that 00:00:56.229 --> 00:00:58.109 last week but it's something that's actually 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:02.750 not actually to to lay aside but to continue 00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:05.590 to live that way of thinking about discipleship 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:08.870 not as a task to a master but as a slow apprenticeship 00:01:08.870 --> 00:01:12.209 to Jesus and learning continue to learn to walk 00:01:12.209 --> 00:01:15.349 beside him and to follow on from there we're 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:18.189 going to do this series over the month of August 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:20.989 about a series on rest so after weeks of talking 00:01:20.989 --> 00:01:24.769 about being the slow apprenticeship and deliberate 00:01:24.769 --> 00:01:28.909 way of following Jesus, I felt right to turn 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:31.769 and ask, what does it actually mean to stop, 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:37.109 to rest well? Not as a reward for finishing, 00:01:37.189 --> 00:01:39.549 but as something that God built into us right 00:01:39.549 --> 00:01:42.370 from the very beginning. As He rested, He also 00:01:42.370 --> 00:01:45.730 calls us to rest. So a quick question for all 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:48.329 of you, and I don't want you to answer out loud, 00:01:48.469 --> 00:01:51.670 just answer it in your head and be honest with 00:01:51.670 --> 00:01:56.180 yourself. When was the last time you felt actually 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.400 rested? Some might be able to go back briefly, 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.239 some of us might go back a few days or weeks 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:07.159 or longer. It's not about, hey, I slept okay, 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:11.020 or not the weekend wasn't a total write -off. 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:16.580 I mean rested. It's like a phone at 100%, like 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:19.800 the tank is full, it's ready to go. I think a 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:23.280 lot of us, the answer is... I genuinely can't 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.939 remember that fully rested feel that I've had. 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:29.419 And I know with the broad range of ages that 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:32.840 we have here, even in retirement and things like 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.759 that, we can still feel not rested. We're tired, 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.099 all of us. We see that in the world around us 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:42.599 and the things that are offered to help us to 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.819 rest. Out in the community and maybe in your 00:02:45.819 --> 00:02:49.439 own lifetimes too, during the school run, as 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.379 parents, the sports run, the dinner run, everything 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:56.120 else, it's on loop and on repeat, isn't it? We've 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:57.580 done it today, we're going to do it tomorrow 00:02:57.580 --> 00:02:59.400 and for the next few days and then do it all 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:02.360 again next week. And it could be even the ones 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:04.699 that are caring for mum or dad while holding 00:03:04.699 --> 00:03:08.419 down a job. It could be shift workers at hospital, 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:11.180 students who are juggling assignments and part 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:14.819 -time hours. And it's also about those business 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:16.939 people, any one of us, where the phone is the 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:18.439 first thing you touch in the morning, last thing 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:20.680 that you put down. You see it even in the kids 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.479 get tired. They're scheduled and graded and compared 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:25.759 from the moment they can walk. But here's the 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:29.039 weird part. Somewhere along the line, we started 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:33.879 treating tired like a trophy. Someone asks, how 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.439 are you? How do you respond? Flat out? Crazy 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:40.639 busy? We have a mixture. But often that's what 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.759 comes out. And we say it. I think when we say 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.120 those things, like, oh, I'm flat out, crazy busy. 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:48.860 We say this with a little note of pride, like 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:50.960 busy is proof that we met. Because deep down, 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:54.080 a lot of us, I think, believe exactly that. If 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.960 I stop, if I stop counting my values, my output, 00:03:57.219 --> 00:04:00.479 I am what I get done. That belief is running 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.699 most of our lives. It's running the world's. 00:04:02.699 --> 00:04:06.060 And this month, I'm going to inviting us to step 00:04:06.060 --> 00:04:09.340 with God and allow God to take all of that apart. 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:12.120 We're going to go over the next five weeks. this 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.939 series called Rest and Identity in Jesus the 00:04:14.939 --> 00:04:17.379 Christ. And we're going to be asking these things. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.319 Why do we rest? Who do we rest in? What is rest 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:23.639 actually for? And how do we work from rest instead 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.839 of just collapsing into it? And where does rest 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:30.040 send us? So why would an all -powerful God rest? 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:34.480 If energy is unlimited and not because God's 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.439 tired, but because God wanted to establish a 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:41.930 pattern for us. After all the work... rested. 00:04:43.089 --> 00:04:46.170 And today we begin with the question, why? And 00:04:46.170 --> 00:04:48.009 fair warning, the answer is going to sound too 00:04:48.009 --> 00:04:51.829 good to be true. It isn't. But it's going to 00:04:51.829 --> 00:04:54.250 sound that way because we're used to hearing 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:58.089 something completely different. Because as we've 00:04:58.089 --> 00:04:59.750 gone through life, we've been trained by the 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:05.310 world that says nothing is free. And the God 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:08.129 that we meet today says, actually, the best things 00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:11.620 are. 1700 years ago, a North African bishop called 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:14.879 Augustine wrote a one -line biography of every 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.399 human being who has ever lived. We've heard it 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.540 recently and I want to repeat it again. He actually 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:24.160 prayed it straight to God. You have made us for 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.779 yourself and our heart is restless until it rests 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:29.800 anew. I believe that restless hearts are not 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:34.100 a modern invention, but they've always had exactly 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.180 one address where restless ends. And that's where 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:39.379 we're going to be heading over the next few weeks. 00:05:39.579 --> 00:05:43.220 So let's do some history traveling. About 2 ,500 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:46.540 years ago, God's people were having the worst 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:48.660 century of their lives. They'd been invaded. 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.279 Their city had been totally flattered. The survivors 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.660 had marched off to a superpower that was called 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:59.019 Babylon. And they became refugees in the empire 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:02.860 that wrecked them. And Babylon ran on one rule 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:06.050 and one rule only. The same rule every empire 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:10.670 runs on. You are what you produce. Hit your quota, 00:06:11.209 --> 00:06:14.449 earn your keep. What have you done for us lately? 00:06:14.949 --> 00:06:17.310 Does any of that sound familiar in your lives? 00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:21.589 Babylon fell away back then, but its rule didn't. 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:26.810 We just now carry that rule in our pockets. The 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:28.870 reading we heard from Isaiah. And let's hear 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:31.550 how it starts, because it's not a religious voice. 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:35.199 It's a market voice that we heard from Isaiah 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:39.360 in our first reading this morning. So picture 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.980 a Saturday's market, whether that's in Cambridge 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:45.480 or Claude Lins or out at St Stephen's in Tamahiri. 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.180 And someone's shouting from behind a stall. You 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.459 can't see them, but you hear it across all the 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.379 other stalls there. Hey, everyone who's thirsty, 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:58.379 come to the water. You with no money, come and 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:02.060 rest. Hang on. You with no money? We go to the 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:03.860 market with money in our pockets, don't we, to 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:10.259 buy. That sentence is broken. That's not how 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:13.660 buying works. You can't walk into the supermarket 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.680 with empty pockets or walk out with a full trolley, 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.740 though we see examples of that trying to be done. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.560 There's a word for that, and it involves a court 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.100 date at a later time. You see, every market on 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:27.319 earth runs the same rule. You get what you pay 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:31.910 for. except one store that's in the market, and 00:07:31.910 --> 00:07:34.889 that's God's store. Water, wine, milk, bread, 00:07:35.509 --> 00:07:38.110 the good stuff, there's no charge for it. It's 00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.670 not discounted, and it's not on special, it's 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:43.050 actually free. Actually, better than free, this 00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:45.949 store doesn't just skip payment, it actually 00:07:45.949 --> 00:07:48.750 refuses payment. It says that your money's no 00:07:48.750 --> 00:07:51.889 good here. This is free stuff that I'm giving 00:07:51.889 --> 00:07:55.470 you. And then God asks the question, I reckon 00:07:55.470 --> 00:07:58.509 he's asking it... down every street in Hamilton 00:07:58.509 --> 00:08:02.769 this morning, and every other city and place 00:08:02.769 --> 00:08:05.829 in New Zealand. Why do you spend your money on 00:08:05.829 --> 00:08:09.550 what isn't bread? Why do you work so hard for 00:08:09.550 --> 00:08:14.389 what doesn't satisfy? Ouch. Why do we do that? 00:08:15.449 --> 00:08:18.230 Because deep down we know. We've all bought the 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:20.569 thing that was supposed to fill the gap. Saturday 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:24.550 when Diane and I and Diane are at the op shop, 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:28.129 there were loads of stuff. coming in from people's 00:08:28.129 --> 00:08:33.309 vehicles. Stuff that's not of use or importance 00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:37.590 anymore. You know, stuff that used to fill the 00:08:37.590 --> 00:08:39.389 gap. Now there's other gaps that we try and fill 00:08:39.389 --> 00:08:42.110 with the renovation, the promotion, the holiday, 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:45.570 the followers. It was fine. It was nice. And 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:47.210 three weeks later, or maybe even a couple of 00:08:47.210 --> 00:08:52.009 days, the gap was back. None of those things 00:08:52.009 --> 00:08:55.690 are actually evil. But Isaiah names a scam which 00:08:55.690 --> 00:08:59.090 is inside of them. He says, they take your labour 00:08:59.090 --> 00:09:02.389 and then they pay you back with hunger. So once 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:05.049 you've got it, you're hungry again for something 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:09.629 else. So here's a first answer to why do we rest? 00:09:09.909 --> 00:09:12.309 We rest because the things we need most can't 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:16.289 be bought. So they can only be received. And 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:20.070 you can't receive on the run. Grace and forgiveness. 00:09:20.429 --> 00:09:22.929 Being loved with no conditions attached. Peace 00:09:22.929 --> 00:09:26.509 with God. There's no price tag on any of that. 00:09:27.370 --> 00:09:29.370 Not because it's cheap, but actually because 00:09:29.370 --> 00:09:34.629 it's priceless. And God, He gives it away. He 00:09:34.629 --> 00:09:37.409 gives it away in abundance to us when we come 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:41.149 receiving. And receiving requires the one thing 00:09:41.149 --> 00:09:43.929 that our culture has forgotten how to do. And 00:09:43.929 --> 00:09:47.029 that's stop. And that's opening your hands. Nobody 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:50.529 eats a feast while sprinting. Now, I know from 00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:53.610 a few decades ago of doing triathlons that as 00:09:53.610 --> 00:09:57.389 you ate, you ate while you rode your bike. you 00:09:57.389 --> 00:10:00.889 ate and drank while you ran. And there were stations 00:10:00.889 --> 00:10:05.230 across every few k's back then that when you 00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:07.990 drive past on your bike, flat out, you had to 00:10:07.990 --> 00:10:11.269 grab something. If you missed it, you didn't 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:14.269 stop. You had to wait to the next station. The 00:10:14.269 --> 00:10:17.610 same is running, trying to grab a cup back then 00:10:17.610 --> 00:10:20.370 while you're running. You missed it, you ran 00:10:20.370 --> 00:10:23.049 to the next. And often that missing cost you. 00:10:23.190 --> 00:10:25.129 And it's the same for us in our everyday lives. 00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:29.129 Nobody eats a feast while sprinting. We call 00:10:29.129 --> 00:10:33.029 that takeaways nowadays. The feast is on the 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:35.710 table. When you invite people there, you sit, 00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:39.009 and you are with people. Now let me show you 00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:42.350 what this looks like with skin on. I want you 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:46.490 to take you to a lakeside 500 years later after 00:10:46.490 --> 00:10:50.750 Isaiah. You heard it in our second reading. Jesus 00:10:50.750 --> 00:10:53.690 has received the worst news of his life. His 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:56.169 cousin John, the man who baptized him, the one 00:10:56.169 --> 00:10:58.669 who knew him, who understood him before anyone 00:10:58.669 --> 00:11:02.070 else did, has just been executed. At a king's 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:05.809 birthday party for entertainment, he was beheaded. 00:11:07.149 --> 00:11:11.889 And what does Jesus do with the grief? He withdrew 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:14.629 in a boat to a deserted place by himself. As 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:16.429 you read that again in Scripture, whenever you 00:11:16.429 --> 00:11:19.720 come across it, don't skim past it. that he withdrew 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:23.440 in a boat to a deserted place by himself. This 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.059 is the Son of God. If anyone in history had a 00:11:26.059 --> 00:11:29.639 legitimate excuse to skip rest, a world to save, 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.320 three years to do it, it's him. And he gets into 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.240 a boat and heads for quiet, where Jesus grieves, 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:39.799 he stops, and Jesus goes to be alone with his 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:44.840 father. Now, if he needed that, what exactly 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:50.070 is our excuse? But here's the bit that anyone 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:53.169 who's ever had a day off wrecked with will feel 00:11:53.169 --> 00:11:56.169 in their bones. The crowd spot the boat that 00:11:56.169 --> 00:11:58.450 he's jumped into and where he's going to, and 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:01.509 they run thousands of them around the edge of 00:12:01.509 --> 00:12:03.850 the lake. So when Jesus steps ashore looking 00:12:03.850 --> 00:12:06.549 for solitude, he finds a stadium worth of need 00:12:06.549 --> 00:12:08.710 standing on the beach in front of him. So much 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:11.750 for the quiet day, the solitude. Now watch him. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.840 Because how Jesus reacts in this moment tells 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.179 you more about God than a hundred theology books 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:20.320 that you might read. Matthew says it this way, 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:22.639 he saw the great crowd and he had compassion 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.059 on them. We heard this verse a few weeks ago 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:28.840 as well. Compassion, not the first thought, oh 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:31.240 you're kidding me, you people are relentless, 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.980 you'll follow me anywhere. The word literally 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:39.080 means he was moved in his guts. As we said that 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.350 physical ache, he felt it. when you see someone 00:12:42.350 --> 00:12:46.529 hurting. So a grieving man, Jesus, exhausted, 00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:50.730 looks at the crowd that just torpedoed his quiet 00:12:50.730 --> 00:12:54.830 time. And what rises in him as he sees him is 00:12:54.830 --> 00:12:57.409 love. Where does that come from? Not from digging 00:12:57.409 --> 00:12:59.830 deep and then pushing through. It comes from 00:12:59.830 --> 00:13:02.009 where Jesus actually lives. He lives connected 00:13:02.009 --> 00:13:04.549 to his Father. He can be interrupted without 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:07.769 being emptied, you see. Because he's not running 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:10.379 on his own battery. He's got that... connection, 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.059 that channel to his father so he can draw on 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:16.019 what he needs. And that's the difference between 00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:18.279 him and us. And it's the difference this whole 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.940 series is chasing. Think of this, how our compassion 00:13:21.940 --> 00:13:25.179 runs out because our tanks run out. His flows 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:28.559 because it flows from somewhere. It flows from 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.000 his father. Then evening comes and we hear the 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 disciples and these guys make a very sensible 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.159 suggestion. It's late. We're in the middle of 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.679 nowhere, Jesus. Why don't you send everyone away 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.519 so they can buy food for themselves? Hear that 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:48.120 sentence with the ones before. Buy for themselves. 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.419 That resonates to something right back all those 00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:53.759 centuries ago in Babylon. Everyone pays their 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.360 own way. Everyone's on their own. And Jesus says 00:13:57.360 --> 00:13:59.379 to them, they actually don't need to go anywhere, 00:13:59.419 --> 00:14:02.240 guys. You feed them. We know how it goes. They 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.220 hold up what they've got. Five bread rolls, two 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:09.149 fish. How is this going to feed thousands? It 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:11.950 can't be done. It doesn't add up. This sort of 00:14:11.950 --> 00:14:14.850 thing never adds up. You've experienced similar 00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:19.110 things in miniature in your own lives. Your energy 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:21.950 doesn't add up. Your patience doesn't add up. 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.870 Your money doesn't add up. And your love for 00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:29.490 the people who need you don't add up. Well, that's 00:14:29.490 --> 00:14:32.350 welcome to being human. And Jesus takes the not 00:14:32.350 --> 00:14:34.769 enough that we've heard, looks up to heaven. 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:37.840 gives thanks, breaks it, and he just starts handing 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.259 it out. It's just going to keep going and going 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:43.080 and going. And everyone eats. Everyone is actually 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:47.679 filled. The word means satisfied. Sometimes you 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.379 might have had a lot to eat. I just feel stuffed. 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:53.740 We've eaten enough. 12 baskets are left over 00:14:53.740 --> 00:14:56.679 that day. Isaiah's free marketplace from 500 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.899 years earlier has now just opened up on a hillside 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:03.600 with Jesus and bread and fish. And the poorest 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.129 people in the country ate a feast that nobody 00:15:06.129 --> 00:15:08.889 actually paid for. You see the shape of how that 00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:13.429 actually takes? Rest first, Jesus with his father, 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:16.909 then compassion, and then abundance. Everything 00:15:16.909 --> 00:15:19.929 that actually feeds the world flows out of receiving 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:22.230 from God. It doesn't flow out of gritting your 00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:24.370 teeth and producing harder. We've tried that. 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:26.830 Look at us. It's not working. Maybe you're thinking, 00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:29.950 well, this rest stuff, it's nice. But it sounds 00:15:29.950 --> 00:15:32.490 like checking out. It sounds like hammock spirituality. 00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:34.820 Just put your feet up and... but there's a third 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:37.220 reading today from a man called Paul and you 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:39.799 can look it up in Romans 9 and it kills that 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:42.279 idea in one paragraph because as we read Paul 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.639 we find that he's completely at rest in God. 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:50.139 Think of what he did through his lifetime. He's 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:53.039 just written that nothing in all creation can 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.679 separate from God's love and in the very next 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.940 breath he says his heart carries great sorrow 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:01.980 and unceasing anguish for his own people. the 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:05.820 people who don't know that love yet. At rest 00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:08.940 and heartbroken, both at the same time. Because 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:11.460 when we rest in God, it's not switching off. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.259 It's being held so securely in that rest and 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:16.320 that presence of God that you can finally afford 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:19.460 to care about someone other than yourself. Now, 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:22.240 anxious people can't do that. They're too busy 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.379 surviving. Now, anxiousness comes in all sorts 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:27.639 of ways in life. Pervade and invade your life 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.759 and your thinking. You're too busy. to help others 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.120 because you're just surviving for yourself. It's 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.919 a rested heart that has room to break for others, 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.340 because it has room. Which means the running 00:16:40.340 --> 00:16:43.720 on empty version of you isn't just costing you 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.259 something, it's costing the people God wants 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:48.340 to love through you. Now over the years I've 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.919 shared with you how I had a breakdown. I was 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:53.799 running on empty. It was actually not just empty, 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:56.820 it was minus something, great number. And God 00:16:56.820 --> 00:16:59.889 wanted, called me to rest in Him. to rest, to 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:04.950 be refilled. We can do that every day. Rest in 00:17:04.950 --> 00:17:07.549 him when we're feeling drained and empty. So 00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:11.750 what do we do? How can we rest? Well, some homework. 00:17:11.869 --> 00:17:14.829 This is the apprenticeship side that we do. And 00:17:14.829 --> 00:17:17.390 like the last series and like anything else that 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:20.049 we do, it's small on purpose because rest doesn't 00:17:20.049 --> 00:17:23.269 start with a life overhaul. Don't tackle the 00:17:23.269 --> 00:17:27.519 whole elephant. Just take a little bit. And it 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.240 starts with the posture, like when we started 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:34.000 this morning to open ourselves to receive. It 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.720 starts with this series, four daily practices, 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.359 but at least two of them. And they're all under 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.519 10 minutes, so you can fit them at any time during 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.559 the day. The morning one you can do later, but 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:49.799 you can still do it as well. And if part of you 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:53.220 still suspects this is laziness dressed up, I 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:55.140 want you to hear Charles Spurgeon, a preacher 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:57.880 who who worked himself into the ground and he 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:00.619 learned this the hard way. He said, rest time 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:04.380 is not waste time. Hear that again, rest time 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:09.640 is not waste time. Five words, take them with 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:13.880 you. So let's look at these practices. Let's 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:15.700 look at the first two on the screen. The first 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:18.559 one is God before the phone or God before anything 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:20.839 else, whatever way you're doing or wherever you 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:23.579 are. And say out loud to Father, before I do 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:25.660 anything today, I receive from you. whatever 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:28.319 that's going to be. For this day I receive from 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.720 you and I thank you for that. One sentence, it's 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.599 the first voice that you and I listen to in the 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:40.119 morning tends to run our day. It sets the pattern. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:44.680 Now most of us hand that job over to a screen 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:47.539 full of strangers telling us and selling things 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:51.460 to us or asking things of us. But that first 00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:54.759 action, give it back to God. The second thing, 00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:00.000 say grace. And as we say it, let's mean it, that 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.759 before one meal a day or through every meal that 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.019 you have, put whatever's in your hands down. 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.359 Thank God for the food. 15 seconds, just thank 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:13.799 him. Every meal is Isaiah's stall in miniature. 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:17.559 This is given to us. You don't make the sun grow 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:21.319 the wheat. You see, the gratitude for the food 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:24.319 that's before us is rest training. And then the 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.619 third and fourth things that you could do. The 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:29.779 honest question. Sit down with the kapa and ask 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:33.039 Isaiah's question without guilt. And it's this. 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:35.839 Where am I spending money and energy on what 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:40.559 doesn't satisfy? Don't fix anything yet. Just 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.279 notice and tell God what you see. For He's the 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:46.400 one who actually asked you. Where am I spending 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.859 money and energy on what doesn't satisfy? Because 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:51.279 as I said before, a lot of that ends up in op 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.359 shops or landfills. And the fourth thing, give 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:58.660 something away. Doesn't have to be big. Feed 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:00.839 someone at no cost to them this week, a pie, 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:03.460 a sandwich, or a drink or something. Shout a 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:07.339 friend a lunch. Not a big expensive thing, just 00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:09.119 what you kind of see they normally would have 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:12.059 or something that you've got to share. Drop groceries 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:14.640 to a food bank. We're talking about a table, 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.640 and just like over in New World, that white table. 00:20:17.299 --> 00:20:20.220 People put it on the shelves, and the table comes 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:23.130 in here. and then it gets dispersed to many tables. 00:20:24.490 --> 00:20:26.349 People buying for people that they don't even 00:20:26.349 --> 00:20:29.470 know. Or bake for someone. Or share some of the 00:20:29.470 --> 00:20:32.089 produce that's on your trees that's just falling 00:20:32.089 --> 00:20:34.730 down. Bring those in and pass them around to 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:39.170 people. Don't do this to be a good person. That's 00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:42.170 just a Babylon thing with a halo put on top. 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:45.650 But doers is a copycat move, because that's what 00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:49.329 God's like. That's what God would do, and God 00:20:49.329 --> 00:20:53.500 has done. So why do we rest? Well, because we're 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:56.119 not machines owned by an anxious economy, even 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:59.420 though in our time they're trying to produce 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:04.099 robots to do things for us. We're creatures loved 00:21:04.099 --> 00:21:07.880 by a generous God. Because the deepest things 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:11.259 are free, and the free things can only be received. 00:21:11.859 --> 00:21:15.279 And to receive them means stopping. It means 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.990 sitting at the table with others, with God. Because 00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:21.369 the Son of God Himself kept withdrawing to His 00:21:21.369 --> 00:21:26.109 Father. And out of that quiet, He fed the world. 00:21:27.130 --> 00:21:30.009 And He keeps on doing that. And just like that, 00:21:30.170 --> 00:21:34.250 in a few minutes, at this table, God's going 00:21:34.250 --> 00:21:37.869 to do it again with us. Bread and wine that we 00:21:37.869 --> 00:21:40.390 didn't pay for and couldn't pay for, and He's 00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:42.470 going to put it into your empty hands. Now you 00:21:42.470 --> 00:21:45.210 can do this at home with friends, communion, 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:47.900 as you share with one another. That's one of 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:50.819 the reasons we do this each and every week. It's 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:54.160 not a religious ritual bolted onto real life. 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:57.660 That is real life. Everything else is the counterfeit. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:01.160 Come, God says to us, and to everyone, everyone 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:03.599 who's thirsty. And if we're truly honest with 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.240 ourselves, we're thirsty. And Jesus set his own 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:10.339 version of it. And I think it's one of the most 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:13.779 loved versions of, or a sentence that he ever 00:22:13.779 --> 00:22:16.980 spoke, if we sit with it truly. He says, come 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:19.720 to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.920 loads, and I will give you rest. And in case 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:27.420 anyone thinks that the offer expires, it's also 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:30.380 practically the Bible's last word in Revelations 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:33.799 22 and right in the middle there in verse 17. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.960 The final page of the whole book is repeated 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:41.079 this way. Let everyone who is thirsty come. Take 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:44.299 the water of life as a gift. First, it's the 00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:47.970 word of the feast. and last word of the story. 00:22:49.450 --> 00:22:51.769 You see the stall of God never closes. It's always 00:22:51.769 --> 00:22:54.190 calling out to us over the marketplace. Come 00:22:54.190 --> 00:22:57.470 and receive for everything's free. You don't 00:22:57.470 --> 00:22:59.970 need your wallet. You don't need a CV. You just 00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:03.309 need your thirst. And if you're honest, each 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:05.930 of us have got that. We're thirsty. Let's pray. 00:23:06.529 --> 00:23:08.750 Father, we thank you for your marketplace. Where 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:11.710 the best is free. We open our hands to receive 00:23:11.710 --> 00:23:13.910 them. Your grace, your mercy, your unconditional 00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:18.039 love. We have to be honest that at times we are 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:20.380 tired and we've been spending ourselves on things 00:23:20.380 --> 00:23:22.799 that can't fill us. Thank you that the feast 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.680 that you prepare for us is free. So along with 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.279 this week's and all the weeks that we have in 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.859 our life, teach us to stop and teach us to receive 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:35.940 from you. Fill us so that what flows out of us 00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:39.420 is compassion, not just fumes. In the name of 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:43.220 Jesus our Lord, Saviour and King. Amen.