Make Sure You Get Your Rest!

7th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/19/20
Hebrews 4:1-11


Make Sure You Get Your Rest!


Imagine that you had the opportunity today to re-write the 10 Commandments. The only stipulation is that your final version had to have 10. Would you keep them all the same, or would you drop one and add another? And if you decided to drop one, which one would it be? Well, I suppose an easy choice would be to combine the 9th and 10th Commandments into one because they both speak about coveting. Easy choice.

But what about the 3rd Commandment, the one that commands us to keep the Sabbath Day holy? That would be a likely commandment to omit since we don’t have a Sabbath Day in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath Day was Saturday, and God commanded his people to rest on that day. In fact, the word “Sabbath” is a Hebrew word that simply means “rest.” We don’t have such a day in the New Testament. Sunday is not our Sabbath Day. So, you might decide to drop that commandment from your list of 10.

But wait a minute. This morning’s sermon text is from Hebrews, which is a New Testament book, and yet the verses before us are filled with the concept of rest. The writer spends a good deal of time discussing what happened when people didn’t get the rest God intended for them. The implication for us in the New Testament is clear—we should get our rest. And then he makes his encouragement to us crystal clear when he closes our text by imploring us, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.”

So, if you were thinking you might drop the 3rd Commandment, perhaps now you’re reconsidering. In fact, I would urge you to retain it. After all, getting your rest is what this portion of God’s word is telling us to do. But just what does it all mean? Good question. Let’s take a look at it together.

As I mentioned, this text is from the Letter to the Hebrews. It was written to Jewish Christians living a few decades after Jesus had ascended into heaven. Because they were being persecuted as Christians, they were tempted to go back to their former Jewish religion with all its Jewish sacrifices and daily regulations. The writer implored them not to do so because having Jesus as your Savior from sin is far better than their former Jewish ways. In fact, Jesus is the only way to heaven.

As Jewish people, his readers were very familiar with Jewish Old Testament history, and this text contains a good measure of it. He opens our text with this warning, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard it did not combine it with faith.” The writer is referring to the time when the Lord led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. Do you recall some of the things that happened with the Jews as they made their way out of Egypt? They stopped at Mt. Sinai and there God made a covenant with them. He would be their God and they would be his people. He gave them instructions on how he wanted to be worshipped. He gave Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle which is where the people would bring him their sacrifices. He used Moses and Aaron to share his word with them. And the focus of their worship and the message God spoke to the people was that they were sinful people who deserved damnation, but God promised to use them to bring a Savior from sin into the world. This entire nation of people had the good news of a Savior proclaimed to them.

Through the gospel, God wanted to accomplish two goals. The more immediate goal was to lead them as his people into the Promised Land—the Holy Land which he had promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That required them to believe in him as the God of their salvation. The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land wasn’t that far. If they trusted in him, they could be there soon.

His ultimate goal, however, was for them to have an eternal relationship with him. That was the purpose of the Sabbath Day in the Old Testament. God wanted the people to have a day of rest from work so that they would focus on their relationship with the God who promised them the eternal rest of life in heaven. God’s highest desire was that his people would have a relationship with him by faith so that he could bless them with rest eternally.

But look what happened. Our text states, “But the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Check out the first year of Israel’s history after leaving Egypt. It is isn’t pretty. One rebellion against the Lord after another. Until finally God’s patience ran out. All those 20 years or older would not enter the Promised Land. Instead, they would die in the wilderness. No rest.

The writer of this letter uses the Promised Land just as we do today—as a type or figure of speech for heaven. As wonderful as it was to finally enter the Promised Land, the people of Israel quickly found out it wasn’t haven on earth—not by far. Their lives in the Promised Land were just as sinful as they were in Egypt and the wilderness. They faced daily frustration and even death. Sure, they were no longer slaves like they were in Egypt, but they still didn’t attain the rest they were looking for.

That’s because our souls remain restless until we find our rest in our God. True and lasting rest is found only in our relationship with our God by faith in him.

And the opportunity to get that rest is right now. The writers states it like this, “God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’” The word “Today” is a proper noun in our translation, and rightly so. Today is your time of grace. It’s your opportunity to get the spiritual rest you so desperately need by faith in Jesus. That spiritual rest comes through the means of grace—the good news about Jesus in God’s word and in his sacraments. There is no other way to get that rest. So, get it today!

And, if that doesn’t seem all that important to you, recall how Today has been wasted by some in Bible history. The Jews of the Old Testament had the grace of God available to them as no other nation on earth did. But generation after generation, with only a few exceptions, wasted their time of grace.

It was no different when Jesus lived in the Promised Land. Look how he was received—or, should I say, rejected—by his own people. The vast majority wanted nothing to do with him, even though he had come to give them rest. I’m sure the heart of Jesus was filled with love when he spoke the words of today’s gospel, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” But might he also have been painfully aware of how many of his fellow Jews would reject his offer?

And the stunning fact of that rejection of his rest was that it cost them nothing to receive it. It was free of charge. He asked them for nothing in return. There was nothing they could give him as payment for that rest that he gave them. It was a rest that he won for them by his perfect life and his innocent death on Calvary’s cross. It was a rest he guaranteed them by his resurrection from the dead. Eternal rest was for them, for every person, by faith in Jesus!

And that means that rest is for you. So get it! Make sure you get your rest. It’s Today! Today is your opportunity to grow your faith in Jesus and receive the rest he gives through the forgiveness of sins. Don’t wait until tomorrow! It might be too late. Don’t think that you can look into getting your rest later. It’s Today! There might not be a Tomorrow. And if there is no Tomorrow, the only thing that will matter is that you received your rest by faith in Jesus Today. Everything else in your life will be meaningless!

Still not convinced getting your rest is so urgent? Tell me, if there was one thing you could change about your life today, what would it be? An end to the pandemic? A better employment situation? Freedom from pain or sickness? A little more happiness? A little less stress? Even if all of those occurred for you today, your life still wouldn’t be what you want it to be or what you need it to be. Real life is with your God and real rest from all that troubles you is found only in him. Forgiveness for all sins is found only in Christ. Freedom from guilt is found only in Christ. The assurance of eternal life is found only in Christ.

In a few minutes, we’re going to leave here and go back out into a restless world full of sin’s consequences. It won’t be a walk in the park. But with faith in Jesus, you’ll still have the rest you so desperately need. Everything is going to be OK as you find your rest in Jesus. So get it! Make sure you get it! Make sure you get the rest that you need! Amen.