WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:22.399 Today's my 42nd birthday. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:25.760 Sure. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:30.719 For my 40th, so young, thank you. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:31.760 I appreciate that. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:39.439 For my 40th, I uh my wife and I got away for two days, and my birthday obviously January. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.399 And so it's always a time of reflection. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:49.840 So, you know, New Year, uh, and then new year for my life, uh, and so lots of those sort of things. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.880 And we get away, we got two days away. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:58.000 And one of the things we do around the new year is Jenny Allen comes out with this thing called a dream guide. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:08.879 And it's just this tool, asks you lots of different questions to help you look back on the past, process, grieve some things, uh, understand your present, look forward. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.319 And so we spent a couple days having these deep conversations. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:15.680 And two years ago, right around this time, it was actually rainy. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:17.439 Uh, who could have figured? 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:23.280 And um and we're by a fire, and looking over the ocean is beautiful. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:30.640 And I think this is probably true for most of us that we live life at such a pace, we're constantly going. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:35.519 And if you're in the kid season of life, like it's just a blur, right? 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:50.799 You're just like going that you need these moments to stop and to gain perspective, to let your soul catch up, and then to realize you ever have somebody ask you, like, how are you doing, and you're not really sure? 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.560 I think that's most of us, most of the time, in Silicon Valley. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.200 How are you doing? 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:55.920 I think good. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:56.400 I don't know. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.200 I really don't have a I'm not sure, right? 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:01.200 Like, how are we doing really? 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.920 And here's what we landed on. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:22.159 The pace and way that we have done life the first half of our lives, especially that kid portion of it, is not the way we want to do life the second half of our life. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:26.080 We our fundamental conclusion was this that we are really good doers. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:29.759 Jenny and I are really good doers, we're fantastic doers. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:34.479 Give us a task, give us a problem, hello, boom, let's go to it. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.599 Um, we're really bad beers. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:41.759 Really bad at being present. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:51.439 And as a result, live a full, fast, busy, get-it-done, rushed life. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:01.840 And as we sat and as we evaluated and as we looked at where we're at, we're going, that's not really the life we want. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.680 And maybe you felt that way. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:08.080 Maybe you feel this way. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:24.639 And for me, in looking inside, this has been actually a few year journey of unlearning some ways of how I've gone about life and maybe even thought life should work. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:34.800 You see, what's interesting is I think in our day, in our culture, we've been trained to try harder when things aren't going well, haven't we? 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.400 We do more, we push through, and then what do we say? 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.879 Well, fake it till you make it, right? 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:55.759 You put on a smile and you grin and you you think this is just how life is supposed to be, and you don't realize the person that you're following that you think has it all together, they're faking it too. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:04.400 And if it's not working, you just need to grit your teeth and get through it. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.400 You know, we have this phrase that at first you don't succeed, help me out. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.199 Try, try again. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:24.399 Yeah, here's one of the things that I've found, and maybe you found too, that often trying harder only creates more stress and anxiety and leaves us overworked and overwhelmed, doesn't it? 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:29.439 And so we began to wrestle with this question a couple years ago. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.160 What if there's a different way to live? 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.079 Then this fast-paced try harder. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:45.439 And what if the abundant life Jesus offers us isn't found in trying harder? 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:56.000 Isn't it insidious how that begins to trans like like begin and get into our way that we do our Christian spiritual life? 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.319 I just need to try harder. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.160 I just need to try harder to be a better person. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.959 I just need to try harder to get closer to God. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:16.079 I just need to try harder, and maybe that's the impetus for many of your goals this year is this weight of shame of not measuring up, and I just need to try harder. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:26.319 And what if the secret to the life you always wanted wasn't found in trying harder, but trying softer. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.759 Came across this line, trying softer, uh, from my wife. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.000 She was listening to the Comers, um, their podcast. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:38.879 Feeling Diane Comer will have them in a couple weeks. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:39.680 They're amazing. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:47.439 They have this incredible podcast called Intentional Parenting Podcast, and Diane mentioned this book, Try Softer. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.920 And I was like, oh my gosh. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.800 What in the world is that about? 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:54.879 She ordered it, it was on her bedside table. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:55.920 I stole it. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:09.360 Um because it began to sum up the aching in my soul, it began to sum up some things that I've been wrestling and wondering, like, like, no, how in the world do you do that? 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:22.399 I've been trying harder my whole life, and it doesn't seem to producing the life that I really want or the person I really want to be. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:27.439 So, what does trying softer look like? 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:33.199 Today we began a series called Try Softer. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:34.560 Who would have thought? 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.720 Would you go ahead and say that to your neighbor? 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:37.839 Try softer. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.560 On this journey, I don't know. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:48.000 How many people did you tell? 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:51.839 I mean, it's just like this is uh softer, softer, softer, softer, softer. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:00.399 Uh as I've been in this process, in this journey of just learning, okay, what does this look like? 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.639 What is a new approach to the way of going about life? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:09.199 I I came across this story by a guy named Dallas Willard, and I've quoted him many times. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:25.040 Dallas Willard uh was a philosopher, um, taught philosophy at US UCSC or USC, not UCSC, uh USC, and he also wrote incredible books on spiritual formation, one of the great Christian thinkers of our day. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:31.759 Uh, and he told this story, and it so resonated with me, about how I've been going about life. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:41.279 And I remember him like this story is being told was he was out cutting his lawn and he knew that his lawnmower needed the blade to be changed. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:50.879 So uh that particular day, he's got the lawnmower flipped upside down, he's got his wrench out, and there's a there's a nut on top of the blade that you have to get off. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:58.240 And he's out there and he's just cranking on it as hard as he can, and he keeps going and he can't figure it out. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:00.079 He's going, do I need more leverage? 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:01.600 Do I need something longer? 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:07.680 Uh, you know, and then his neighbor comes by and sees what he's doing and says, Oh, you know what? 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.560 I had to do that a while back, and you know what I realized? 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:16.160 It is um the threads uh on the lawnmower are reverse threaded. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:22.240 Meaning, righty tidy, lefty loosey does not work in this case. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:23.680 It's opposite. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:32.480 And so it doesn't matter how much of torque and effort he put into pulling that that this direction, it would not work. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:36.559 And it didn't matter how hard he tried. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:55.120 You see, I think that's where many of us find ourselves in trying to unlock, okay, this abundant life, this flourishing life, the life that Jesus offers, the life we actually long for, and yet we're just kind of pulling on things and going like it's not working. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:09:02.559 And the reality is, is we need to approach life in a completely different way, a try softer way. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:05.840 And to begin, we're gonna look at Jesus' invitation. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:11.120 It's an incredible one, and it's an invitation to approach life in a completely different way. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.519 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Matthew chapter 11, verse 28? 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:23.120 Yeah, in it, Jesus' invitation says this come to me, all who are weary and burdened. 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.759 Anybody weary this morning, go ahead, raise your hand up. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:27.200 Yeah, welcome to the club. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:28.480 We're not alone. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.960 And I'll give you rest. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:35.519 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:45.039 For I'm gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burdens light. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:47.039 Come to me. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.600 All who are weary and heavy laden. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.399 Now, maybe you've had this experience with this passage before, like I've had. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.080 How many of you have heard this passage before? 00:09:58.159 --> 00:09:58.879 Go ahead, raise your hand. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.320 Oh, yeah, most of you. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.440 I grew up in the church, so I've heard this many times. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:07.440 And maybe you've had this experience. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:08.559 I've had this. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:12.879 I looked at that and I go, uh-uh. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:15.919 Uh-uh. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.679 Rest for my soul. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.639 Your burdens light. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:25.919 Your burden doesn't feel light. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:27.919 It feels heavy. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.159 I'm exhausted. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:33.039 Like I showed up, Jesus. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.480 Shoot, I even became a pastor. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:40.559 It feels heavy. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:43.519 It feels wearisome. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:50.799 That doesn't seem to be true to me. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.879 How do you experience the easy yoke of Jesus? 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:09.200 How do you enter in a relationship with him where it actually brings refreshment to your soul? 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:15.200 In your notes, I gave you what I is I call it's a mechanical outline of the text. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.600 I do this when studying it, kind of helps you begin to see some connections this way. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.919 I want you to just take some notes. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:27.919 We're going to dive into the text, and then I'm just going to give you some observations about Jesus' invitation. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:34.720 Uh first, he says, Come to me, and then you'll notice if you just draw a line straight down, what does it mean to come to him? 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.360 Well, it actually means something very specific. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.279 It's not just like, what up, Jesus? 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:40.879 You know, I'm here. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.960 It actually means coming to him. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.240 He's going to qualify, yeah, qualify what that means. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.759 He says, Coming to him is taking my yoke. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:50.960 Now, what is a yoke? 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:58.480 Well, we know a yoke is, you know, that wooden contraption that's attached to an oxen that helps pull a load or a plow, right? 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.960 It's two oxen moving together. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.480 In Jesus' day, uh, that was certainly true. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:10.879 And a yoke for uh was used metaphorically, so that a rabbi had a yoke. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:19.519 It was considered their particular interpretation of the Torah or the teachings of Moses, the law uh or the writings of Moses. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:30.240 And so every rabbi had their particular yoke or their teachings, the way they interpreted the law of Moses and how to go about life. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:41.120 And so Jesus is saying, coming to him is taking my particular view about life and teachings, and then notice what he says, and learn from me. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:47.519 In fact, right next to it, write this watch how I do it. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:49.600 Watch how I do it. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:50.559 Come to me. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:51.600 What does that look like? 00:12:51.759 --> 00:13:00.960 I'm gonna take on your teachings, I'm gonna take on your understanding of the way life is to be, and then watch how you do life. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:09.600 You know, we watch a lot of different people for giving us our cues about how to do life, and Jesus says, Would you just watch my life? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.080 Would you watch the way I go about life? 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.080 Would you watch the way I interact? 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.960 Would you watch my pace of life and my responses? 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:21.200 And you just begin to learn from me how to do life. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.159 And then notice who the invitation's to. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.919 All of you who are weary and burdened. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:43.200 He's going, if if this is a day you walked in discouraged, down, burdened, man, this is a good day, Jesus is saying, This is for you. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:14:00.960 And what I love, if you walked in with a weary heart, and if you just draw that line down again, for I am gentle and humble of heart, a weary heart finds the welcome arms of a gentle and humble heart of Jesus. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:06.960 See, because I think this part of it too is the reason we won't approach and we reason we won't come, we were weary. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:09.360 It's like we're not sure what we're gonna find. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:16.000 We kind of have this picture of Jesus here, but we go like when I approach God, oh my goodness, is he gonna be harsh? 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:17.200 Is he gonna be down on me? 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:18.000 Am I not good enough? 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:23.200 And he says, no, no, I'm gentle, I'm humble of heart. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.200 And right now you're carrying a load that's breaking your back. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.440 And my yoke is easy. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.039 Right next to easy, right? 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:34.240 Well-fitting. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:35.600 Well-fitting. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:37.679 That's actually what that word means. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:43.919 Uh, and do you remember um what Jesus' profession is, what he grew up doing before? 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:46.080 Yeah, he's a carpenter. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:51.679 And so here's what's amazing is he probably made tons of yokes in his day. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:53.200 Not jokes, yokes. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.200 And he was stop it, stop it. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.799 No dad jokes. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:58.639 Um, but he did. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.840 He made tons, probably made many yokes. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.240 And a master carpenter, think about this, it would do two things with a yoke. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:14.480 And so when he's describing this this to people, he's he's going, I've crafted this many times. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:23.600 They would make a yoke that that was like uh perfectly fit to the oxen, intentionally designed so that it fit well. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:32.799 It wouldn't uh rub or uh chafe in any way, it just landed perfectly so that they could carry the the load well. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:36.559 And then what a master carpenter would do, you'd have two oxen next together. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:44.480 He would take and design the yoke in such a way that the the greatest bearer of the burden would be on the strongest ox. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:52.879 And so think about this of Jesus saying, Take my yoke, the yoke I'm carrying, the burden that I have, I actually am gonna carry the greater load. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.080 You're just gonna come in alongside me and walk with me. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:58.000 That's the picture here. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:02.799 He says, Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.120 And then I'll give you rest. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.320 Right next to rest, right refreshment. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.799 I'll give you refreshment. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:17.360 Like if you're weary, I want to refresh you and bring rest to your souls. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:22.399 I like how one translator says it recover your life. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.360 I think that's what many of us are looking for. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:34.480 We're looking for something to bring and recover our life, and we're just going, like, I just feel caught up in the rat race. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.639 And so, what is the secret to the easy yoke? 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:45.200 I just want to give you three observations from the text as we begin this journey of trying softer. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:51.200 The first observation is this Jesus invites you to come to him, not work your way to him. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:57.679 Jesus invites you to come, to approach him and not work your way to him. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:07.200 Um Dane Ortland wrote this incredible book called Gentle and Lonely, 2021 is one of my uh books of the year. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:13.839 Uh, and he he just unpacked this entire uh verse and just what it speaks of who Jesus is. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:26.079 And he writes this the point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible for uh accessible for all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, for his supreme uniqueness and otherness. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:32.240 No one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:39.519 He's like, I am humble and lowly and gentle of heart. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.720 I am approachable, come to me. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:51.519 And by the way, I actually think Christians need to hear this more than you think you need to hear. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:57.839 See, because we understand that grace gets you into the kingdom of God. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.880 Grace saves you, for it is by grace. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:01.440 What is grace? 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:03.920 God's unmerited, undeserved favor. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:08.720 There's nothing you can do to earn it, it's his gift freely to you. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:13.119 But here's what we forget is grace takes you the whole way. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.039 Grace is what keeps you there, grace is what empowers you through. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.839 It is his grace the whole way. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:22.160 And something shifts, doesn't it? 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:27.119 Something shifts where we realize grace got us in, but then we start to work for it. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.359 It starts to become a performance. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.839 Oh, I gotta get up, I gotta do this, I gotta do this. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.000 And Jesus says, No, come to me. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:35.680 Come to me. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:38.720 Where is rest found? 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.799 I will give you rest. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.799 Who has the rest? 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:45.839 Help me out. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:47.680 Thank you. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:53.200 And by the way, in church, if you just answer Jesus, you're like right 90% of the time. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:11.279 He says, when you come to me with all of you, you don't need to work your way, you don't need to unburden yourself, you don't need to fix up yourself, you don't need to clean up because I'm a guest showing up. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:14.160 Just come. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.279 It's personal. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.279 It's not a performance. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:23.200 It's personal. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:30.480 The refreshment our souls long for is found in the person of Jesus. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.559 Like the longing and the craving. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:40.960 And for some, it's getting back, as Jesus would say to the church in Ephesus, getting back to your first love. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:57.440 Those moments, remember those moments when you first became a follower of Jesus and and your heart was on fire and you were filled, and getting back to that reality of his great love for you and being overwhelmed by it. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.799 First observation. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:04.319 Jesus invites you to come to him, not work your way to him. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:12.000 Second observation, by the way, Jesus says your weariness and struggle is what qualifies you. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:14.960 Think about this. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:25.920 If you read the Gospel of Matthew just beforehand, Jesus actually points out and he gives a rebuke to a certain kind of people that were doing a certain activity. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:33.039 And then right here, he qualifies and says, you know who this promise is for? 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.799 Weary, struggling people. 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.359 Like it qualifies you for this. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:21:07.920 And so, by the way, if you are needing to be strong, if you have to be in control, if you need to make sure that you're figuring out how everything is perfect around you and trying to manage your image to make sure nobody sees the okay of your life, you won't experience this invitation. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.279 See, we do image management, don't we? 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.319 And and and here's what we want. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:29.440 We want a little bit of Jesus to come and address and fix our little lives here. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.279 But we just want to go about our lives. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.559 Here's what we want. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:42.960 We want Jesus to do some sort of transaction for us, right? 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:44.319 I'm gonna come to you. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:49.680 Hello, boom, rested, cool, now I go do my thing. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.160 And he says, No. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:55.440 I am the thing. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759 I am all of this. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:07.039 See, your weariness and struggle is what qualifies you. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:12.880 Jesus is not repulsed by your struggles, but he is moved. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:16.720 Um, his first impulse is to move towards you. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:22.319 He sees everything about you better than you know yourselves. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:31.920 He sees the closed parts, he sees everything, and and and his first inclination is to be moved towards you. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.039 And he and when he sees it, his response is, I'm gentle. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:41.440 Some of you are not so gentle with yourself. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.880 Jesus says, I'm gentle with you. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:23:02.400 And I'm humble of heart that I would stoop low and get down and be moved towards you, and there's no depth or low uh that I won't go to be with you and be connected to you because I'm humble of heart. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.960 I like how Frederick Del Bruner said it. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.359 He's a New Testament scholar. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:17.440 He writes this the needy are those to whom Jesus has consistently addressed himself and for whom he's always there. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:33.279 Jesus' invitation goes out to all those for whom life has become a grind, for whom existence is labor laborious, to those, in a word, from whom the juice has gone out of life and all that's left is the rind. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:44.880 Jesus says, your weariness is what qualifies you, your struggle, all who are weary, the weary are welcome with open arms. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:54.960 And so if you're at the end of your rope today, if you're tired, if you're just ready, I'm done, I'm ready to give in, Jesus says, Come on. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.839 Come on, I'm here for you. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.799 First observation: Jesus invites you to come to him, not work your way to him. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:12.400 Second, Jesus says your weariness and struggle is actually what qualifies you to experience his rest and refreshment. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:18.799 Third, Jesus offers a new way to carry life that refreshes the soul. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:21.920 Jesus offers a new way to carry life. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.599 Now, isn't it interesting? 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:24.319 Think about this. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:28.000 He says, Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:33.440 And then he says this line: take my yoke upon you. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:37.359 For my burden is light. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:51.200 Isn't that fascinating that Jesus, I mean, if you thought, like you see somebody that's weary, that's heavy laden, that's struggling, the first thing you would think to say is like, man, you need a vacation. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:52.720 Right? 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:55.279 You need a break. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.200 Do you just go, you're weary, you're heavily laden? 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:03.519 I got a seven-day all-inclusive trip to you know, Hawaii for you. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:04.799 You're like, yeah. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.799 See, because that's our fix. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.319 Our fix is some form of escape, isn't it? 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:22.799 Not that we don't need breaks, so I'm I'm all for breaks and all for vacations, all those sort of things. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:27.599 But our fix to the weariness is how do we escape it for a season? 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:34.319 Jesus offers entirely new equipment to carry the burdens of your life. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.720 He says, I have a different yoke. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:43.200 The yoke you're carrying is not well fitted to your flourishing, and it will be too heavy for you. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:49.519 But if you put on my yoke, hello, I'm gonna carry the bigger load and it's gonna be well fitted. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:55.519 It's not gonna chaff against you, and we're gonna do this together, but you gotta take on my way and my yoke. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:00.079 I got brand new equipment for you to carry. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:09.359 See, Jesus offers a new way to carry life that actually is refreshing to your soul. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:24.799 I want you to notice where Jesus had said, take my yoke, and remember, uh, we have the oxen, but then it's also this metaphor for his teachings or way of life. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.359 And he said, Learn from me. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:32.240 Remember, I had you write down, watch how I do it. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.960 Watch how I do life. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:43.440 I mean, who is your example and how you're going about life? 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.319 Who are you patterning your life after? 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:55.519 Jesus' invitation is would you watch how I go about life? 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:04.960 How I do my pacing, and then begin to do the very same thing? 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.680 Could it be that the author of life actually knows how to do life? 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:33.519 We're actually going to spend the next several weeks talking about watching how Jesus did life and what does that look like to try softer and how to live that out in the ways that he did his life that are so counterintuitive to the ways we're going about life. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:39.039 But here's the reality, and we all understand and experience trying harder isn't working. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:44.640 We're just overwhelmed, overworked, filled with anxiety and stress. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:48.559 He says, I have a new way to carry life. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:28:00.880 Notice Jeremiah, he's actually kind of quoting Jeremiah in some instance here, Jeremiah 6, 16, where he says, Stand at the crossroads and look. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:09.359 Ask for the ancient past, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:12.960 But you said, We will not walk in it. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.000 Jesus says, I'm the I'm the direction. 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:19.200 I'm the direction. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:24.799 If you pattern your life after my life, you'll find rest. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:31.839 To sum it up, if you want to experience the refreshing life of Jesus, you have to adopt stuff adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:41.839 If you want to experience the easy yoke of Jesus, if you want that verse to move from being like, oh, that's a nice idea, but here's my experience. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:42.720 Nuh-u-uh. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:49.279 If you want it to be a uh-huh, then you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.839 And we'll spend the next several weeks looking at what that is specifically. 00:28:58.720 --> 00:28:59.839 Close our time. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:03.599 Have you ever had an unraveling moment? 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:05.839 Yeah, many. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:06.880 Yeah, yeah. 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:13.920 Right, I think the last few years have created some of those perfect environments for us to unravel. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:17.599 Have you ever had an unraveling moment in front of others? 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:26.400 Uh last year is May, I was at a pastor's retreat with a bunch of Bay Area pastors all over the bay. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:35.039 Uh and we're getting away for I don't know, it was three or four nights, and it was a great time. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:42.640 Was you know, some incredible people there, and and this whole idea of try-softer. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:54.240 If you I was reading that book that Jenny had picked up, and like there was just a liveliness that this tension in my soul of like, okay, the way I'm going, I'm a pastor, and I'm not doing it, you know, isn't it amazing? 00:29:54.319 --> 00:30:00.000 We we can know all the right stuff, but not actually put it into practice. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:06.480 And just feeling the dissonance of my soul and like, okay, God, you're doing something. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:12.079 I remember a guy named John Ortberg, who's a pastor and author, was there and he was teaching. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:16.240 And I remember talking to him and going, like, oh, you know, this tri-softer. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:18.000 And he was very gracious. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:24.240 He'd done many talks, I found out later on it, but he pretended, like, oh no, that's interesting, Ryan, you know. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:28.480 As I just like cried to him and just kind of sharing my soul. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:49.200 And then there was a number of other uh people there, and we had a time where we were just kind of sharing like the pain, heartache, and pain of leading through the last several years and some of the grievances that people had walked through in pain and just hearing people's stories, which is like so like, wow, my gosh, I'm so sorry. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.960 And I go to just like thank people, you know. 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.920 I just wanted to thank them for sharing like their stories. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:58.400 And and as I go, that's all I was trying to do. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:30:58.799 Thank you. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:00.880 I just all I needed to go, man, thank you for sharing. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:02.799 That's all that needed to be said. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:11.519 And as I began to say those words, I had an unraveling moment in front of 30 of my not closest people I know. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.480 And I don't even fully remember all the things I said. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:21.920 I just began to break down and weep. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:28.319 Because I've been trying hard. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:35.839 And I've been ground down and tired and weary. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.279 And it just all came out. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:44.720 It was embarrassing. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:47.440 Gosh, it's embarrassing. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:49.920 I just wanted to go hide in the corner. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:50.720 I wanted to leave. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:54.000 I didn't want to see anybody else from the rest of the time. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:57.759 I should have it together. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.279 Like people came up to want to pray for me. 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.119 And I'm like, no, I should be praying for you. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:03.839 I'm a pastor. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.000 Well, you're a pastor too, I guess that can work. 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:21.839 And I think that's the reason we don't lean into those struggles and those weariness to open ourselves up to Jesus to come to him to take on, because it's it's embarrassing. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.319 We want to have it all together. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:35.440 We're afraid if we actually begin to speak or talk, the unraveling happen, and maybe we'll not be put back together. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:38.559 Or there will be no end. 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:46.559 That was one of those breaking points for me. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:47.839 Turning points. 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:49.680 So embarrassing. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:57.759 John Orberg then became a bit of a friend through that time and mentor, and met with him a few times again crying. 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:04.319 And I remember him during one of the times saying this line, Dallas Willard was one of his mentors. 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:12.079 And this is what Dallas had said to him, and it had been on his desk for years that he would review daily. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:22.559 Said, Ryan, you must arrange your days so that you're experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:27.279 You must arrange your days. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.079 You're not a victim to your days. 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:41.279 You must arrange your days so that you're experiencing deep confidence and contentment and joy in your everyday life with God. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:50.240 Beginning the process of arranging what does that look like? 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.960 Well, it begins right here. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:57.759 This is where we'll close today and we'll pick up next week. 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:05.119 The first step to try and softer is to open yourself up to Jesus. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:06.960 First step. 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:21.280 The first step of arranging your days to experiencing deep joy, confidence, and contentment in God is actually it feels like, man, haven't I kind of already done this? 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:22.159 I'm here, Ryan. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:23.599 I'm kind of open. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:28.960 Well, let me ask it maybe in a different way that might be a little more clarifying. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:34.800 Are there any areas of your life that are closed off to him? 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:41.760 Are there any areas that you don't want to show him? 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:48.880 Any areas where you go, I actually want to do it my way and not your way? 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:54.159 Like I prefer my yoke. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:55.840 We all live under a yoke. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:56.960 We're all have a burden. 00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:57.920 I prefer my yoke. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:34:58.880 At least I get a call. 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:02.960 Yeah, it's a little itchy and it's chafing, but but I chose it. 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:05.039 I don't want your yoke. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:08.000 Is there any area? 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:10.239 Maybe it's a relationship. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:15.199 Maybe it has to do with your future. 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:24.480 Like, like I don't, Jesus, I I if I actually open myself up to you and your future, you're gonna send me to some God off place. 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:26.559 I'm talking to God, okay. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:28.800 You awful place. 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:36.159 Maybe it's your finances. 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:46.000 Maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's a thought pattern, maybe it's some habitual sin where you go, is there any area that's closed off? 00:35:46.079 --> 00:35:50.719 The first step in trying softer is simple, but it's significant. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:53.760 Come to me. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:36:03.119 I'm weary and I'm heavy laden, and I'm afraid that if I actually begin to unravel it, I may not be put together. 00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:15.039 But here's what I'm trusting: is that that invitation is for every one of us, broken, weary travelers, and you will give me refreshment. 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:23.440 You will recover my life, you said it and it will be done. 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:28.960 Frankly, I'm trying tired of trying harder and I'm tired of my own yoke. 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:33.920 It's time to try yours. 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.519 And so, how about you? 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:44.159 What do you need to open up to Jesus? 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:46.079 Would you open yourself up? 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:52.079 Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace and time this morning. 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:53.760 Thank you for your love. 00:36:57.199 --> 00:37:04.079 God, thank you that we're just weary travelers trying to navigate, and you say, Oh, come, child. 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:21.199 And that when we call upon you, we don't find a God with crossed arms tapping his toe, but we find a Savior, gentle and lowly, humble of heart, who stoops low into all of it and draws us in. 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:31.840 And God, would you give my friends courage to open the spaces that they've locked up and kept hidden to you? 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:36.480 Let you in, take on your ways. 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:41.840 May we watch how you do it and begin to follow you. 00:37:42.079 --> 00:37:43.440 In Jesus' name. 00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:44.400 Amen. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.239 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:52.880 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:55.119 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:37:55.280 --> 00:38:01.199 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.