There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “Tell me; I'll forget. Show me; I may remember. But involve me and I'll understand.” There is also an old Redneck proverb that says, “You don't learn anything the second time you're kicked by a mule.” And some of you are nodding your head. You understand that, don’t you? There’s a lot more old rednecks in here than there are old Chinese.
It comes down to, how do people best learn things? Some people can learn just by being told. I need to see the problem before I can solve it. And I’m not good at theoretical stuff. Give me something concrete to look at or at least think about. And I never was good at math. Ok, ok, I’m just not that smart. I admit it. I don’t learn easily.
I remember in high school taking some kind of higher math. I don’t remember what it was, geometry or geology or something. And I asked the teacher why we needed to learn the square root of pi multiplied by x over z to the 4th power, or whatever she was trying to teach. I mean we had calculators, even way back then. And unless I was going to be a teacher then how is all this going to help me?
She said it would expand our minds and help us to think. I laughed and said, “No, really. Why?” But she was serious. Well, I’m pretty sure my mind didn’t expand nor was the teacher my friend from then on. But that’s ok. And while I was not interested in learning when I was in school, I am very interested now; at least in learning certain things. I still cringe thinking about how if x +w= z then multiply the Pythagoras Theory by a train leaving the station at …
But did you know that the Bible teaches us that we should learn? In fact, Jesus said it. The first church did it. In that passage that we have been reading the last few weeks in Acts 2:42-47, it says that the first church devoted themselves to the disciples teaching. What was it that the disciples were teaching? It was what they had learned from Jesus. The disciples were teaching how to be disciples.
And that is exactly what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to learn from Jesus how to be disciples and then we are to teach what we know. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 that we are supposed to go and make disciples. That’s the Great Commission. And what is it that Jesus wants to teach us? He wants to teach us to be just like Him. In John 14:12, Jesus says, “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.”
Are you ready for that? Are you prepared to become more like Jesus? Are you prepared to do what Jesus did? To react like Him and to talk like Him and to love like Him? I don’t know about you but that sounds kind of scary to me. I don’t know if I can do that. I’m not that smart, remember? It sure sounds hard.
In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus addresses this. It says that He was teaching in Galilee and He was not just talking to His 12 disciples but to all who would listen. Turn to the end of that chapter. Turn to Matthew chapter 11, verses 28-30 and let’s see what Jesus said about learning from Him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Now, how does that sound? Sounds pretty good to all of us here today who have had busy, difficult weeks. I’m sure it sounded pretty good to the people of that day as well. Like so many people today, the average person in those days was a blue-collar worker who did manual labor from sunup to sundown. I’m quite sure what Jesus said resonated in their ears and really caught their attention.
Among the Jews a pupil who submitted himself to the instruction of a certain teacher was sometimes said to take his yoke. — (Commentary on Matthew) Originally the yoke would have been a heavy wooden harness that fit over the shoulders of an ox or oxen that would allow them to carry heavy packs or burdens. Here Jesus is saying, though, that His yoke is easy and light.
In fact, Jesus gives 3 commands here (Warren W. Wiersbe commentary) and I want to look a little closer at those commands and then much closer at one in particular. He first says to “Come”. “Come to Me.” While all the Pharisees and teachers of the Law said, “Do.”, Jesus just said come. When you come to Jesus you leave all the works and trying hard behind. It’s not about keeping all the Laws of Moses or about tradition or even about religion. It is about coming to the person of Jesus Christ and coming to Him means you trust Him.
Secondly, Jesus says to “Take”. “Take My yoke upon you.” In surrender and obedience we take His yoke, His teaching, and apply it to our lives. The word “easy” means “well-fitting”. He has just the yoke that is tailor made for our lives and needs. 1 John 5:3 echoes this and says, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
And the third command is to “Learn.” “Learn from Me.” And how do we learn from Jesus? How do we become true disciples of His? You might not think this is true or that it is at least ironic but the way we learn and get rest for our souls as we take up His light and easy yoke is through the difficult, dark and heavy times of our lives. Think about it. You rarely learn anything beneficial when life is rosy and sweet. It is in the difficulties of life that we truly grow and become more like Jesus.
And that is one of the purposes of our lives and a purpose of our church as well. We want to become more like Jesus. Unfortunately, too often, the church has led people to believe that the purpose of the church is to be a place where you come to feel better after getting dressed up, sitting still and listening to some boring people say boring things. That is most definitely not the purpose of our lives or of the church.
Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to give us an abundant life not a boring life. But because it is still life on this earth, the way that we learn from Jesus is by going through all the things that everybody on earth goes through. In fact, hear me now, the way that we become more like Jesus is to go through all the things that Jesus went through. And when Jesus was on earth He went through trouble, temptations and trespasses just like we all do.
But it is through those troubles, temptations and trespasses that we learn from Jesus how to respond properly. And just as life is a life-long processJ, so is becoming a disciple. Becoming a disciple, a learner of Jesus, is a life-long process because we face troubles, temptations and trespassesuntil the day we die.
Joe Scriven was a missionary from Ireland to Canada, working among the Iroquois Indians. He was joined by his fiancé who was also from Ireland. Just before the wedding, she was killed in an ice accident. Joe buried her with his own hands, and a broken heart. A year later, in a letter to his mother, he wrote the words that you can find on page 182 in your hymnal.
"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer."
How is that possible? How can a person who has endured so much, with so much trouble sincerely say “We should never be discouraged”? A mature Christian knows that every problem has a purpose. 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” In Philippians 3, Paul said he wanted to become more like Christ, even sharing in His sufferings. These people understood that one of the purposes of our lives is to become more like Jesus; to become a disciple and we do that by going through what Jesus went through.
Vance Havner told a story about an elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles--both real and imaginary. Finally, someone in her family tactfully told her, "Grandma, we've done all we can for you. You'll just have to trust God for the rest." A look of absolute despair spread over her face as she replied, "Oh dear, has it come to that?"
To become like Christ I must learn to trust God completely. In Luke 22, Jesus is praying in the garden. He has seen trouble but He knows His real trouble, the cross, is just hours away. How would you be praying at a time like this? “God, help get out of here. I gotta leave. God, help me catch the nearest train outta here.”
Well, Jesus prayed something pretty close to that. He said, “Take this cup from me.” But then He ended with, “yet not my will but yours be done.” Nothing wrong with praying for deliverance. We are told to pray for God’s help and mercy. And God wants good things for us. But He allows trouble to come into our lives because He is more concerned with the quality of your character than the comfort of your body.
Romans 5:3-4 says, “we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.” How close to that are you? How close are you from being able to honestly say you glory in your sufferings? Paul could say that because he was wise and mature and a disciple of Jesus Christ. That was one of the purposes of his life and he knew that to be like Jesus, we have to endure trouble.
And while troubles are allowed by God to help us grow, we also learn from Jesus how to respond properly when Satan brings temptation into our lives to harm us. If we respond correctly, we can learn and become more like Jesus through troublesand through temptations. John Piper says that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
And here is where the rubber really meets the road. Here is where we really have to make a decision. Can you be happy while you sin? Absolutely you can. Most of us could agree with that. We have all done things wrong that make us happy for a season. So, here is your decision you have to make every single time you are tempted. Do I want to have that temporary happiness that sin brings?
Or…now I want you to go back to our main passage for the morning in Matthew 11: 29. “learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls.” Do you want temporary happiness or do you want that rest for your souls that comes from learning from Jesus and overcoming temptation? And we can all understand that sometimes that is a difficult decision to make.
I talked to a lady a while back who had made some bad choices in her life as we all have. But she was in a particularly bad circumstance due to these decisions. And as I talked to her about a relationship with Jesus, I told her how we can have peace and joy in this life through Jesus. And I asked her if that was something she would like. And I’ll never forget the look in her eyes as she said, “I’d give anything for peace!”
Satan makes sin look so enticing. And just like he did to Jesus, he knows just when and how to tempt you. In Luke chapter 4 Jesus had been fasting for 40 days in the desert. He was tired and weak and very hungry. And what did Satan tempt Him with? Was it a new car? Did Satan tempt Jesus with sex, drugs and rock n roll? No. He tempted Him with what He wanted, needed and deserved. He tempted Him with food.
Jesus knew that the food would give Him temporary happiness but He knew that it would also bring a barrier between Him and the Father. And that it would steal His joy and His peace and all the blessings that a relationship with God brings. And it is the same with us. We have talked about the purpose of the church. This is the very purpose of Satan. He wants to steal your joy and peace and put a barrier between you and God. That tickles him pink.
In Hebrews 11 it says that Moses “chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”
That means that Moses knew that there was even more to this life than the peace and joy that we have here on earth with a relationship with Jesus. There are also rewards for not giving in to temptation. And some of them are in this life but it is really talking about in the life to come. There will be rewards in Heaven; eternal rewards; rewards that we can’t even imagine. And those rewards are given to those who are like Jesus; to those who have chosen eternal blessings over temporary happiness.
So, if you want to be a disciple and learn from Jesus, then we do that as we live this life and endure the trouble, the temptations and also the trespasses that life brings just like it did for Jesus. And while God uses trouble in our lives to grow us and Satan uses temptation in our lives to harm us. Trespasses come from other people in our lives that intend to hurt us.
And what do you think God wants us to learn from people who want to hurt us? Forgiveness. Just before Jesus died on the cross in Luke 24, one of the last things He said was, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." What does the Lord’s Prayer say? “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.”
And I know. I know. I know what some of you are thinking. “Oh no! He’s talking about forgiveness again. I hate it when he talks about forgiveness because it is so hard to do. Do I really have to forgive people even when they have really done me wrong; when they have really tried to hurt me and they have done it on purpose?”
Well, my answer is no. No, you don’t have to forgive people. But don’t call yourself a disciple if you don’t. If you want to be a learner of Jesus; a follower of Jesus; a disciple of Jesus; a friend of Jesus; a servant of Jesus then you better learn from Jesus how to forgive. You will never live out your purpose as human nor will we live out our purpose as a church until we learn to forgive.
Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was reminded one day of a vicious deed that someone had done to her years before. But she acted as if she had never even heard of the incident. "Don't you remember it?" her friend asked. "No," came Barton's reply, "I distinctly remember forgetting it." Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1985.
And we hear stories like that and think, “Oh, sure. But she didn’t go through what I went through. She wasn’t treated like I was treated. I can’t just forgive. It’s not that easy.” Well, nobody said it would be easy but that’s why we are not disciples of Clara Barton. We are not disciples of Billy Graham or John the Baptist or even Paul. But if you want to be a disciple of Jesus then you will make the choice to give up your right to be mad and you will forgive. And that’s not Todd talking. That’s what God says.
Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” And that is why we are disciples of Jesus. We learn from Him how to forgive because we have seen it firsthand. We forgive because we have been forgiven. And if our purpose as a person and as a church is to make disciples then how will we teach others to forgive if we don’t learn to forgive?
This is a nasty, mean and unforgiving world. It is full of people who start trouble, give in to every temptation and never forgive a trespass. And it is a hard world for them. There’s no peace and no joy. There’s no forgiveness from them or for them. No wonder they act like they do. But Jesus says, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
But first you have to “come”. Come to Jesus. He told His first disciples simply, “Follow me.” They didn’t understand everything. They didn’t know what all “Follow me” entailed. But they stopped everything they were doing and followed Him; becoming His disciples as they learned from Him in their lives. And their lives weren’t always easy after that. On the contrary, there was difficulties and hardships on every side.
But they had peace and joy in this life and the guarantee of eternal life with God in Heaven as well. How much would you give for peace today? How much would you give to find rest for your soul? I will give you the same invitation that Jesus gave those disciples. Come today and accept Jesus into your life to be Lord and Savior and Teacher.
Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Today is the day of salvation. Come.
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