MARTIN CAREY
It’s Friday afternoon, and you just got home from work. You step into the living room and stop to look around. There are clothes on the floor, muddy tracks on the carpet, and you remember that a big pile of dishes awaits you in the kitchen. The sun sets in just one hour, and you’re not sure how much the kids will help. You heave a big sigh. Any minute now, they’ll ask you what’s for dinner. The sun is speeding towards the horizon, and for a moment, you imagine yourself praying like Joshua to make it stand still. You remember what Mrs. White said about “guarding the edges of the Sabbath.” You let out another big sigh and head for the kitchen, feeling inadequate.
We know Jesus’ words, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Oh how we need that rest, so, get to work! It’s hard to rest when we fear what will happen if our work isn’t up to standards. Mrs. White said we must have everything cleaned and the meals cooked before sundown on Friday. We want to obey God, so we tend to keep score of our efforts and compare our scores with others. Thus, as Adventists, we labored as the heavy laden, and true rest eluded us.
Jesus also said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Does that promise equally apply every day of the week? The problem of finding rest is much larger than just trying to keep the Sabbath. All six other days we labor heavily, hoping to meet standards for our employers, our families, our neighbors, and God. We worry about making good use of our time, being productive and efficient.
We also find this problem of restless labor, however, is not limited to Adventism. Our surrounding secular culture tells us we must find fulfillment in constant self-improvement.
We also find this problem of restless labor, however, is not limited to Adventism. Our surrounding secular culture tells us we must find fulfillment in constant self-improvement. As Alan Noble points out, in our modern world, “you must be you,” which means defining your own identity, finding your own value and purpose, and accepting no outside limits on your potential (Noble, Alan. “You Are Not Your Own” [p. 3-4]), InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition). We must “fulfill our dreams” and choose our journey. We are pressured to work more, “optimize our time,” so we will become more efficient in everything, so we can market our “own brand.” Even our leisure time must be efficient and planned so we can be most ready for work. But we never satisfy the standards or become enough of that shining image of achievement and self-realization we dreamed of. The hamster wheel of busyness-to-achieve results in feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and burned out.
It is significant how the secular culture of identity-seeking and self-actualization resembles the lifestyle of self-improvement and perfectionism we learned in Adventism. We learned from Ellen White that we must not waste time. Playing chess, games and entertainment, and even casual light conversation and laughter were unholy uses of our precious time. We should be most solemnly preparing for the Time of Trouble. We were the people who “know how to live better,” but in moments of quiet honesty, we had to admit that all the character-building could not satisfy the thousands of the commands we lived under. At a deeper level, our efforts never satisfied our longings for a meaningful life. What was missing?
When we try to justify our existence with moral super-achievement and efficiency we will only act like slaves. There can only be one answer to our burdens and bondage. Jesus still offers rest for the weary and burdened, only by coming to Him. Coming to Him has a very high cost, however. Paul told the Corinthians,
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
“You are not your own.” We interpreted this passage as a health message, but there is a radical message of hope here for the weary, burdened soul. This was not about food. Paul was making it clear, sexual sins defiled the body because it is the temple of the Spirit of God. How? Because they did not belong to themselves, they were bought with a price. That is a life-shaping statement that affects all our work and living. If you belong to Jesus, you don’t own yourself, because He paid for you with His own blood. He owns you like a master owns a slave.
Master and slave language is disturbing and we naturally don’t want to apply that imagery to our relationship to Christ. But that is the language Paul uses here, and in many other places. He calls himself a “doulos,” or slave of Christ. Being owned by Jesus our Master means much more than a better character and lifestyle. Joined with Him in His death and resurrection, He gives us a new identity as co-heirs with Him and loved by our Father. We can lay aside that terrible burden of trying to justify our existence with striving and achievement, because He is our righteousness and our life. Serving our new Master is more free than serving ourselves, or any false religious system that enslaves us. The gospel frees us from trying to justify ourselves with more productivity and efficiency. That is the world’s rat race. You can stop comparing yourself to your neighbors, or to other church members.
It is a wonderful paradox, being purchased so we are not our own, yet set free and able to rest. You are owned by Jesus, so you can rest now!
It is a wonderful paradox, being purchased so we are not our own, yet set free and able to rest. You are owned by Jesus, so you can rest now! How strange, but how true. When we are working and striving as if we own ourselves, we never can truly rest or breath free. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served.” Stop there. He doesn’t want our “service.” We can’t serve Him like conventional slaves do, who must work to enrich their masters. He doesn’t need that kind of service, for He cannot be served with our hands, as if he needed anything (Acts 17:25). Amazingly, Jesus is the One who works for us, because we are sinful and weak, and we need everything. We are terribly needy, He gives everything, and we contribute nothing to the transaction. Then, and only then, can we serve Him and love others with restful joy.
Knowing we are owned by Jesus lifts the heavy burdens of self-justification, achievement, and perfectionism. Will we be ready for a time of trouble? He owns us and is eternally committed to our lives. You get ready by resting in Him. He came to serve, and give His life as a ransom for us. He bought and paid for us, so He works for us. So we serve Him with all our hearts and souls. Working for that kind of Master, the dishes and diapers are not “productive,” they are reassigned as loving acts.
In His ownership we find the answer to finding rest for our souls. He isn’t looking for super men and super women. His yoke is easy and burden is light, for He is humble and lowly. Here we will find true Sabbath rest, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, for He never leaves us or forsakes us. Friend, you don’t have to be so busy and productive. The two great commandments are to love Him and love each other. That takes in a great deal of leisurely loving and “non-productive” time. You can and must rest in Him, whether sitting at the desk, laughing with friends, or playing that slow game of chess.
Long ago, He sent this message to all you battling, weary people, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10)! †
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