Deeper Rest: In Search of Gentleness and Humility

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 11:28-30)

Have you ever felt the kind of tired that no amount of sleep can cure? It is like carrying around a heavy weight with nowhere to put it down. Sometimes these are burdens that others have placed on us. Other times it isn’t so much what we carry, but how we carry ourselves - the posture of our spirits. I have found that I’m quickly exhausted by a life that is not gentle or humble. I have also found that too often I don’t have the emotional or spiritual resources to be truly gentle and humble when I need it most.

And that is why these words of Jesus are so powerful and life-giving. It is refreshing that Jesus doesn’t say: you just need to try harder. Rather, he says: Come to me, and I will give you rest.

I need this. I need more gentleness and humility in my life. I need rest for my soul.

Jesus invites us to come to him and find this rest. In his presence, we can both learn and receive from Jesus how to be gentle and humble of heart.

Journey with me, if you will, as we explore these themes throughout the Gospel of Matthew. We will begin this month with the Christmas stories which really set the stage in beautiful and challenging ways. We’ll look at the messy family tree of Jesus, the understated strength of a man who did not choose his own story, the radical reality of Emmanuel, and finally the tension of a shepherd born into a world of kings.