Title: God Wants Us To Be . . . A Church That Learns From Jesus
Series: The Church God Wants Us To Be, Sermon # 3
COPYRIGHT © Joe La Rue, 2008
Text: Matt 11:28-30
Date Preached: January 27, 2008
Introduction
A. In the late 1800’s a book was published by Charles Sheldon called In His Steps. The story begins with a preacher, hard at work on a sermon. His text is 1 Pet 2:21: “...Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” As he works on this sermon, there is a knock on his door. The preacher answers and finds a hobo, down on his luck and in need of a job. The preacher, wanting to get back to his sermon, tells the hobo he will pray for him and sends him on his way.
That Sunday at church, as the preacher rises and reads his text, “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps,” the hobo walks into the building, down the center aisle, and stops right in front of the preacher. He turns and faces the people, and asks them a question: “What does it mean to follow in Jesus’ steps?” He proceeds to tell them how he came to their town, in need of help, and he knocked on every door, yet no one was willing to help him. He explains how he lost his job, and his family got sick and died because he didn’t have the money to buy medicine, and now he was wandering the countryside, sick himself and looking for work. And he tells the people that he believes Jesus would have helped him; Jesus would have offered him a meal and a place to stay; Jesus would have tried to help him find a job. And then, the man collapses and dies right at the front of the church building!
The people are stunned. The preacher is stunned. All week he has been working on a sermon talking about doing as Jesus did and being as Jesus was; and he and his people had failed to be like Jesus in even the most simple thing — showing compassion to this poor, sick, homeless man.
Well, this event changes that church. The preacher asks the people to make a commitment to live life the way they think Jesus would. Before they do anything — or don’t do anything — they pledge to ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” and do only what they think He would do.
B. This question, “What would Jesus do?” became wildly popular in the late 1990s as a result of the marketing of little bracelets embroidered with the letters, “WWJD?” — What Would Jesus Do? Many of those who wore them back in the heydey of their popularity just a few years ago had never heard of Charles Sheldon or his book In His Steps, and some of those who wore them made no claim whatsoever to being a Christian or to having any real desire to follow Jesus. Yet they wore these bracelets nonetheless because they had become the latest trend.
C. This concept of doing what Jesus would do is far more, though, than just the latest fashion symbol. We are in the midst of a series of sermons in which we are examining the traits that God wants to be present in every church. Last week we talked about how God wants us to be a church that worships, and we discussed what true worship entails. This week we shall see how the Bible tells us that God wants every church to be a church that learns from Jesus so that it can do what Jesus wants it to do and be what Jesus wants it to be. Speaking of those who would follow Him, Jesus said that “everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40, New International Version). And the context in which Jesus said this makes it plain that He considered this the goal for His followers: to become like Him. That is Jesus’ expectation of us: everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
D. Trans: I want us to look at three verses in the Bible in which Jesus talked about this. Look at Matt 11:28-30 with me:
“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.” (Matt 11:28–30, New International Version).
As we begin to unpack these verses this morning, let’s consider first what is really a foundational question that we can’t ignore, and that is this: why should we want to do what Jesus would do, anyway? I mean, why would anyone want to do that?
I. Why Should We Do What Jesus Would Do?
A. “Take My yoke upon you” was an expression that meant become my disciple, or become my follower and do as I do. Jesus calls us to do that, which brings me back to the original question: why would anyone want to do what Jesus would do?
1. Our world says that the type of life He lived doesn’t work today. He was honest -- He didn’t even tell little white lies. He was loving and compassionate, even to those it seemed didn’t deserve it. He was peaceful -- even when He was beat and spat upon, He refused to retaliate. was wholly devoted to God — in everything that He did and said, He tried to please God.
2. Our world says that you can’t live that way. You can’t be honest and expect to get ahead. You should be loving, but only to those who deserve it! You can’t be peaceful — sometimes you have to fight. Why would anyone want to take Jesus’ yoke on, learn from Him and live as he lived? It can’t be done if you want to get ahead in this world—at least, that’s what the world tells us.
3. I could share with you how the world is wrong; that you should do what Jesus would do because His way is right and you will be a better spouse, a better parent, a better child, a better employee, a better person. And I could also talk about how a life lived devoted to God is fun and exciting and fulfilling, and I could even argue this morning that the very best life one can have is one that is lived fully and completely for God’s glory.
B. But Jesus doesn’t make any of those arguments or discuss any of those ideas in our text. Rather, Jesus got right to the heart of the matter and said that there is a reward involved. He said that if we take His yoke upon ourselves, learning from Him and doing as He said, He would give us rest.
1. On one level, this word, rest, is a promise of heaven. If we become His disciples, He will give us heaven — rest from the problems of life, rest from its pain, rest from sickness and sorrow, disease and death. Heaven.
2. On another level though, rest is talking not about heaven and the hereafter, but about the here-and-now. Jesus is promising that, if we will become His disciples and learn from Him and do as He did, we will find rest right now — rest from life’s weariness, rest from life’s burdens.
C. Let’s face it: Life at times is hard. It seems like sometimes you are doing fine, and then — BOOM — the storm hits, the wind screams, the dam bursts, the raging torrents flood us. Sometimes its marriage problems. Sometimes its kid problems. Sometimes its parent problems. Sometimes its work problems. Sometimes its health problems. All sorts of problems, difficulties, and troubles make up this experience we call life.
1. ILL: I think about Jack and Donna. They’d been married for years, had raised their family, were enjoying their life and planning for their retirement, and then — BOOM — Donna was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was dead within six months. I think about Sandy. She was sailing along, trying to be a good wife to her husband and mother to her two young children and then — BOOM — she finds out that her husband got a hotel room with another woman. I think about Pat. He was trying to provide for his family, thought he had a good job with a stable company, thought he had some security, and then — BOOM — his entire department was terminated in a downsizing move. All sorts of problems and pain make up this experience that we call life.
2. We can relate. Maybe our BOOMS haven’t been quite this traumatic, or maybe they’ve been even more so. But we’ve had our BOOMS. We all have. Life can be hard. At times, there’s lots of weariness, lots of burdens.
3. And Jesus says, “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.” Jesus promises us rest from our burdens if we’ll be His disciples, because He is gentle and humble, and He gives rest.
a. Now, this doesn’t mean that Jesus frees His followers from ever having problems in this life. The people I told you about a few minutes ago are Christians.
b. When Jesus promised rest, He did not mean that He would eliminate our problems, but rather that He would give us the strength to make it through our problems, the comfort and peace we need to face our problems, and allow us to experience real joy in this life because we know Him.
c. And, His promise is true. I think again of Jack, struggling to cope and survive in the wake of Donna’s death. It’s important that we understand that Jack didn’t suffer less because he was a Christian. However, he sensed Christ’s peace and comfort as he struggled to deal with his grief, and that peace and comfort helped him survive. One day in my office, Jack said, “I don’t know how people go through things like this without God’s help.”
D. Why should we live like Jesus? Because Jesus promises that, if we will take His yoke upon ourselves and learn from Him, He will give us rest. He will give us heaven for eternity, but in the meantime He will sustain us in the face of life’s burdens and weariness.
1. You see, when we begin to learn from Jesus, when we begin to learn the words that He said and the things that He taught and did, we discover all these treasures that we didn’t even know existed before. We find a peace that we never dreamed existed. And we experience a hope brighter than any other. And we receive guidance to help us figure life out, as we learn Christ’s words and apply them in our lives and begin to act like Him. And we receive the promise of eternal life in heaven when this life is over.
2. We all need that peace, and hope, and guidance. And we all need the promise of eternal life when this life is over. That’s why we should learn to live like Jesus.
E. Trans: Alright, so that’s why we should want to learn from Jesus. How can we do it? What steps do we need to take to learn from Jesus? Let me suggest thre.
II. How Can We Know What Jesus Would Do?
A. First and most important, we learn from Jesus when we read His word, the Bible. In it Jesus tells us all about Himself and His love for us and His desire for our lives. Of course, the Bible cannot do us any good if we don’t read it.
1. ILL: The story is told about a college freshman who, before leaving home for his freshman year at college, was given a Bible by his parents. They assured him that this Bible would be a great help to him and encouraged him to read it regularly. As is often the case when children go to college, after a short while the son called his parents and asked them to send him more money. He had spent all that they had given him, he told them. The parents told him that they would send the needed money, but in the meantime, he should read his Bible, and they would cite chapter and verse for him to read. He would reply that he was reading the Bible—but he still needed money. This happened several times over the course of that first semester, and when the son came home for the first semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. “How can you possibly know that?” he demanded. “Simple,” they replied. “Before you left home, we inserted $100 bills in the pages of the Bible by the verses we cited to you.” Gotcha.
2. If someone had inserted money in your Bible, how long would it take you to find it? Some of you are ready to start shaking your Bibles right now to see if there’s any money in there! Well, I haven’t hidden any money in your Bibles, but I do want to encourage you to begin reading God’s word on a regular basis. It’s in the Bible that we really learn from Jesus, for the Bible is the very word of God to us. The Bible says of itself that
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. (2 Tim 3:16, 17, New Living Translation).
It is in the Bible that we encounter Jesus and learn about Him. It is in the Bible that we find the answers to life’s questions and discover the promises of God to us.
3. Try to set aside some time every day, and read from God’s word. Mornings work great for me. I find that learning from Jesus as I start my day helps me through the day; it gives me encouragement and strength to face the day’s challenges, and it reminds me of how I am suppose to talk and act — like Jesus!
4. You may think, “Oh, I don’t have enough time to do that.” Sure you do. You have enough time to watch t.v., don’t you? You have enough time to sleep, don’t you? Turn off your t.v., or get out of bed earlier, but spend time learning from Jesus! If you only read His word for 10 minutes today, that is 10 minutes more than if you didn’t read at all. Learn from Jesus. Read His word.
B. A second way we learn from Jesus is by regularly attending church. The songs that we sing tell about Jesus. The words that are spoken speak are about Jesus, and help us see how Jesus wants us to live. Interacting with other believers, and seeing how they are applying Jesus’ words in their lives helps us see how Jesus wants us to apply His words in our life.
1. ILL: I came across the following piece, based loosely on the Twenty-third Pslam:
Now it came to pass that spring turned to summer again. God’s people raised their voices and said:
“Recreation is my shepherd, I shall not stay at home;
He maketh me to lie down in a sleeping bag;
He leadeth me down the Interstate each weekend.
He restoreth my suntan;
He leadeth me to State Parks for comfort’s sake.
Even though I stray on the Lord’s Day, I will fear no reprimand,
for Thou art with me;
My rod and reel they comfort me.
I anointest my skin with oil, my gas tank runneth dry;
Surely my trailer shall follow me all the weekends this summer,
And I shall return to the House of the Lord this fall.”
But then it is hunting season and that’s another psalm.
2. Now listen: we all miss church from time to time, and I don’t want to make anyone here feel needlessly guilty when those times occur. However, when it is not the exception to the rule when we miss church, we need to be aware that we are robbing ourselves of the opportunity to learn from Jesus.
3. And so I want to encourage each of you to make a commitment that you are going to be a regular attender at church. I promise you that I will do all I can to make God’s word clear for you, and its teaching relevant to you. But in order for that to do any good for you, you have to come to church to hear it. And so, learn from Jesus. Go to church.
C. The final way I want to suggest to you that we can learn from Jesus is by actually asking the question, what would Jesus do? It’s as we begin to think about what we’ve learned from Him, and to really consider how He would act in certain situations, that we can begin to truly understand how we should live our lives as His followers.
1. Too often we decide how we want to respond, rather than considering how Jesus wants us to respond.
2. What if instead we actually began considering what would Jesus do? in the various situations we encounter? Would our actions be any different? Would we find ourselves treating people better? Would we find that we were more compassionate, more pure, more godly, if we were to ask what would Jesus do? and then respond accordingly?
3. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me.” Jesus said, “Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” There is an expectation there, friends, that we become like Jesus. And so it only makes sense that we begin asking ourselves, what would Jesus do? and letting the answer influence our decisions.
D. So how do we learn from Jesus? We do so by reading the Bible on our own, and by attending church and learning with others, and by actually considering what Jesus wants us to do in the various situations we encounter. These are ways we can learn from Jesus, so we can know what He would do, so we can do as He would do, so we can be His disciples and experience His rest.
Conclusion
A. God wants the church here to be like that. He wants us to be the type of people who are learning from Jesus.
B. ILL: But learning is a funny thing. Our learning only helps us when we allow it to influence our decisions. Some time back two pals were sitting in a bar, and a television was on over the counter tuned to a channel showing the eleven-o’clock news. A news report came on about a man threatening to jump from the top of a downtown building. One friend quickly turned to the other and said, “I’ll bet you $20 the guy doesn’t jump.”
“It’s a bet,” his friend said. They continued to watch the t.v., now genuinely interested in the broadcast in view of the fact that their money was at stake. A few minutes later, the man on the ledge jumped, so the loser pulled a $20 bill out of his pocket and handed it to his friend.
“I can’t take your money,” his friend said. “I saw him jump earlier on the six-o’clock news.”
“Me, too,” said the other buddy who had instigated the bet. “But I didn’t think he’d do it again!” Some people just never learn, do they.
C. We’ve been talking this morning about learning from Jesus. And at the tale end of the message we highlighted three ways we can do that—three commitments we can make that will guide us into more truth from Jesus: the commitment of personal Bible study, the commitment of regular church attendance, and the commitment of considering what Jesus wants us to do before we act. Now is the time to make a commitment to these commitments, and allow the things we learned today to influence our decisions. Will you commit yourself this morning to learning from Jesus?
