THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
It is always tempting to frame God’s invitation in the terms of human systems of power, comfort, and knowledge. But, when we do this, we do not find the rest or the life of Christ. On the contrary, we end up trapped in systems of achievement, exclusivity, and constant striving, which contribute to our brokenness, even though we may seek to sanctify them with the name of Christ. The reality that we need to face as followers of Jesus, is that we often misunderstand what really brings us life and rest. We often seek for God’s life in the wrong places, and we often seek for God’s rest in things that only lead us into further striving, busyness, and exhaustion. This means that we need to listen more carefully to what Jesus offers when he calls us to enter God’s rest.
To begin with, we need to be willing to hear that God’s rest is usually found in places which we view as the least likely. We will need to be willing to place our faith in the ways of Christ that go against the current of the society around us. If we genuinely seek God’s life and rest, we will automatically place ourselves apart from the strategies of the world around us. This may mean that we will be seen as aloof or critical of the world, and so we may experience some rejection or even conflict. But, the paradox of the Gospel is that God’s life and rest, God’s comfort and healing, can be found and experienced even in the midst of crisis, pain and suffering.
This week we will listen again for God’s call to rest, we will seek to share this call with others, and we will discover that joy is available to us, no matter what we may be facing in our lives.
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