Introduction

The New York Times magazine ran an article that was simply called "Happiness 101." They want to get to the root of what really makes people happy. A team of researchers did extensive studies, and they say that the way in which Americans, and people in general, typically go about their quest to find happiness is totally the wrong way. People naturally think that if we can experience pleasure and more and more of it that will bring me my ultimate sense of happiness. Yet researchers said that this isn't the way to go about it. In fact, they say for anyone who thinks this way they are on the hedonic treadmill.

The idea of hedonic comes from hedonism, the idea of the pursuit of pleasure. These people are just like a junkie. Just as a junkie when he experiences his first high, his next quest in life is to experience that high again, but he has to buy more and more drugs and take more and more shots in order to experience it. So it is with pleasure. In order for us to try to find that sense of fulfillment we've got to constantly up the ante and constantly up the ante and constantly up the ante, and at the end of the day that hedonic treadmill doesn't leave us fulfilled. It's quite the opposite. It leaves us empty.

The fascinating thing about this article is not the problem that they revealed, but the solution that they suggest—ultimate happiness in life is found when you give your life away. These researchers say that if you want to be happy, pour your life out through acts of service. It's only when I go to the Union Rescue Mission that I really find happiness. If I really want to find fulfillment in my life I need to give more money to that charitable cause. If I really want to find fulfillment in my life I have to find an act of service that I can come alongside and be a part of some mission.

I hope you're seeing what the problem is with all this. The problem with their solution is that really their solution is a self-defeating, circulatory argument, because my acts of service are no longer acts of service but they're merely a means to fulfill a greater end, which is me. I want happiness, so I'll serve. I want fulfillment, so I'll give money. I want to feel great about my life, so here's some kind of mission or cause that I'll be a part of. Yet, I'm not doing those deeds because I love those people, because it's right. I'm not doing those deeds because of a sense of wanting to honor and glorifying God. In some sick, self-centered way, those deeds don't become about people or about glorifying God; they become about me.

What these researchers didn't realize in offering this selfish, self-righteous prescription, is that they were really hitting on the spirit of religion. Religion is not doing deeds. Religion is not quiet times. Religion is not tithing. Religion is not fasting. Religion is not striving after holiness. After all, if you read Matthew 6 as Jesus toggles back and forth between the self-righteous, religious Pharisees and his disciples, whom he's trying to lead them to live a gospel-centered life, he doesn't say to not pray, to not give, to not fast. In fact, Jesus assumed that his disciples will do that. That's why in Matthew 6 Jesus constantly says "When you pray …" "When you give …" "When you fast …" So his problem is not with the deeds. I hope that all of us are getting into the Word daily. I hope that all of us are giving. I hope that all of us are praying. His problem—and this is the spirit of the religious—are the motives behind the deeds.

What are your motives?

See, the question Jesus poses in Matthew 6 is Why? Why do you pray? Why do you give? Why do you fast? Or to make it really personal for you, why was it important for you to let it slip that your family is involved in that charitable cause? What was that really about? Was that in some sick way you saying Look at me? What Jesus is wanting us to understand that deeds is not religion; it's really the motives behind it.

The primary application of our passage is not to people who are burdened or weighed down in life in general. I think that's a secondary and fair application. But when we read Matthew 11:25-30 here's what we're going to understand about this familiar passage—when Jesus talks about the weary, the heavy-ladened, those who labor, in context, he's talking to the religious. Jesus wants us to understand when I live a life that is constantly saying through my deed Look at me that that's ultimately training in one treadmill called hedonism for another treadmill called religion. You'll have a lot of motion, but there won't be any movement, and it will wear you out. He's offering us a great exchange. Exchange the yoke of religion for the yoke of gospel living.

(Read Matthew 11:25-30)

Chooses, come, take, learn

Matthew 11:25-30 is a wonderful framework, a wonderful progression as it relates to how one gets saved. There's four words I'd like for you to underline in our passage, because they provide a wonderful framework that shows God's soteriological plan, his salvation plan throughout human history.

Look at verse 27 at the end. "And no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son," and here's that first word, "chooses to reveal him." Verse 28: "Come…" Underline that word. Verse 29: "Take…" Underline that word. Later on in verse 29: "Learn…" Underline that word.

These four words represent kind of the salvation process—chooses, come, take, learn. Jesus says "No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." The idea of the word knows, our text is originally written in a language called Greek, it is one of the typical words for Greek is gnosco and speaks of knowledge that could be experiential or academic. This word, the root of it is gnosco; the prefix is epi, from which we get epic. It is a complete knowledge. Jesus says no one can even enter into the sphere of epignosco, of a wonderful knowledge that's not just knowing about but it is also experiential intimate knowledge that comes through relationship. No one can enter into that sphere unless the Son first chooses to reveal him.

Not only that, but after he chooses, there is the calling of God. It's verse 28, Jesus says, "Come to me …" That Greek word for come is almost always used in the New Testament to speak of an invitation. He chooses us and then he calls us. God uses Christ followers as his instruments of invitation to a lost and dying world. That's why in Romans 10 Paul would write "How can they hear without a preacher?" Someone must go to them and be God's instruments of calling.

That's what it was for me the other week. I'm sitting on an airplane, and we're going from Salt Lake City to Arizona. I'm sitting next to a lady named Margie, and I was reading some Christian literature. She sees it, and we strike up a conversation and it comes out that I'm a pastor. She says, "Well, that's wonderful. You know, I'm spiritual but I hate religion." I said, "We've got something in common. I hate religion, too." She said, "I've never heard a pastor say that before." We have a wonderful conversation back and forth, and God uses me to share the gospel with her and to be like Jesus or to say "Come. I want to call you to repent of your way of life and give your heart and life to Jesus Christ."

God chooses. God calls. Then here's our response, verse 29. Jesus says take—"Take my yoke." Exchange the yoke of religion. Exchange the yoke of the world, and take. You receive by faith. In other words, enter into relationship with me. Then he says, "Learn from me." What's interesting about that Greek word for learn, it's from that Greek word that we get the common translation of disciple.

Jesus chooses. He invites. We respond by taking, by entering into relationship with him. Then we live a life of discipleship. We follow and we learn from him. This is wonderful, and yet the truth of the reality is that when we take, when we enter into a life of discipleship, there is a simultaneous leaving. Taking demands leaving. So we see in Matthew as Jesus called the disciples they both take him and leave their nets, boats, and tax booths. In order to take Jesus we must at the same time leave certain things. I'm here to tell you by way of experience that there's nothing in this life that could even compare with Jesus. That to leave the things of this life pales in comparison to what we will find in Christ.

A story's told of a very wealthy man who had one child. It was a beloved son in whom he loved very passionately. Tragically this son died at a very young age. This man was filled with grief. As a coping mechanism he began to travel the world, and as he traveled the world he began to buy pieces, rare pieces of art, and over the years he amassed a very rare art collection. Some years later his wife would die. Another grief would strike his heart, and then soon after that he would die. According to the stipulations of his will, because it had no heir, his estate had to go up for auction. So here all these people from all across the then known world gathered at this man's estate. They're excited about the rare pieces of artwork that they have a chance of getting their hands on. Right when the auction starts, the auctioneers takes his gavel and he bangs. He says, "This auction will commence. Here's the first piece." They carry it out. It is simply called The Son. It was a picture of a little boy, and to be quite honest with you, the people in the crowd who had come from all across the world, they said we don't like this. We've never seen this before. Its author is unknown. To be quite honest, it's somewhat mediocre. So the auctioneer said, "We'll start the bidding at five dollars." No one raises their hands until a few moments later an elderly woman makes her way down the aisle waving five dollars. She says, "I'll take it. I want it. Give me this painting called The Son." The auctioneer says, "Going once. Going twice. Going to the elderly lady for five bucks. It is sold." Then moments later he banged his gavel again and says, "This auction is now over." People were in pandemonium. They said, "What in the world do you mean this auction is over?" We've come from all across the then known world to come here. Where are the Monets? Where are the Picassos? That's what we want. The auctioneer explained "According to the stipulations of the owner's estate in his will, this first painting was actually painted by the father and the child is his son. He stipulated that whoever has the son has it all."

That's the gospel. He who has the Son, Jesus, has it all. There's nothing in this life that could remotely compare to Jesus Christ. That's why I want to plead with you. No amount of status, significance, or anything like that can compare with the Son. We have Jesus; we have it all. Have you clung to him with all of your grip and left all behind to follow him? What idols, what gods are competing for the affection and fidelity that are only rightly due to the Son? The message of the gospel is that he who has the Son has it all.

Religion can be weary

But who is Jesus talking about? Who are the weary in this passage? I've already given you a hint. Now let me backtrack and show you how I got here. If you read Matthew 11 one of the things that will strike you is the constant theme that comes out. In the opening six verses Jesus' cousin John is sitting in jail staring death in the face, and he sends his disciples to Jesus and he says, "Are you the one?" Jesus quotes to him from Isaiah 61:1. It is a cryptic message, and he leaves out the part about the captives being set free. It is Jesus' way of telling John, "Yes, I am the one, and, no, your circumstance will not change." The natural application is that God is God, and Jesus is Jesus, in spite of my circumstances. In spite of the test results he's still the one. In spite of what happens in my relationships or finances, he is still the One.

Then in Matthew 11:7-19 Jesus preaches the eulogy of John the Baptist. For example, he says in verse 17, speaking of he and John, "We played the flute for you, and you didn't dance; we sang a dirge, and you didn't mourn." In other words, what Jesus is saying here is the message that we gave, what we were going after, you guys didn't respond to it. So you came out to the Jordan River, you heard his teaching, you got baptized, but it didn't change your life. That's why in verse 12, Jesus could say, "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence …" That is the kingdom of heaven is being abused. Who's it being abused by? "… the violent take it by force." Who are the violent? In its appropriate context Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is being abused by people who go to church, who take the notes, who have the emotional experiences, who get baptized, but none of these things change their lives. Those are the violent. So everything about verse 1-19 are the religious.

He says in verse 20-24, he pronounces woes. Look at these there cities—Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum. What do they all have in common? They are Jewish religious towns that have synagogues in them that Jesus came to and did mighty works. Yet he pronounces woes on them. Why? Because he says my mighty works in your synagogues did not change your life. He pronounces woes on religious towns.

(Read Matthew 12:1-8)

Who's resisting him? The religious Pharisees. Everything until verse 25, religion. Everything after verse 30 in chapter 12 … key word for chapter 12—crisis. Who's he having a crisis with? The religious. "Come to me, all you who are weary." I want to tell you, it doesn't take a Greek scholar to figure this out. In context, the weary, the primary application are the religious. Matthew 11:25-30 is a wildly popular passage. I think the reason for it is its tone, which is so inviting, and it's so tender. I want you to understand that in the years in which I've heard this text preached I've heard it primarily preached this way—Burdened by life? Marital stress? Financial stress? Going through a tough time? Come to me, all who are weary. I think that's a wonderful secondary application, but in context, in context, the weary and the fatigued in our passage are those who are weary and fatigued by religion. That's the primary application.

The idea that religion wearies and fatigues is obvious. Why? Because it's works based. Keep doing and doing and doing, or keep not doing and not doing and not doing, and follow these rules, and do these things, and have these quiet times, and give these monies, and avoid these movies and kinds of music, and you will find fulfillment. You will be righteous. You will be better than those other people. The maddening part about religion is you never get to a point in which you go, ah, I'm good. You never get to a point in which you say that's enough. You never get there.

I'll never forget some years ago Corrie and I were living in Charlotte, and two Jehovah's Witnesses knock on our door, of course, in an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning. I invited them in, and they come in and what was very obvious is that Jehovah's Witnesses use a discipleship model. Well when that happens I love it. The troublemaker in me comes out, because what I'll do is aim all my questions at the novice, because what I'm looking to do is to plant seeds of doubt. "Explain this 144,000 thing to me." "Well, the 144,000. This is how I explain it. The 144,000 that's kind of like, the first-class section of heaven." "Really? So you're pretty much knocking on doors on a Saturday morning because you're trying to get the upgrade from coach to first class." He says, "Absolutely." I said, "Really? So how do you know when you've made it, when you've gotten enough miles to upgrade from coach to first class? How many doors? How many times do you have to go to service? How much scripture do you have to memorize? How many birthday party invitations do you need to turn down?" He couldn't answer it.

It's the maddening part about religion. You never get to a place where you check the box and you know anything about rest. You don't know anything about contentment. You don't know how to get off of the treadmill of comparison. You just never get there. It's sort of like the ancient Greek fable or myth of King Sisyphus. This is the king who thought he was so clever he was more clever than all the other gods. So Zeus says, really, you think you're more clever than me? Well, here's the deal. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to push this rock up this hill, and when you get to the top of the hill you're good. He pushes the rock. We know how the story goes. Right when he's getting close to the top it rolls back down, and he's pushing it back up and it's rolling back down; he's pushing back up, and it's rolling back down. There are times in which he makes progress, but he never gets to where he wants to go. It's religion.

Religion is trying to find fulfillment. If I just move this rock. You'll find momentary areas of progress. It looks like, man, I'm progressing, and the whole thing comes crashing back down and you got to push it back up again and crash and back down. And it wearies you. It fatigues you. That's why religious people don't know anything about long-term joy. Typically they're killjoys. They don't know anything about rejoicing with those who rejoice. Why? Because they're too busy competing, because their righteousness is not found in Christ. It's found in themselves. Because of that the standard is themselves. And because the standard is themselves they've got to constantly compare themselves with what other people are doing. It wears you out. That's some of you today. It's the maddening part about it. We don't know how to rejoice with those who rejoice. It wearies you.

I have a practice every week in my study. I always like to read a sermon that Spurgeon has preached on our text. I find him to be so moving and so enlightening. "Oh you who will your unworthiness this morning, who have been seeking salvation earnestly and suffering the weight of sin, Jesus will freely give to you what you cannot earn or purchase. He will give it as an act of his own free, rich, sovereign mercy." Jesus says if you find yourself on the treadmill of religion, let me exchange the treadmill of religion for the rest and comfort of my yoke. Gospel living.

How do we experience that? There are three things.

Come to me

The first is found in verse 28. Jesus makes a passionate plea. "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He's pleading with them "Come to me." The very fact that he's offering an invitation to the religious brings out two implications.

The very fact that I'm calling you to come to me means that in your religion you've tried to do life without me. Do you get that? If you found yourself going with the current of religion, what you at the same time have found yourself doing is drifting away from Jesus. He's calling to religious people who are basing their righteousness outside of him, and it is his way of saying you're doing life apart from me. "Come to me."

The fact that he says "Come to me," and I think they're very tender in its emotional context, here's the point. Jesus' invitation to the religious tells us this—that he cares for and is in love with even the religious. In tenderness he's beckoning the religious to come home to him. It's his way of saying I care even about the self-righteous.

I do believe there's a secondary application here. Again to be fair, I think Jesus' invitation to come, yes, primarily is to the religious, but I don't want to be legalistic about that. I think we can broaden it out to say Jesus is saying to everyone who's been wearied, everyone who's been hurt, everyone who's been burdened, everyone who's been weighed down by the troubles and trials of life, Jesus says, "Come to me." There's no trouble or trial too insignificant.

You know there's been times where I've been sitting in my study and the old preachers call it preaching through the storm, and I've literally had to say, "God, you're going to have carry the ball on this one," which is a good place to be, isn't it? So some time ago one of our kids, and I were in one city and I was headed to another city. I was supposed to go to this other city to spend the day with Tim Keller. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time and was excited about it and had my list of questions prepared that I was going to ask him. I was just looking forward to my time with him in this rare opportunity to spend with Tim Keller.

I called home to check on my wife, and my son was going through a tough time. There's some health stuff. I just hear him bawling in the background. I get on the phone with him, and we ended up talking. He says to me, "Daddy, I want you to come home." I did what any dad would do in that moment, because my son was inconsolable, I cancelled Tim Keller, and got on a plane and went home. There I am sitting in a doctor's office with my son, and his head is buried in my chest, and I just at that moment as I'm holding him I'm thinking There's no place else in the world I'd rather be than right here with my kid. What dad wouldn't want to be a part of that?

Then it hits me. That's Jesus. Jesus is saying, yeah, I'm the God of the universe. Yeah there are a lot of things going on in my life. But I'm not so busy that I'm not concerned about any trial you go through in your life. Yeah I cause the sun to rise, and yeah I hang the stars in their place, and yeah, according to Colossians and Hebrews, I hold the whole universe together by the power of the word of my mouth. But I'm also concerned about the health crisis. I'm also concerned about your finances. I'm also concerned about your marriage. I'm not too busy! "Come to me," all you who are weary, burdened. Stop trying to do it without me!

In fact, could it be that maybe some of the burdens we're bearing, the trials we're going through, is God's way of trying to get our attention? One person said, and you've heard me say this quote before, that we often turn to God when our foundations are shaking only to discover it's God who's shaking them. God says I care. I care about the test results. I care about the marriage. I care about the finances. Would you just come to me?

Take my yoke

Not only that, but he makes a second passionate plea in verse 29, "Take my yoke upon you." Now here's what you need to know about a yoke. A yoke was a work instrument. It was a wooden contraption that they would put on one animal and yoke him to another. They would do this for work purposes. This blows my mind. Jesus is talking to weary people who are worn out by life, and he says, "Take my yoke." In other words, you got to go to work. I love it, because if it's me I'm going to say to weary people, take a vacation. Take a nap. Take some time off. That's not what Jesus says. He says if you're weary, take my yoke.

Here's what Jesus wants us to understand about gospel living. Gospel living is not the absence of burdens. It is not the absence of trials, traumas, and tribulations. The difference between gospel living and religious living is that gospel living now guarantees that I am yoked to Jesus Christ, who bears those burdens with me. It's why David said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I'll fear no evil." David doesn't deny that there won't be valleys in life. Yes there will be. But the difference for the believer is we have someone to go through the valleys with. "… for thou art with me." David continues, "Thy rod and they staff they comfort me."

Look at verse 40, "For my yoke is easy." This Greek word for easy is very picturesque. It is a word that means custom built. It means tailor made. Needless to say, you need to understand the culture. Whenever they would yoke two animals together they would never just take a one-size-fits-all yoke, but instead the carpenter would go to the animal and would measure the animal's neck and would custom make a yoke, because he wanted to make sure that that yoke wouldn't be too heavy, that it wouldn't be too loose, that it wouldn't chafe the neck. He tailor made and custom made a yoke for the animal to make sure that that yoke would be easy, that he could bear the burden. Jesus is a carpenter, and carpenter Jesus says I have looked at each of your lives. I have made you intricately. I know you intimately. Trust me. Whatever it is you're going through it won't kill you. It is custom made for you.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul points to this, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it." Even pastors don't get a free pass on life and trials. There's been times Corrie and I have looked at each other and we've said in the midst of all of our trials, "This needs to end so we can get some rest." Verse 29 tells me that is faulty thinking. "Take my yoke upon you," Jesus says, "and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Nothing in this tells me I've got to wait for the trial to be over to find rest. I can find rest in the midst of the trial. I can find rest in the midst of the storm. Why? Because I'm yoked to Jesus. I'm yoked to him. I don't have to wait for a sunny day to find rest. I can find rest right there in the midst of the storm.

Learn from me

Finally Jesus ends by saying "Come … Take … and learn from me." Learn is the third key imperative. It is the third passionate plea of Jesus. Again it's from this word that we get the common translation of disciple. A disciple is a learner. You would never yoke two different animals. In fact, you would always yoke two animals of the same kind. In order for that yoke to work, both animals had to be on the same page. In other words, one couldn't be standing and the other sitting in order for that yoke to work. They all had to be doing the same thing at the same time. They had to be moving on the same page, or it would not work. Jesus says this, "If we're yoked together, I'm not learning from you, you're learning from me. You've got to watch me, and whatever I do you've got to do if this thing is going to work. If you find me standing and moving, you've got to be standing and moving. If you find me sitting and taking a rest, you got to be sitting and taking a rest. Learn from me. Don't get ahead of me. Learn. Look at me. Follow my example."

This is exactly what Peter had in mind when he wrote in 1 Peter 2:21, "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps." Peter says it in his epistle. Jesus says it in our passage. Burdened by life, overwhelmed either by religion, overwhelmed by the common problems of life, look to me, learn from me, gain strength from me, and you will find rest for your souls.

Conclusion

There I am sitting in that doctor's office with one of my sons, and, as you can imagine, he does not like to have blood taken from him. Who does? I'm there with him. I've canceled my appointment, I'm in the midst of the trial with him. He's saying, "Dad, I can't do it. I just can't do it." the nurse is saying, "Here's the deal, buddy. We've got this numbing spray, and we'll spray the numbing spray on you. We'll stick the needle in you. You won't even feel it once you got this numbing …" He's says, "I'm just not trying to hear that. I cannot do it." On and on he goes. Finally I said to the nurse, "Ma'am, listen. I know what I'm about to ask you is out of bounds, but can you stick me first? Can you do it without the numbing spray? Because I just need to show my son." She says, "Yes, I'll do it. We'll keep this between us." I put my son on my lap. I said, "Watch Daddy." Rolled up my sleeve. Stuck my arm out, and the whole time I'm telling myself Don't flinch. You're trying to set a good example for your son. They stuck me. They drew blood. A smile came over my kid's face. Yeah, he was still a little nervous, but when he saw that Daddy went through what he was about to go through already, no numbing spray, he stuck his arm out and it gave him the courage.

What Jesus is saying, when you find yourself in the midst of hard times, look to the place where they drew Jesus' blood. Look to the cross, and there you will find rest for your souls. That's why the writer of Hebrews would tell his friends "We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted with all things, as we are, yet without sin." Whatever burdens you're going through, Jesus says look to me, follow my example, and you don't have to wait until the trial is over to find rest. I can offer you immediate rest now. Will you just come to me? Just take my yoke. Just learn from me, and you'll find rest for your souls.

Bryan Loritts is the Lead Pastor of Abundant Life Church in Silicon Valley, California ..