December 6, 2023 • 25 mins
Welcome back to the final episode of Returning to Joy Season 4! The past several weeks have been so rich with reflections and new insights around the rest that Jesus offers, and the ways it can both heal us and empower us.
In this final episode, we'll consider that simply knowing what Jesus says about rest is often not enough to keep us from being swayed by the demands and pace of the world around us. An active resilience is required, and is the kind of rest that Jesus modeled for us in the midst of everything that was set before him.
We hope you enjoyed this series, and we will see you in March for Season 5! Stay in the loop by following us on social media and signing up for our newsletters at www.returningtojoy.com.
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Music by AG (Affirming Grace) @agmusic4god
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gabrielle Leonard (14:14:01):
Welcome to the return to joy podcast. I'm
your host, Gabrielle MichelLeonard. Here we're leading
people to cultivate joy throughstorytelling. We hope listening
will reveal pathways tounlocking the healing power of
connection, so that you can seeyour relationships and the world
around you transformed fromfractured into flourishing. With
(14:14:26):
sub beloved's, it is the finalepisode of this season. And so
the final episode for this year,and then gonna go on break. But
I'm really excited about this.
I'm excited about thisconversation, we're going to
have to really wrap up thisdiscussion we've had on rest.
And hopefully you've beenchallenged encouraged, you're
thinking differently, you'reasking new questions about what
(14:14:48):
does rest look like in my life?
What does participating inChrist's rest for the world for
my community look like? How do Ienter into that rest? And how do
I invite other people into it, Ihope all of those things are
swirling around in your head.
And for this final conversation,I just wanted to name a couple
things that fight against theactive rest, that Christ invites
(14:15:10):
us into one of those beingefficiency. So earlier today, I
was having a conversation withone of my sisters, Ashley
Rogers, and she was talkingabout Jesus feeding the 5000, in
a conversation she was havingwith a group of women about
stewardship at this Bible studyshe was leading. And something
that struck me was she wasreflecting on how inefficient
(14:15:34):
how Jesus went about feedingthis 5000 was, and it was a new
outlook and a new way to look atthis story. Because when you
look at this story, I'm pullingfrom John chapter six verses one
through 14 here, they've justcrossed over to the far shore of
a sea of Galilee. And there'sthis great crowd of people that
(14:15:57):
are that have followed to seeJesus perform these different
signs and wonders and to see himheal the sick, right? And
they're looking at thismultitude in the disciples,
Philip says, like, hey, like,where we're gonna go to buy
bread for these people to eat.
And then Jesus, Jesus tests hima little bit and says, like,
(14:16:18):
basically, well, you know, youfeed them, he, he's asking them
to feed the people. AndPhillips, like, it would take
more than half a year's wages tobuy enough bread for each one of
these folks to to eat. And soit's like, we need to let them
leave, we need them to be ableto go because they gotta get
food, right and nourishment. Andwe don't have it, we don't we
(14:16:38):
don't have the resources inorder to do it. And something
that I want to highlight here isthey saw the need, they weren't
blind to the needs of thesepeople that they were with. And
so I think that that's probablytrue of yourself, where you're
seeing needs around you, whetherit be your own needs, needs
among your, in your family, orin your community, you see the
need, right. But here's thething that I want to call out
(14:17:02):
that if you've read this story,before, you might have not
noticed that I'm being reallyencouraged by is, there is a
sight of the need. But for thesedisciples to see that small boy,
come on, you got a huge crowd ofpeople we don't we don't know
what's all happening in thisstory. We don't know if that
little boy was right there inthe front. Like if, if the
(14:17:25):
disciples are huddled up withJesus, and they just look to the
left, and here's a little boygoing like, Hey, can I give you
some food, and they're like, Oh,we want to do it. This is all we
got. We don't know. It'sactually a very, like Jewish
practice to imaginatively engagewith the scriptures. And so if
you can visualize what'shappening, if you can picture in
your mind this scene, remember,it's quite counted as 5000
(14:17:49):
people. But this 5000 is notincluding women and children. So
there are 10s of 1000s of peoplehere in this crowd. Like, who
knows how many and I don't knowabout you, but like, I'm not
easily recognizing a little boycarrying a basket of five loaves
and two fish. Right? And wedon't know how long did it take
(14:18:12):
them to find this little boy.
But here's the thing that myfriend was saying, that really
struck me finding that littleboy required slowing down and it
required site, slowing down andit required site. We can see the
needs of what's needed, butwhat's not there can overwhelm
us can create a panic. Butlearning a practice of active
(14:18:37):
rest will have you slowing downand when you slow down, you'll
find where actually what youneed is present among you. What
you need is present is there andthen you can pull from that and
go back to the Lord and go hey,what do you want to do with what
we have right here in our hands.
(14:19:00):
But that requires a skillslowing down, that requires a
going out in searching andseeking that requires what I
believe it's, I believe is rest,an active form of rest. See
Jesus, when he's talking about,you know, the popular verse that
we very much so refer to Matthew11, when he talks about like,
(14:19:23):
Come to me all you are weary andburdened, and I will give you
rest. That's a powerfulstatement, powerful verse, But
I'm struck by and there's a lotof great context around this
whole entire chapter in thechapters next to it. But I'm so
struck by literally right afterthat, it says, Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me, for I amgentle and humble in heart and
(14:19:46):
you will find rest for yoursouls for my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. There is tome there is not better a
description of what is activerest, then this little chunk
right here. Because when wethink about come to me all you
are weary and burdened, I willgive you rest, I'm not gonna
lie, I think about like, Okay,Lord, will You then cradle me
(14:20:10):
and let me you know, sit at yourfeet and be at peace, maybe I'm
gonna massage you can includethat can include me, probably my
feet up can include spendingsome time in prayer can even
include resting glute caninclude solitude, all of these
things are good. And I do thinkall of those things are restful.
But I'm what I'm struck by, isthe fact that Jesus has his yoke
(14:20:33):
is easy. His burden is light.
This is the man who suffered anddied for the world. This is the
man who he came into this worldbearing are missing the mark,
our failure, our lack ofobedience, our lack of trust,
our separation from God are oursinfulness like this is the man
who suffered for us, for us tohave this restored relationship
(14:20:56):
with God. Even before that we'retalking about the like
constantly experiencing of beingmisunderstood, constantly
experiencing the suffering ofpeople, Jesus was weeping at the
oppressive nature of this of thesystems around them. Rome was
oppressive. This this empire ofRome was detrimental, like evil,
(14:21:17):
and unjust. He's Jesus walkingaround seeing this and carrying
all of it, as one who is sofamiliar and connected to us.
And he had compassion, he'scarrying all of that. He's
seeing the need, if you want totalk about someone seeing the
need, seeing the brokenness, andalso Jesus should be
(14:21:39):
overwhelmed. He has a right tobeing overwhelmed. I mean, he, I
mean, he, he's suffered to thepoint of sweating blood in the
garden. And so we're talkingabout someone who, who gets the
pressure, of expectation, thepressure of what is available
versus what is needed. Like he'sseen it in the world pain, and
(14:21:59):
injustice. But yet he's saying,Come to me all you are weary and
burdened, I'll give you rest.
What is his wrestled? Like he'stalking about, like, Take my
yoke upon you, and learn fromme, for I am gentle, and humble
in heart, and you will find restfor your souls for my yoke is
easy. My burden is light. Whatyoke is easy, what burden is
(14:22:21):
light. So we know, Moses evengoing to be prescriptive about
this and tell you what all thatmeans. It's worth digging in.
Because what kind of rest isJesus describing? If he's then
beginning to talk about himselfand saying, learn from me and
how I'm doing this? Learn fromme. This is not just about
(14:22:41):
coming to Jesus, and then himjust, hey, here's some rest for
you. Here's shalom, here'speace. Here's joy. Here's the
fruits of the Spirit given toyou through the work of the Holy
Spirit. This is also like, we'reto learn how is he moving in the
world? How was Christ moving?
And how is that restful? How wasthat light? How was that coming
(14:23:02):
with ease? Because if I'mhonest, like I'm like, Man, I
think he endured a whole lot.
But I can move through the worldand be like this. This doesn't
seem like you can do this. Youcan participate in brokenness,
you can participate in fightingagainst injustice, you can
participate and trying to seethe kingdom of God come and not
(14:23:25):
be overwhelmed or burdened orweary. It feels like that fights
each other. But Christ is goingno, it's possible. Learn from
me. So I'm curious. I'm curious.
I don't know what that means.
But I'm curious to know, whatare you doing different? How's
your rest different Lord? I knowone thing that stands out to me
(14:23:46):
is I know and John five, Jesussays,
I only do what I see My Fatherdoing. So I know that, okay,
Jesus has to be walking in a waythat's constantly in tune,
constantly going, Hey, I'mseeing what's right in front of
me, but I also have this I mean,in touch with what are you
saying, God? What are you doing?
All of my senses are heightenedin aware to the Father, all of
(14:24:07):
my senses are heightened andaware to the creator of the
universe. So Jesus, like I seethe pain, I see the suffering,
I'm not distant from it. I'm notpulled back. I'm not
withholding. I'm not out of outof sight, out of mind. No,
Christ came into the world dweltamong us. So he's in the pain
(14:24:28):
and suffering. But he's alsoconnected. All of him in tune
with the Father, and going outwhat are you doing? My lord?
What are you doing, father? Sowhat does it look like for you
to walk attune to God? It'sworth exploring, I believe one
of those ways is slowing down.
(14:24:50):
You can't walk a tune whenyou're moving fast. I think it's
a slowed pace that sees the fiveloaves of bread in the two small
fish. Sometimes the disciples,they get a bad rap for this
passage, right in John six,because they're like, you know,
we only got this, what we'regonna do with this, but I want
to give them some credit. I wantto give them some flowers in
(14:25:10):
this moment. Because, yes, theystill saw insufficiency, they
still saw it, they still sawlack. But the boy was found the
five loaves of bread, and thetwo fishes nonetheless, were
seen somebody had to walk slowenough to see them. And think
about it, you got your mom, 5000people, we give them we give
(14:25:31):
them a little like this cred forbeing for saying what we're
gonna do with this. But the factthat they even brought it to
Jesus, I don't know about you.
But if I'm scared about asking adumb question, if I'm scared
enough, I'm opening my mouth.
I'm not saying nothing. I'm notsaying nothing. So even that,
like, Hey, we got this here.
There was faith there. I believethere was faith there. We know
(14:25:54):
how many times Jesus operated inresponse to someone's faith. And
I would say that whoever foundthat five loaves of bread and
two fish with this little boyactually did have some faith,
the faith enough to bring it toJesus and go, what about this?
They also had uncertainty anddoubt. But there was enough for
Jesus to do something with that.
(14:26:17):
And so slowing down, looking atwhat you see, and asking the
Lord, what do you want to dowith this? It's so inefficient,
it's contrary to other ways,other methods that we know how
to move in the world, right? Towe want to go okay, I see 5000
people, and I see 5000 loaves ofbread. And so this is the way to
(14:26:38):
do it. But it's contrary to go.
Let me go looking. Let me slowdown. Let me see what we're not
recognizing as provision. Andthen put that in the Masters
hands. I want to give you anexample of this in current, you
know, flesh and blood through aman that I deeply admire a guy
named STS. He's the owner ofball hogs barbecue here in San
(14:27:00):
Antonio on the east side. And Isee streets demonstrate this,
there is nothing. I mean, it'sin a great way, there's nothing
efficient, I would say about theway that streets is mentoring
these kids that he employs athis barbecue restaurant that he
intentionally employs, there'snothing efficient about it, that
(14:27:22):
would be the last word that Iwould use to describe how he's
mentoring and investing in theirlives. We wouldn't call it
efficient. But you know, whatI'd say there is there is few
places, few people that I thinkis doing more impactful work
when it comes to mentoring kidsin an under resourced area of a
city street says in my mind islike, man, that dude is top
(14:27:44):
notch, you need to be teaching,people need to be paying him
money to show them the way in somany ways. And something that
streets mentioned to meyesterday, or at this table that
I was facilitating, he wastalking about sometimes, you
know, what he'll do with thekids is like, let's say if he's
at the at the shop, and he's gotto go right, make a bank run,
he'll just look around and belike, Hey, does anybody need
(14:28:06):
anybody needs to have a bankaccount? Yaga bank accounts, and
they're like, oh, maybe let mewin? Maybe I do. Maybe I don't,
whatever. And so whoever doesn'thave a bank account, okay, all
right. Come ride with me to goto the bank, I hope you set one
up, and he makes it so hedoesn't make this big
grandstanding. You know, dealabout it real comfortable, real
cool, like, and we'll take thesekids with them to the bank. And
(14:28:26):
streets would say he's notrunning this business for
profit. He's not running thisbusiness for money. He's running
this business to deeply investand empower these kids that he
believes in and knows that theyhave what it takes to do
whatever they want to do in lifebecause they are somebody's and
I'm just thinking about there'snothing efficient about that.
(14:28:48):
Some of us have greatintentions, great things we want
to do in the world. But our needand demand for efficiency
prevents us from actuallygetting there from actually
doing it. Because think aboutit, how many kids she just
pulled from the restaurant inorder to just do life with them
and take them to this bank andhelp them set up a bank account.
How much ta added time is he putinto his schedule by not just
(14:29:11):
making a quick run to the bankand coming back and saying, oh,
you know what, I'll set up afinancial literacy course for
them or a cloud, we'll do afinancial literacy class, on an
on a certain day. That's how wewould function right? Because
and then we'll just get all thekids there that's more
efficient. But streets, theslowness of his pace has made
him recognize, yeah, that mightseem more efficient. But that's
(14:29:31):
not how you reach these kids.
You walk with them in life, youmake it a part of their life,
hey, we're just I'm just writingto the bank, you want to come
with me? That's not efficient.
But that's powerful. That'sconnected. Let's go in, hey,
what do I have right here, thatactually will have a multiplying
(14:29:51):
effect? If I apply it in theright way, if I use it in the
right way. And I was justthinking, like, I'm just like,
Man, I learned from this man sooften in these common different
conversations and spaces,because I'm going, what you're
doing is literally inactiverest. It is an act of rest. And
(14:30:12):
it is pushing back, it isresisting societal norms. It is
creating systemic change, iscreating generational change.
And how is he doing that? Why ishe doing that? He is slowing
down. And you don't havegenerational impact without
slowing down. I thoroughlybelieve that we're talking about
(14:30:36):
Jesus is someone who had 12disciples, yeah, crowds, large,
massive crowds, follow themaround or whatever. But he
invested slowly in deeply in 12,folks, and we're still talking
about this man named Jesus, whois the Messiah, we're still
being impacted by the way thatJesus walked on this earth and
(14:30:57):
what he did for us, we're stilltalking about it in his
ministry, which I'm gonna gointo a little quick tangent
there. I was rewriting somecontent on the return to joy
website, and finally writing thestory behind returning to joy,
like, what does that name comefrom? And something that I said
(14:31:18):
was in this on this one line, Itaught him I mentioned ministry,
and then that made me think whatis ministry as a ministry is
obedience to God. And we firstsee the demonstration of good
ministry from Jesus. So we'vemade ministry that even that
term becomes something so bigand an almost unreachable for
(14:31:41):
some folks that when we saylike, Oh, these folks administer
these can't, like we've made itthis really big concept. And
it's so simple. Ministry isobedience to God. Because what
did Jesus said he was doing? Hesaid, I only do what I see My
Father doing. And that requiresslowing down that requires
(14:32:02):
listening, that requiresactually being in tune with what
is my Father doing? See, we wantto put we want to set up systems
around everything, and createwhole programs and have a
structure and in all thesedifferent things we're like, so
that way we can be in controland we can and we can duplicate
but, but honestly, I thinksometimes we're duplicating
ourselves. And I mean, lookaround the systems we've created
(14:32:24):
out here in the world ain't thatgreat? But I'm being challenged
even with like, man, what doesit look like to live my life day
by day? and say, Man, I'm tryingto be obedient to God, I'm
trying to be in tune I'm tryingto walk with I'm trying to walk
with. And then from that lensministry looks pretty big. But
yeah, ministry can simply bekind of where we're coffee shop,
(14:32:45):
am I going to show up at today?
Where am I going to eat today,ministry can be sitting with
your kids, and playing thatvideo game. ministry can be
walking down a street that youwould normally not walk down,
just to be present andproximate. See what you bump
into, you get to get to chatwith smile at ministry can be
(14:33:06):
preaching and teaching. Theministry can also simply be
showing up with someone whenthey're in pain. It can simply
be sitting in someone's presencewho's grieving. It can be loving
a friend Well, it takes on allthese different forms. And I
believe that if we really wantto live in the world, and have
(14:33:27):
impact from a place of activerest, then we learn how to
listen to God and do what wehear, see, feel him doing? We go
like, what are you doing? I wantto do that too. I want to
participate in it. It's notefficient, but it's holy. It's
beautiful. It's what buildsShalom.
It's what like creates wholenessin the world. It's not dependent
(14:33:49):
upon us. One other place where Iwant to demonstrate this a point
this out is with the GoodSamaritan story. You can find it
on Luke nine. But it'sinteresting I was at this the
Civil Rights tour and AllahBama. And on the Civil Rights
tour, the guy Ben McBride, wholeads in power initiative, he
was facilitating the space. Andhe talked about a good Samaritan
(14:34:12):
story. But more specificallytalked about in an experiment
that was done with a group ofministers, pastors, just
different people lay people thatwere in a room talking about
this Good Samaritan story, theyheard all about it right? And
unpacked it some more. And thenessentially, a situation was
staged that mirrored in modernday, that good Samaritan story
(14:34:35):
with someone being in in need,that was in the route, that was
an obstruction between wherethey were at, let's say, point
B, and point A, where they weretrying to go. And they found
that pretty much like none ofthem still, they didn't stop,
even though they just had aconversation about the Good
Samaritan story, they stilldidn't stop to help this person
(14:34:57):
would have been was was showingus demonstrating to us as a
takeaway is that knowing truthdoesn't change things. Knowing
is not enough. We have to haverhythms and practices in our
lives that cause us to slowdown. Because even though you
know what is good, even thoughyou know what is right, even
though you know what is trueabout people, that children of
(14:35:19):
God made in His image that Jesusis Lord, He is faithful, we are
called to participate in hiskingdom here on earth, knowing
that truth does not mean you'regoing to participate in change.
Knowing there is rest, there isan active rest that God provides
does not mean you're going toexperience it, knowing that the
(14:35:40):
Lord's yoke is easy. And Hisburden is light does not mean
you're going to experience thatknowing that he is patient. He's
humble, he's lowly, he drawsnearer to the oppressed, he's on
the side of the eye of the poor,doesn't mean you're going to be
on the side of the poor. Knowingthese truths about God, knowing
these truths about how God wantsto participate in your life, or
(14:36:01):
in the life of other people,does not mean that you are going
to participate in change,knowing truth doesn't change
things alone. Even though theyknew the truth, they still
participated in the same wrongthat they were just talking
about, as they reflect on theGood Samaritan story and Luke
nine and why did theyparticipate in the song, same
wrong? Because they were in ahurry? And so then they became
(14:36:24):
just like, the things that theywere calling out as evil or
wrong? Or in just did theythemselves did that very same
thing? How do we avoid this? Wefound that slowing down is the
way to do so. So what forms ofresistance need to be in your
life? How are you going to slowdown? See, the two things I'm
(14:36:47):
trying to highlight here thatare resistance to this active
rest that we want to participatein in the world is efficiency
and pace? So how are you goingto slow down? How are you going
to mirror the way of Jesus? Whosays he only did what he saw his
father doing? How are you goingto in Jesus's words in Matthew
(14:37:11):
11, verse 29, take his yoke uponhim and learn from him for his
gentle and humble in heart, sothat you may find rest for your
souls. Again, remember thislearning from him and seeing
like, Oh, he's gentle. He'shumble in heart. It didn't look
like an activity. I mean, Jesuswas busy out here. He was busy
(14:37:32):
in the streets. He was he wasbusy, we can all account for
that. And he was enduring a lot.
So what kind of arrest was itthat Christ was participating in
that he has to offer us? Thatwould actually be medicine for
our weary souls as weparticipate in this world, and
seeking to bring his kingdomhere on earth as is and heaven.
I hope this series on recce setyou up for further conversation
(14:37:55):
further unpacking. Because I'mnot trying to be prescriptive
and tell you like this is whatit is. Man that would be bold
and wild of meat, but it's moreso of like, Man, I hope that you
are encouraged and stirred to godigging. Discover what is rest
what is Kingdom rest, the restthat God provides. Thank you
Beloved's for listening to thisfinal episode. I'm really
(14:38:17):
excited that we just got to bewith each other. And we're going
to be going on break. So I willnot you will not see another
episode until March. And I knowit's kind of distant but it's
intentional. Trying to reallyfocus in the next couple of
months on developing resources.
(14:38:38):
So please, please please please,if you haven't already, make
sure you're subscribed to thispodcast so that way you will
remember and you'll you'll get anotification when a new one pops
up. Right you'll see that youwant to subscribe to our website
and make sure you are on theemail list there because I will
send out an email newsletterwhenever our podcasts It picks
(14:39:02):
back up next year. But also i'llbe sending out emails to let you
know of resources that areavailable. Man. The goal here is
we're trying to create veryintentional, curated pathways
towards wholeness helping peoplecultivate joy in their life and
in their community. And so wantto make that really want to
provide guides that really helppeople do that in a practical
(14:39:24):
way. And so, if that's you, makesure you go to our website and
you subscribe, so that way youcan be notified. Also peruse
around the website, a little bitis received an update. It's it
looks very different, very, verydifferent. And we're continuing
to improve on things along theway, but it's been a joy to be
with you. These last sevenepisodes. As always, Blessings
(14:39:47):
to you love you all forlistening, grateful for this
opportunity to have to encourageyou by Beloved's I'll see you
back in March.
Welcome to the return to joy podcast. I'm
your host, Gabrielle MichelLeonard. Here we're leading
people to cultivate joy throughstorytelling. We hope listening
will reveal pathways tounlocking the healing power of
connection, so that you can seeyour relationships and the world
around you transformed fromfractured into flourishing. With
(14:14:26):
sub beloved's, it is the finalepisode of this season. And so
the final episode for this year,and then gonna go on break. But
I'm really excited about this.
I'm excited about thisconversation, we're going to
have to really wrap up thisdiscussion we've had on rest.
And hopefully you've beenchallenged encouraged, you're
thinking differently, you'reasking new questions about what
(14:14:48):
does rest look like in my life?
What does participating inChrist's rest for the world for
my community look like? How do Ienter into that rest? And how do
I invite other people into it, Ihope all of those things are
swirling around in your head.
And for this final conversation,I just wanted to name a couple
things that fight against theactive rest, that Christ invites
(14:15:10):
us into one of those beingefficiency. So earlier today, I
was having a conversation withone of my sisters, Ashley
Rogers, and she was talkingabout Jesus feeding the 5000, in
a conversation she was havingwith a group of women about
stewardship at this Bible studyshe was leading. And something
that struck me was she wasreflecting on how inefficient
(14:15:34):
how Jesus went about feedingthis 5000 was, and it was a new
outlook and a new way to look atthis story. Because when you
look at this story, I'm pullingfrom John chapter six verses one
through 14 here, they've justcrossed over to the far shore of
a sea of Galilee. And there'sthis great crowd of people that
(14:15:57):
are that have followed to seeJesus perform these different
signs and wonders and to see himheal the sick, right? And
they're looking at thismultitude in the disciples,
Philip says, like, hey, like,where we're gonna go to buy
bread for these people to eat.
And then Jesus, Jesus tests hima little bit and says, like,
(14:16:18):
basically, well, you know, youfeed them, he, he's asking them
to feed the people. AndPhillips, like, it would take
more than half a year's wages tobuy enough bread for each one of
these folks to to eat. And soit's like, we need to let them
leave, we need them to be ableto go because they gotta get
food, right and nourishment. Andwe don't have it, we don't we
(14:16:38):
don't have the resources inorder to do it. And something
that I want to highlight here isthey saw the need, they weren't
blind to the needs of thesepeople that they were with. And
so I think that that's probablytrue of yourself, where you're
seeing needs around you, whetherit be your own needs, needs
among your, in your family, orin your community, you see the
need, right. But here's thething that I want to call out
(14:17:02):
that if you've read this story,before, you might have not
noticed that I'm being reallyencouraged by is, there is a
sight of the need. But for thesedisciples to see that small boy,
come on, you got a huge crowd ofpeople we don't we don't know
what's all happening in thisstory. We don't know if that
little boy was right there inthe front. Like if, if the
(14:17:25):
disciples are huddled up withJesus, and they just look to the
left, and here's a little boygoing like, Hey, can I give you
some food, and they're like, Oh,we want to do it. This is all we
got. We don't know. It'sactually a very, like Jewish
practice to imaginatively engagewith the scriptures. And so if
you can visualize what'shappening, if you can picture in
your mind this scene, remember,it's quite counted as 5000
(14:17:49):
people. But this 5000 is notincluding women and children. So
there are 10s of 1000s of peoplehere in this crowd. Like, who
knows how many and I don't knowabout you, but like, I'm not
easily recognizing a little boycarrying a basket of five loaves
and two fish. Right? And wedon't know how long did it take
(14:18:12):
them to find this little boy.
But here's the thing that myfriend was saying, that really
struck me finding that littleboy required slowing down and it
required site, slowing down andit required site. We can see the
needs of what's needed, butwhat's not there can overwhelm
us can create a panic. Butlearning a practice of active
(14:18:37):
rest will have you slowing downand when you slow down, you'll
find where actually what youneed is present among you. What
you need is present is there andthen you can pull from that and
go back to the Lord and go hey,what do you want to do with what
we have right here in our hands.
(14:19:00):
But that requires a skillslowing down, that requires a
going out in searching andseeking that requires what I
believe it's, I believe is rest,an active form of rest. See
Jesus, when he's talking about,you know, the popular verse that
we very much so refer to Matthew11, when he talks about like,
(14:19:23):
Come to me all you are weary andburdened, and I will give you
rest. That's a powerfulstatement, powerful verse, But
I'm struck by and there's a lotof great context around this
whole entire chapter in thechapters next to it. But I'm so
struck by literally right afterthat, it says, Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me, for I amgentle and humble in heart and
(14:19:46):
you will find rest for yoursouls for my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. There is tome there is not better a
description of what is activerest, then this little chunk
right here. Because when wethink about come to me all you
are weary and burdened, I willgive you rest, I'm not gonna
lie, I think about like, Okay,Lord, will You then cradle me
(14:20:10):
and let me you know, sit at yourfeet and be at peace, maybe I'm
gonna massage you can includethat can include me, probably my
feet up can include spendingsome time in prayer can even
include resting glute caninclude solitude, all of these
things are good. And I do thinkall of those things are restful.
But I'm what I'm struck by, isthe fact that Jesus has his yoke
(14:20:33):
is easy. His burden is light.
This is the man who suffered anddied for the world. This is the
man who he came into this worldbearing are missing the mark,
our failure, our lack ofobedience, our lack of trust,
our separation from God are oursinfulness like this is the man
who suffered for us, for us tohave this restored relationship
(14:20:56):
with God. Even before that we'retalking about the like
constantly experiencing of beingmisunderstood, constantly
experiencing the suffering ofpeople, Jesus was weeping at the
oppressive nature of this of thesystems around them. Rome was
oppressive. This this empire ofRome was detrimental, like evil,
(14:21:17):
and unjust. He's Jesus walkingaround seeing this and carrying
all of it, as one who is sofamiliar and connected to us.
And he had compassion, he'scarrying all of that. He's
seeing the need, if you want totalk about someone seeing the
need, seeing the brokenness, andalso Jesus should be
(14:21:39):
overwhelmed. He has a right tobeing overwhelmed. I mean, he, I
mean, he, he's suffered to thepoint of sweating blood in the
garden. And so we're talkingabout someone who, who gets the
pressure, of expectation, thepressure of what is available
versus what is needed. Like he'sseen it in the world pain, and
(14:21:59):
injustice. But yet he's saying,Come to me all you are weary and
burdened, I'll give you rest.
What is his wrestled? Like he'stalking about, like, Take my
yoke upon you, and learn fromme, for I am gentle, and humble
in heart, and you will find restfor your souls for my yoke is
easy. My burden is light. Whatyoke is easy, what burden is
(14:22:21):
light. So we know, Moses evengoing to be prescriptive about
this and tell you what all thatmeans. It's worth digging in.
Because what kind of rest isJesus describing? If he's then
beginning to talk about himselfand saying, learn from me and
how I'm doing this? Learn fromme. This is not just about
(14:22:41):
coming to Jesus, and then himjust, hey, here's some rest for
you. Here's shalom, here'speace. Here's joy. Here's the
fruits of the Spirit given toyou through the work of the Holy
Spirit. This is also like, we'reto learn how is he moving in the
world? How was Christ moving?
And how is that restful? How wasthat light? How was that coming
(14:23:02):
with ease? Because if I'mhonest, like I'm like, Man, I
think he endured a whole lot.
But I can move through the worldand be like this. This doesn't
seem like you can do this. Youcan participate in brokenness,
you can participate in fightingagainst injustice, you can
participate and trying to seethe kingdom of God come and not
(14:23:25):
be overwhelmed or burdened orweary. It feels like that fights
each other. But Christ is goingno, it's possible. Learn from
me. So I'm curious. I'm curious.
I don't know what that means.
But I'm curious to know, whatare you doing different? How's
your rest different Lord? I knowone thing that stands out to me
(14:23:46):
is I know and John five, Jesussays,
I only do what I see My Fatherdoing. So I know that, okay,
Jesus has to be walking in a waythat's constantly in tune,
constantly going, Hey, I'mseeing what's right in front of
me, but I also have this I mean,in touch with what are you
saying, God? What are you doing?
All of my senses are heightenedin aware to the Father, all of
(14:24:07):
my senses are heightened andaware to the creator of the
universe. So Jesus, like I seethe pain, I see the suffering,
I'm not distant from it. I'm notpulled back. I'm not
withholding. I'm not out of outof sight, out of mind. No,
Christ came into the world dweltamong us. So he's in the pain
(14:24:28):
and suffering. But he's alsoconnected. All of him in tune
with the Father, and going outwhat are you doing? My lord?
What are you doing, father? Sowhat does it look like for you
to walk attune to God? It'sworth exploring, I believe one
of those ways is slowing down.
(14:24:50):
You can't walk a tune whenyou're moving fast. I think it's
a slowed pace that sees the fiveloaves of bread in the two small
fish. Sometimes the disciples,they get a bad rap for this
passage, right in John six,because they're like, you know,
we only got this, what we'regonna do with this, but I want
to give them some credit. I wantto give them some flowers in
(14:25:10):
this moment. Because, yes, theystill saw insufficiency, they
still saw it, they still sawlack. But the boy was found the
five loaves of bread, and thetwo fishes nonetheless, were
seen somebody had to walk slowenough to see them. And think
about it, you got your mom, 5000people, we give them we give
(14:25:31):
them a little like this cred forbeing for saying what we're
gonna do with this. But the factthat they even brought it to
Jesus, I don't know about you.
But if I'm scared about asking adumb question, if I'm scared
enough, I'm opening my mouth.
I'm not saying nothing. I'm notsaying nothing. So even that,
like, Hey, we got this here.
There was faith there. I believethere was faith there. We know
(14:25:54):
how many times Jesus operated inresponse to someone's faith. And
I would say that whoever foundthat five loaves of bread and
two fish with this little boyactually did have some faith,
the faith enough to bring it toJesus and go, what about this?
They also had uncertainty anddoubt. But there was enough for
Jesus to do something with that.
(14:26:17):
And so slowing down, looking atwhat you see, and asking the
Lord, what do you want to dowith this? It's so inefficient,
it's contrary to other ways,other methods that we know how
to move in the world, right? Towe want to go okay, I see 5000
people, and I see 5000 loaves ofbread. And so this is the way to
(14:26:38):
do it. But it's contrary to go.
Let me go looking. Let me slowdown. Let me see what we're not
recognizing as provision. Andthen put that in the Masters
hands. I want to give you anexample of this in current, you
know, flesh and blood through aman that I deeply admire a guy
named STS. He's the owner ofball hogs barbecue here in San
(14:27:00):
Antonio on the east side. And Isee streets demonstrate this,
there is nothing. I mean, it'sin a great way, there's nothing
efficient, I would say about theway that streets is mentoring
these kids that he employs athis barbecue restaurant that he
intentionally employs, there'snothing efficient about it, that
(14:27:22):
would be the last word that Iwould use to describe how he's
mentoring and investing in theirlives. We wouldn't call it
efficient. But you know, whatI'd say there is there is few
places, few people that I thinkis doing more impactful work
when it comes to mentoring kidsin an under resourced area of a
city street says in my mind islike, man, that dude is top
(14:27:44):
notch, you need to be teaching,people need to be paying him
money to show them the way in somany ways. And something that
streets mentioned to meyesterday, or at this table that
I was facilitating, he wastalking about sometimes, you
know, what he'll do with thekids is like, let's say if he's
at the at the shop, and he's gotto go right, make a bank run,
he'll just look around and belike, Hey, does anybody need
(14:28:06):
anybody needs to have a bankaccount? Yaga bank accounts, and
they're like, oh, maybe let mewin? Maybe I do. Maybe I don't,
whatever. And so whoever doesn'thave a bank account, okay, all
right. Come ride with me to goto the bank, I hope you set one
up, and he makes it so hedoesn't make this big
grandstanding. You know, dealabout it real comfortable, real
cool, like, and we'll take thesekids with them to the bank. And
(14:28:26):
streets would say he's notrunning this business for
profit. He's not running thisbusiness for money. He's running
this business to deeply investand empower these kids that he
believes in and knows that theyhave what it takes to do
whatever they want to do in lifebecause they are somebody's and
I'm just thinking about there'snothing efficient about that.
(14:28:48):
Some of us have greatintentions, great things we want
to do in the world. But our needand demand for efficiency
prevents us from actuallygetting there from actually
doing it. Because think aboutit, how many kids she just
pulled from the restaurant inorder to just do life with them
and take them to this bank andhelp them set up a bank account.
How much ta added time is he putinto his schedule by not just
(14:29:11):
making a quick run to the bankand coming back and saying, oh,
you know what, I'll set up afinancial literacy course for
them or a cloud, we'll do afinancial literacy class, on an
on a certain day. That's how wewould function right? Because
and then we'll just get all thekids there that's more
efficient. But streets, theslowness of his pace has made
him recognize, yeah, that mightseem more efficient. But that's
(14:29:31):
not how you reach these kids.
You walk with them in life, youmake it a part of their life,
hey, we're just I'm just writingto the bank, you want to come
with me? That's not efficient.
But that's powerful. That'sconnected. Let's go in, hey,
what do I have right here, thatactually will have a multiplying
(14:29:51):
effect? If I apply it in theright way, if I use it in the
right way. And I was justthinking, like, I'm just like,
Man, I learned from this man sooften in these common different
conversations and spaces,because I'm going, what you're
doing is literally inactiverest. It is an act of rest. And
(14:30:12):
it is pushing back, it isresisting societal norms. It is
creating systemic change, iscreating generational change.
And how is he doing that? Why ishe doing that? He is slowing
down. And you don't havegenerational impact without
slowing down. I thoroughlybelieve that we're talking about
(14:30:36):
Jesus is someone who had 12disciples, yeah, crowds, large,
massive crowds, follow themaround or whatever. But he
invested slowly in deeply in 12,folks, and we're still talking
about this man named Jesus, whois the Messiah, we're still
being impacted by the way thatJesus walked on this earth and
(14:30:57):
what he did for us, we're stilltalking about it in his
ministry, which I'm gonna gointo a little quick tangent
there. I was rewriting somecontent on the return to joy
website, and finally writing thestory behind returning to joy,
like, what does that name comefrom? And something that I said
(14:31:18):
was in this on this one line, Itaught him I mentioned ministry,
and then that made me think whatis ministry as a ministry is
obedience to God. And we firstsee the demonstration of good
ministry from Jesus. So we'vemade ministry that even that
term becomes something so bigand an almost unreachable for
(14:31:41):
some folks that when we saylike, Oh, these folks administer
these can't, like we've made itthis really big concept. And
it's so simple. Ministry isobedience to God. Because what
did Jesus said he was doing? Hesaid, I only do what I see My
Father doing. And that requiresslowing down that requires
(14:32:02):
listening, that requiresactually being in tune with what
is my Father doing? See, we wantto put we want to set up systems
around everything, and createwhole programs and have a
structure and in all thesedifferent things we're like, so
that way we can be in controland we can and we can duplicate
but, but honestly, I thinksometimes we're duplicating
ourselves. And I mean, lookaround the systems we've created
(14:32:24):
out here in the world ain't thatgreat? But I'm being challenged
even with like, man, what doesit look like to live my life day
by day? and say, Man, I'm tryingto be obedient to God, I'm
trying to be in tune I'm tryingto walk with I'm trying to walk
with. And then from that lensministry looks pretty big. But
yeah, ministry can simply bekind of where we're coffee shop,
(14:32:45):
am I going to show up at today?
Where am I going to eat today,ministry can be sitting with
your kids, and playing thatvideo game. ministry can be
walking down a street that youwould normally not walk down,
just to be present andproximate. See what you bump
into, you get to get to chatwith smile at ministry can be
(14:33:06):
preaching and teaching. Theministry can also simply be
showing up with someone whenthey're in pain. It can simply
be sitting in someone's presencewho's grieving. It can be loving
a friend Well, it takes on allthese different forms. And I
believe that if we really wantto live in the world, and have
(14:33:27):
impact from a place of activerest, then we learn how to
listen to God and do what wehear, see, feel him doing? We go
like, what are you doing? I wantto do that too. I want to
participate in it. It's notefficient, but it's holy. It's
beautiful. It's what buildsShalom.
It's what like creates wholenessin the world. It's not dependent
(14:33:49):
upon us. One other place where Iwant to demonstrate this a point
this out is with the GoodSamaritan story. You can find it
on Luke nine. But it'sinteresting I was at this the
Civil Rights tour and AllahBama. And on the Civil Rights
tour, the guy Ben McBride, wholeads in power initiative, he
was facilitating the space. Andhe talked about a good Samaritan
(14:34:12):
story. But more specificallytalked about in an experiment
that was done with a group ofministers, pastors, just
different people lay people thatwere in a room talking about
this Good Samaritan story, theyheard all about it right? And
unpacked it some more. And thenessentially, a situation was
staged that mirrored in modernday, that good Samaritan story
(14:34:35):
with someone being in in need,that was in the route, that was
an obstruction between wherethey were at, let's say, point
B, and point A, where they weretrying to go. And they found
that pretty much like none ofthem still, they didn't stop,
even though they just had aconversation about the Good
Samaritan story, they stilldidn't stop to help this person
(14:34:57):
would have been was was showingus demonstrating to us as a
takeaway is that knowing truthdoesn't change things. Knowing
is not enough. We have to haverhythms and practices in our
lives that cause us to slowdown. Because even though you
know what is good, even thoughyou know what is right, even
though you know what is trueabout people, that children of
(14:35:19):
God made in His image that Jesusis Lord, He is faithful, we are
called to participate in hiskingdom here on earth, knowing
that truth does not mean you'regoing to participate in change.
Knowing there is rest, there isan active rest that God provides
does not mean you're going toexperience it, knowing that the
(14:35:40):
Lord's yoke is easy. And Hisburden is light does not mean
you're going to experience thatknowing that he is patient. He's
humble, he's lowly, he drawsnearer to the oppressed, he's on
the side of the eye of the poor,doesn't mean you're going to be
on the side of the poor. Knowingthese truths about God, knowing
these truths about how God wantsto participate in your life, or
(14:36:01):
in the life of other people,does not mean that you are going
to participate in change,knowing truth doesn't change
things alone. Even though theyknew the truth, they still
participated in the same wrongthat they were just talking
about, as they reflect on theGood Samaritan story and Luke
nine and why did theyparticipate in the song, same
wrong? Because they were in ahurry? And so then they became
(14:36:24):
just like, the things that theywere calling out as evil or
wrong? Or in just did theythemselves did that very same
thing? How do we avoid this? Wefound that slowing down is the
way to do so. So what forms ofresistance need to be in your
life? How are you going to slowdown? See, the two things I'm
(14:36:47):
trying to highlight here thatare resistance to this active
rest that we want to participatein in the world is efficiency
and pace? So how are you goingto slow down? How are you going
to mirror the way of Jesus? Whosays he only did what he saw his
father doing? How are you goingto in Jesus's words in Matthew
(14:37:11):
11, verse 29, take his yoke uponhim and learn from him for his
gentle and humble in heart, sothat you may find rest for your
souls. Again, remember thislearning from him and seeing
like, Oh, he's gentle. He'shumble in heart. It didn't look
like an activity. I mean, Jesuswas busy out here. He was busy
(14:37:32):
in the streets. He was he wasbusy, we can all account for
that. And he was enduring a lot.
So what kind of arrest was itthat Christ was participating in
that he has to offer us? Thatwould actually be medicine for
our weary souls as weparticipate in this world, and
seeking to bring his kingdomhere on earth as is and heaven.
I hope this series on recce setyou up for further conversation
(14:37:55):
further unpacking. Because I'mnot trying to be prescriptive
and tell you like this is whatit is. Man that would be bold
and wild of meat, but it's moreso of like, Man, I hope that you
are encouraged and stirred to godigging. Discover what is rest
what is Kingdom rest, the restthat God provides. Thank you
Beloved's for listening to thisfinal episode. I'm really
(14:38:17):
excited that we just got to bewith each other. And we're going
to be going on break. So I willnot you will not see another
episode until March. And I knowit's kind of distant but it's
intentional. Trying to reallyfocus in the next couple of
months on developing resources.
(14:38:38):
So please, please please please,if you haven't already, make
sure you're subscribed to thispodcast so that way you will
remember and you'll you'll get anotification when a new one pops
up. Right you'll see that youwant to subscribe to our website
and make sure you are on theemail list there because I will
send out an email newsletterwhenever our podcasts It picks
(14:39:02):
back up next year. But also i'llbe sending out emails to let you
know of resources that areavailable. Man. The goal here is
we're trying to create veryintentional, curated pathways
towards wholeness helping peoplecultivate joy in their life and
in their community. And so wantto make that really want to
provide guides that really helppeople do that in a practical
(14:39:24):
way. And so, if that's you, makesure you go to our website and
you subscribe, so that way youcan be notified. Also peruse
around the website, a little bitis received an update. It's it
looks very different, very, verydifferent. And we're continuing
to improve on things along theway, but it's been a joy to be
with you. These last sevenepisodes. As always, Blessings
(14:39:47):
to you love you all forlistening, grateful for this
opportunity to have to encourageyou by Beloved's I'll see you
back in March.
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