Discovering Jesus’ Rhythm
It’s time for a RiverLifeLife tradition--our annual New Year sermon! We all make resolutions. We all break resolutions. But if we're really honest, there is something in each of our lives—a habit, a relationship, a debt—that deserves our attention this year. In this message, Pastor Kong expands on last weeks message to dive deeper and discover the rhythm Jesus calls us to join Him in, and applying that to discover our One Thing in this new year.
INTRO
Good morning! This morning, we were going to kick off our RiverLife 2034 Values series, but we decided to move it to next Sunday.
This morning, I wanted to marinate in our New Year sermon from last week just a bit more.
Every year, we kick off the New Year with our “This One Thing” sermon.
I encourage you to listen to it if you weren’t here with us last week.
Each year, we encourage you to figure out what is the one thing you need to change to make a difference in your life.
After service last Sunday, I left feeling a bit stuck when I realized that my one thing, which is my health, has been the same thing for the past 3 years now.
Can anyone else relate?
I experienced change when my health became my one thing, but then reverted back to some old and unhealthy habits.
And as I marinated on this some more, I wanted to spend some time to see how I can further encourage us to make that change if our one thing has been the same thing for years and years and years.
As I reflected on my health journey, I was reminded that my one thing isn’t just about my health.
At the root, my one thing is tied to being dependent on food to make me feel good.
When things start to feel tough, I’ll turn to food and often the unhealthy kind as a solution to help me feel better.
My second half of 2024 was so unhealthy, I had to think through my stressors.
I realized it was a tougher year than most so I reverted to old rhythms of eating whatever I wanted to help me feel happy.
And this led me to consider what are different rhythms we should consider if we truly want to change our patterns and successfully overcome our one thing, so it doesn’t become the same thing next year.
RHYTHMS ARE BUILT IN OUR LIVES WHETHER WE KNOW IT OR NOT
Our lives are governed by rhythms.
Time is a rhythm, traffic lights follow a rhythm, bodily functions like breathing, heartbeat, and walking are regulated by rhythm.
Our daily routines follow a rhythm.
We wake up around the same time each day. We have a work rhythm.
We have a rhythm with our meals.
We have a rhythm when we come home to help us relax and rest.
Rhythm governs our life.
But occasionally our rhythms get disrupted.
Life events and crises happen like adulthood, marriage, children, ER visits, all sorts of stress mess with our rhythms causing us to find ways to adjust.
Sometimes we find helpful rhythms and other times they are harmful.
In light of thinking about the one thing we want to change, I want to address the harmful rhythms.
These are rhythms we’ve established for whatever reason that we want to get rid of because they aren’t help.
And they might have been introduced at one point to help us cope, but we’ve depended on them more than we needed to.
Like I mentioned earlier, when things get stressful, I revert to unhealthy eating to make me feel better. And it seems harmless, but over a long period of time it comes at a cost and negatively impacts me and others.
So I’d like for us to consider what your current rhythms are and what can you do differently.
It’s always important to examine unhealthy or abnormal rhythms.
If we don’t, they will eventually cause bigger issues.
Something as simple as music that’s off rhythm can become extremely irritating.
The melodies and harmonies in our favorite songs sound beautiful when they follow the same rhythm, but when its off it becomes unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
In a little bit here, I’m going to play one of Michael Jackson’s top hit, “Beat It”.
The first 20 seconds of it is normal, but the rest is off tempo.
Take a listen and notice how it makes you feel.
I call this Michael Jackson disaster “Off-Beat It”.
I don’t know about you, but I was so uncomfortable I started to squirm because it was so bad!
In medical world, most if not all abnormal rhythms have bad consequences.
Sleep disorders like insomnia disrupt our rest rhythm.
At first, it can cause mild symptoms like feeling tired or grumpy, but over time, the consequences are severe.
Diabetes, deep depression, and a shortened lifespan are just some possibilities.
An irregular heartbeat can cause dizziness or shortness of breath, but over time the consequences can include heart failure, or organ damage, which are life threatening.
Abnormal rhythms in the brain or nervous system can cause life-changing issues like schizophrenia, epilepsy, autism, or Parkinson’s, making life more and more difficult.
To combat these unhealthy rhythms, experts often find ways to help a person regulate so they can maintain a healthy rhythm.
Interestingly, individuals experiencing Parkinson’s have found relief from their symptoms through music and dance therapy.
External cues from the rhythm in music and dance helps them improve movement coordination when their internal sense is impaired.
This helps individuals who have Parkinson’s experience improved mobility.
It goes to show us that when a rhythm negatively impacts us, we need to look outside of ourselves for new rhythms.
GOD’S RHYTHM
I think about dancing.
When my rhythm is off, I will turn to those around me and observe how things should function.
I rarely dance, but when you get a group of people doing the Electric Slide or Cha Cha Slide at a wedding, you can’t help, but join in on the fun.
My two left feet will often cause me to be a step early or a step late so I look to others to help correct my rhythm.
Similarly, when it comes to the one thing that we need to change this year, we must look to others to help us change our unhealthy rhythms.
And when it comes to major life change addressing our unhealthy rhythms, we need to look to God.
God because he’s all about rhythm and change.
God has rhythm.
During the 6 days of creation, God had a rhythm of creating, observing, and resting.
From that, God gave us 6 days to work and a 7th day to rest.
That was the rhythm before sin entered, but even after sin entered the world God demonstrates his rhythm in this way.
Over and over and over again, God invites people to obey him, humbles them by teaching them the to depend on him, and empowers them to do what he asks.
This was God’s rhythm he instilled with individuals like Moses and David.
Now, fast forward to Jesus, who was God and came down to earth as a human, followed this rhythm. Jesus humbled himself, depended on God, and was empowered by God to do miracles.
If this is God’s rhythm, we have to consider if we are cooperating or clashing with it and one of the best places in scripture to help us understand this is Matthew 11.
DISCOVERING JESUS’ RHYTHM IN MATTHEW 11
During scripture reading, we heard from Matthew 11.
This passage helps us understand God’s rhythm for us.
Let me provide a bit more context to help us understand what’s going on and how we can better understand God’s rhythm for us.
At the opening of Matthew 11, we’re told that John the Baptist was in prison, and he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah.
Messiah is a term for God’s promised rescuer who will establish God’s rule and reign on earth.
Now, John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin who preached to people to turn away from sin and turn to God because Jesus, the Messiah, was coming.
Ironically here, John is questioning if Jesus is indeed the Messiah because Jesus’ rhythms weren’t what John expected.
John expected Jesus to come and change everything, but instead he was stuck in jail.
Jesus assures John that he is the Messiah.
Next, Jesus addressed the unbelieving crowd.
Many didn’t believe in John’s message of the Messiah because they thought he was demon-possessed. He lived a very stripped down life abstaining from the delicious food and drink everyone else ate, focused on preaching repentance, and ate locusts and honey.
When Jesus begins to minister, he eats and drinks with people, but the unbelievers considered him to be ungodly because he was a glutton and drunk.
Jesus reveals that they have clashing rhythms and those who chose not to believe in him were in opposition to the kingdom.
Their unbelief and rejection of Jesus was fueled by their misunderstanding of God’s law.
They interpreted God’s commandments to be a list of massive, heavy, and burdensome obligations that each person needed to obey.
They approached God’s commands from a legalistic perspective.
They saw it necessary to strictly live to rules and regulations as the means to be right with God.
The issue with legalism was that followers appeared to be righteous and spiritual, but it was all an outward performance.
They acted this way to gain favor from their spiritual leaders and community, but there was no real transformation.
God desired people to obey out of being loved and transformed by him.
And after Jesus rebuked the people for their unhealthy rhythms, he warmly invites them into his rhythm in verses 28-30.
This is what he says,
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus recognized that the people were exhausted trying to follow all the laws in the Old Testament.
There are 613 laws total with commandments ranging from obscure things like not wearing clothes made from 2 different types of fabric to very important of laws governing civilization like the 10 Commandments, which included things like don’t murder, don’t steal, and honor your parents.
He uses a yoke to describe this exhaustion. Y-O-K-E, not Y-O-L-K like egg yolk.
A yoke was a wooden frame used to join two oxen together to pull heavy loads.
It was an image used to describe oppression from slavery.
Jesus revealed to the people that their understanding and interpretation of God’s law was incorrect. Instead of encouraging them to love God more, they were discouraging them by being unrealistic and overly rigid.
Jesus saw that the people were exhausted from the leaders and teachers who pressured them to live a way that they couldn’t even live themselves so he offers them a different rhythm, a new rhythm which begins with rest.
The type of rest Jesus meant was one that stopped a person from doing anything so that they would recover to collect their strength.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary suggests that rest hints of an anticipation towards something new, something different, something refreshing.
The passage tells us that instead of experiencing a yoke of weariness and being burdened, Jesus invites us to experience his yoke, which is easy and light.
Instead of following the 613 Old Testament laws, Jesus’ yoke was invitation to turn to him, trust him, and follow him.
Taking on Jesus’ yoke meant we would admit to our inability to do anything and turn to Jesus because he can do everything, submit to his desires, and be transformed by the Holy Spirit who changes to be more like him.
That’s the rhythm Jesus wants us to experience.
APPLICATION
Now, what does that have to do with our “one thing”?
If your “one thing” has been the “same thing” for years and years, I think it’s worth considering a new rhythm.
Maybe our “one thing” is so big and unmanageable that the only thing that can change it is Jesus’ rhythm. Admittedly, when I depend on food to make me feel better, I wonder if I wander into idolatry.
When I depend on food to make me happy and joyful, I might be replacing food with God.
The issue isn’t just diet or exercise, but it’s my hope that food will fulfill me.
And for me to topple that idol, I need God to step in.
I need to stop depending on my rhythm because it hasn’t worked and consider his rhythm,
So maybe this New Year, you also need to consider Jesus’ new rhythm.
He invites you and I to experience his yoke, which is easy and light.
He invites you into rest.
To recover from the concepts like “try harder” or “do better”.
Instead of depending on our own strength to change, maybe we need to depend on his strength to change.
Maybe adjusting to Jesus’ new rhythm this year will help you achieve your one thing so that it doesn’t become your same thing next year.
Maybe we need to rest in him by surrendering to his ways instead of ours.
We quiet ourselves and the rhythms we’ve followed, be still, and surrender to God and his rhythm for us. Your one thing is important, but if it’s been the same thing, don’t let it overwhelm you this year.
Let God establish a new rhythm to help you change whatever it is.
Let’s pray.