Rest and the word of God
by Pastor Glenn Crouch
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For the word of God is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12a).
Read Hebrews 4:1–13
I have recently had a period of rest forced upon me due to unexpected emergency surgery. This is not the sort of rest we read about today. Rather, the writer talks about entering into the rest of the Lord God. Notice that the writer refers us back to creation and, in the previous chapter, to the Exodus. We are briefly shown that the people of God, even under Joshua, failed to obtain this much-desired Sabbath rest.
However, like the people in the Old Testament, our souls also cry out for this Sabbath rest. The writer does not want their listeners to miss out. We, too, can miss out by taking our focus off Jesus, by neglecting time in prayer and with the Scriptures. Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have access to the rest that God has promised – and the day will come when we fully enter that rest. But we can get distracted by the busyness of the world and the many idols we construct – the evil one does not want us entering into that Sabbath rest.
In the Small Catechism, when examining the commandment about the Sabbath, Martin Luther said, ‘We should fear and love God so that we may not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it’. Just like the writer to the Hebrews, he ties the Sabbath rest to God’s word. We need to read it, to hear it. We need to hear good solid preaching that points us to Jesus and his cross – and we need to hear this every week.
We are so blessed to have access to the written and proclaimed word of God in so many forms, yet how seldom do we take advantage of these resources? Use the blessings that God has provided so that your focus may remain on the word of God-made flesh: our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Creator God, thank you that, through your dear Son, I can share in your Sabbath rest. Forgive me for continuing to place things ahead of your word. Help me to better hear your Holy Spirit as he speaks through your word and leads me into your rest. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
Glenn Crouch was born in Brisbane, baptised in the Methodist Church, and married Karen in a Reformed Baptist Church. They moved to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia 37 years ago, where Glenn worked as a lecturer in computing. After serving as a Baptist pastor, Glenn joined the Lutheran Church with Karen in 1995. Glenn served as a lay preacher, which led to him becoming a Specific Ministry Pastor, and then a General Ministry Pastor. Recently Glenn and Karen have bundled everything up and moved to Esperance, Western Australia, where Glenn has his first full-time paid ministry role as pastor of St John’s in Esperance and St Paul’s in Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
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