February 24, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 11:25-30

Daily Lectionary: Job 19:1-12, 21-27; John 8:1-20

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

On this day, the Church remembers Matthias, the thirteenth of the Twelve Apostles. As the book of Acts starts, the Eleven figure that they need a replacement for Judas, who betrayed Jesus and died a horrible death. But doesn’t it feel like the Gospel reading assigned for this festival doesn’t quite fit? Does replacing Judas sound like an easy yoke for Matthias? Does facing death by confessing Christ sound like a light burden? 

We might ask the same question. This world inflicts heavy burdens on us. We face rejection for confessing Christ. We face addiction, depression, loneliness, and fear. Where’s this rest that Jesus promises? When will all these things end? At our death? But what about now? What does rest look like now?

However, we first must know what rest is. Rest isn’t simply the cessation of work. Rest isn’t simply the end of doing something difficult. Rest isn’t turning off your brain or simply sleeping. Our world defines rest that way. But how do you feel after doom-scrolling for hours? How do you feel after binge-watching shows all evening? Or when you’ve done nothing at all. How do you feel after enduring work all day and waking up the next day, only to do it all over again? It’s not rest you receive, no matter what our world calls it. 

Josef Pieper, in his book Leisure, the Basis of Culture, explains it this way: The highest form of rest comes from the festival. And at the heart of every festival is worship. 

You don’t turn off your brain, or sleep, or do nothing when there’s a festival. Instead, they are often very busy. But the doing is in service to the joy, rather than because it is necessary.

Today is a festival. We celebrate St. Matthias, the apostle whom Jesus chose, that His Word would be proclaimed. There’s a feast at the festival, a feast at the center of our worship, and the feast is Christ Himself. Facing the world? Christ says, “Take and Eat; this is My body.” Facing addiction, depression, loneliness, and fear? Christ says, “Take and drink, My blood shed for your forgiveness.” Doing nothing doesn’t prepare us for fighting these battles. Christ putting Himself in us does. Because rest doesn’t come from inaction. Rest comes from the feast in worship, which brings the strength to endure the world.

Jesus Himself is who eases the yokes of this world and lightens the struggles we face. And Jesus gives you His Body and Blood in His feast for that purpose. This is why the Church has so many feasts, including the weekly feast celebrating Christ’s resurrection from the dead every Sunday. We need the festival. We need the joy it brings. We need the rest it provides. We need Jesus. And here He is.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.