A Place of Rest

We’ve seen the cartoon in which a stranded man is crawling along in the desert, dying of thirst, and he looks out and, there, in the distance, water and palm trees! He charges toward the oasis and dives into the refreshing water only to find that it was a mirage, a trick of the eyes that mistook the heat shimmering off the desert floor for a pool of water. Splat! Instead of a mouthful of water, a mouthful of sand.

An oasis is a geographical phenomenon where, in the midst of barrenness, there springs up a source of water capable of sustaining life. Oases are the way stations and resting places of ancient caravan routes. In his famous invitation, Jesus puts himself forward as a kind of oasis. In a landscape made barren by sin, he offers, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The invitation is to unite with Christ in a relationship in which he bears the burden of the law, as well as our sin and its consequences. It’s all of grace and we are blessed to be yoked to Jesus.

The church, in kind, needs to be an oasis; a place that offers Jesus’ promised rest. People weary from sin and overburdened by the world’s unrighteous expectations, need to know of the one who will take the burden from them. While this has always been an expectation for the church, in our day we need to particularly be an oasis for those struggling with same-sex attraction or who self-identify as gay. If their desire is to live in the manner that God desires, in our day they will not find the encouragement they need from those outside of the church. It is increasingly the case that they are not free to speak of their inner conflict for fear of a new form of Pharisaism, one practiced by those who embrace gay orthodoxy. Ironically, the church is the only place where they will hear that their desire to walk as God desires, while difficult, is good.

If we are to be a place of rest, however, then we need to search our hearts. Are we able to listen to the language of their struggle? Are we patient enough to bear with their habits and behaviors as they put of the old self and put on the new? To be an oasis we must reflect the love and mercy offered by the one who invites them to take his yoke upon them and learn from him. Those who come must not end up with a mouthful of sand when what they sought was water.