Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

A young district manager didn’t like the direction his company was headed. He felt he was given assignment after assignment that was burdensome and really counterproductive. His suggestions were ignored. He could see that the company was headed for the rocks. So quietly he put his résumé out there and he made a lateral move to another company, bringing him no advantage in position or money. When people asked why he’d done it, he answered, “I just got tried of polishing the brass on the Titanic.” And sure enough a few years later the company he used to work for hit the iceberg of hard times and sank.

This story and that metaphor of “polishing brass on the Titanic,” has stuck with me. As Pastor I look around and can often see how what people are doing is burdensome and sometimes as futile as “polishing brass on the Titanic.” Some of us are burdened by the weight of self-imposed expectations: “I must be prefect;” “whatever I do never seems quite good enough.” It is like this voice lives inside my head and criticizes everything I do. At times, I think even God must be in on it. I try harder and harder and never seem to make it; I feel as though I’m rubbing brass and the water is still rising up above my knees.

Some of us are so burdened by the weight of our sins that we don’t know what to do. We frantically rub the brass of the Titanic as if this good work might impress the Captain and make amends for what we’ve done to the ship.

Some of us are overburdened by our circumstances: ill-health or old age, the struggle to raise children or worry over the grandchildren, and others of us are overwhelmed by all manner of unfairness, all of which is so burdensome that we lose sight of the promises of God. We know that Jesus has promised to be with us but we live as though that were just some sort of a slogan. Rather than turning to God, we polish the brass while reading the latest self-help book or listening to some talk show guru, all the while believing that if we somehow rub and polish hard enough we’ll overcome our problems.

Others of us wear ourselves out trying to make ourselves acceptable to God. We say, “Oh, I believe in Jesus and I’m saved by grace,” but we live as though we must now make ourselves acceptable to Him by finishing off our salvation, somehow proving our worthiness. And the harder we try the more futile it becomes. We find the good that we would do, we don’t do. The evil we would not do this we do time and time again. (Rom 7.15)

There are some who are oblivious to the fact the Titanic struck an iceberg - our lives are good and we are complacent even as the water rises around us.

What are we to do? It is too overwhelming: no matter our situation, the waters are rising fast and rubbing the brass of our good works isn’t building us a lifeboat.

Jesus comes to us saying, Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. I will provide the lasting lifeboat that you need. Put down that polishing rag, and come and listen.

Many of you are burdened because of your sins. Come and lay them down before me; there is no need for you to carry them. Two thousands years ago I took the burden of the world’s sins to cross. There by my death and resurrection I paid the price sin demands. It is written: He is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. (1st John 2.2) No amount of good works can add to what I’ve done. Don’t futilely try to polish the brass of your good works to earn God’s forgiveness. You already have it. It is done. The good you would do - do it in joyful response to what has been done for you. I alone have atoned for your sins.

As to you who are seeking to live a perfect life, Jesus says, Come to Me. I will take from you the burdensome and crushing yoke of self-perfection and I will give to you the freeing yoke of My life lived without sin, blame, or condemnation. When the Father looks at you He will see not your imperfections but My perfection. For it is written, By the one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Heb 10.14)

In Me you are declared holy, blameless, and prefect. Oh, for a time we will live in between two worlds: holy saint and imperfect sinner. But be gentle with yourself. Know that the harder you try to live a sinless life the more you will be conscious of how sinful you are. Be gentle with yourself. God the Holy Spirit can use this to draw you closer to Himself. He can refashion your heart to confess your sins to the Father and to treasure His forgiveness that the Son pours out upon you. Treasure what was said to the paralyzed man for it is a message to us as well, Take heart your sins are forgiven! (Matt 9.2) By the working of the Holy Spirit we can be brought to delight in God’s grace, mercy, and peace. He can lead us to live lives in keeping with our repentance, and as He is gentle with us, He can teach us to be gentle with ourselves and with others.

For many of us the struggles of life are often overwhelming and burdensome. The four Gospels record how the people came to Him with all manner of disease, hurt, and problem. They were harassed and often beaten down by life and it is recorded crowds of people came to Jesus and when He saw them He had compassion on them for they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. That same Jesus is with us today because Jesus is God, and being God, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. ((Heb 13.8) The Jesus who had compassion on them has compassion on us. He comes to us in real ways so that we would know His words and promises are real. It is God who we hear when the scriptures are read. For all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Tim 3.16-17) It is by that Word that we can have hope, comfort, and peace even in seemingly impossible situations.

It is by the objective means of grace, the tangible means of grace, that we can be certain that God is with us and for us. We need only be reminded of our baptism. For God has declared by and through baptism, He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son (whom) He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1.13-14). It is in communion that Jesus takes hold of us in a real way. “I know the struggle and storms that you are in and surely I am with you.” (Matt 28.20) His Words declare that He is truly present, having joined Himself to the bread and wine, “take hold of me as I take hold you that your faith may be made stronger.” Come to Me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Come to Me all of you who are burdened and weary of polishing the brass on the Titanic and I will give you lasting rest – rest that comes by and through the study of God’s life-changing Word, the joy of our sins forgiven, and renewal of baptism, communion, and fellowship.

All around us are people like us who apart from the working of the Holy Spirit will live lives of futility. Many are judged as very good people in the eyes of the world, yet the Titanic we call this life has already struck the iceberg. Whether we want to admit it or not, apart form God we will all perish. Polishing the brass will not save us. A raft of good works will not endure and it will quickly break apart as will lifeboats constructed from the faulty wood of human reason and wishful thinking. There is only one rescuer who can save us. He has built the rescue boat from the enduring wood of the cross. It is there along side the Titanic. He has built it large enough that all can be saved, but how will they know if no one tells them. He has send us out to tell others to “come, time is running out, stop polishing the brass, and get on board before it is too late.” Amen.