Grab Your Sledgehammer and Come

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. –  Jesus (Matthew 11:28-29)

We are broken people being restored by God’s grace living out his story.  The photography displayed in the sanctuary evokes feelings that are the result of our brokenness.  We sing about our present states of arrogance, pride, sorrow, wanting, sin, shame, loss, storms, and more.  We hear the Ten Commandments spoken and respond singing, “Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts and our minds to keep this law.” The burdens of these broken laws and destructive patterns are too much for us to bear, and one of the reasons we come to Jesus is because he says that he will give us rest.

The black frames that surround each lonely photograph point us to the black wall in the chancel – the backdrop for the cross.  Each week, after the Decalogue is read, someone from our church will swing a sledgehammer at the front wall to represent the frustration of falling short of a law that was intended to give life.  This wall holding the cross points us to our need for Jesus to save us and to his desire for us to bring our frustrations and our brokenness to him.

A suggestion for Sundays during Lent:

Think of the pictures on the sidewalls as little descriptions of you.  Spend time looking at them to see what God might teach you about yourself.  As you hear and sing around the Decalogue, ask God to teach you about the disparity between your life and his will for you.  Then let yourself come to him with whatever emotions and whatever burdens you bear.

[audio: https://restorationarlington.org/files/2013/02/S-Come-To-Me-E2.mp3|titles=Come To Me]
Words by Jesus and tune by Aaron Shust

Photographs in sanctuary created and donated by Rachael Foster.

For this Sunday’s Scripture readings and music, go to restorationmusic.wordpress.com.