Dear friends, I know what I am supposed to do up here in this pulpit. I’m supposed to startle you with some stabbing statement of Scripture. I’m supposed to challenge you with some call of Christ. I’m supposed to impress you with some imperative of the Gospel. But, do you know something? I don’t want to do any of those things today. I just want to tell you to relax, to rest, unwind, sit loose, take it easy, let your mind wander, if you will. In fact, you don’t have to listen to what I’m saying, if there’s something important that you have to think about, something restful.

When friends ask "How are you?", I’m sure that most of us should come back with the honest answer, "Tired." But that tiredness is more than a weariness of bone, muscle or mind. It goes deeper than that. It’s a kind of let…