Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
30 The apostles gathered
around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by
yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had
no leisure even to eat.
32 And they went away in
the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going
and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and
arrived ahead of them.
34 As he went ashore, he
saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep
without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at
Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the
boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that
whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid
the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the
fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
I suspect most everyone here knows by now
that Sarah is pregnant. We are expecting our first child any day now. In
fact, Sarah are you here? Ok, good, just making sure I’m not missing it!
If you didn’t know,
Sarah is 39 weeks pregnant this week and we are so ready to meet baby Locke!
Ever since we announced our pregnancy, we have truly been blessed by this
community. Your love and support is incredible and we are truly grateful.
Now of course, this being my first child, I am always open and receptive to
everyone’s advice, and you have willingly offered it. You’ve offered your
experience and advice with everything from preferred diapers and books, to
schools and childcare.
And of all the advice
we’ve gotten, I think the most consistent and most beneficial piece of advice
is to sleep while we can. In fact, many of you have encouraged us to get
extra sleep now, to take our rest as we can before the baby comes. What’s that
all about? There seems to be a consensus that a newborn will
somehow compromise our rest? As though we are about to busier than ever. More
depended upon than ever. It’s as if all of you who are parents or
teachers, aunts or uncles...it’s almost as though you know that my life is
going to change.
It got me thinking this
week, how often do we encourage one another to rest? Out of genuine,
mutual care for one another, how often do we encourage rest? Or better yet, how
receptive are we to the invitation to rest?
I think more often than not our gut reaction is to be defensive. When
someone advises us to rest or take a break we perceive it as an insult, even if
it’s doctor’s orders. The implication is that we look tired, with deep
heavy eyes. We feel convicted or accused because the presumption is that we
can’t take care of ourselves. Or we feel called out because we can’t be
trusted to maintain good boundaries. Even when rest is prescribed in the best interest of our health we’re offended because how dare the doctor presume
to know what’s best for me.
And to be clear, I don’t think any of us are opposed to resting. Who
doesn’t like a good night’s sleep, or a lazy day nap on the couch? I
think we love to rest. But our society and culture pressures us us to believe
that rest equals weakness. That somehow to take a respite or power nap,
to care for ourselves is to ignore work that could be done.
Somewhere the script was flipped and rather that work being a burden to our
self-care, we’ve allowed self-care to be a burden to work. Our society is
go. Go. go. And more often than not, the one who works over-time and risks
their health to get a job done is rewarded. What’s the phrase...no rest for the
weary?
Well, friends, as you
have graciously encouraged me over the last few weeks, I want you to hear the
same good news today: Take a break. Rest. Relax. Refuel. Find your
deserted place and rest awhile. But, you don’t have to take my word for it.
In today’s text the disciples return from their two by two journey. We
have no knowledge of where they’ve been, what they’ve done, or what they’ve
seen or experienced. As they return to Jesus, Mark tells us that they
gathered around Jesus shared All that they had done and taught. I can only
imagine the stories they shared. Stories about families in hard times.
Stories of being rejected, ignored, or dismissed. Stories of unexpected
heeling. Stories of heartbreak or hope. Stories where the Spirit intercede and
grace prevailed.
And in all of these stories and experiences, I imagine the disciples to be
weary. Physically, mentally, spiritually. Tired from their mission.
Exhausted, in the best way, from their two by two Ministry. The text even
tells us they worked so hard that they had no leisure even to eat.
So Jesus not only
offers, but instructs the disciples to rest. He says, “Come away to a
deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile.” Rest. Renew. Refuel.
Recharge. You have worked hard. Mission and ministry is tiring. Good and
faithful servant, take rest. You deserve rest.
In seminary, every
Lutheran candidate is required to complete a unit of CPE. That’s clinical
pastoral education. 400 hours of working in a hospital, hospice, or nursing
facility as a chaplain.
300 hours are spent on
the floor, knocking on doors, and responding to calls. The other 100
hours are spend in a class setting, evaluating your visits, learning about
yourself, and most of all learning about yourself during visits. But one
big responsibility is being on-call.
I did my CPE chaplaincy at level one trauma hospital that had nearly 1000 beds,
and it was my turn for on-call. My first overnight, by myself. So as 5:00
O’clock hits and all the other chaplains hand-offer their call sheets and
pagers, I was left by myself with a stack of visit requests, 4 pagers, and two
on-call phones.
So I went to work. Visit after visit. Saw patients, and responded to
emergencies. I say with families as they waited. And others as they grieved.
Before I knew it, it was morning, and as the other chaplains arrived they
commented how tired I looked. The room got quite as I gave my report.
Everyone seemed shocked
and my supervisor stopped me and said, “how late were you up?”
Well I was on-call all
night...so I was awake all night. There were lots of request visits and
emergencies and families...”
She stopped me and said, “Wait. So you didn’t sleep or nap at all?”
I was appalled, “How
could I, I said, when there was so much to do!?”
She smiled...and then she taught me a lesson.
“Daniel, there will
always be families in need. Always be emergencies. Always be visits to make.
There will always be a need for a chaplain. There will always be stories
to share. There will always be ministry to be done. But you simply cannot
care for others, if you do not care for yourself. It is ok to rest and sleep.”
It is ok to rest.
We don’t often think about the ministry of resting. God’s mission to
sleep. Have you ever thought that perhaps God may be calling you to sleep.
To rest. To relax. Refuel. Recharge?
I think it’s certainly within reason for us to discern that at times God is
stirring within us a holy slumber. Even God, on the 7th day, God finished
the work and rested. On the seventh day God rested from the all the work that
God had done. So God blessed the 7th day, hallowed it, because on it God
rested from all the work done in creation.
Mark’s gospel story is a
very fast-paced account of Jesus’ life and ministry. Even from the
beginning Mark wastes no time with lineage, birth announcements, or even a
birth.
Mark begins by saying
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ,” and from then on it’s a non-stop
race. John announces Jesus and Jesus jumps right into ministry. And with
a quick recap we might notice that almost every story of Jesus in Mark’s gospel
begins with a quick transition… “And then he...” “Immediately…” “On that
day..” “When he crossed…” Even today’s text says, “When the crossed…” Jesus is
always on the move. And Mark writes with urgency in the stories of Jesus.
So when Mark takes the
time to intentionally tell us about Jesus recognizing the disciples’ weariness,
and inviting them to come away to a deserted place to rest awhile..I think we
should listen. I think Mark is lifting up a valuable, essential piece to
ministry - self care. Rest. refueling and recharging. Jesus encourages the
disciples to take a break. Cool their jets. Take time for themselves to rest.
What’s important to discover here is not necessarily that Jesus empowers them
to take a nap, but he says “come away to a deserted place by yourselves to rest
for a while.” A deserted place. A place that’s set apart...apart from
crowds, work, and business. Apart from streets and buildings. It’s almost of
middle of nowhere. Because in the deserted place there is no distraction.
There is no wifi, netflix, Facebook, or email.
Come away to a deserted place, and if you need a nap, then nap. But in
the deserted place you are free from distraction, freed from the stress of
life, free the pressure of society and culture to be “on” all the time.
You are free to rest in the comfort and care of the shepherd. Free to
refuel the mind, the body, and the Spirit. To reflect, pray, confess. To feed
on the word and rest in the one whom created you,
It’s always easier to look on from the outside isn’t it? Easier to be the
one encouraging and advocating for rest than it is to confront your own
exhaustion and name your own need for spiritual, mental or physical respite and
renewal. And the hardest part about naming your need for rest...is
claiming it and not feeling guilty.
The call to discipleship
is tiresome. It’s a non-stop journey because you’re not called to work as
a disciple, but rather to be a disciple. And rather that take a break and
rest from being a disciple...I think resting is in the nature of the disciple.
It’s in the nature of the one who created us and a necessary discipline
in the life of the apostles.
Volunteering for family
promise, VBS, back to school Sunday, UCOM, LSS, office volunteer, fellowship
meal, or Saturday morning men in mission...it’s hard work. Serving on a
committee, council or team...it’s hard work. Living out your vocation as a
teacher, doctor, engineer, musician, waiter, security, parent, grandparent,
garbage collector, or student...it’s hard work.
Now you might be
thinking...well wait a minute...Jesus invited the disciples away to rest but as
soon as they did the crowds swarmed in and overwhelmed them with a hunger for
Jesus. Well...you’re right. Jesus encourages a well-deserved rest not only
for work well-done, but because there is more work to be done. It’s almost as
though Jesus knows there will be more work ahead of them. Crowds who
hunger for healing. Crowds who hunger for justice. Crowds who hunger for the
word of hope, grace, peace, and love.
It’s as though Jesus
knows they are about to be busier than ever before. More depended upon
than ever. It’s as if Jesus knows that their lives are going to change.
It’s true. Because in the ministry of the gospel, there will always be
work to be done
But the good news
friends, is that Jesus first teaches them to rest. And if you never hear
it, hear it today: Well done, good and faithful servant, now come away to a
deserted place and find rest. Because spiritual care is an important part
of being a discipleship. Never feel guilty.
Amen.
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