Two bits of the gospel story are put together for today's lectionary lesson from Mark. First (6:30-34), the disciples have been out in the neighborhood, teaching the words that Jesus had taught them and doing the good deeds that they had seen him do. You remember that, after his rejection in Nazareth, he commissioned his close followers to be his messengers to the world. Now they have returned to Jesus with reports of their work. I suppose we might even say, in today's images, that the sales force is back at general headquarters. The calls have been made. The results are being tallied. But, unlike some of today's images, Jesus is deeply aware of the emotional drain upon his friends. It must have been evident to Jesus that the disciples had traveled far, had been diligent in their teaching, and had given unstintingly of themselves in their healing of life's hurts. Now, together again, Jesus says it is time for rest, time to recharge the batteries!
Dr. William Barclay, in his commentary on this part of Mark, says that these words of scripture describe "the rhythm of the Christian life." It is not possible to be all that Christ asks us to be without moments of retreat and renewal. It is not possible to be all of the time at the tasks of feeding the hungry and healing the ill and clothing the naked and comforting the dying - without stepping back into times of renewing our resources. Burnout can happen to church workers as well as to those in the teaching profession or in sales. Occasionally I worry about some folks who are the good deed doers in local churches. They assume so many worthy responsibilities and carry out the tasks so conscientiously that there may come the day when they must back away to restore their resources. If they do not, they can break! That break does not serve the Master's purpose, nor build his kingdom.
Jesus proposed that spiritual restoring by trying to take a boat to the other side of the Galilee Lake. He and his disciples were headed for a lonely place. That is not only an ancient practice. I have a friend in ministry who annually goes to a Roman Catholic monastery in another state for such retreat. There he has a room, a cot, a chair and desk and the chapel bells that sound every three hours, inviting him to times of thoughtful meditation. In that place, he is separated from the intensity of his daily work. From that place, alone he is resourced to better enter the intensity of ministry once again. Also, I found the high mountains of Colorado to be such a time for me. It is nice to have a wife who must take business trips and allows her spouse to come along! It is helpful for more than priests and ministers! It is the sort of help provided to a young mother by a mother's morning out. It is the sort of help provided by going to a ball game, or, I am told by someone close to me, by going shopping at the mall! We do need that rhythm in our lives that backs us away from the pressure and allows us the time apart for strength-gaining.
Of course, the most obvious (and least understood) time for such spiritual strength-gaining is what we are about at this hour! We come to the sanctuary, the sacred place set apart, in order that we might be blessed, forgiven, recharged for the opportunities of ministry that call to all of us when we leave this place. One old Colonial church had upon its front door's lintel, on the outside, the words, "Come to worship God." The same lintel, on the inside, said, "Leave to serve God's children." Both directions are necessary. I find that so in my life. I hope you do, too! Poet Mary Hallet knew this when she wrote:
Until I caught the rhythm of [Christ's] life,I had not heard the music of the spheres,The simple cadences of ancient psalms,The lyric beauty of a thousand years.
Yet, even as Jesus and the disciples sought the solitude, that sanctuary on the other side of the lake, the plight of the crowd was very evident. You can picture it geographically. Jesus and the disciples left the people at one point on the Galilee shoreline. They took the boat across, but the people saw the direction they were sailing. They followed the boat, running along the shoreline. With little wind upon the sea to speed the boat, the crowds met the tired Jesus and the tired disciples as their boat was beached upon the far shore.
What should they do? What would you do? This scripture gives a wonderful little window into Jesus' psyche. Despite the need for rest, he is "moved to the depths of his being with pity for them." Those are Mark's words. There was such compassion about Jesus. The image is of a shepherd sensing his responsibility for the sheep. The crowds that again clustered around were "like sheep who had no shepherd." And so Jesus again began to talk with them, and to share with them the wholeness of God's love and acceptance that would make them complete. His teaching was of their worth in God's sight and that the power of worth gave them strength to live. Jesus gave of himself, still. Sometimes the rhythm of life is interrupted. The desired and necessary rest is once again pushed aside in order that the task of caring take place. That is the message of verses 30-34.
The lectionary text for this day jumps over two major events in Jesus' ministry, as recorded in Mark's sixth chapter. Next is the little boy's gift of five loaves and two fish that feed the multitude (Mark 6:35-44) and then is the story of Jesus' solitude in prayer that ended with his meeting the disciples, "walking on the sea." (Mark 6:45-52) These two texts are proposed for later study, so that today's scripture reading concludes with the general word about the crowds coming to Jesus for healing. Their faith was so strong that some begged "to be allowed to touch even the tassel of his robe; and all who touched it were restored to health." Those are Mark's words. Such was the faith in God's power through Jesus that even to touch the little prayer shawl tassel would bring healing.
We do not need to understand, with our scientific mind set, all the ways by which healing took place 2,000 years ago. If a broken life is made whole, it is a miracle whether it followed the science of psychology and medicine or was by an act of interrupting all the laws of nature! Blindness can be caused by acid thrown upon the eyes or by shellshock upon the mind. But the curing of blindness, no matter what the cause, is a miracle - then and now! The crippled limp is caused by the accidental crushing of bones or by some deep psychic trauma. But the curing of a crippled leg is a miracle - then and now. A body declared dead, whether from a heart stopped or a fevered coma, and then restored to life is miracle enough for any age. A life rejected and scorned and spit upon and told "you ain't worth nothing," is brought to wholeness with word of divine forgiveness and acceptance. That is a miracle whether on the Galilee shoreline or in the suburbs!
You see, we are that crowd that ran around the edge of the sea. We still come to Jesus for healing. We want only to reach out to him in spirit-touch. We still seek him that we might be forgiven for the sins we have done. In that forgiveness we can be healed. We seek him to confess the evil we have condoned. That confession, too, brings healing. We desire that the emotional burden we bear might be lifted from us - or shared. To share such a burden with Christ is to find healing. And, in his companionship, we can discover a wholeness that replaces the brokenness that is part of our life. Such discovery brings healing! His word upon the shoreline is the same word he speaks today. And the result is the same, for we, too, so often live as sheep without a shepherd! We would see Jesus!
We would look upon
The light in that divinely human face,
Where lofty majesty and tender grace
In blended beauty shone.
We would see Jesus, and would hear again
The voice that charmed the thousands by the sea,
Spoke peace to sinners, set the captives free,
And eased the sufferers' pain.
We would see Jesus, yet not him alone
But see ourselves as in our Maker's plan;
And in the beauty of the Son of Man
See man upon his throne.
We would see Jesus, and let him impart
The truth he came among us to reveal,
Till in the gracious message we should feel
The beating of God's heart. Amen. - W. J. Suckow