Sermon 21st July 2024 – 7th Sunday after Pentecost
Text:
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 – Well earned rest
Everywhere
Jesus went, people flocked to him. They
wanted what he was offering. They wanted
inspiration. They wanted healing. They wanted God.
Mark’s gospel tells us that “so many people
were coming and going that Jesus and the apostles did not even have a chance to
eat” Even before Jesus got to a town,
the mass of inquisitive people rushed ahead of him and waited for his arrival
carrying the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was”.
Sometimes
our lives have similar chaotic times. Work deadlines – sporting commitments –
church commitments – community commitments – family commitments. Nearing my
retirement age I even hear from those who are retired that their lives have
never been busier. And yet in the midst of this chaos Jesus said to his
apostles, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Do you get time for this “rest”? Don’t we
often keep working because we don’t have time to take a break?
So
they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place” Chaos came to Jesus because people were
attracted to him. The needy and the sick came to him. The people who were
waiting for their Messiah came to him. The people who wanted to hear the truth
about life came to him. Jesus was a man people flocked to like a moth to a
flame. Everyone wanted a piece of him. The poor and downtrodden wanted him to
help them. The sick and suffering wanted healing from him. The lonely wanted
fellowship with him. The ostracised wanted acceptance from him.And they got it.
Where
do people go today for this help? With many of our churches mostly empty or on
the verge of shutting down where are people going for this spiritual relief? Or
maybe they’re not. Maybe they’re just dealing with it themselves which accounts
for the high level of anxiety and depression. We are seeing a rise in use of
alcohol and drugs – and with children vaping.
Surprisingly
people were attracted to Jesus’ authority. “No one speaks like this man,” “He speaks with authority.” And yet today there is such distrust in
authority especially church authority.
Jesus
held no office, no official position and yet he spoke as one having authority. The
apostles, who followed him day and night, were constantly amazed by his
commanding actions. During a storm on
the Sea of Galilee “... they were filled
with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this that even the wind
and waves obey him?’ But Jesus’ authority was a message of love, hope, and
compassion. He not only taught that we should love God above everything else
and our neighbors as ourselves; Jesus lived what he taught. He loved the
outcast Zacchaeus – he loved the woman caught in adultery. He showed compassion
to the woman with an issue of blood and Jairus’ daughter and the 5,000 hungry
people
You
could see hope that he brought. Which explains the pain of the the 2 disciples
going to Emmaus with downcast faces after his death – we had hoped. He gave
hope to the hopeless: Healing the blind, the deaf, the mute, and even the demon
possessed.
Where
many others looked down at people, thinking themselves superior, Jesus always
looked out for people, from their level – like the short statured Zacchaeus. Even the children, who were diminished by the
apostles, were treated as valuable people by Jesus. Children, as well as
adults, flocked to Jesus because of the compassion they saw in him.
With
a message of love, hope, and compassion, Jesus was so unique that multitudes
wanted to be where he was. Can we, as church, recapture that hope for people?
Today
people tend to abstain from a relationship with Jesus and his Church. Even
though people reject Jesus, he never rejects anyone but has compassion on them
like sheep without a shepherd. There is no doubt that there is chaos in the
world we live today. The speed at which we live, the noise that surrounds our
days, the pressures, the stress, the expectations people have for us today, the
demands and the hectic pace of modern life all combine to the chaos of our
world in which we live.
In
our busy, chaotic, and hectic lives, we need to see the one who touched the
minds, hearts, and lives of thousands of people and make time for him. That’s
what Jesus provided for his apostles when he guided them to rest. That’s what
God gave us with a Sabbath rest that so many ignore today. And yet the
invitation goes out to all people – come to me all you who are weary and
burdened and I will give you rest.
Our
hectic lives must be met by meeting God in a quiet place. That’s why Jesus took his disciples to a
deserted place, a place of solitude. We need time to refresh ourselves in the
presence of God. Daily devotions,
Prayer, worship, reading our bibles – these are all gifts from God to keep our
lives balanced. We will always find an excuse as to why we don’t have time to
pray – to read – to come to church. But look at the example Jesus gave in his
chaotic life still taking time to rest and pray to God.
But
we also find something interesting about God in our Old Testament reading. The
people misunderstood the relationship they had with God. They didn’t expect a
God that would reach out to them. After receiving his rest from his enemies
David wanted to build God a temple. A place where people could go and honour God. But God was
seemingly offended at this gesture: Are you the one to build me a house to live
in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel
from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a
tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I
ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to
shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of
cedar?”
In
our busy chaotic lives it is easy to put God to one side. We’ll take him out
when we need him. In difficult times we’ll eventually pray to him. Out of a
sense of duty we’ll come to church on Sunday to pay our respect. But we
discover in our Old Testament that God is a God who goes with his people
wherever they go. As Jesus promised in our Baptism – I am with you always till
the end of the age. Not sometimes – always. In Psalm 23 we read about God
travelling with us. Even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death
I will not be afraid – for you are with my. Your love and mercy follow me all
the days of my life.
In
busyness it’s easy to say I don’t have time for God. But God always makes time
for us. When Jairus asked him to go with him – he did. When the woman on the
way touched him – despite his rush to get to Jairus’s daughter – he stops and
speaks with her. And maybe, as the children of God – as God’s holy temple, as
Paul says we are – perhaps that is our challenge. To go to where the people are
who need God To go to people go don’t go to God.
Our
churches may be declining but Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. In fact,
that is Paul’s challenge to us in our 2nd reading – as ones who have been
brought near to God. He says: Remember that you were without Christ, being
aliens and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace; And now he sends us out, just as he sent the disciples out
who come to him today to tell him all that they had done and taught
The
harvest indeed is plentiful and it is ripe for a message of hope, but sadly the
workers are getting fewer. So may God bless you as you go out to sow a seed of
hope today.
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