07/18/21 Sunday sermon

First Congregational Church
July 18, 2021
8th Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:30-34
“Needing”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

Ole challenged Sven to an all-day wood chopping contest. Ole worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. Sven had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, Ole was surprised and annoyed to find that Sven had chopped substantially more wood than he had. "I don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.” "But you didn't notice," said Sven, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.”
This morning’s scripture is actually two pieces that bookend the famous feeding of the 5,000. I’m not sure why the lectionary people decided to put these two pieces together, although I have tried to pull tighter the common thread between them.
A point to keep in mind is that between these two sections, a lot happened: evening fell, the 5,000 were fed and everyone likely slept in the overnight hours.
I think it’s important to remember that, although I’ve yet to figure out how long they had been doing it, Jesus had sent the twelve disciples out to preach and teach, two by two. They weren’t to take any baggage or luggage with them, no money or food. They could take a staff and wear sandals, but that was it; completely at the mercy of strangers, all while telling the people about Jesus and his authority, power and all the other strange but true things about the Son of God.
Regardless of the length of time that they were to do this sort of “work,” they had to have been exhausted. Even if all the disciples were extroverts, this mission work was different and required energy that they didn’t regularly use - on the move, calling people to repentance, casting out demons, anointing the sick. It was work they had never done before. And then, right before this passage, regardless of how well they knew him or not, John the Baptist had been murdered, so there was likely some emotional heaviness with the apostles, too.
Mark 6:30-34 30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. - 53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Thank you, Kevin. I came across an illustration by Chuck Swindoll that brought out the crowds of these passages. It was about a research psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health who was concerned about the stresses of modern life and was convinced he could prove his theory from a cage full of mice.
Dr. John Calhoun built a nine-foot square cage for his eight mice, designed to contain comfortably a population of 160 mice. He allowed the mice to grow, however, to a population of 2200. They were not deprived of any of life's necessities except privacy--no time or space to be all alone. Food, water, and other resources were always clean and in abundance. A pleasant temperature was maintained. No disease was present. All mortality factors (except aging) were eliminated. The cage, except for its overcrowded condition, was ideal for the mice.
The population reached its peak at 2200 after about two-and-a-half years. Since there was no way for the mice to physically escape from their closed environment, Dr. Calhoun was interested in how they would handle themselves. Interestingly, as the population reached its peak, the colony of mice began to disintegrate. Strange things started happening.
The males who had protected their territory withdrew from leadership. The females became aggressive and forced out the young . . . even their own offspring. The young grew to be only self-indulgent. They ate, drank, slept, groomed themselves, but showed no normal aggression and, most noteworthy, failed to reproduce. After five years, every mouse had died. This occurred despite the fact that right up to the end there was plenty of food, water, and an absence of disease.
Jesus called his disciples to “Come with me by yourselves and rest.” It’s interesting that we work, work, work to retire, retire, retire. And yet, whenever I hear someone say that they are retiring to Benzie County, I have to smile inside, because they never get to the rocking chairs on the front porch. They are often just as busy as they were before, but now they don’t get a paycheck.
It’s interesting that we don’t know what Jesus did while the disciples were out doing their thing, two by two. At least in this brain, the most logical thing is that he was resting, so that when the disciples were resting, Jesus was ready to take over for them with the crowds that were following them. Whether it actually happened that way or not, theoretically, at least, it has to be true, because we all need time to rest, including Jesus.
In the last part of the passage for today, there is still the factor of the crowd, but this part contains the sick being brought to Jesus, if for but the touch of the hem of his tunic. It’s not the need for rest, but the need to be made well and whole again.
David G. Rogne tells the story of a photographer who walked down the street one day and came upon a man who was choking. "What a picture," he thought. "This says it all: A man, alone, in need. What a message!" He fumbled for his camera and light meter until the poor fellow who was choking realized that help was not coming. He grabbed the photographer's arm and gasped, "I'm turning blue!" "That's all right," said the photographer, patting the fellow's hand, "I'm shooting color film.”
The connecting thread, I think, is that we have certain needs, which are not the same as wants, that need meeting. The thing is, we aren’t always so good at asking for what we need. And when we don’t ask for or get the things we need, we miss so much more.
There is an ancient legend about a monk who found a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone.
The traveler departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the monk. He returned the stone to him and made a request: "Please give me something more valuable, more precious than this stone. Please give me that which enabled you to give me this precious stone!” When we are hangry, hungry to the point of getting angry, we sometimes fail to see the greater wealth that is available to us, that is ours to give away, since all we have comes from God to begin with.
Samuel D. Zumwalt tells the story about his days as a young seminarian. His pastoral supervisor in fieldwork parish reminded him that the word “pastor” means shepherd. But then he said, “The people already have a Good Shepherd in Jesus.” He said it was as English mystic Evelyn Underhill had written some time before, that the best that could be said of clergy is that we are sheepdogs. Sometimes we do a good job helping the Good Shepherd, and sometimes we just bark a lot and cause general confusion among the flock.
And sometimes it’s not just the clergy. A man went to church one Sunday, but he forgot to switch off his phone and it accidentally rang in the church, during prayer. The pastor scolded him. The worshipers admonished him after prayers for interrupting the silence. His wife kept on lecturing him and his carelessness all the way home. One could see the shame, embarrassment and humiliation on his face. After all this, he never step foot in the church again.
That evening, he went into a bar. He was still nervous and trembling. He spilled his drink on the table by accident. The waiter apologized and gave him a napkin to clean himself. The janitor mopped the floor. The manager offered him a complementary drink, gave him a huge hug and a peck on his cheek while saying, "Don't worry man. Who doesn't make mistakes?" The man hasn’t stopped going to that bar since then. Sometimes not paying attention to our need for listening to what God needs of us causes us to become ignorant of our damage-ability.
There was a meme on Facebook this week from Lori Deschene. Practice the pause. Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you're about to react harshly and you'll avoid doing and saying things you later regret.
Another one, on Marijke Church’s page, said, “The next time you feel sad, put away your devices and go and sit by the river. Let it heal you. Go and walk in the forest, the trees will listen. Let the elements hold you. This life is fleeting. Let us tread lightly. We do not own any of it.
When the disciples came back from their outside-the-box-of-their-normal-day work as missionaries, Jesus didn’t send them back right away to do more more. He had them create a little space for themselves so they could gear up for the next part of their journey. After the past year and a half, we have a lot of folks around us that are sort of doing that very thing, taking time to regenerate and rejuvenate.
Those of us who live full-time in bustling Benzie County will do well to remember that just as much as we need our time out, so do those who come here looking for that same time out. When we get to our time out, those who have been able to do so will be able to give us the space we need to do likewise.
A story is told about some African workers who were hired to carry heavy equipment on their backs to a remote outpost. It was a place that couldn't be reached any other way but on foot. After several days of difficult travel, the workers refused to pick up their packs and go any further. They sat by the side of the trail ignoring the shouts of the leader of the expedition. Finally the leader asked why they wouldn't go on. One of the workers replied, "Sir, we are waiting for our souls to catch up with our bodies.” Let us start the catching up of our souls with our bodies as we pray.
Holy God, we are awed by the critically important work you give us, even when it wearies us to the bone. In the days and time you give us to come away from it all, help us to realize that giving time or taking time is not so much greed as it is needful. Remind us that in taking time to rest and rejuvenate is sharpening our senses for more efficient and easier work in your kingdom, both in ourselves and others. Help us to find the time away, not as distance and alienation, but restoration and filling up. And in the rest and healing, may we find the wisdom of the river, the humility of the grass, the patience of the mountain and the generosity of the trees. May the fresh breeze of hope bless all of us, as we all say, Amen.