– We’re at the end of our cycle of readings with Mark today (We covered Chapter 3-6). The disciples – it seems – have learned what they had to learn, they have been sent and, in our passage today, they come back from their mission as “Apostles” (If you have noticed the words Mark uses). As their Master, they, too, have performed “mighty deeds” and offered “power words”. They come back to Jesus proud and excited, they have so much to tell him, and it really feels that we have come full circle to a happy ending.
And yet, it is interesting to notice that as the Apostles tell Jesus about all they have said and done, Jesus does not offer a word of congratulations, or even fill them in on their new assignment, but instead, Jesus invites them to rest: “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while”.
It is interesting we hear this passage today, because at first sight it is really not what seems to be the most impressive about Mark’s Chapter 6. Actually the lectionary skips two important episodes: The feeding of the five thousands and Jesus walking on the water. (Yet – fear not – next week we will start a cycle of five weeks on John’s Chapter 6 – a chapter dedicated to the meaning of the bread as the body of Christ, so we will have many occasions to reflect on this). But for now, we are, as the Apostles, invited to leave the extraordinary to sit in the ordinary, and maybe, with them, to go to a deserted place.
So I would like to spend a little time with you to try to understand what it means and how it is relevant for us as well.
It’s important to notice, I think, that Jesus is talking about a certain kind of rest. I have read many commentaries about this passage and was surprised to notice that, most of the time, the authors of those commentaries mentioned the need of balancing work and play, job and family life, ministry and leisure. I am not saying that those things aren’t important, but to me, this is not what the Gospel is about. Jesus does not tell the Apostles to take a nap, attend a party, or even to go home to their families, rather Jesus invites them to “go away in a deserted place all by themselves”. As often in the Bible, activity is followed by a time of “rest” (Think about the story of the 7 days of creation), where “rest” is understood as “sabbath”, a time dedicated to God exclusively. In the Bible, activity, creation, is always followed by sanctification.
There are three things I would like to notice about that:
– The passage underscores the importance of prayer in our daily lives and also in our ministry. As I have mentioned many times, in Mark’s Gospel, there is always something going on. We see today that the crowd never let go of Jesus and of the Apostles. There is always something to do, always a need for healing, teaching, feeding. And for the Apostles – as for us in the church, or when we strive to follow Jesus in our daily lives – we may very well get caught in this never ending cycle of demands and needs, thinking it’s our call to do it all, to answer it all, to care of it all. And yet, Jesus is very clear today that the work is not complete without the time of rest. Rest is not there to balance ministry, rest is an essential part of ministry as it sanctifies and offers to God our activities. Jesus himself used to retreat on his own for prayer time and examination. This is the heart of ministry.
So of course today, we could wonder what part of our days we dedicate to prayer. I assume it would be a mistake to add it as “another thing to do”, rather, it’s indeed a time of “rest” – not a nap – but a “rest” as to “put back everything into God’s hands” – sanctifying the work we have done and offering the work that is to come.
– The second thing I notice, is that, as the disciples rest, Jesus takes over. He notices that the crowd is following in great distress and so, Mark tells us, he starts teaching them – only Jesus. The Apostles have disappeared. To me, it speaks to us as well that we are only followers and sent ones. In the end, we are reminded that whatever “mighty deed” we perform, whatever “powerful words” we may pronounce, it’s in the end Christ who works in the hearts, bodies and souls of the people. Resting is offering up our work to God and also letting go of it. Not clinging to our ministries and activities but “allowing”, if you will, God to use what we have said and done. The Apostles are not meant to be “clones” of Christ – they are meant to point to Christ. In this way, when they retire to a deserted place – they do what’s expected of them – They have, at some point, to get out of the way to let God act.
In the same manner, I wonder how it is for us, if we think that God expects us to do it all, or if we may come to this awareness that not only we need to let go because we certainly cannot do it all, but we are even expected to let go for our ministry to work out. Letting go does not mean letting down or not caring, it means not clinging to it, not assuming we have to do it all and all by ourselves. We have to trust God to finish the work we have started.
– Third remark: When Jesus invites the Apostles to go to a deserted place all by themselves, I think he does not speak only a bout a physical place. Rather it’s an emotional, spiritual place. We see that when they come back from their mission, the Apostles are very proud, and excited – and I think it’s a good thing they feel happy about it. Yet, there is also a warning in Jesus’s words. There is a thin line we have to walk when we have a full schedule, because we risk to become full of ourselves as well. Jesus invites his friends to reconnect with their poverty, their own neediness, to reconnect with God and to reconnect with themselves (“go by yourselves”). They, themselves, are in need of healing, are in need of grace, are in need of God. Sometimes we can also get lost in serving others. We may end up thinking we don’t need God anymore, or that there is nothing broken in us that needs attention.
So, do we dedicate time for our own healing? Are we able to sit with this emptiness we may find when we are alone – and how do we invite God in this? How can we do ministry if we carry with ourselves our own insecurities in everything we do? But are we ready to face our own brokenness and do we allow God to step into it?
I think it’s very interesting that Mark notices – again – that all those who touched the fringe of Jesus’s cloak were healed – We have talked about that a few weeks earlier with the story of the bleeding woman. To me, it does not mean that people thought Jesus was magic – well, maybe they did – but, deeper, in Mark’s words it means that people were at Jesus’s feet (Re-read our three chapters, and you will be surprised to realize how many people fall at Jesus’s feet). It’s an act of trust, abandon and humility. People are healed because they are humble in front of Christ. It looks like the Apostles are heading the wrong way when they come back to Jesus to boast about all they have done. Jesus gently invites them to reconnect with this humble attitude – and so are we. If you remember from our last sermon series, Jesus says in John’s: “Without me, you can do nothing”
– And now, I would like to finish on a question we have explored in this cycle of Mark and I told you it was Mark’s main question: Who is Jesus?
Well, isn’t it interesting, as we first glance at this text, that it seems there is no answer to this question? We have mentioned Jesus is first presented as a teacher and the healer, but then, as we dig deeper, we understand that he is the savior, the servant, the suffering one and the risen one, but what to make of this passage? Are we back to our starting point, Jesus teacher and healer and should we leave aside all we have learned going further? Well, I think Mark is still telling us who Jesus is, but instead of telling us who is Jesus by showing us what Jesus does, Mark gives us a peek into Jesus’s heart. Mark shows us a little bit of Jesus’s heart. And he says that Jesus had compassion, and we understand that this compassion is at the root of all he does for the people. Now maybe it’s a little less, or maybe it’s much more than what we expected. To me, it says that, much more than a teacher, a healer, and even a savior, Jesus is the one who has compassion. And if you notice, the crowd knows. Mark mentions that they recognized him. The Apostles still aren’t sure who is this Jesus because they try to fit him in a category (Prophet? Messiah? Son of David? Son of God?), but the crowd knows Jesus is the one who loves them with a compassionate love. And so he loves us with this kind of love, and that’s how we are invited to discover who he is – should we take the time to rest in him, naturally…