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| | From:  desertdawnie (Original Message) | Sent: 7/23/2006 5:51 PM |
When we Gather text: Mark 6:30-34
July 23, 2006
Today we gather together to worship. It has been said: We can worry or we can worship. Strangely enough, busy people find it a whole lot easier to worry than to worship.
Warren Wiersbe once said, “The ability to calm your soul and wait before God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature is restless...the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless heart usually leads to a reckless life.�?BR>Today I want to talk about two things that jump out at me from that scripture, Rest and Compassion. And today in all honesty as I wrote this…I kept thinking...hmmm…this may be the pot calling the kettle black. I have the capacity for compassion but not always the ability to rest.
And it’s ironic that I am preaching on this text after a super busy day yesterday and a sleepless night last night. Who says God does not have a sense of humor.
Rest; It’s a word we hear often enough, but do we really understand its importance in our lives? When I read through the Gospels I am impressed by the relaxed, calm pace Jesus kept from day to day. You never once see Jesus in a hurry. Even when one of Jesus�?closest friends, Lazarus, was on his deathbed, Jesus took His time getting to Bethany to be with Lazarus. How is it that Jesus moved through life so slowly and yet accomplished so much? Is there something we contemporary Christians have missed? Are we so caught up in schedules and times and appointments to keep and people to see and things to do that we forget to be still and to rest.
I have a hard time sitting still and doing only one thing. While Ron can sit and just be still. I will ask him what he’s thinking about and he will say nothing. I have had to discipline myself over the years that when I pray that I focus just on my conversation with God.
Rest is not only vital to our spiritual lives, it is imperative if we are to be effective. Christ understood this principle and made it a point to get away both with His disciples and by Himself from time to time in order to rest and rejuvenate. It was Jesus way of “recharging�?His spiritual, physical and emotional batteries. In doing so, He set an example for you and me to follow. We are a people too busy for our own good, too busy to stop and realize that in our frantic business we are actually accomplishing less and aging more.
According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.
Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, “Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies.�?The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be fit for use when you want it.�?People are also like that. That’s why we all need to take time to rest. In today’s Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He “rested from all His work�?(Gen. 2:3).
One pastor makes an excellent observation when he writes:
“…think of how successful Satan has been in hindering the worship of Christians in 21st century America. We are workaholics, and, in addition, worn out by the time demands of our day. It is no wonder that the quality of our worship is so shoddy. We must have free time to worship, and we must plan our week so that we finish early enough having that free time.�?
Yes, we live in a day when everything is supposed to be done quickly and efficiently. We eat fast foods, drive in the fast lane. And thus, when we come to church, we want our worship pre-digested, pre-planned, and quickly served up so we can get on to other (better?) things. A woman at another church called her pastor’s sermons post roast sermons…why…because she knew if she put that roast in the oven when she left for Sunday school and worship it would be exactly done by end of church and her arrival home.
God save us from those time eaters which cause us to abbreviate our worship.�?BR>And than we think when we retire we will slow down. According to Bill Heider, “The only thing wrong with being retired is that you never get a day off.�?
I know in my conversations with some of you, you have told me that you’re actually busier now that you’ve “retired�?than when you were working! Some of you still live such full and active lives that you need hour stretcher to make your days long enough in order to complete your busy tasks. We are all familiar with the old adage: “No rest for the wicked.�?If that’s the case then some of us church-going people must be very wicked!
However, there is also an add-on to that old adage which you may have heard before: “No rest for the wicked, even less rest for the good!�?Even though we cannot rest as much as the wicked, lest the powers of evil get the upper hand—nonetheless, WE ALL, ON OCCASION, NEED OUR REST
A traveler in Papua describes how his guides and carriers would sometimes sit down by the road-side and refuse to go any further without a rest—they explained “We must give our souls a chance to catch up with our bodies.�? Let me say that again and not just your benefit but mine also. “We must give our souls a chance to catch up with our bodies.�?BR>Tiredness is not just a physical thing—Prayer and meditation, mental relaxation, the stimulus of some consuming interest, the delight of doing something to help someone else—these are different kinds of things, but they all have this in common: they can revive our energy, banish our tiredness and “give our souls a chance to catch up with our bodies.�?
Contemporary philosopher, Anthony O’Hear a couple of years ago wrote an insightful piece on our “life in the fast lane,�?and our need for rest and solitude. Here is what he had to say:
To those of us accustomed to a life of modern diversion—TV, cell phone, Palm Pilot, laptop at the ready—this essential solitude and quiet will seem hard. It may even seem boring. But there is an old saying, beloved to ascetics, which it is because the trees are still that the birds come to them�?Each of us�?has the potential to bring to the world a unique perspective, a unique kind of wisdom even. But to realize this, even for ourselves, we need space and quiet to escape the clichés of the conventional.�?BR>Let’s be real honest here. How many of you are actually sitting in your seat right now thinking about what you’re going to do after church? Or how many of us are just somewhere else this morning instead of focusing on worshipping the One Who died to save our souls? I know what it’s like to be in your place. I’ve spent countless Sunday mornings in the pew struggling to keep my mind focused on worship. The truth is, I HATE the fact that I struggle with this issue! I resent all the distractions in my life and how hard they make it for me to clear my mind and focus on Jesus Christ. This is precisely why it takes time to be holy; and consequently, it takes time to worship.
Jesus wants us to rest to do his work. To go out and to make disciples of all nations but if we are tired and worn out we may not even be able to minister to our own family and friends or to ourselves.
Yesterday at Janelle’s housewarming…I watched her grandson Evan fighting getting some rest, taking his much needed nap for his sake and for Grandma’s. He kept moving and when those eyes started to drop he was off and moving. We so often do that we fight rest…we figure if we aren’t going to rest we are going to go, even if it’s to our own detriment. How many of us feel guilty if we aren’t busy? I am like that.
Learn to slow down. Learn to “smell the roses�?as it were. Life goes by too fast and none of us knows when our life will end. Folks, go home today have lunch, sit back in a comfortable chair or sofa and just relax. Tune out all the distractions and talk to God for a while. Just let Him know how you feel and listen for God to respond. Then spend the rest of your day loving on your kids or your spouse or give a family member a call and tell them how much they mean to you. Go outside and enjoy this beautiful weather for small moments of time, I don’t want anyone getting heatstroke. Rest and let your soul be rejuvenated! May your spirit echo the words of King David when he declared: Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Psalm 116:7
But rest so you can do God’s will and show his compassion to others and this brings us to compassion.
In today’s gospel, the apostles have returned from their mission of preaching, teaching and healing, which Jesus had sent them out on earlier. Jesus, being the excellent listener and caregiver that he is, sees how tired they’ve become. Indeed, Mark tells us that the clamoring crowds are still milling about so “they had no leisure even to eat.�?How could these crowds be so insensitive and lacking in understanding or empathy for Jesus and his disciples? Didn’t they realize how demanding they were? Or were they just excited and hoping for blessings in their lives. At any rate, Jesus sees the disciples are in need of a rest. A time of peace and quiet. So he invites them to come with him to “a deserted place�?and rest a while.�?Here we see that Jesus cares for and has compassion on not only the crowds, but also his own followers.
So it is for us too, there are times when we can become so overloaded, so run down, so tired, that we, like the apostles, need our deserted place to stop and rest awhile. All of us need that resting place and resting time. Hopefully by coming to church faithfully every Sunday that you are able to receive some of that needed rest and renewal for your life. All of us need time out to reflect, to meditate and pray. Peace and quiet times help us all to recharge our spiritual batteries; to sharpen our focus and see the larger picture and meaning of our life; to be drawn closer into our relationship with God; to be more aware and appreciative of God’s holy presence in our life and in all of life. We, like the disciples and those Papua guides and carriers, need to “give our souls a chance to catch up to our bodies.�?So I complement each of you for being here today and doing just that!
However, notice in our gospel that there is kind of a rhythm or balance in the movement of Jesus and his disciples. Too much solitude; too much peace and quiet is not good for us either. Then we become too self-centered and self-serving. It is true that we cannot give to others, unless we have something to give; and for that we need rest, peace and quiet. However, it is also true that we cannot give to others if we forget about them altogether or refuse to give to them what we ourselves have received Jesus, of course, knew that their greatest need was compassion—that’s why they had flocked in such large numbers to him, seeking out his healing. Jesus, being who he was, offered compassion to those in distress, willing to give them his help and care. Mark describes it like this: “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.�?
To be deeply moved like Jesus is towards these crowds—is this not what we as his followers are also called to do? How do we respond to the needs of others around us? Hopefully if we take the time to rest, to be filled spiritually through solitude, prayer, meditation and reflection; we then can go back out into the busyness of our lives and give of ourselves what we have received from God. It is interesting that Jesus and his disciples are often with others, meeting them on their turf, and responding appropriately to their needs. We too are called and inspired by Christ’s compassion to do the same. In the movement of Jesus�?ministry, notice too that so often he is with people who have the greatest of needs—people who were written-off as outcasts. In today’s gospel, it is the sick on mats, Mark tells us, who were brought from far and wide seeking Christ’s healing. Jesus didn’t judge or avoid such persons whom the religious establishment of his day may have been more inclined to write-off. No, Jesus always remembered that every single human being is created in the image of God, every single being—hence, for that reason alone, they deserve to be treated equally in a compassionate and caring way.
So it is with us too, in our practice of compassion. Hopefully we too shall not forget that every human being is created in God’s image, therefore deserves to be treated as an equal, in a compassionate, humane way. This includes not only the well, the so-called normal folks of society, but also the outcasts: the homeless, the mentally and physically challenged, the people struggling with addictions of all kinds, the prostitutes, those of another race or creed, even prisoners and enemies—all are in need of compassion. In fact, the outcasts may have the greatest need of our compassion, since the lack of it is likely one of the major reasons why they are outcasts in the first place—some of them have experienced precious little, if any compassion in their lives.
According to Dr. Leo Buscaglia: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.�?Think about that the next time you are called to show compassion towards someone whom you find it difficult to even give the time of day! We never know how a simple act of sincere compassion might be inspired by God working through us to reach another person. The following story illustrates this very well:
A little girl was sent on an errand by her mother. She took an extreme amount of time to return from her errand. Her mother, exasperated, demanded an explanation when she finally did return. The little girl explained that on her way she had met a little friend who was crying because she had broken her doll. “Oh,�?said the mother, “then you stopped to help her fix her doll?�?“Oh, no,�?replied the little girl. “I stopped to help her cry.�? “Oh no, I stopped to help her cry.�?BR>That little girl had more sense of caring than a lot of adults do. We often forget that the English word care comes from the Gothic word kara, meaning, “to lament.�?In other words, we show our care by, as this little girl did: crying with those who are crying; doubting or questioning with those who are doubting and questioning; laughing with those who are laughing; rejoicing with those who are rejoicing; being willing to journey with people where they are, rather than trying to “fix them.�?In our simple acts of compassion and solidarity, God is at work and is able to change and heal peoples�?lives—just as Jesus does today in our gospel.
Today as we gather, some of us may have come needing rest, some of seeking spiritual comfort, some compassion, some came to share their compassion and some came to be still and know God.
And today in the discomfort of our hard seats and warm weather it may have been hard to find the rest we sought and the compassion we needed but it is there for you if you seek it.
God can give rest to the weary and ease the burdens of the weak if we open ourselves to His spirit, to his love if we allow ourselves to hear his voice, to seek his presence. To prepare yourself so you can be compassionate and ready for all the tasks that God sets before you and approach these with compassion.
It seems there were two woodsmen. One day one woodsman challenged another to an all-day tree chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow 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 the winning woodsman, “that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.�?BR>I hope as you rest you sharpen your ax and that you find that compassionate nature that God calls us to have as we gather together and flow apart.
Amen
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