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The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2006
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The 7th Sunday after Pentecost (B)
[Pr. 11] Grace and peace be with you from God our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. One of the themes of today’s gospel is our need for rest – that we need relief from the condition of “BUSY-NESS” that is so often characteristic of our lives. As we have just heard in our reading: “The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and REST awhile.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.” Now I am sure that the apostles had been enjoying the work that they had been doing. It was surely a wonderful privilege to have been preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom to people, and to cast out demons and heal people. But at the same time it was also very stressful work. The more that they did, the more they saw the need for what they were doing. People responded to their teaching and healing in ever-greater numbers. And after awhile, the apostles got more and more tired and worn out and even “burned out” – and their ministry began to seem like a BURDEN to them rather than a privilege. Have we ever felt like that in what we do? I must confess that I sometimes have. I certainly enjoy being a pastor – I really enjoy being able to preach and teach and baptize, and minister to others in times of need – it is truly a great privilege – but there are times when it all does seem to be somewhat overwhelming! And what is true for me I also think is true for all of us in our vocations and lives. We always seem to have so much to do – and so little understanding of what is REALLY important and fulfilling for living. Many of us are overscheduled with all kinds of commitments. We have commitments necessitated by our work or school, commitments for social obligations, commitments for community service, sports, and so forth. We have chores to do at home. And then when we have some spare time from those things I have mentioned, we are rushing to do other things that we are supposed to “enjoy”. As Carol and I have often said to each other, “ There are just not enough hours in the day!” After a while of this constant rushing about from one thing to another, we begin to feel stressed and irritable. Instead of enjoying life, we feel like we are on a treadmill that we can’t get off of. What I am talking about here is our need for SABBATH – a time for “being” instead of “doing”. We all need time for REST so that we can experience renewal in our lives. We need time for rest on a regular basis so that we can be renewed physically, emotionally, and spiritually – and thereby be able to enjoy our lives to the fullest as God has intended – and to be “recharged” for better doing the work that God has called us to do. This was the need that Jesus saw for his apostles in today’s gospel. They had just returned from their mission he had sent them on of preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out unclean spirits and demons from many people. It was good and fulfilling work – very rewarding work, I am sure! – and yet also very hard and stressful and exhausting work at the same time. So what did Jesus say to his apostles? He did not say, “Good work! But there is more to be done, so keep on working!” Jesus rather told them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and REST a while.” He said this partly because he knew that they needed PHYSICAL rest – for our as gospel tells us – “Many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” But even more than that, Jesus knew that his apostles needed EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL rest and renewal. They needed some time to relax from the stress and strain of what they were doing. And they also needed time away so that they could wrestle with questions such as; WHY they had been doing their work – WHAT was it really accomplishing, WHY had some people opposed them and how were they going to deal with that – and what about those people who had not repented, had not been healed or cured of their unclean spirits and so forth? Did this mean that they were failures in their work? And ultimately, did their work make any REAL difference? Was their ministry really accomplishing the work of God’s kingdom, or was it just BUSY-NESS?! These are questions that we all deal with each and every day in our respective vocations. I certainly struggle with them constantly in my vocation as a pastor. And the only way we can find answers to and come to terms with these questions is to take some time for rest – away from what we are normally doing in order to get in touch with ourselves and with God! TAKING TIME for physical and emotional and spiritual rest and renewal. Otherwise, whatever we do (no matter how exciting or fun or important it may seem to be) will more and more become just a job – a wearying and frustrating burden! That is why God over and over again has stressed the need for a regular SABBATH – a time of rest and renewal. In Exodus 20:8-11, God gives the Third Commandment, which, in its entirety says: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; YOU SHALL NOT DO ANY WORK – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.” Notice the strong prohibition against WORK on the Sabbath. Most of us have probably thought that “Remembering the Sabbath day,” simply means taking time for worship. Martin Luther even explains the commandment in that way in his Small Catechism when he writes, “We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it.” But with apologies to Luther, although worship and hearing God’s Word is certainly very important, his explanation is not the main point of the Sabbath commandment as recounted in the Book of Exodus. The main central point of this commandment is simply that we need to take time off from work so that we can REST! God knows that we need time off from what we normally do so that we can be renewed and recharged in our lives. The Sabbath commandment is God’s gift to us – because in it he is telling us; “I want you to take time for rest from your work each week because you need it – and don’t feel guilty about doing that!” Another point that needs to be made is that “rest” means exactly what it says – “rest”! In our Thursday evening worship this past week; we talked about the difference between “re-creation” and “wreck-creation”. Often even on our days off or on our vacations, what we do is anything but relaxing! For example, I remember that when I visited the EPCOT center at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida with my kids when they were young, we spent the entire day trying to see and do as much as possible. At the end we came out absolutely exhausted – and even a bit crabby. And that is when I heard the joke that EPCOT really means “Every Person Comes Out Tired.” Yes, often times our rest is not really rest. It is “wreck-creation” instead of “re-creation”! When we take time off from our work, we often tend to simply substitute other activities that fail to provide for true relaxation and renewal. And for some people, they even take their work with them on their days off and “vacations”. They never really get away. But Jesus says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Re-create instead of wreck-create! This was his gift to his apostles. And Jesus still invites us to experience his gift – GOD’S GIFT – today! But how, we may wonder, can we afford the time for Sabbath in our lives? There seems to be so much that we have to do – and then during our time off from that there is so much that we want to do. People, I do not have any simple answers about this – except to point out that much of the “busy-ness” in our lives is self-induced. That is, much of what we do is because we want to do it – not because we “have” to. If we see taking time for Sabbath rest as being important, we can and we will make time for it in our lives – just as we somehow make time for other activities and commitments that we think are important – for us and for our children. The question is, do we understand the concept of SABBATH rest as being a priority – an essential part of living? And if it is, then what things or activities or commitments might we need to cut back on or even give up so that we can have Sabbath time and experience the blessings God wants to give us through this? As I have said, I do not have any simple answers about this. I certainly struggle with this issue constantly in my own life and work. But I do know that God wants me to take time for rest and renewal on a regular basis. And I know that God wants me to do this because he loves me and wants only the best for me. And I also know that when I do take time for rest – Sabbath rest – I am blessed and also become more of a blessing for others. When I take time for Sabbath, I experience God’s love and joy and peace in a very special way. And then, having been refreshed and renewed, I am able to share God’s love, joy, and peace that I have received with others when I go back to my daily work and ministry. I hope that we may reflect on this today as for what this may mean for our living. I believe that God – and Jesus in today’s gospel – is calling us to make time for Sabbath rest in our lives. “Come away,” Jesus says, “and rest a while.” We are being called to spend some time away from all of the “BUSY-NESS” of what we are normally doing. We are being called to spend some time to just “BE” with ourselves, with each other, and with God. Sabbath time like that is always holy, precious, and well spent. May it be so for us – so that, refreshed and renewed and RE-CREATED – we can then go back into the world in our daily living to do our work – and God’s work – with love and joy. So happy rest day – happy SABBATH DAY, everyone! May God bless you this day and give you renewal and peace. Amen! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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