Loading...Jesus said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
The disciples had just returned after being sent out two by two, without extra supplies, trusting that they would be cared for in each place they went, to teach and to heal. They had been instructed to leave -- if they were not welcomed. And this part of the Gospel ends with us hearing that they had been successful in their endeavors.
Now, just after hearing of the beheading of John the Baptizer, they have returned to a grieving Jesus, filled with stories of their encounters. Of how they were able to transform the lives of those they met because they had been given the ability to heal and to teach.
Maybe it was seeing their exhaustion. Maybe it was a reward. Maybe it was from personal experience. No matter what the reason was, Jesus tells them to rest, even though they were constantly being bombarded with people seeking their attention, begging for healing, and listening for good teaching. All. The. Time.
Listening to Jesus, they got into a boat to find a deserted place to refuel, reignite, and replenish themselves for what would inevitably come next. Being among the crowds. People-ing.
Two things stand out for me: the first is that Jesus wants his followers to take time to rest and insists they do. The second is that he knows this is an almost impossible thing to do, so while they get the rest they need, Jesus meets and greets, teaches and heals.
It’s as if Jesus says, “Go. Find a comfortable place to rest. Do what refills your soul. I’ve got this. Really, I do. You need your rest so that when you come back to this important work, you are whole. You can’t fully love others if you don’t take care of yourself. I can handle it while you rest.”
How beautiful is this? We (Americans especially) tend to think we can go-go-go, forgetting that we need to stop. Full stop. It is imperative that we take a break. Not only so we can come back to the race and go-go-go again, not only so we remain healthy, but also because God commands and Moses reports that we are to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
Why? Because when we busy, we can quickly become something like a tornado, picking up everything in our spinning wind, (responsibilities, expectations, desires, ego, other people’s baggage, society’s ills …) we pick them up whether we want to or not, and believe that if we stop, all that we have picked up will simply drop. We will no longer have control. That sometimes, even though what we are busy doing is good and necessary, if we look behind us, there may be times the wake of our busy-ness was destructive to ourselves and others, and not life-giving or fulfilling to anyone. That we actually are replaceable, dispensable, and dare I say it? Mortal.
In what I imagine was a gentle, caring voice, Jesus said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
Jesus knew the world’s needs would go on. But he knew that his disciples required time to rest. And because God is God, Jesus continued the endless work of caring for those who came to him while the others rested.
Last weekend I had scheduled time to go to a not fully deserted place, and not completely alone, but certainly to a place with plans to rest and be filled.
Imagine my disappointment when the email arrived on Monday cancelling the retreat due to health issues and the cancellations of other participants.
With that news, I needed to spend a time trying to discern what the impact of this cancellation would have for me, for you, for Jeff and our daughter, Erin.
We had a plan in place. I was going to go away and get some renewal time with people I did not know, trying things I had not done before. I was looking forward to the time away. I needed that time away. It wasn’t vacation. It wasn’t fully a retreat. I had hoped to learn some new skills that could enrich not only my life, but maybe even yours.
I don’t get many Sundays off. That’s not a complaint, it’s the way this calling works. It means I carefully decide how best to use those precious few Sundays each year. I really did not want to “waste” a Sunday off due to this cancellation.
The church service was fully planned and in the hands of Mary and Joe. Daniel was away and we had all arrangements made for our substitute organist. It seemed foolish to me to try and change it up and plan to be here. To rewrite the service, changing it from Morning Prayer back to the Holy Eucharist.
Jeff had plans to run an 8-hour relay race in Indy on Saturday, and to spend some time with our daughter.
And to add to the story, I had spent a complicated day on Monday, navigating a messed-up appointment for my mom, attending her doctor appointment by phone, and participating in multiple phone calls with my brothers. It was an exhausting day.
I landed in bed Monday night without a plan.
When I was showering on Tuesday, a voice spoke up in my head and told me to go to Minnesota to surprise my mom for her birthday. She turned 88 last Friday. And when we were there in May, she had just been diagnosed with dementia.
By Tuesday afternoon, after consulting a few trusted people, I had my flight booked for Friday, out of Indianapolis, so it worked well for Jeff, returning on Sunday evening. My sister-in-law offered to drive 1½ hours to pick me up and take me to Lake City, where she and my brother Jeff and my parents live. She also offered to take me back to the airport on Sunday.
It wasn’t the respite I was looking for, but it was exactly the right thing to do.
When I read the Gospel for today, I realized that I had basically just lived what Jesus was offering to his apostles: to rest a while. Maybe, just maybe, it was Jesus’ voice I heard that Tuesday morning telling me to go see my parents. Maybe going to see my parents would be a form of needed and necessary rest.
I was able to simply “be” with my family last weekend. I surprised not only my parents, but my youngest brother David and his family. I got to see our son and his fiancé for a few hours. Sometimes rest can include reconnecting and relationship care, too.
Coming back here, I am finding that I’m still tired—that my bout with Covid (which is not a good way to be forced to rest, but was rest nonetheless), causes fatigue, even now. Traveling is also exhausting.
Even though I am still physically and emotionally tired, there is a spark within me that I can only identify as renewal. My soul was fed, just not in the way I had anticipated.
And the church did not fall down while I was away.
I imagine the disciples were bone tired after their journey, and that even though they were excited to share their stories, what they most needed was to take a break and rest.
Jesus recognized that depth of exhaustion. He had felt it prior to all those times when he would step away and go someplace alone to pray. He knew the importance of separating himself from the crush of people and their expectations. He recognized that, even though he was God incarnate, he, too, needed time to be quiet with God, to rest, pray, listen and learn, so that when he returned to the fray, he would have the strength and courage to be for the people what they needed him to be.
I invite you to consider how busy you are.
Who demands your attention?
How long is your to-do list?
What obligations can both energize and overwhelm you?
Are there things you pick up that weigh you down, but you don’t want to let go of?
Is your personal tornado growing with heavier and heavier burdens?
Jesus commands us to stop. To drop all those burdens and rest. To take time apart from all that demands our attention—the things we like and the things we don’t. Because it is God who is in control, if we allow it.
As we learned today, while the disciples rested, Jesus continued to teach and heal, to listen and forgive. Jesus gave permission to those who simply wanted to touch him for strength, and he gave them more than they expected in return.
And that’s the point. Jesus needs us to love one another, but when loving becomes complicated, when we feel burdened and tired, burned out and ready to give up, he will be there to keep on loving us, and everyone else.
So go, rest and be renewed. Jesus has this.
Amen.
