Sermon for July 23, 2006
Pentecost 7 - Proper 11
Judith Davis, Rector
©
Christ Church + Washington Parish
2nd
Samuel 7:1-14a;
Psalm 89:20-37;
Ephesians 2:11-22;
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.
+In the Name of God, wonderful Creator, liberating Savior,
empowering Spirit. Amen.
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 a while.” (Mark
6:30)
Back
from a long trip, exhausted yet exhilarated, eager to report
to their master, the disciples leap at Jesus' offer to give
them a day off in a relaxing spot with no more needy
people--peace for a day for both Jesus and his disciples,
now called "apostles" for the first time. "You've earned the
rest," says Jesus. "Right on," they respond, and across the
water they go.
However, they had become minor celebrities by this
point--not just Jesus, but all of them who had been out
healing and teaching in his name, and they were still
needed, as was Jesus. Jesus saw the crowds that had gathered
on the shore to greet them, and he had compassion for them,
Mark tells us, "because they were like sheep without a
shepherd."
We
have only a portion of this passage in Mark for our Gospel
lesson today, and in verses after 34, before 53, we read the
story of the feeding of the crowd gathered. We will have
that story next week in John’s version, for this is the only
one of Jesus' miracles that is reported in all four Gospels,
twice each in Matthew and Mark. It's an important story
because even when faced with his own need and the need of
his disciples, Jesus looked at the crowd and had
compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a
shepherd.
So I
don’t want to talk about the miracle of the five loaves and
two fish today, but rather, let us talk about the need for
rest and Sabbath.
We
live in a world filled with those who have never heard the
voice of the Good Shepherd, a world of hungry people who
don't even recognize the invitation to the feast as
pertaining to them. They are trying to feed themselves on
what the world has to offer--money, stock profits, cars,
expensive trips, and clothing--settling for transient
happiness rather than true joy, for insulation rather than
true safety. They barely consider giving from abundance,
much less from scarcity; in truth, they see charitable
giving primarily as a way to have more money at tax time.
They are wounded and they cannot see their own blood, and
they are starving in the face of plenty. And, many times, we
open our eyes and we see that they are we. While we are
distracted by the world's values, we lose sight of our
Shepherd and we, too, are lost.
Even so,
we need to take a step back now and then and chill out so we can
be refreshed for our spiritual journey. A few years ago we had a
spiritual retreat on the topic of “Sabbath,” which seems ages
ago now. We talked about how important it is to take a break, to
spend time in prayer and meditation and relax. Jesus didn’t say
to the disciples, great you’re back from your assignment, now
let’s get on with the next one, reminding me of Meryl Streep in
“The Devil wears Prada,” when she never allowed anyone a break
including herself. Then her marriage broke up and her children
needed their mommy who was always working. Miranda Priestly, the
lead character in the movie, desperately needs to chill out in
some deserted place and meditate even without her four cups of
Starbucks to start the day. And sometimes we all get caught up
in our lives and work and forget to re-charge and renew have
re-creation.
One of
the psalm choices for this Sunday in the Lectionary year is
Psalm 23, and my favorite verse is “and leads me beside still
waters.” I used to have a favorite place to be beside the still
waters. At Pebbly beach on the SE side of Block Island, I love
to walk down from the cliff and watch the water gather around
the rocks and, in winter, around the seals gathered there. It’s
a place where I could stay forever watching the water. It’s a
place where I can chill out and rest. My Dad taught me how to
float on my back in the ocean out beyond the breakers. How happy
I am when I can just lie there and float and relax. When I can’t
be at Block Island or one of my favorite beaches, I sometimes go
to a place in Washington where I can take an hour or so to chill
out. One of my favorite places is “Teaism” on 7th
St., NW, near the Navy memorial. After I’ve ordered by favorite
Japanese bento box lunch, I go downstairs and sit near the Koi
pond and watch the gentle koi swim about in the water. When I’ve
had a hard day, especially when a friend or parishioner has
died, I take the Metro down to Archives/Navy Memorial and relax
by the koi pond, enjoying my lunch, listening to my iPod of
Church music and watching the water and the koi. Then I come
back refreshed as if I have been away at the beach for a week.
I’m sure
many of you have places where you relax and sit beside whatever
your own still water is. We even named our purple sea kayak
“Still waters.” I remember specifically a time when chilling out
by still waters made a real difference in my life and in the
lives of some of you. On the Sunday after September 11, 2001, we
had scheduled a sunset kayaking trip on the Potomac near
Georgetown. Because the Potomac was closed due to the terrorist
attacks, the kayaking company gave us an alternative trip near
Ft. Washington. Some people said, “How can you go on a kayaking
trip after what we’ve been through this week?” Others were happy
to go with us. So our small group headed down to Ft. Washington
and had an incredible sunset paddling adventure. It was
incredibly quiet and restful and filled with peace without
fighter jets and sirens and images of the twin towers blaring
across our TV screens. It was just the space we needed after the
incredible difficulty of that week and it helped us put things
in perspective.
Yes,
this week, too, has many of those stresses as we see what is
happening in the Holy Land and the images of war and destruction
and lives being destroyed. Yes, the people we serve needed us in
2001, and we need so much to pray for the world and care for
each other even in this week, and we are much more able to care
for each other after a time apart.
When
Jesus saw how tired the disciples were, he said to them, "Come
with me to a quiet place and get some rest." Mark’s account then
says, "And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by
themselves." I think it is important to notice an additional
couple of things about what the Gospel account says.
First, Jesus said, "Come with me." When we take a vacation, we
need to remember to take Jesus with us. Some people never give
Jesus a thought when they go on vacation. Of course, some people
seem to take a vacation from church for the entire summer. When
I showed up for my position as Associate Rector at St. Michael’s
Church in Bristol, RI, July 15, 1992, I was surprised after the
first service how few people were in Church, for it was a
corporate sized church. The Rector said, “Oh, God and the choir
go to the beach for the summer.” I am reminded that we should
include Jesus in all that we do, even when we are on vacation.
Second, the Bible says the disciples went away to a quiet place.
Their main purpose was to rest and renew their strength. Some
people plan a vacation that is so full of activities that when
they come home, they are more tired than when they left! Whether
you go away to an exotic place this summer or down the road or
in your own house, remember to care for yourself, and to
pray. Leave your wireless internet lap top at home and have your
cell phone on only occasionally. Take a Prayer Book with
you. When I go away, I take my iPod and listen to the great
hymns of faith to relax and I pray the words of the great old
hymns of my upbringing and I feel as if I’m beside the still
waters anyway.
I hope that you have a great summer vacation. Don't forget to
take Jesus with you, and don't forget to set aside some time for
rest and relaxation. Then come back home refreshed and renewed
that we might begin a great fall with renewed purpose and
energy. Visit another church while you’re gone and let me know
what you liked about it. And relax and be renewed.
Let me
leave you with a verse of Scripture that helps me always, even
when I’m exhausted. It comes from that great psalm of comfort,
Psalm 46, particularly comfort in a time of loss and war as we
have experienced in the last week or so. Psalm 46, which offers
great words of comfort like it’s opening verse, “God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, also has
this verse, “Be still, then, and know that I am God;” (Psalm
46:11). One of the hymns on my iPod is “Be still my soul,”
Katharine von Schlegel’s 18th
century hymn set to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius in the
late 19th
century and written as a paraphrase of Psalm 46. Let us remember
to ask God to still our souls that we might hear God’s voice in
our resting places. Jesus called the disciples away that they
might be still and be renewed. And perhaps he reminded them of
Psalm 23, which he knew. A new version of psalms for praying by
Nan Merrill, published five years ago, says it this way: “You
bring me to green pastures for rest and lead me beside still
waters, renewing my spirit. You restore my soul.” (Psalms for
Praying, New York: Continuum, 2001, p. 40). Let us be still
sometime this summer, that we might be refreshed, and that we
might know God and then let us, like the disciples, return to
feed the people. “Be still, and know God.” Amen.
