He withdrew

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."  ¹⁶Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."  ¹⁷They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."  ¹⁸And he said, "Bring them here to me."  ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.  Mark 6

This summer was a season to withdraw, to get away.  Like Jesus modeled for his disciples and for us.  I’m grateful for the 2 weeks off.  I had very limited contact and received NO phone calls during this time away.  I returned to read this gospel, a text that has its middle action cut out to make a point.  Jesus provides retreat, rest, recuperation, and healing to people who need these things.  A church that imitates Jesus is called to offer them same to one another and to our neighbors.   It would be easy today to point to the gospel of Mark and say, “See, Jesus invited his disciples to retreat, to a little vacation across the lake.  We all need rest and renewal.”   While I was away, I learned that a colleague, the pastor I served with at my previous call (Grace Lancaster) recently had a heart attack and is recovering for the month of July at his 2^nd  home in New Hampshire.  That news was shocking because Steve is only 50 and in excellent health, an athlete really.   We must learn to balance work and rest, productive time and grace time; we all need renewal to continue the important work this church is called to do.  We are called, brothers and sisters, to embody freedom in Christ. This freedom is a freedom to serve our neighbors generously and joyfully.  This comes from the master’s work, work that is hidden from our ears today in the gospel.  I remind you that the text that was cut out of the gospel for today includes the feeding of the multitudes and the stilling of the storm/walking on water scenes.  Jesus actually delays their retreat in order to compassionately serve the sick and hungry people they encounter.  He takes his disciples into new territory, not only to get away from the crowds, but to encounter more strangers who are hungry and hurting. He took them away to show them the scope and breadth of the mission.  

Americans are not great at maintaining healthy rhythms; daily, weekly, annually.  We tend to overwork, vacation, overwork, repeat…until we retire or die.  Bad stress causes heart attacks and anxiety for many of us.  For so many of our friends and neighbors, the constancy of labor without vacation or breaks is necessary to sustain their households.  Between hard work and household chores and child-rearing, many of our friends and neighbors get no physical or mental breaks ever.  What would a church that took seriously the need to create time and space for people to get time off look like?  What if some adults here offered a free parents night out, in which we served dinner and a movie to kids from 6 to 9 pm?   

We know that time heals. And although I’m dealing with some back pain probably soft tissue or muscle related that I incurred during vacation, I know that healing takes time.  Often, the doctor tells us we need to take more healing time than we are willing or able to give ourselves.  We are impatient patients.  And we do not take seriously mental and emotional health care, requiring times of silence, stillness, and self-reflection. We prefer quick fixes.  But time heals. How do we give people permission to enter into a season of prolonged healing and renewal?

While we were in Williamsburg, we pulled into a gas station.  We pulled around an elderly man who was having some difficulty at the pump.  His car was not close enough to the pump and he was moving very slowly.  We watched this scene unfold.  After I was done filling my tank, I noticed people passing by, shaking their heads or ignoring the scene.  The man got back in his car and attempted to move it closer to the tank.  He moved it further away.  He couldn’t back up to the tank.  I decided to intervene.  I asked the man if I could help him.  He said he would be grateful.  He gave me his keys and I backed the car to the pump.  He didn’t know how to use the credit card machine, so I helped him with it.  He said, its hell getting old.  And he said thank you.  He gassed up the car and we drove away.  I couldn't help but think that part of my vacation was for him.  I was where I was needed, even when we were on retreat.  Because the mercy mission is evreywhere, for everyone, at any time.  I was grateful for the time away.  For the injured back that slows me down.  And for the elderly man who needed someone to pay attention to him and lend a hand.