Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

 +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
Last week we read about how Jesus sent the Twelve on their first mission without Him being with them. We examined how Jesus gave them instructions for their work that serve as principles for us today as we go out in Jesus’ name to carry out the Great Commission.

In today’s passage from St. Mark, he picks up the story where we left off last week. And what we see is Jesus being the Good Shepherd of the sheep, who cares for His people, and we can also find more wisdom and guidance for living the Christian life in today’s world.

St. Mark tells us that the Twelve return from their mission trip. They report back to Jesus all that they saw and did on their mission. After hearing their report, the first thing Jesus invites them to do is go find a quiet place to rest. Mark tells us that the disciples are with Jesus in a busy place, as “many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” As you know, life, especially ministry, is exhausting. Often it seems that there is no time even to take a break.  Nevertheless, time to rest and refresh is essential. Time away from the hustle and bustle is essential. Jesus, because He knows and understands the needs of His disciples, invites them to go away and rest for a while.

Jesus’s invitation underscores a basic need that we all have in our spiritual lives. There is a time to work, to minister. And then there is a time to rest and pray. If you don’t do both, then your Christian life and your ministry will not bear fruit. Work without prayer and rest will lead to burnout and a lack of impact for the Kingdom of God. Prayer and rest are important, but they are meant to serve as fuel to empower and strengthen us and we go out in Jesus’ name to do the work and the ministry He has called us to do.

One of the great things about our Anglican tradition is that it incorporates the balance that is to be characteristic of the Christian life. Drawn from the tradition of Benedictine spirituality, it encourages a daily balance in life of work, study, and prayer. The focus is on a balanced life, not falling into the extremes of too much work or too much asceticism.

Unfortunately, when Jesus and the disciples had gotten in a boat and gone over to the other side of the lake to rest and pray, the crowd noticed what they were doing, and they all followed Jesus and the disciples and found where they were staying. But when Jesus sees the crowd, He calls off the rest time. St. Mark tells us that Jesus’ first concern was for the crowd: “He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” As the Good Shepherd, Jesus sees their need, and He moves to respond. Jesus understood that sheep without a shepherd are vulnerable and need help. Lost sheep need guidance because they get lost easily. Lost sheep cannot feed themselves and need to be led to pasture. And lost sheep are vulnerable to outside attacks and need protection.

What is also noteworthy is the reaction of the disciples. They were tired from their ministry work and looking forward to some down time. But (like Jesus) their rest time is interrupted by the crowd. Whereas Jesus has compassion on them and wanted to help, the disciples were cranky and put out. They tell Jesus, “Send them away to go into the surrounding villages and buy themselves something to eat.” Whenever we are faced with someone in need, we have two responses: one, we can put the responsibility for meeting that person’s need on to someone else, second, we can respond to that need ourselves.

Here Jesus prods the disciples to do the latter. He says to them, “You give them something to eat.” And their response is to tell Jesus, whatever we’ve got, its not enough. This is a very natural and human reaction to all the need and suffering in the world, to the demands of ministry. We say to God, “Lord, I’m not the one to do this. I don’t have what it takes. I don’t have the skill. I don’t have the resources.

And here is another great response from Jesus. He doesn’t chide them for their unbelief, He simply asks them, “what do you have?” They tell Him: “Five loaves and two fishes.” It’s a ridiculous notion that they could feed five thousand people with so little. The disciples’ feelings of inadequacy are very appropriate, given the circumstances. From a worldly perspective that is.

But Jesus is here, and He takes charge of the situation. Jesus feeds the five thousand from five small loaves of bread and two fishes. There is so much left over that 12 baskets are filled.

As we reflect on these events described by St. Mark, we can come to three conclusions: First, Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He cares for us and will take care of us and give us what we need. Second, balance in the spiritual life is essential. We need time to rest and pray and time to work. Each one balances out the other. After we work, we need to rest and pray and that then leads us out to do more work. Third, it’s normal that we feel inadequate to the things that Jesus calls us to do. The proper response to those feelings of inadequacy is not to throw up our hands and walk away, but to ask God for what we need and to trust Him to provide it.
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+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.