Sermon for July 18, 2021: Called to Sabbath Rest

In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, Jesus calls his followers to rest, in the midst of their serving. What would it look like for you to follow Jesus’ example and take time to rest? Here’s my sermon for July 18, 2021.

I’m grateful this week to Anna Shine for her column at Modern Metanoia, Where Are Our Deserted Places?, Debie Thomas for her essay, The Gift of Rest, and Kerri Clark for her blog post, Rest.

I need to start today by warning you that today’s sermon is a bit hypocritical. I want to talk to you about the importance of resting, taking a break, taking Sabbath time, on the same weekend when I’m about to leave for Kansas City for our mission trip.

You can let me know after the service if it worked. I think I can get there, because of the way this week’s Gospel text from Mark is broken up. This is one of those weeks where there’s a donut hole in the reading. In two weeks, we’ll fill in the donut hole and we’ll hear about the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000, the part this week’s reading skips over, verses 35-52. But for today, we get a Gospel reading focusing on the lead-up and aftermath of that miracle.

The story picks up with the disciples returning from their mission trip. Earlier in chapter 6, Jesus had sent his disciples out in pairs to travel around the area doing God’s work, healing, casting out demons, proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom coming. Now, they’re back, and they gather around Jesus and tell him all about it. You can picture how excited they are, right? It’s fun to talk about what God’s been doing through you!

Mark doesn’t give us any of the disciples’ actual words, but Luke records them saying things like, “Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us! They’ve had a great trip, done some wonderful ministry, and I imagine they’re ready for their next assignment, ready for what’s next; let’s keep going!

And there’s a lot to do! The world needs their message. They know their work is important! Crowds of people are coming and going, so many Jesus and the disciples can’t even find time to eat.

Have you ever had times like that, when you’re so busy and there’s so much to do and people are depending on you and it’s good, but you can barely grab a moment to wolf down a quick bite to eat before you get back to whatever job or project you’re working on?

That’s kind of how Vacation Bible School felt this year. It was great, lots of fun, and I’m already looking forward to next year, but four days of pretty much going non-stop is a lot! I always think we could add another day, or a couple days, or maybe another week, we could keep going, but wiser people than me point out that you can have too much of a good thing, point out that rest is important too.

That’s kind of what Jesus does in this story. The disciples are amazed at how well their trip went, ready to get back out there, but Jesus doesn’t give them another assignment.

Instead, he says to them, “Come away to a deserted place by yourselves, and rest a while.” Pause.

Take a break.

Rest.

Recharge.

I think that might be one of Jesus’ hardest commands to follow. It’s tough to step back, especially when things are going well.

Life feels too short to rest, and of course, it’s good to feel needed. That’s no different today than it was in Jesus’ time, right? The modern world is not set up for resting. Our society is built on the idea that you always need to be busy.

We live in a world of fast food drive-throughs, constant activities, 24/7 news, and of course, the expectation that everyone is always available through the little magic device in your pocket or on your wrist. Most businesses can measure exactly how much they’ve lost in terms of profits if they have to close even for a couple of hours.

“Come away to a deserted place by yourselves and rest a while” is a countercultural command. Our world so often ties people’s worth to how busy you are, to how much you produce, but Jesus invites us to a different way. Jesus invites us to stop and just be, to trust in God to be at work even while we rest.

And of course, at least in my experience, putting rest time on a calendar doesn’t help – it just makes me feel guilty for not getting to it so I can mark it off my to-do list.

Jesus isn’t calling us just to take a vacation or go to a spa or something; he’s calling us to a different way of being, a pattern of trust and peace. He’s calling us to rest trusting in God, to let God refill us, rather than relying on ourselves. This is not a new idea Jesus came up with. From the very beginning, God intended us to have times of rest. On the seventh day of creation, God rested. Not because God was tired, but as an example for us to follow.

In the 10 commandments, number three tells us to “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Sabbath means a day of rest, a regular day to pause and spend time with God. Later, the command to rest is extended to animals, even to the land itself, with instructions to let land periodically lie fallow.

You and I are not designed for constant busy-ness, constant availability. Sabbath is a difficult commandment to follow because we’re really good as humans at turning good things into laws. But when Jesus gets criticized for not following Sabbath regulations well enough (according to some religious leaders), he responds by saying the Sabbath was created for people. God calls us to rest as a gift, not an obligation, or another standard to live up to.

And Jesus himself sets the example. Many times in the Gospels when he goes off by himself to pray, to spend time with his heavenly Father. That’s an example for us, and it’s also a reminder that Jesus was fully human.

Last week, we heard about John the Baptist’s beheading at the hands of King Herod and his daughter.

Remember, John is Jesus’ cousin. Jesus tells the disciples to take some Sabbath time for their benefit, but also for himself, so he can grieve and process what’s happened. If it was important for Jesus to step away and rest, certainly it’s important for us!

Now, here’s where this sermon starts to feel a bit hypocritical.

I’m not good at doing this. I’m not even good at talking about it, because it’s so easy for me to tell you to take Sabbath time as a commandment, and to make it into a burden. I don’t want you to feel guilty if you’re going to go home and mow the lawn today, or run errands, or go to work or even work from home! That’s not the point at all! But I do want you to think about what it would look like for you to rest. What would it look like for you to follow the Sabbath commandment?

Maybe it looks like the green pastures and the still waters David speaks of in today’s Psalm, time out in creation, in nature. Maybe it’s family time, or time away from family! Perhaps it’s being more intentional about worship, prayer, cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. It’s not something I can prescribe, because even good self-care can turn into a burden.

But the key is to make time to be with Jesus, to spend at least some time resting, to find space for listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you, to separate our sense of worth from what we do and produce and how busy we are and to instead trust God who claims and names us beloved.

And here’s where I think this story gets even more challenging—or perhaps more encouraging. At least this time, Jesus’ sabbath time with his disciples does not work! They get in the boat and go to a deserted place by themselves, and when they get there, there’s a crowd of people demanding attention. And Jesus has compassion on them, and begins to teach them many things.

We follow a Savior who both recognizes the value of time away, who calls his followers to rest, and who also is moved by compassion and love above all else.

The lesson in this Gospel is not as clear as I’d like it to be, but then neither is life. How you find a balance between resting and serving is between you and God. But pay attention, and when that balance gets out of whack, look to Jesus’ example.

This works, I think, for a mission trip sending weekend because sometimes rest looks like breaking out of our normal routine. And we will have opportunities on the trip to be still and disconnect and simply pray and reflect on God’s word, to listen for God’s voice speaking.

Again, what does sabbath rest time look like for you? I don’t have an answer, but to give you a reminder, I’m going to send you home today with a gift. On your way out, I’ll hand you a wooden foot massager.

You can ask me later for the story of where these came from, but just know your offerings did not go towards them, and receive them as a gift. And taking it is not optional! Take it home and put it somewhere as a reminder of the importance of rest and sabbath.

What I like about a foot massager in particular as a symbol of rest is that it’s not rest for its own sake, self-indulgence. It’s a symbol of rest in preparation for getting out there and serving. It’s preparation for being the feet of Jesus at work in the world, a reminder to reflect and recharge in order to love your neighbors.

Allow God to fill you up so that you have the energy to do justice, to care for others, to share the good news of Jesus.

May you know the gift of God’s call to sabbath rest, the gift of peace found in trusting God, and may you be refreshed and renewed to share God’s love this week.
Amen