Ephesians 2.11-22; Mark 6.30-34, 53-56
Over the last couple of weeks I've been using the readings, especially from St. Mark's gospel to say something about faith. (Sorry to readers that they don't appear on the blog. That was because I was giving myself a rest from the computer, which kind of fits in with what I've got to say this time.) And today we change tack a bit. You might recall, if you were present at the time that I said that St. Mark's gospel is my favourite, not least because it shows us Jesus as a man of action and the gospel moves on at a tremendous pace, reinforcing this view. But today, between the lines, we can see how Jesus manages to keep going and also see something of what the Church is meant to be for us.
We take up the gospel this morning where the disciples have come back from having been sent out by Jesus on their first mission, teaching and healing. And they tell Jesus all about it. When St. Luke talks about a similar mission where Jesus sends them out they come back, we are told, overjoyed by all they have seen and heard. So the disciples will have gathered again probably very excited, but also very tired. They'd have been still fuelled with adrenaline and very soon would come the opposite of the adrenaline rush, exhaustion. So what does Jesus do? He obviously recognises this because he says to them; 'Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.' And St. Mark, indeed, tells us that people are still demanding much of them, taking up so much of their time that they have no time even to eat.
So the thing that stands out in this reading, because it contrasts so markedly with everything else that's going on, is Jesus making sure that the disciples get enough rest. We see that on other occasions too and Jesus himself making sure that he gives himself time, that he isn't overburdened by other peoples demands and expectations. He gives himself time to rest, time to think, time to pray. And that's because his ministry is so demanding. All the time people are clamouring for his attention, not in their ones and two's but whole towns and villages it seems. Sometimes, Jesus even purposely avoids people; and that's because he needs the time to himself simply to recover and prepare. So here we see him making sure that his disciples get the same sort of rest, he takes care of his disciples in the same way he takes care of others. He meets their needs as he meets the needs of others.
The Church is notoriously bad for not following Jesus's example. All the time we expect too much of people, we put too many demands on people with one burden and another, or at least, we have done historically. I hope St. Andrew's is not like that now. There are those who do a great deal of work here and I hope I always encourage them to take enough rest. But it needs to be more than that. The Church should be first and foremost a place of healing for body, mind and spirit.
There's one word that stands out in the reading from Ephesians this morning and that is 'peace'; and while it's meant in the sense of peace between groups of people and relates to the work of Jesus in bringing the peace of reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles, making them one people under God; I'm suggesting that first and foremost the Church should be a place of peace. It should be a place where people can come and find peace, a peace that brings healing of body, mind and spirit.
When people come to the Church, meaning us, we really should be that sort of people that offers peace to them; that we embody the peace of God which can be passed on to them. So often people come and they find the opposite in the Church, a place of overwhelming demand and business. No wonder they leave; for when they find all of that, well, they are just finding what they find in the world outside the Church, what they were fleeing from anyway. So, the Church should be a place of peace where people can come to be refreshed and renewed in every way. And then they might find it to be the place of healing that it should be. If we are Christ's body now on earth then we as the Church should be a healing place for people, just as Jesus was 2,000 years ago. I wonder what we would do if we had whole towns and villages knocking at our door, wanting to be healed?
But doesn't the fact that they aren't make us want to ask the question 'why not?' For surely, in this day and age, if we were a peaceful, healing place then people would flock here. Well, it's something to think about certainly. And I think our readings this morning demand that of us. First to ask ourselves, do we get the rest, relaxation and recreation we need, as individuals, in our hugely demanding lives? And then secondly, do we as the Church offer the peace and healing that Jesus did, which is a basic characteristic of the Kingdom of God and which is surely a feature of a church which has Jesus risen and alive in it?
Maybe as we take our holidays or take our rest over these summer weeks we could ask ourselves those questions and during the time we take out to pray, ask God to show us how we might become what we see of Jesus and the disciples in these readings this morning.
