July 19, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Jeremiah 23: 1-6 + Psalm 23 + Ephesians 2: 13-18 + Mark 6: 30-34
Jesus proposes three things to disciples who get tired, who get weary, and live too fast.
“Come away to a deserted place.” he says. “Rest” “Eat.” And so, he get the in a boat to “cross over.” Let’s go deeper into these invitations than a shallow imagination of a leisurely picnic in an out of the way place after a boat ride. I believe there are some powerful symbols here suggesting something much deeper. The suggestion of “crossing over” might very well mean crossing over to a new way of thinking – a change of mind rather than a change of scenery. I believe that Jesus is inviting his disciples to experience compassion.
It is an experience that requires a crossing over, a shift from attention and awareness of difference to sameness. What Jesus invites his disciples is to cease noticing differences around them: differences between people and between themselves and take up a new way of thinking about sameness. Only when that happens is compassion possible. The recognition of sameness is the wellspring of compassion.
Once we cross over and recognize our sameness, our actions begin to come from a space of communion. Compassion is not an achievement but the recognition of the deeper truth of solidarity. The mission of faithful people is always about unity as I suggested last week. The prophet, the apostle, the disciple does not divide, separate, polarize and separate. It is healing mission that we are given, and so compassion is indispensable; but to be authentic, it springs from a recognition of our solidarity; the truth that we are all alike once we probe the depth of the human heart.
The consciousness of this truth is a restful place from which actions flow easily, without pressure and pushing, happening more by itself. And so, the invitation to rest is extended to apostolic people. But this “rest” does not mean inactivity. It is more like the Sabbath rest, an invitation to be sustained by the goodness of Creation. It does not mean more time to sleep or play with less work. It means acting in harmony with creation and the Spirit of God. It means not thinking we have to do it all; but realizing that what we do if it is in accord with God’s will is not hard and is always successful. It simply means working with God rather than working alone.
Finally, there is also that invitation to come to a deserted place and “eat.” Now think for a minute! A deserted place is not going to have food. If it’s literally a deserted place, there will be nothing there. No food is found in a deserted place. This is symbolic language for simply learning to be fed by God. It is what happened to the Israelites in their deserted place. They learned be fed by God who never failed to give them their daily bread. It was the experience of Jesus in the desert after his baptism by John. He learned to be fed by God. Coming away to that place is means returning to the Source – it means being nurtured by God. In the next couple of weeks, we are going to hear a lot about food and ponder together how it is the God feeds us and satisfies our hungers.
For now, in the middle of summer – that season we thought would give us a break, some rest, and some leisure. It looks to me like we are all just as busy as always, falling further behind and still hungry. For what other reason would we all eat so much and complain about it? Jesus speaks to us all today: not to a select few. As a people, as a church, we are the shepherds, and the only way to imitate the Good Shepherd will be to learn compassion, to look at each other with an understanding that comes from knowing ourselves which is really the secret to knowing another. “Cross over” suggests Jesus. Look at what we have in common, not what makes us different. Work with God. It will require half as much effort and expect God to provide what we need by living in harmony with God’s will.
I believe that these are things he began to teach them, and much more besides.