Getting Away to a Lonely Place

HOMILY, CHRIST CHURCH, BAY ST. LOUIS – PROPER 11, YEAR B

JULY 18, 2021

 

TEXT:                        MARK 6:30-34, 53-56

 

            There is a bumper sticker that many of you have probably seen.  It says simply, “Jesus is coming. Look busy.”

 

            That would apply to the disciples in today’s gospel lesson. Earlier in chapter six, Jesus had dispatched them two-by-two into the surrounding towns and villages.  His charge to them: Heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim the coming of the kingdom.

 

            Now, later in the chapter, they have returned – elated, victorious, having done what Jesus had asked them to do. They were pumped. What’s next?

 

            Jesus’ response: Come away with me to a lonely place.

 

            Thirty-six years ago I was doing my hospital chaplaincy training at University Hospital in Jackson.  It was my Sunday to conduct the interfaith chapel service.  The people who attended were the family members of patients in the hospital.  Ironically, the gospel lesson was the same as today.

 

            As I looked out on that gathered group of worshippers, I saw a harried lot of folks – people who were weary, people who had tended their loved ones, people who were running on empty and were at the point of exhaustion.

 

            Out of necessity, they had become human doings and not human beings. They had done so, as I said, out of necessity – not a simple choice to burn the candle at both ends.

 

            Jesus said to them, and he says to us, Come away to a lonely place.

 

            This may not be an issue for you.  You may be blessed with ample quiet time for reflection and going deep.  But the modern world puts all sorts of obstructions in our way.  We identify our worth with what we do rather than the quality and depth of our connection to the ground of our being.

 

            The prophet Nathan had a similar message for King David in the first lesson. David was striving to do more. God speaks to David through Nathan: “I have given you all you need. Do not try to build me a house. Be assured of my hand in your life.”

 

            I am not proposing that we rest on our laurels.  We are still encouraged, in the words of the prophet Micah, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God. But recognize the need for refreshment and to stay connected with that source of life which calls to us.