Pent 8 – B - 19 July 2015
Grace to you and peace from
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for our meditation
is written in the 6th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark;
Verses, 30-31:
“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest'."
Let us pray: Father, guide
the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, that your word of truth
will fill our hearts and minds and guide us to the true rest that only you can
give. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
During
our lives, each one of us receive invitations; Invitations to anniversaries,
birthdays, graduations, etc. Mostly when we receive an invitation we’re
flattered that someone would remember us and value us enough to invite us to
their special occasion. Today, in our Text, the Lord reminds us of His
invitation, that each and every day He invites us to find rest - rest for our
bodies and rest for our souls. This is an invitation that we often overlook in
the hustle and bustle of our lives – In our ego-centric need to ‘be involved’ –
in our humanness to set values by our achievements and position in life. Friends,
in our text our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is inviting us to take a deep
breath and be still and listen to Him, as He invites us as He did His disciples
with His words “Come with Me to a quiet
place… and get some rest” - rest for
our bodies physically, and rest for our souls spiritually.
Just prior to our text, in Verse 8, Jesus sent out His disciples two by two on a faith journey taking only what they were wearing, to heal and preach repentance. In our text we are told of their return, only now they are described as Apostles, or one who has been sent. The Apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. They were excited that as they had gone out and preached the word of God, it was just as Jesus said – many believed - many were healed – demons were cast out. This had really got people interested, Jesus and His Apostles were in demand. - The kingdom of God was beginning to flourish. So many people were coming and going, they did not even have a chance to eat. … I often wonder what would we do if we were the Apostles at that time? – Probably what we tend to do today – push on – set up discipleship committees – have seminars – busy ourselves with saving souls – come on Jesus, let’s go! We sure have some work to do if we are going to grow this church! This is exciting stuff, winning people for the Lord!
But
Jesus did not seem all that excited by their enthusiasm. He quietly said to
them, “Come with me by yourselves to a
quiet place and get some rest.” – That’s a bit deflating, especially when
you are on a roll – They were all fired up!
How often does that happen to us? How often do we get
fired up and burn up our energy in trying to save the world from itself? Jesus
reminds us and the Apostles of the words of Psalm 46:10; “Be still, and know that I am God” They needed to take a break from
the daily rush of activity. This is reflective of Mark 1:35 when Jesus was in
great demand “Very early in the morning,
while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a
solitary place, where he prayed.” Even the Son of God realised that He
needed rest from the day-to-day activities.
Friends, here we see what one might describe as ‘the rhythm of the Christian life’. The
Christian life is a continuous going into the presence our great Triune God away
from the presence of people, and then coming out into the presence of
people from the presence of God. How can
we do God’s will for us in the world if we do not spend time with him in meditation
and prayer? As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 2: 9-13; “However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" —
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things,
even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man
except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world
but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely
given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in
words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
To give you a tangible example of what I am saying –
A very large fuel company placed magnificent float in a parade in Adelaide some
years ago. The fuel company poured many dollars and numerous resources into
making it’s float the most magnificent in the parade, but the one thing they
forgot to do was fuel up the truck under the float, and right in the middle of
the parade, the fuel company float ran out of petrol.
Friends, what Jesus is saying to his Apostles and to
us is that we may have the best spiritual programme in the whole church; we
might be the most enthusiastic Christian evangelist or teacher or visitor that
anyone could possibly be; but unless we take time out to rest and meditate in
His presence and soak in his inerrant and guiding Word, then like the fuel
company float, we are just going to run out of petrol, and run the risk of all
our work being in vain.
There are probably some of you who are presently
wondering what relevance this has to you; you’re probably thinking that it
would be great if you could just get some time to become involved in the
outreach programme of the church. For some, job and
family commitments consume all your waking moments – rest is just a vision of
retirement some years down the track when the children are self supporting and
there is enough money to retire into a life of relative comfort. Many in that
category do find time to get to church occasionally, but there are many who
continually assure me that when things ease off a bit they will return to
church; Friends, let me tell you as one in the latter hours of life’s work day;
it just isn’t that cut and dried – for many there is just never enough money,
and for the majority of those who try to go it alone, there is certainly very
little rest.
Perhaps we can view this text and our Gospel reading
for today in another light – could I suggest that instead of just relating to
the Apostles who were sent by Jesus, let us draw a parallel to this reading by
looking at Matthew 28:18-20; “Then Jesus
came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age." This is commonly known as the great commission
and friends, most assuredly it was not just directed at the Apostles, but to
the whole fellowship of believers, and that is you and I and every baptised
Christian on this earth. As Jesus sent his Apostles in the text, so to, each
and every one of us has been sent by Jesus with the reassurance that he would
be with us to the very end of the age.
Following on from this then, I can safely announce to
you that by virtue of Matthew 28, each and every one of us are ‘Apostles of
Christ’, and as such it is impossible for any of us to function independent of
Christ. There is still the common belief that most of God’s work is up to the Priest;
friends let me assure you that we are all in the same boat; we live and serve
in a Christian calling or ‘Vocation’, which is theologically described as the
‘Masks of God’:
Allow
me to read a quote from the Swedish Theologian, Gustaf Wingren “In his vocation man does works which effect the well‑being
of others; for so God has made all offices. Through this work in man's offices,
God's creative work goes forward, and that creative work is love, a profusion
of good gifts. With persons as his "hands"' or "co-workers,"
God gives his gifts through the earthly vocations, toward man's life on earth
(food through farmers, fishermen and hunters; external peace through princes,
judges, and orderly powers; knowledge and education through teachers and
parents, etc., etc.). Through the preacher's vocation, God gives the forgiveness
of sins. Thus love comes from God, flowing down to human beings on earth
through all vocations, through both spiritual and earthly governments”.
In summary, we are all both recipients and instruments
of our great Triune God’s grace, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer ‘Give us today our daily bread’ and it is
so done, as is all our needs by God through us daily.
When
in our text, Jesus calls His Apostles to rest, he is not just addressing the
12, but the whole fellowship of believers, Christ’s church on earth, and we can
only find that rest in the here and now in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ –
not in what we own – not in our position – not in ambition – not in our human
plans – but only in the grace of Jesus. 1 Timothy 6:6-7 tells us “There is great gain in godliness with
contentment: for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything
out of the world”
Fellow
Apostles in Christ, there can be no rest for those who wish distance themselves
from Jesus commission to us to serve each other, by serving their own personal
ambitions. Like the Apostles in the text we are called to serve Christ, and we
have the promise in Matthew 28 that if we serve Christ as he commissions us to,
then he will be with us always until the very end of the age. What a comfort,
to belong to the fellowship of believers; to be given the love and purpose to
serve our brothers and sisters in Christ and be served responsively in the same
way. Who else but our Lord and Saviour can make the promise as written in John
15:7 “If you abide in me, and my word
abides in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” – and
when the days come, and they will, when
we do tire from the burdens of the world, from the barrages of Satan and the
weakness of our own human nature, Jesus will always be there calling to us who
serve him in faith “: “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.” – and in keeping with Jesus assurance
that he will be with us till the end of the age, that is a promise of rest in the
anxieties and challenges of life, rest in illness, and most importantly, rest
into eternity in the fellowship of our great Triune God and the company of
angels and saints who have gone before us.
Amen.
The
love and peace of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
Merv James
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