“Ain’t Got Time to Believe”
6 Pentecost B –
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Today’s gospel reading from Mark is an “Oreo” text. Of which we read only the two cookie portions and leave out the creamy filling. The creamy filling in this case, is Mark’s telling of the memorable miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.
So perhaps there is a method in the madness of leaving feeding of the 5,000 out of our reading if it causes us to focus on what happens around this miracle – before and after. In the first half of our reading there is hustle and bustle: the disciples are coming back from a busy day of doing and teaching when Jesus calls a sort of staff meeting. He sees that that they have been putting the sandals to the gravel, they have proclaiming and teaching about Jesus. It’s been a tough day at the office.
Jesus knows they need to recharge and renew, so he says, “Come away to a deserted place all by your selves and rest a while.” And to emphasize how much the disciples need to rest Mark adds, “For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat.”
The word given here meaning “no leisure” can also mean “no time” or “no opportunity”. The New International Version translates it “they did not even have a chance to eat.” Which is pretty much what you or I say when work, school, family activities leave us no time to have a meal.
Or we might even say “I ain’t got time to eat,” to paraphrase the title of Jesse Ventura’s book, “I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed,” But that’s exactly where the disciples are: full calendars, people demanding their attention, so much to do; so little time. No wonder Jesus called a time out.
But that’s us, too, isn’t it? Far too often in our busy lives, we don’t have time to eat, missing meals or grabbing a bite on the run. And how often are we able to eat together as a family on a regular basis?
Whereas not having time to bleed is an assertion, a badge of swaggering toughness, not having time to eat is a sign of a life out of balance, a warning of danger to body and even soul. Poor diet and irregular meal schedules put our physical well being at risk. But the busy-ness affects more than our bodies.
When we don’t eat, we lose an important opportunity to thank God for his blessings. When we don’t eat together as a family, we miss the opportunity to see God at work in our relationships parents, children, grandchildren and to share with one another. “Ain’t Got Time to Eat” too easily leads to “Ain’t Got Time to Believe”.
It’s not a coincidence that the Greek work that Mark uses for leisure is eukairon.
The Greek word for Holy Communion, Eucharist can also be the word for thanksgiving, gratitude Eukairon. Eucharist.
Jesus here is calling his disciples to holy rest because he knows that such is inseparable from the miracle he is about to perform the holy feeding of the 5,000, the miracle that prefigures the last supper, and the meal that we will share in a few moment.
Jesus is trying to help the disciples and us begin to see that the need for holy rest (eukairon) and the holy meal (eucharist,) are part of what we are called to do and be as followers of Christ. They are not unique super-special events. We need them daily, especially in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the frantic stop-and-go of life.
But what Jesus is showing us here is not just catching our breath. Have you ever tried to literally catch your breath? Of course, it can’t be done the pace of our lives, our level of activity is outstripping our body’s ability to provide oxygen. To give it some leisure, to provide an opportunity, to make time (of course we can no more literally make time than we can catch our breath).
What Jesus shows us is that His rest, his feeding really does help us catch our breath because it not only rest your body. It also means to restore the Spirit – ruach, pneuma – old words that mean both spirit and breath. What Jesus is talking about is weaving the holy into the daily details of our life. Daily rest, daily thanks for the gifts of food and health open our lives to God so that throughout the course of a day, no matter how busy, we find our lives transformed by God’s presence each moment of the day.
So Jesus says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Where’s your “deserted place”? Every kid has one – a tree fort or a corner of the playground no one uses, a place in the basement next to the furnace. Mine was a high branch of a cottonwood tree.
Every adult needs one, yet too few of us do. Or if we do, it is woefully underused. A deserted stretch of riverbank. A sewing room. A workbench in the garage. A certain table in the public library. It can even be your car. Your desk at work.
It is not so much the place itself, but the intent we bring to that place: the intent of being open to God’s presence through thanks, praise, prayer, even silence. The intent of recognizing God as the center out of which our lives spin their course.
This last one is a biggie, our putting ourselves at the center of it all, as this story underscores.
Martha’s Joke Here
But you notice that the two brothers had their own deserted place -- that closet where they hatched their schemes. Closets make excellent places of prayer, as well as pranks!
It is out of these deserted places that miracles happen. A nagging worry about a friend disappears. The tension headache dogging us all morning suddenly eases. We suddenly feel assured that God has given us the courage we need to make a difficult decision.
Feeding the five thousand with a few loaves and some fish is no more miraculous that finding that God’s peace as a living presence in the midst of bulging appointment books and never-ending soccer tournaments.
In the midst of your life Jesus says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Rest with him. Rest in him. And you will find time to believe. Amen.
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