Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship this day for July 21, 2024, the 9th Sunday after Pentecost!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. You can use it to follow along with the service or you could use the words on your screen. The full sermon manuscript is included in the bulletin as well as on this page, below the worship video.
For an enhanced online worship experience, you may have a lit candle in your space for most of service, and extinguish it near the end after the sending hymn when the altar candles are put out. If you are comfortable, you may also participate in communion by having something small to eat and drink ready for the appropriate time in the service. You will be given more instructions then.
May God’s unending love and providence be apparent to you, this day and always!
May your Word, O God, be drawn near to us, that we might hear your voice in our lives this day, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
So… Jesus is back. If you heard the readings from the past couple Sundays, you would have seen Jesus in a bit of a funk, where he didn’t have much power other than telling the disciples what to do. And truth be told, it was a little strange and disorienting to see him in that way. But now he’s back in full force doing all the Jesus things, saying all the Jesus words, and being all the Jesus he can be. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I kind of missed him.
But now that Jesus is back full Jesus-like after a couple weeks of not-so-Jesus-like-Jesus, I feel like we can resume with our regularly scheduled programming. I mean, he’s teaching again and people are listening. He’s healing again and people are being healed. He’s even respected and loved again as people are literally running around lakes just to see him. I don’t know if it can be more Jesus than that.
Except… well… it seems like he contradicts himself a bit in today’s story, doesn’t it. The disciples, all tired out from the mission that he gave them like 2 Sundays ago, are back with reports of all the good things that they have done in his name. He said go and they went. He said teach and they taught. He said heal, and somehow they were actually able to heal. But what they were now, as you would imagine, was tired.
Wouldn’t you be if you were out doing all the things? So in a very Jesus-like way, Jesus says that they should take a break, put their feet up, and just chill for a while. And immediately that is what they did. They got in a boat which, if you remember, would be their happy place, and set off to some secluded place off the sea of Galilee. A nice remote spot off this 10 by 20 kilometer lake. A private beach somewhere on the shores of this body of water that only about 2/3 the size of Vancouver and Burnaby combined. As you could imagine, there weren’t many options.
And these options were narrowed down even more when the people saw them and literally chased them on foot because they were so desperate for some more teaching and healing. I guess they didn’t go very far, or didn’t row very hard, or didn’t plan out the trip too thoroughly. Their fans caught up with them lickety split just down from where they started, and gave them no room to be alone, to rest, or even to eat.
Don’t you hate it when that happens? Sure, maybe we don’t know what it’s like to have adoring fans going all paparazzi on us, but I think we all, if we held any kind of responsibility to do anything at any point in time, would know what it’s like to think we’re free and clear when we really aren’t. Like you think you’ve finished the dishes and are ready to go watch some tv or play that game but then another plate comes in. Or you’re about to clock out after work but your boss says “Oh wait, I need you to look at one more thing” or something. Or you put the last period after the last amen on your sermon but you think, “my lanta that made no sense whatsoever” and start a rewrite.
It’s like there’s no rest for the wicked. There’s always something else that has to be done. Life just doesn’t let up at all.
And contrary to popular belief, this isn’t a good thing. As much as we often use our busyness as a badge of honour, our workaholism as a point of pride, our stressed and almost burned out mentality as a symbol of strength, we have to cognitively know that this just isn’t healthy. We might want being overworked to be a good thing, seen as productive or responsible or something, but the fact of the matter is our bodies just need to rest in order to function properly. We are commanded to take at least a day off a week by the God of the covenant. We have been given the gift of Sabbath in order that our minds and souls can be properly cared for.
This was God’s plan. This is what Jesus wanted. This is what the disciples so desperately needed. But the people, with all their immense need, didn’t allow it to happen.
And since it was Jesus’ idea to go get some R&R, you’d think that he’d be the first one to shoo the crowd away, right? You’d think he’d be the one to want to honour his own request for them to take a break. You’d think he’d be the one, of all people, know the value and sanctity of Sabbath.
Jesus didn’t do or display all those things, did he? Not even close. It was the disciples who tried to get the people to leave them alone. The thing with that is, they weren’t the main act. It was Jesus, the real Jesus, the Jesus of Messianic prophecy and faith, that the people wanted to see, to learn from, to experience.
And Jesus, being all compassion, being all love, being all Jesus, gives it to them.
The text tells us that he heals, teaches, and does all the things, totally disregarding what he asked of the disciples just moments before. It’s like he completely forgot about the relaxing part of their trip. I wonder how disappointed the disciples are when they weren’t able to take that rest that they so desperately needed.
But then, in spite of that, who said that they didn’t find energy, fulfilment, and rejuvenation?
I mean, it wasn’t them who was doing the healing, not really at least. They watched Jesus do it. They weren’t doing all the teaching and talking. That was Jesus too. So they weren’t doing the metaphoric heavy lifting so to speak. They’ll do the literal heavy lifting next week though, picking up 12 baskets full of leftovers, but that’s for next week.
So who’s to say that this episode wasn’t restful and rejuvenating for the disciples? That they weren’t energized by watching Jesus finally be Jesus again? That just being in the presence of God in the flesh, God incarnate, God with us didn’t give them the fulfillment that they were looking for?
Knowing the disciples, and knowing Jesus, I have a feeling that this was more than enough.
Now, I’m not saying that I’m going to be giving up my holidays coming up in a couple weeks or anything. Nor am I saying that we should be giving more, doing more, and serving more. Nor am I even saying that we have one less excuse to not be at church on Sundays because we can get our rest here. But what I’m saying is that we can be re-energized by the grace of God. There is rejuvenation found in Jesus. We are led to green pastures and still waters by the Good Shepherd and are given the peace that fills our hearts and souls.
Peace to be in community. Peace to serve God and neighbour. Peace to love and be loved.
And that’s the thing, isn’t it? Love? That’s what all this is about? See, it is out of love that we do what we do on the most part, but it is also out of love that Jesus welcomes us to rest. It is out of love that the Christ has a deep compassion for all those in need. It is out of love that our Saviour the Messiah heals, teaches, and guides us along paths of grace and righteousness. We have been given this love to strengthen us, empower us, and equip us to serve.
Then hopefully we’ll find that in our service, in our reflecting of this love back onto others, that we are energized, fulfilled, and brought back into the wholeness of community and relationship, where we can see all people as God has created them: as loved and redeemed children of God, joined with us and all people as the one body of Christ.
This doesn’t mean that we will no longer feel busy. This doesn’t mean that we won’t feel stressed and overworked. This doesn’t even mean that we won’t feel tired or need to rest. But rather, it means that when we need that rest, it will come. Perhaps not in the form that we might hope it would be, unfortunately, like an all-expense trip to some resort or something, but it might come in the form of us giving a little more where it might be fulfilling for us. Or it might be in us seeing the results of our work or relationships for the betterment of the community. Or it might even be in recognising the Jesus in others, reflecting that love out onto all people as well as onto us.
In this season after Pentecost when we focus on church health and growth, may we see and recognise Jesus in our midst, empowering us to serve, energizing us to rest, and leading us into peace. Thanks be to God. Amen.