Context
From the start of Mark’s Gospel, it has been Non-Stop.
As I’ve mentioned before, Mark’s Gospel stresses the urgency of Jesus’ message to the people and everything happens “Immediately.” In fact, looking it up from a question I received last week, the word “Immediately” is used 41 times in the 16 chapters of Mark’s Gospel.
Jesus’ ministry in this world is urgent.
Through it all the Disciples have been following him, trying to understand Jesus’ teachings. Trying to understand how he performs all of these miracles. Trying to understand what all of this talk about the coming Kingdom of God really means.
But Jesus hasn’t just let them sit back either, the disciples are immediately called into action once they join the cause. They help to give out food, they make visits and spread the good news, they help to heal, they help to teach, they help to cleanse people of unclean spirits. From the start of this Gospel, they too have been going Non-Stop.
And so, at the beginning of today’s reading, the disciples are rushing up to Jesus and they are eager to tell him everything that they have done and taught. They jump into their stories… We healed this one person… we were teaching your parables to another group… we saved someone from a demon… we did your work… we did what you told us to do…
But Jesus pauses them… and says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while.”
We are not told that the disciples are exhausted. In fact, I might go as far to say that the disciples might not have realized at all that they were tired.
It’s like when you’re a child and your parents take you to an amusement Park or Disney world or a fun camp with ziplines and rope courses and all the amazing things that you can do.
You are captivated by everything around you. You want to try every ride over and over again. Your parents ask you if you’d like to take a break and you say, No! Let’s keep going. You keep going on ride after ride. You keep taking turn after turn. Low and behold, the day flies by and your parents finally say, okay, it’s time to rest. As a child, we protest, we have so much energy, we can go longer!
I believe this is one of the closest feelings to having the fire of God lit within you. When the fire is roaring within us, when are so convicted by God’s work that we keep going, and working, and talking, and teaching, and rushing in, immediately. When Jesus talks about having a child-like faith in 10:14-15, I think this is what he’s meaning. This excitement. This astonishment at the journey of faith.
It’s passion. It’s the excitement of the work that we can do in God’s name. And when we catch that feeling, we don’t want to let go of it.
But Jesus tells the disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while.”
When that passion is driving us, and we are going non-stop, constantly running up against our convictions, we are using a deeper muscle, an energy that comes from somewhere deeper, that we have to replenish and take care of.
The disciples have been running on adrenaline in excitement for the work that they’ve just begun. And Jesus, looking at them, can see what’s coming. Utter exhaustion.
In the missing middle verses of our Gospel text today, we will hear the disciples almost plead with Jesus after the crowds continue to approach them. They say, “We have found a deserted place and the hour is very late. Send the people away.”
After their Holy Spirit adrenaline wore off, they are exhausted.
Have you known that feeling? Total exhaustion?
Personal Example
When I first got called to Faith, Sarah and I moved from Essex on the East Side of Baltimore County to Dickeyville in west Baltimore so that we were closer to both of our churches. In order to keep costs down and so that we could get back to work, we did a lot of the moving ourselves before moving day. We would back up 10 different boxes, get them in the car, and unload them into the new house. Sarah and I took 10-12 trips, only stopping occasionally for water and food. I then took a trip up to Faith, where I dropped off my boxes and boxes of books and immediately began unpacking and sorting them. When moving Day came, the movers helped to get the big stuff into the new house. When they finished, I immediately set to unpacking. I wanted to be able to really live in our new house as soon as possible. After a couple of hours of this, Sarah finally looked at me and said, “You need to take a break. Get some rest. You’ve been going non-stop for a week now.”
I nodded, only intending to drink a little bit of water and then get back to work. I sat on the couch with her for a minute. The next thing I knew I woke up and it was 2 hours later. I was exhausted. My body ached. My brain felt like mush. My eyes could barely stay open.
I was so excited for the new call, and so excited for our new home, that the adrenaline and drive of both kept me going for so long. But it was inevitable that at some point I was going to hit that wall and I needed to rest.
But Jesus tells the disciples, Come away to a deserted place and rest.
Preaching Possibilities
Grind! Grind! Grind!
We live in a world that applauds and praises the idea of work. Hard work. The kind of work that leaves an ache in your bones. And there can be a good tired. After you have done good work to clean your home for a spring cleaning. Or after you’ve done good work in ministry and just had your big event/service project of the year that went incredibly well. Sometimes there is a satisfied tiredness that feels little good internally but also externally. Those are also often the times when our neighbors or congregation members are energized by our energy and are pushing us to go further:
“Let’s do another event!”
“Let’s recap everything we did this year and start planning for next year!”
“The house looks great. Now let’s do the yard and the garage!”
But if we try to keep going for too long, if we try to constantly appease the cohort around us, or worse, if we seek to be constantly affirmed and applauded for our work by those around us, we will run ourselves ragged and also set ourselves up for impossible standards that we’ll never be able to live up to.
Don’t listen to the rest of this story
Jesus has every intention of resting with the disciples. But a massive crowd comes to him. In need of the presence that only Jesus can give. And so, Jesus sacrifices his rest in order to give comfort and peace to this crowd. The crowd intrudes upon the “deserted place” that they had found. And Jesus cannot turn them away.
This is not an instruction for us. We are not Jesus. We are not the Messiah. We are not the teacher. We are not miracle worker. That’s Jesus and we need not live up to the same standards as the Son of God.
But Jesus will still rest. After he delays for a moment by teaching and feeding the five thousand, Jesus will still go up on the mountain to pray. Even the Son of God reaches his exhausted limits.
We need not delay our rest at every call. Sometimes we just need to rest and that is okay.
It’s okay to rest!
In times of exhaustion, sometimes we just need silence and a place to lay our body down. Sometimes we need a place to process our feelings and emotions. Sometimes we need to just be with loved ones. Sometimes we need to be told that we are loved and that we are enough.
After having gone out and doing Good Work, the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done. And Jesus said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while.”
Each of us may of a different place that gives us that space to rest, process, and recharge. Maybe it’s at the beach, with the sand under your feet and the sounds of the waves coming in. Maybe it’s in the mountains with fresh breeze on your face. Maybe it’s in the chaos of Manhattan as you head to your favorite restaurant. Maybe it’s in your backyard gardening and listening to a baseball game. Maybe it’s in church, in your favorite pew on Sunday morning.
Even when we have been doing Good Work, even though the adrenaline might be pumping, Jesus gives us this invitation.
Come away to a deserted place and rest for a while.
Come to a place where you can recharge. Come to a place where you can talk about your frustrations, your hurts, and your fears. Come to a place where you will be loved and cared for. Come to a place where you will be welcomed with open arms. Come to a place where you can lay down your burdens and be a Child of God, beloved, and cherished. Come to this place.
There is so much work to be done in this world. So much Good Work that we can do to usher in the Kingdom of God. But we cannot do it on our own. In sharing the work, and in giving each other times for rest, we can find ways to care for this world and sustain that Good Work around us.
Come away, come and rest.
Micah Krey 
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