Breaking Busy: Mark 6:30–34, 53–56 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

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³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.  ³¹He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.  ³²And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.  ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.  ³⁴As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.  ⁵³When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.  ⁵⁴When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him,  ⁵⁵and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  ⁵⁶And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

This past spring, I resolved to stop saying the word “busy,” because, quite frankly, I’d become sick of saying it—and hearing it.

I did a really good job not saying that word.  Life, however, stayed pretty much the same. 

Most days I’m bearing the weighty burdens of busyness and exhaustion…  But I find comfort in the fact that I and every other busy person in the world has much in common with Jesus and his disciples…

Today, Jesus is inviting them to go away to a deserted place to rest for a while—which they badly needed.  The disciples had just returned from villages and towns where Jesus had sent them.  But still, vast crowds of people were coming and going, and they permitted them “no leisure even to eat.”  Try as they did, there was no rest from the absolute deluge of human need that had literally followed them into the desert. 

I don’t think any of us will have trouble relating to what they were feeling in those moments: physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.

It goes without saying that we need to be intentional about Sabbath.  We must step out of the endless cycle of trying to do more than can ever be done—and listen to Jesus.  We need Sabbath so that the Lord may restore our souls. 

But we need to go a bit further than that—because rest isn’t the focal point of our lives.  Work is—and almost all of our life’s priorities demand action.  

“Busy” isn’t a strong enough word to describe how we live.  In reality, we are religious in our pursuit of what matters most to us.  We’re religious about progress and success.  We’re religious about feeling secure and being in control.  We’re religious in defending ourselves and our interests against all enemies.  We’re religious about never missing out owning and experiencing the best of what’s around.  We’re religious about living a life that’s the envy of others. 

It is our human nature to religiously pursue that which Jesus has no part of.

Still—we wonder why we feel so empty; so frustrated; so bored even.  We wonder why we’re not happy. 

But here in the Gospel, we see a vast multitude of people who were beyond weary, hungry, and broken.  To Jesus, they were sheep without a shepherd.  Ultimately, Jesus will give them something more than food; more than rest; something more than a cure for their diseases.  Jesus gives them himself.  This goes for the crowds and the disciples.  Jesus their Savior; Jesus their healer; Jesus their bread; Jesus their Good Shepherd.

The challenge before us, then, is to understand that whatever it is we’re seeking—in our working, our resting, our playing, or our sleeping—is that if Jesus isn’t the focus and the desire at the heart of it all, you won’t find life—only death—and the fear, frustration, and weariness that precedes it.

Much of the time, we get so wrapped up in work, rest, and play on our terms, that Jesus is an afterthought.  We’re busy and we give him whatever’s left, if anything. 

It’s frustrating how the Christian life doesn’t lead us to magical disappearance of all that brings us fear, frustration, fatigue.  It doesn’t make our problems go away, nor does it secure for us a perennial prosperity.  The Christian life isn’t lived on the mountaintop—but down below, in the wild wilderness of the present.  Real life means burdens, trials, pains, and yes—busyness.  But Jesus is present in the midst of it all!  It matters to him that you’re weary and broken.  It matters to him that afraid.  It matters to him that you have to earn a living and care for your loved ones.  And it matters to him that you time for rest, Sabbath, space, and even leisure. 

Faith is God’s gift to you that you may see Christ with you, in it all.  Sometimes, you’ll see Christ in the hustle and bustle; other times in retreat.  Sometimes you’ll meet him when you least expect him; other times when you least want him.  Sometimes you’ll meet him in another’s need. 

That’s why the other side of faith is our deliberate commitment to surrender ourselves and everything that matters most into the hands of Jesus.  We jump out of the hamster wheel, trying desperately to attain and control what’s most important and guard ourselves against what threatens us, and put it all in the hands of Jesus.  We recognize our desperate need of Jesus in every single day, and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us to where we ought to be.

Because when Jesus is your shepherd, you will lack nothing.  The days of busyness and the days of quiet will all become sacred—as Jesus loves you, and as Jesus uses your voices, your hands, your very lives to bring rest to the weary.

Busyness is a fact of life.  We all need rest—but make no mistake: no one can truly rest unless you rest in Jesus.