Mark 6:30-34
And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
I don't know about you, but if I was one of the apostles, and I had just come back to regroup with Jesus and the other apostles, I'd be more than a bit nervous. I would be tempted to act like a kid who's just come home from school on the first day of school, and you get asked a bunch of questions by your parents. Only it would be Jesus asking the questions:
"How was it?" ("Fine.")
"What did you do?" ("Nothing.")
"Who did you talk to?" ("Nobody.")
"I'll bet you're excited to go back out there and preach some more?" ("Whatever.")
When Jesus asks who wants to share, I'm not sure if I'd want to raise my hand first or later. Because you know Peter, or one of the others would shoot their arm in the air right away: "Ooo, ooo, ooo; pick me Jesus! I have lots to tell!!" I'd be thinking, Do I want to get ahead of that, or follow it up and look lame by comparison?
The graduation card I got for Joseph Loomis showed this kid in class, raising his hand real high and saying, "I know it's the last day of school, but can we have some more homework?" The caption on the inside of the card read, "The good thing about graduation is you don't have to put up with that kid anymore." And then I wrote underneath that, "Wait a minute. You were that kid, weren't you!?"
That's what I would be a little nervous about going back to report to Jesus--that disciple who comes back from his mission wanting even more homework from Jesus. And I'd be glad just to be done with the first outing.
What set this whole story in motion was Jesus sending the disciples out to tell people about Jesus, preach the Gospel, and heal the sick. Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs. It's not clear how much time has passed from when the disciples were sent out, to this point when they've come back to report what happened.
So you and your preaching buddy are sitting there listening to the other's stories, kind of looking at each other with sideways glances, wondering if what you did will measure up. Not only will it compare with what the other's accomplished, but will Jesus think what you did was adequate? That's the real question.
The good thing about this little show-and-tell session is that a bunch of people kept showing up, interrupting your conversation. If there are enough interruptions, maybe you wouldn't have to share your story, and have to hear Jesus say something like, "That's it!? That's all you did?"
But the thing is, all the constant interruptions by the people, and then a little later when Jesus and the disciples try to get away to a "desert place" and when they get there, a huge crowd waiting for them--all that is proof that whatever the disciples did, it worked.
Previously, there were crowds following Jesus and the disciples around. But they were smaller and more manageable. Now there are thousands.
The story that follows this one about the disciples coming back from their ministry trips is the feeding of the 5000. I'm lopping off that part of the story, because this one, about the disciples and Jesus is just as intriguing as the multiplied bread and fish.
The disciples, in their own loaves and fishes kind of way, took the words of Jesus, and the healing of Jesus, and multiplied Jesus' followers from hundreds to thousands. That's why the disciples and Jesus were getting their little conversation interrupted so much--the disciples had done their job, and done it well.
When you do your job as a disciple, and you do it well, you will find out two things: you will be invigorated and you will be exhausted. You will be exhausted because of having to deal with all the rejection, and lame excuses, and people's screwed up priorities, and original fervor followed by back-peddling, and opinions based on ignorance, and so much more. It's all exhausting.
But it's invigorating because when you see the light go on in a person's life that you have been working with, on behalf of Christ--it makes all the exhausting stuff worth it. When someone finally gets it, it's a celebration! That's how Jesus described it in the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. What happened when they were found? A feast! A celebration!
Jesus could hear it in the disciples voices as he listened to their stories. They had experienced the rejection and all that; as well as a celebration here and there. And here they were, having to keep ministering to the people's insatiable need. Jesus knew they needed some time away. Some R & R.
Jesus knows that you can't give and give and give and not take some time for yourself to regroup, rest, and replenish. Maybe that's why people shy away from being a fully committed disciple--once you start giving of yourself, meeting people's needs, you aren't left alone.
There are fewer and fewer men and women going into full-time ministry now than there were when I was in seminary. Most of the ministers are my age and getting ready to retire. And there are half as many men and women to take our places. Dealing with the exhaustion and loneliness and life-in-a-fish-bowl is a large part of the reason why.
If, as a disciple, you don't learn to take care of yourself, you will get buried by human need. Most of the men and women I have known who retired from the ministry in the last 10 years, couldn't wait to get out. They were used up. Spent. Had become cynical about doing ministry and life in the church.
It will happen, if you are a disciple. Unless you listen to Jesus here and intentionally make that alone time. Get away once in a while. Get some distance. Which is what Jesus was trying to do with the disciples: intentionally making some alone time in a "desolate" place. The word desolate means isolated, solitary, wilderness. But it doesn't have as much to do with geography as with getting away from people. Being alone, so that God can be attentive to you. Get away from all the human brokenness and let God heal your own brokenness. Get away from all the human grasping, and be grasped by the One who called you. Get away from all the people's expectations and just be with the One whose only expectation is to fall into those arms of love. A sabbath from people.
Jesus tried to do that with the disciples. They got in the boat. They headed for some distant shore. Desolate. Peopleless. But what happens when they get there? "Much people..." as the King James Bible says. Can you imagine how much the disciples shoulders slunk and their heads drooped and the air just went out of them. How? How were they found? The disciples quickly prepare themselves to give up their desolate place in order to do ministry again.
In one of the Star Trek movies, "The Wrath of Khan," the reactor that runs the Enterprise is badly damaged during a battle. Spock moved quickly and unnoticed to the engine room. He assesses the situation and entered the reactor core. Radiation is leaking everywhere. He fixes the reactor, but at the cost of his own life.
Captain Kirk realizes what has happened and runs to the engine room. He is held back from going into the core to rescue his best friend and first officer Spock. It's too late. One of the things Spock says to Captain Kirk with his last breath is, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," justifying the logic of his action.
That's another hard lesson the disciples have had to learn, and are learning again in, what they thought was going to be a desolate, unpeopled place. Their needs were going to have to take a back seat, again, so that the needs of the many people they were facing could be met.
As stunned as the disciples are, Jesus is amazed. His amazement turned to overflowing compassion. He just stared at the throng of human need and must have whispered under his breath, but loud enough to be heard, "They are as sheep not having a shepherd..."
What did he mean? What does a shepherd provide for the sheep, that if he weren't there, they would be much the worse off? I have known a couple of sheep farmers during my ministry, and I've learned a bit about sheep. I know sheep need at least three things: safety/protection; guidance (to food and water); boundaries.
So first, if sheep don't feel safe, they won't eat. As I mentioned, the event that follows this story is the feeding of the 5000. But before Jesus feeds the huge crowd bread and fish, he "began to teach them many things." Jesus used his teaching to help the "shepherdless" people feel safe. They had to feel a sense of safety so they could then eat their fill of the food Jesus supplied.
It's only by paying attention to Jesus' teaching that we also come to a sense of safety. There are all kinds of words floating around out there in the world. And there is all kinds of anxiety right now in our world. All the words spoken by politicians, advertisers, movie stars, corporate leaders, or even our own words, do not make us feel safe. But Jesus' teaching does. Only his words make our anxious guts calm down so we can feel secure.
Secondly, sheep need guidance. Basically sheep are stupid animals. Without guidance, sheep will go wherever they want and it always ends up bad. One year I was out in Colby our Christmas Program was a slideshow retelling of the Christmas story. We took our Sunday School kids out to different real life sites to take slide pictures. For the shepherds we took them to a farm that raised sheep. We had the shepherds standing out in a field with the sheep. We tried to herd them towards the shepherds for the picture and all of a sudden they decided to go helter skelter on us. One of the kids left a gate open and some sheep ran out that. Some were jumping over fences. What started out as a good idea on paper suddenly turned into a comical mess. Sheep need to be given direction.
Jesus did that by "teaching" the people who had no direction. Through Jesus' teaching we wayward sheep find out the way we're supposed to go, a direction for life. We've seen too many people who think they know best the path in life they should take and end up in a mess. We've done that too often in our own life choices. It's time to pay attention to Jesus' teaching and find our way.
And lastly the sheep need boundaries. This is related to my last point. Sheep will constantly push their boundaries. They will wander off a little bit more, then a little bit more, then a little bit more. Pretty soon they are way off heck and gone.
A good shepherd will continually help the sheep remember where the outer boundaries are located. In biblical times they did this with a sling and a rock. The shepherds were so accurate with the sling, they could zing a sheep's nose with a rock from 50 yards. Smacked up the side of the head with a rock, the sheep quickly got an idea where the boundaries were.
Jesus' teaching, Jesus' words were sometimes those up-the-side-of-the-head reminders of where the boundaries are for what it means to be a human being, and how we should act if we are God's children.
Let's tie these scenes together. The reason Jesus led the disciples to a "desert" place was for rest and recharging, because actually doing the ministry is exhausting. Then once they got away by themselves, they are quickly surrounded by a huge crowd of needy people.
Seeing the large crowd of people, Jesus saw the shepherding that needed to be done. But again, the work of shepherding is difficult and tiring work. Working at trying to keep your people safe and secure against the devices of the evil one means you, as the shepherd, have to always be on high alert. Giving people direction to the nourishment of God's Word, who would rather be aimless, or are constantly making misguided, even stupid choices, because they aren't thinking Biblically, is exhausting. And always reminding people where their boundaries are, and sometime having to bop some folks on the nose who are constantly pushing on those boundaries is thankless work.
But that's your work, your task, if you are a disciple and choose to be a shepherd of sheep people who would rather not be shepherded.
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