God empowers the weary for ministry

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s Honey Brook, PA

by The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, July 23, 2006

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11, year B), Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44 (NRSV): The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He 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. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As 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. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat." But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?" And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." When they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

How many of you recognize today’s gospel account of the feeding of the five thousand? This miracle is one of the best known miracles of Jesus. In fact, this miracle is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is told in detail by all four Gospel accounts. From only five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus fed more than 5000 people. There is a message of God’s provision in this miracle that is familiar to us, but we also hear a message to Jesus’ apostles that is interesting to consider. Did you notice how they went to this deserted place because Jesus wanted a chance for his apostles to get away and rest for a while? Then, while weary from their ministry, Jesus again calls them to care for his people. And even in the midst of their weariness, Jesus empowers them for that ministry.

Before this scene in the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus commissioned the apostles, sending them out two by two to preach repentance, drive out demons and heal the sick. “Take only your staff,” Jesus said, “take no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.” They went from village to village, sometimes receiving welcome, sometimes rejection. Perhaps they met with challenge in their preaching or their healing ministry. Perhaps some demons only yielded by prayer and fasting. They may have felt overwhelmed at being only two apostles with so many demands on their ministry. At the end of their labors, perhaps they were tired, worn out, and spent. Perhaps they had not shaken all the dust of the cities from their feet when they returned to Jesus. Then, when they gather around Jesus to share with him all that they had done and taught, Jesus answers with sweet words of compassion: “Come away to a deserted place and rest awhile,” for, as Mark’s account puts it “they hadn’t even had the leisure to eat.” They were hungry—hungry sheep in need of their beloved shepherd.

Then, in the middle of their rest, in the middle of their “Sabbath” time, their time to “sharpen the saw,” in walks over 5000 people! Jesus has compassion on them and spends time teaching them. Finally, the disciples ask Jesus, “isn’t it about time these folks go on their way to get their own dinner?” I wonder if the apostles were shocked when, on top of interrupting their ministry retreat, Jesus now asks them to feed these multitudes their dinner! After all they had done and taught, after all the risk and hard work, when they themselves were hungry, even in the midst of their weariness, Jesus calls them to ministry.

In a parish setting, could you imagine the impact of five thousand newcomers arriving in the middle of the parish retreat? Then the rector says “hey-how about a lecture series today?” And at the end of the day “why don’t you all stay for dinner—the vestry will serve you!” I can just hear the vestry members say “OK, who are we going to get to handle this job—we don’t have the facilities or the money for a five thousand person banquet!” The ECW says “we don’t have enough people to serve this multitude” and the Sunday School teachers and Nursery volunteers say “we’re stretched enough already!”

Could you blame them for such a reaction? Leaders of ministry and Christian congregations know how burn-out feels. They are, after all, ordinary people. Ordinary people like Soccer Moms and Soccer Dads holding together full-time jobs and schedules for their families, trying to make the best contribution they can before collapsing at the end of the day. Ordinary people like company work-horses putting in extra hours. Single parents or young adults carving out a living for themselves. Retirees who have already served the church for decades. Students who are stretched by pressures of friends and families and obligations—students who have enough energy for one final exam, but not for five. In the midst of such strained lives, we sometimes find ourselves faced with needs from those around us. The car breaks down. A storm topples trees, stalls power and cuts of the water supply. A child must stay home with the flu. A family relationship reaches an intractable dead end. Our church needs us, our community needs us. God is calling us to something more, yet we feel so weary and needy ourselves.

Even in the church, just when everything is in perfect balance, just when the new choir director is hired, just when new ministries are established, just when the vestry is underway with new plans—then comes the call from God to something more. Just when we feel like we’ve struck the right balance between church and work and family, then God sends us a multitude. Newcomers flock to our parish with children who need care and nurture in their love of the Lord. Visitors with wheelchairs or weak knees need better access to the building. Being more organized to receive this multitude means our ministries need more leaders, working and praying in support of our calling. Reaching out to our community requires a more active communication effort. A growing congregation needs more leaders of worship and study and prayer. Yet we’ve always felt small, so resources seem scarce and God’s call seems daunting. There are times to answer God’s call to Sabbath rest, especially in our fast paced North American lives. But sometimes in the midst of our weariness, God calls us to ministry. When God calls us, however, God also empowers and equips us to answer that call.

Jesus asks his disciples, “What do you have? Go and see.” The disciples didn’t despair, but went and counted out their seemingly meager resources: five loaves of bread and two fish. Did that stop the disciples? Did that stop Jesus? Out went the disciples with their holy food, their meager resources. Perhaps they trusted Jesus, perhaps they expected a miracle. Or perhaps they felt daunted, exhausted at the prospect of yet another challenge to face at a time when their own needs were so vivid. Perhaps they went out of obedience in the midst of their doubt. But they listened to Jesus and they answered his call and over five thousand people were fed and filled that day. Twelve baskets full of food were left over. The disciples gave of what they had and answered Jesus’ call to ministry, even in the midst of their weariness, even in the face of meager material and personal resources. Jesus called them to ministry, and though the task seemed impossible to them, Jesus empowered them to carry out their calling.

Somehow, God provided the disciples with resources for multitudes. In the same way somehow, a neighbor volunteers to look after that sick child. A friend brings over a generator or offers the spare, air conditioned room and a shower. Suddenly light breaks into that family crisis, confession and forgiveness are exchanged and God’s reconciliation overflows.

Or somehow God gets our attention and shows us: resources we didn’t realize were there or clarity about a calling that matches our resources in a new way. When the multitudes ask for food, Ivanna remembers the food bank at Steeple to People. Melynda and Linda start planning to use the space behind the Parish House. Out of the blue, the treasurer receives a bequest for outreach ministry. Amazingly, new volunteers with a heart for children step forward to help teach and care for our youth. Somehow, we discover that this new calling is an opportunity for renewal, for spiritual and interpersonal growth, for discovering talents long germinating within the parish. Somehow, God breaks in and turns upside down our conception of where our resources come from.

To what is God calling you? Are you listening? Are you the neighbor of that sick child or the friend with the generator? How might God be calling you? What “multitude” or ministry has God brought to your attention in a persistent way? When you pray, what does God say when you’re done talking? In what way has God blessed you and empowered you for ministry? What loaves and fish have you to share with the multitudes?

When we give of what we have and answer God’s call to ministry, God empowers us to carry out that calling. Somehow, God’s ministry and God’s Sabbath rest meet together. Suddenly, our cries for food are answered with the baskets full of grace left over from ministries we never thought possible. Even in the midst of our weariness, God’s calls to ministry are empowered by God’s storehouse of love and power and miraculous grace.