Go Away...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 19th 2009
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Go Away…”
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
The disciples have returned from their journey and shared with Jesus all they had done. He not only sees their excitement but their exhaustion. The need of those they served was so great there was not even enough time to eat. (So we know this is pretty serious.) Jesus reminds the disciples that they cannot continue to serve others if they do not take time for Sabbath and renewal. The disciples go with Jesus to a deserted place to rest.
Despite this passage beginning as an invitation to rest, it is not the primary motivation. As much as I would love to make this a treatise on the importance of Sabbath, it is not. Jesus does invite the disciples to go away with him to a deserted place to rest. But the need of the people keeps this from fully happening. Jesus’ compassion takes center stage as soon as the disciples get to the desert place. While it appears that the time of rest does not happen, it is only Jesus who seems busy with teaching. It is safe to assume that the disciples get at least a little rest while Jesus is at work.
To fully understand the heart of the passage we must move to the end of the day. When the disciples tell Jesus it is time to send the people home things start to get interesting. There is some powerful irony at work in this passage. But to grasp it we have to go back to when Jesus sent the disciples on the journey. When Jesus sent the disciples two by two he gave the following instructions. “He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.” Keep that in mind when Jesus, in this mornings’ passage, asks the disciples: “How many loves have you?” If the disciples listened to Jesus instructions in the first place would not he already know the answer? Was Jesus testing the disciples to see if they followed his instructions? I do not believe Jesus doubts the disciples remaining faithful to his instructions. Instead, there is something else at work.
While it is safe to assume the disciples do not often follow instructions, I believe they did on their mission. On their mission the disciples were required to rely on the hospitality of strangers. They were called to go out with very little even as they brought healing to those in need. Along the way they had to learn to trust that they would find enough for their needs in the journey. I can almost imagine the disciples coming back and telling Jesus… we went with nothing and everywhere we went there was enough to eat! But here in the desert place this lesson was forgotten by the disciples. When Jesus asks how many loves, he is not concerned with distribution but with trust and imagination. There is enough to go around and the disciples need to be reminded of this truth. Scarcity is not the way of God.
Before everyone eats and is satisfied, Jesus does some community organizing. First he orders that people be gathered in groups of hundreds and fifties on the green grass. Another point we ought to notice. If they are truly in a deserted place where did the green grass come from? In the process of being organized, Jesus shows everyone that green grass, signs of life, can come in the most unexpected places. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of this truth.
After gathering everyone into groups, Jesus then moves to a bit of instructive theater. With the disciples around he blesses the bread and fish and lays it before the disciples. Jesus takes what the disciples had gathered on their journey, the fruits of hospitality, and uses it to show that there is enough to go around. Where the disciples believe there is not enough, bread, money, or resources to go around, Jesus shows them there is enough, but only if they share.
The disciples understand and internalized the problem of scarcity. Despite having resources only due to the generosity of others the disciples are unable to imagine that sharing could work with this crowd of five-thousand. So with all the realism they can muster the disciples order Jesus to send the crowd away. But Jesus would have none of it. He has compassion on the crowd and on the disciples. He does not chastise them or berate them. Instead, Jesus reminds them of what they already know: There is enough for everyone.
This is a miracle story. It is a miracle because Jesus shows how generosity and sharing can overcome a belief in scarcity. When the disciples pull out and show what they have been hoarding Jesus takes it and shares it. Likewise, the people who have been organized in groups of fifty and one-hundred, I like to believe, pull out what they have been holding back. And just as the disciples have shared their food and extended hospitality, the crowd, now organized, does likewise. The result is more abundance than anyone could have imagined. There is more than enough for everyone.
Imagining that scarcity does not have the last word is not new in the life of faith. Believing that there is enough is at the heart of much of the bible. When the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt and believe they will die in the desert God shows that there is enough. Manna reigns down from heaven. And even those who are unable to fend for themselves have enough to eat. All ate and were satisfied. In the time of Elijah, a time of famine, the prophet continually showed that there was enough to go around. People were fed. They were able to eat and were satisfied! Jesus reminds the disciples that the old stories of the faith have more power and truth than we can imagine.
I should probably leave well enough alone but today I cannot. So here goes. We are debating the future of healthcare in our country. As I listen to the words of the debate I believe the problem is not ideology or this group or that, but lack of imagination. I do not claim to be an expert on health care policy and the intricacies of the insurance industry. What I hear in those most resistant to providing care for all people is really a lack of imagination. The resistance, as I understand it says: It is too bad that people are suffering, some we are told choose this, but whatever the reason, there is just not enough money to go around. It seems to me, as one who is claimed by these stories of our faith, the real problem is that we lack imagination and put too much trust in the myth of scarcity. I am left wondering where is the imagination and calls for compassion from the followers of Jesus who write public policy? I do know that this is complex but I also know that sometimes what is really missing is a lack of imagination. If we could simply begin with the premise that there is enough for everyone, we could find the resources. The problem is lack of imagination and will. For the disciples of Jesus this is not good enough.
At the heart of most struggles, in political life, in community life, and in many of our relationships is a belief that there is not enough for everyone. But as followers of Jesus we are called to be the people who claim this promise. In order to reclaim and nurture this belief we will have to go away to the desert places. We will have to go away to learn the important lessons that come when everything is stripped away. Only then we will have the clarity and the openness to see the green grass where others see only desert. So find a place to go away… to a deserted place and rest for a while. Then we can remember that even grass can grow up in the cracks of the sidewalk. There is enough for everyone. It is my prayer that God will help us nurture our imaginations so that we will believe this to be true. Amen.