Sermon for July 22, 2018
Proper 11B – RCL – Track 1
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 they had crossed over, they came to
land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people
at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring
the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And 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.
The Gospel reading appointed
for today has a gap – we skipped versus 35-52.
And when the appointed lessons leave out big chunks of text I go look to
see what is missing. In this case we are
missing Mark’s version of the story of the feeding of the 5000. Likely because we get John’s version of that
story next week. But it is important to
realize that after Jesus taught the crowd many things he realized that they
were hungry – not just for knowledge about the kingdom of God but physically
hungry. And he had Compassion on the
crowd.
Compassion for the crowd. That is what stood out to me this week. The disciples have just come back from being
sent out in pairs to heal and cast out demons.
So Jesus sets off with them to a deserted place to rest awhile. Jesus is taking the disciples to a sabbath
space where they can find God in the emptiness.
To find God with a lack of distractions.
A perfect Summer message. Go find
the deserted place and recharge!
Right? We all need to hear the
message of sabbath time – time away from distractions. We see Jesus model that in the Gospels where
he often goes off to the mountain top or to the dessert after an intense
session of teaching, healing, and proclaiming the kingdom of God.
But in this story it was not to
be. The word of Jesus’ teaching and healing
has spread through the countryside so everywhere he goes the crowds go before
him and beg for more. They are hungry
for the Good News of the reign of God.
They are hungry for God’s dream of a loving kingdom where people are
cared for, loved, and healed of their sicknesses. People are hungry have their
demons cast out. The people are without
a shepherd. They desire for the one who
will lovingly call their name and who will care for them.
Instead of getting mad that his
planned sabbath time is interrupted by the needy crowd Jesus has compassion on
them. He teaches about the kingdom of
God, how it is here and yet not here at the same time. He heals the sick and casts out their
demons. In Jesus actions he models for
the crowds, the disciples and us what it means to bring God’s dream to
fruition.
It is the same today. So many people are hungry for the Love that
is God’s dream for all his beloved children.
And we need to have compassion as Jesus did for those seeking healing
and love. And we find the hungry people
not just in our churches.
Increasingly we find that
hunger in our deserted places – places that seem to be busy with life and
activity can also be deserted places.
Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Sacramento I witness people who
are in need. People who have been
deserted by society. People who are
hungry for the good news. People who are
physically hungry.
Last Wednesday at the noon
eucharist at St. Paul’s we had 15 people in attendance. Three or four of them knew the service and
responded with the peoples parts. But
all of them are hungry for the good news.
All of them want the foretaste of the heavenly banquet. All of them came up for communion and prayers
for healing.
The fifteen people in
attendance is just the tip of the iceberg!
We know that here at St. Matthew’s where the need for the food bank and
the clothes closet has far exceeded what was predicted. Eileen Thomas recently sent out an email that
stated that when River City Food Bank opened on our campus that they expected
to be providing food, toiletries and diapers to about 1,500 people per
month. They have far exceeded that
number! In the month of June alone they
served over 4,000 people.
4,000 people who live in a food
dessert are being fed because of the compassion that River City Food Bank shows
to the people. 4,000 people given the
opportunity for clothing because this church is running a low-key clothes
closet. All this happening on the campus
of a congregation that looks to be more about the size of the 12 disciples than
a mega church. Compassion coming from a
piece of property that many see as a deserted place. A feeding that is almost as big as Jesus’ feeding
of the 5000!
Jesus teaches us to have
compassion on our fellow travelers on this earth. To provide healing to the sick and to help
cast out the demons that still drag people down. Modern demons that include discrimination
against people who do not look like some in our society believe Americans’ should
look like. Demons of alcohol and
drugs. Demons of violence against people
of color, LGBTQ and immigrants. So many
demons to cast out.
Yes our church is small – very
small – but it has an oversized impact on our community. We have an oversized impact because we follow
the dream of God and act with compassion towards God’s beloved children. I pray that we may we find ways to spread
compassion in the deserted places in our communities. May we find our own deserted places where we
can recharge and hear the Holy Spirit moving in our lives this summer.
Amen.
