"Resting, And Then Working Some More" July 23, 2006 Pentecost 7 Proper 11

(First read the text for this sermon: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56)

The story begins with sheer and utter exhaustion. (No, I’m not talking about Robin Hudson and me, after returning with the youth from the ELCA Youth Gathering – although that fatigue made me alert to how this morning’s story begins, in Mark!) It’s the story of the apostles, and Jesus. The apostles had been working hard. Jesus had sent them off on a mission trip (Mark 6:7-13), and told them to be entirely dependent upon the grace of others. They were to take no provisions for the journey, trusting that God would provide for their needs. What a test of faith! How high their anxiety would have been!

As this morning’s story begins, the apostles have returned home from that trip. They are reporting their experiences to Jesus. Here’s what we read. 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.

Jesus speaks compassion. His friends are exhausted, and the continuing demands upon all of them are incessant. They can’t even find a few minutes to grab something to eat! "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while," says Jesus.

You’ve felt such need, right? Lots of times! Sometimes, it’s so hot, and you’re so tired, that all you want to do is to drink iced tea and stare at the TV, sitting in the air conditioning. So did Jesus feel the same way – lots of times! It is a false image of Jesus, to ignore his humanity, to think that he was always giving, always calm, always pleased to encounter yet another person in need of the joy and the healing of God’s new age. Instead, when you look for this in the gospel stories, you see that Jesus works hard to meet the never-ending hungers of the people he encounters, and then he also has a regular need for retreat, for refreshment. Jesus’ rhythm is to work, and then rest, and then to work some more. And so, this morning we read: And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. They need time for some sabbath rest, for refreshment in God.

There’s a story I heard so long ago I can’t remember where it comes from. It’s a story about a group of wagon train pioneers moving out into the western territories of America, during the 19th century. Some in the group observed the sabbath, and the Biblical invitation to rest. (That invitation is for not only human beings, but also for animals to be given a day of rest.) And so, when Sunday came, these folks decided to stay in their camp. Others in the larger group, though, were impatient. They thought of all the days they would waste, on the long and difficult trip, if they took every seventh day off! So they pushed on, leaving the others behind.

Which group, do you think, got to their westward destination first? It was the group of folks who observed sabbath each week. They were faster over the long haul, precisely because they rested every seven days! The first group had pushed their horses so relentlessly that, over time, the animals could no longer put in a full day’s work. They hadn’t been rested enough during the journey.

That’s true for you and me as well, during our own life-long journeys of faith. Over the long haul, we are more productive, if we observe a rhythm of working hard, and then resting, and then working some more.

Indeed, this is built into creation! The Third Commandment is, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” and that Commandment is actually a wonderful gift! How sad it is that many spurn what God offers. Imagine, the gift of a day of rest each week! A day of refreshment in God! A day during which you are free from the need to produce anything useful or “constructive” or “productive!” A day during which you can waste time! A day during which you receive new energy, from resting in God!

That’s what sabbath time is.

The gift of sabbath time is based in the first creation story in Genesis (2:2-3), where we read that God created the world in six days and, on the seventh day, God rested from God’s work. There are two places in the Bible where sabbath is taught specifically. Those are the two stories of God giving the Ten Commandments: in Exodus and in Deuteronomy. In Exodus (20:8-11), we are invited to rest to imitate God’s own resting, in that creation story. The writer of Deuteronomy is more political! In Deuteronomy’s version of the Ten Commandments story, sabbath time is presented as a tool to combat an oppressive and dehumanizing culture! In Deuteronomy (5:12-16), we are reminded that we were slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh enslaved us in our work! We were given an impossible burden of work, and no time off by that brutal taskmaster. But, Deuteronomy reminds us, we are no longer slaves! God has freed us from slavery! We are free to receive the gift of sabbath! Here’s what that means. We are free to resist the dehumanizing expectations of anyone (including and most especially ourselves) who pushes us to always be accomplishing, always be doing, always be working. You and I are free to take sabbath time – to rest, to be refreshed in God, to be re-energized in God.

We read that Jesus tells the apostles: "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." It is interesting to notice the Greek words that the gospel writer uses for “deserted place.” They are “eremos topos.” Our English word, “topographic” comes from topos, “place.” Eremos means “desert,” or here, “deserted.” It’s the same kind of place where, in Mark 1:12-13, Jesus spends time being strengthened by God during his testing with Satan. It’s the same kind of place where, in Mark 1:35, Jesus withdraws to pray, after healing miracles.

So, retreating for sabbath time is not mindless escape. It is a time to allow God to re-collect our minds and psyches because they have been scattered into pieces by the anxieties and stresses of daily life. Sabbath time is a gift that God offers to us, an opportunity to receive God’s healing and energy. Sabbath is an opening in time, an invitation to allow God to re-form us in wholeness.

That’s what the sabbath time of rest is intended to be by God. Imagine – the chance to rest from the need that we feel to produce; the need that we feel to prove our worth. Since I’ve just spent a week with 20,000 youth, imagine, for teenaged girls, resting from the need to prove that they are beautiful, through their use of the proper make-up and the coolest clothes; to leave that compulsion behind and to rest in God’s love! That would be sabbath. Imagine, for teenaged boys, the gift of rest from macho posturing and the need to cover up their hungers and weaknesses with poker face expressions, instead, receiving grace and love from God. That would be sabbath. (Of course, each one of you knows how often those demonic concerns follow girls and boys as they grow into women and men.)

God loves us so much more than we love ourselves. God is so compassionate to us, that God invites us to stop for a day of rest – to spend a day a week in pure joy and refreshment, a day of doing only what we want to do, a day of doing only what restores our energy in God’s love and grace and compassion!

After such rest, then we have the energy to work some more. Sabbath rest makes us more productive! Sabbath rest refreshes you and me, and increases our compassion, which is the work God gives us to do.

Here’s what we read in the story from Mark. As [Jesus] 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 you and I are compassionate, we are simply imitating the model of Jesus, who is compassionate to all who are poor and hungry.

Here’s how this morning’s reading ends: 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.

What hunger Jesus encounters! What compassion he shows!

You and me, too. Compassion is our work, given us by God. But, just like Jesus, we cannot feed others unless we allow God to feed us, regularly and habitually. That is why God invites us into sabbath time. What a wondrous gift!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Believing That Grace Is Sufficient July 9, 2006 Pentecost 5 Proper 9

(First read the text for this sermon: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10)

Most of you know that there are three Scripture passages (plus a Psalm) appointed for each Sunday. Many of you know that, when I’m deciding which of these lessons to preach on, I choose the one that gives me the most trouble! This morning, it’s the passage from Paul’s letter to the tiny congregation at Corinth. It reveals the Christian gospel to be so odd, and so counter to our culture, that I wonder if any of us actually gets it!

In these verses, Paul is presenting the prerequisite for believing that God’s grace is sufficient. In one place he writes, …on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. A couple of verses later he writes this: So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. How strange this is: juxtaposing boasting and weaknesses! What is going on here?

Well, first of all, the older we get, the more you and I understand weaknesses! As we age, we deal increasingly with weaknesses in our bodies, and weaknesses in our memories. The longer we live, the more mistakes we make and the more practice God gives us to learn how to forgive ourselves for our weaknesses!

But still, it is a jarring thing to read Paul boasting about his weaknesses. Aren’t strengths good? Isn’t it a good thing to discover our strengths, and to build on them?

Of course that’s a good thing! Indeed, Paul himself is not at all hesitant to celebrate his own considerable strengths. You see that when you read through chapters 10 and 11 in Second Corinthians. They provide context for this morning’s verses.

You see, Paul is dealing with the worst of problem congregations in Corinth! (Any pastor who reads the letters to the Corinthians is awfully glad s/he is serving the congregation s/he has been called to!) Not only are the members of the Corinthian congregation fighting with each other and suing each other and sleeping with each other, but Paul is also having to defend himself against members who are attempting a power play against him. Some want to take over leadership of the congregation from Paul. And they are revising the gospel Paul preached and taught when he founded the congregation. They’re adding requirements to Paul’s gospel of radical grace.

Paul is no shrinking violet! He fights back, with vigor equal to his oppenents! He asserts that his authority was given to him directly, from the Lord, Jesus Christ. With sarcasm, he writes of his opponents: I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. (2 Cor. 11:5) He calls himself a fool, but he plays their game and demonstrates that he can hold his own in any competition with his opponents’ qualifications for leadership of the congregation. But whatever anyone dares to boast of – I am speaking as a fool – I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman – I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked…

Paul has established beyond the shadow of a doubt his commitment to the gospel, and his qualifications for missionary leadership in the Corinthian congregation. But he’s not finished yet. As this morning’s passage begins, Paul adds to his list of qualifications by sharing a mystical experience that he has never told them about. He writes, It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. (According to the rhetorical conventions of the day, now, he refers to himself in the third person.) I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows – was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.

What a position of strength Paul has set out, by boasting of his experiences and background! What superior credentials of authority and service in the Lord he boasts of, against those who are contesting his authority.

But here’s the problem with this kind of competitive foolishness: that’s not the gospel of radical grace through Jesus, the Christ.

And so Paul changes his tack, in a startling way! He moves away from his position of strength. He writes, …on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Now. Listen to this. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

This weakness takes Paul down a notch when he’s becoming too full of himself? What was this “thorn?” No knows. There have been many guesses by Biblical scholars over the centuries but, really, it doesn’t matter! Here is what is important: Paul is not relieved of this “thorn,” this affliction and suffering. And, here is what is most important: it is only while suffering this weakness that Paul can believe the gospel of grace.

Listen to the next thing he writes: Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." And then Paul writes, So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Can you and I do anything to earn God’s favor? Now! But still, how often do we think we should? How often are you motivated by guilt, thinking that there must be something more that you can do, that it’s up to you?

It is only when Paul is afflicted with debilitating weakness that he can believe this word from God: "My grace is sufficient for you.” Do you believe that? Do you believe that grace is sufficient? Or do you still cover up your weaknesses and your desperate need for that grace?

The audacious and provocative Franciscan, Richard Rohr, declares that no one younger than 35 can understand the gospel of grace! That’s because, he says, for the first several decades of life, each one of us appropriately is discovering and building on our strengths. To accomplish anything in life, it’s necessary to know what we’re good at, and to find work that makes use of our God-given talents and abilities! All of that is good and important and necessary stuff!

But it’s not the gospel. The good news of God, through Jesus the Christ is this: "My grace is sufficient for you.” And so, as we respond with our work, by doing what it is that we’re good at, you and I don’t have to be so compulsive. You and I don’t have to be so overbearing. Richard Rohr says that we should pray for one good humiliation each day! Then you and I wouldn’t have to be so harsh. You and I are given the freedom to be grace-full – to others, but most especially towards ourselves! Because anything that you and I accomplish is completed through God’s power. It is not our own strength that does it. It is all from God.

Paul writes, So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Is Paul being overly dramatic with all this? Or could this actually be the gospel of grace, which is impossible to understand and to believe unless we fully realize our weaknesses, and understand that God works through our failings?

This is what Paul heard from God: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." It’s a matter of believing that grace is sufficient.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Living In Faith" July 2, 2006 Pentecost 4, Proper 8

(First, read the text for this sermon: Mark 5:21-43)

Much of life is routine. But we also experience times of exuberant joy, and times of crushing sorrow.

Last weekend was like a fairy tale for Patty and me! Many of you know that our son, Nathan, was married to Renee, and the rehearsal dinner and the wedding and the reception all were perfect! There was time during the weekend to visit with family and friends who live far away. What a joyous time! You’ve known such experiences!

But then, when I got back into the office this past Tuesday, one of the first e-mails I encountered let me know that Jean Shivel’s son, Glen, had died. He was only in his 50s, and had been battling cancer. You’ve known sorrow like that too.

We experience long stretches of “routine” time, punctuated by joys and sorrows. Always we are hungry. Always we are in need. Each Sunday morning we pray for a long list of names of people needing healing. In all the experiences and hungers and needs of human life, what does it mean to live in faith? This morning’s stories from Mark give us some concrete examples of people engaging in that struggle.

We’re in the fifth chapter of Mark this morning. You may remember that, in Mark, the action is fast and furious. There is no story of Jesus’ birth in Mark. Jesus appears suddenly, fully grown. The first story is of Jesus’ baptism. Then, immediately, Jesus begins healing and preaching and teaching. (Indeed, you may remember how often we encounter the word, “immediately,” in Mark.) There is tremendous urgency in this version of the Jesus story.

By the time we get to chapter five in Mark, Jesus has been healing and teaching, and those watching and listening have been reacting with amazement and astonishment. That is true for Jesus’ disciples as well! No one understands who Jesus is with any clarity (and, often in Mark, Jesus’ closest followers are the most obtuse). Meanwhile, the religious and political powers that be, the Pharisees and the Herodians, are most concerned with keeping things quiet, to placate the Roman occupying army. Since Jesus is stirring up civil unrest, he’s a threat that must be eliminated. For two chapters, by this time, the Pharisees and Herodians have been plotting “how to destroy” Jesus (ever since Mark 3:6).

Who is Jesus? There is great confusion. But in all of this foment, it is obvious that people are drawn to whatever it is that Jesus is offering. (Always we are hungry. Always we are in need.) We read: When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw [Jesus], fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."

What desperation! The synagogue leader is an important and probably affluent man. He is well versed in the ways of Jewish worship and ritual, and of all the expected and accepted ways that God routinely works. But this is not routine time. He is a father in anguish. His 12-year old little girl is dying. And so, Jairus is on his face, in the dirt. He is hanging onto the feet of this astonishing and bewildering teacher and healer, pleading with him to bring healing to his daughter.

Jesus goes with Jairus, towards his house. But then Jesus is interrupted, by another person in her own desperation for healing! We read this: And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

Many of you can identify with the woman’s frustration! Many of you know what it’s like to suffer from an ailment, and to make appointments with a string of physicians, and to follow their suggestions for treatment, and to find that you’re not any better! But this is more than frustration. The woman is desperate enough to violate sacred social and ritual boundaries. She is bleeding, and so, in that culture, she is unclean. By touching Jesus, she makes him unclean as well! Jesus is now no longer able to enter the synagogue without undergoing a ritual washing!

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" What courage it takes for the woman to identify herself! The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. And here is what Jesus says to her: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." What grace!

Does a physical cure always happen as dramatically and immediately as it does in this story? Of course not! Often times we pray fervently and faithfully, and still our loved one dies.

But is healing broader than that? Does healing happen, even while you are enduring a long period of illness or disability? Is there healing when there is no physical cure? The stories from Mark persuade us to entertain such possibility.

There is a Greek word that is translated “make well” three times in this morning’s passage. Here’s the thing: this word is also, often, translated, “save,” elsewhere in the New Testament. Think of how this broadens the whole conversation. What if we read that the synagogue ruler begs, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be saved, and live"; and if the woman thinks to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be saved”; and if Jesus says to the woman, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”

Certainly, God wants us to be cured of our illnesses. We hunger for that! But healing is more than physical cure. Healing is part of salvation. It’s shalom, wholeness; healing and salvation. “Go in peace,” Jesus tells the woman, which means, “Your standing with God has been restored.” Jesus is not promising her that suffering is eradicated. But her relationship with God has again been made whole. She is experiencing salvation!

And that points us to what it means to live in faith, whether we’re experiencing those long stretches of “routine” time, or celebrating joys, or enduring sorrows.
As the story continues, Jesus turns his attention back to the synagogue official. You remember that Jesus eventually restores the man’s daughter to health. But the crucial exchange happens before that. We read: While [Jesus] was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."

That’s what it means, to live in faith. “Do not fear, only believe.”

You see, the people who have come from Jairus’ house assume that what always happens has happened again. The girl is dead. End of story. Why trouble the teacher any further?

But God is about breaking barriers, and bursting assumptions. Look at how that happens. First – the woman in the story has the audacity to touch Jesus, even in her unclean state, even when that will make Jesus unclean! And God in human flesh welcomes her interruption! He welcomes and affirms her faith. Then – the synagogue leader is still desperate for Jesus to visit his house, even though Jesus is now in an unclean state. In his hunger and need, all rules are out the window! And God in human flesh welcomes and encourages Jairus’ faith.

Faith does not mean assenting to a set of intellectual propositions that prove orthodoxy. Living in faith means openness to what God is doing. It means awareness of our needs and hungers. It means alertness to how God is bringing healing.

“Do not fear, only believe.”

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia