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.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
When they had crossed over [after the feeding of the 5,000 and walking on water], [Jesus and the disciples] 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.
My sermon from the 9th Sunday after Pentecost (July 21, 2024) on Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.
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So how do you feel when you’re interrupted?
Being interrupted isn’t very fun. Sometimes when the interruption is small – like when a spammer calls our cell phone or we catch our kid rooting through our bag while we’re busying singing the opening hymn – we end up being annoyed but we get over it pretty quickly. Other interruptions, though, make us feel as if we don’t even matter. When I think about interruptions, I tend to remember all those times when someone spoke over me. It’s the type of interruption that not only disrupts our train of thought but unravels whatever I planned to do next. Our focus, our attention, and our energy is then diverted to what that other person decided was a priority over us. And while some of these interruptions aren’t really a big deal, they can leave us feeling overwhelmed especially when they happen over and over again. Being interrupted has a way of making us feel small and undervalued which is especially unnerving in our culture since people are taught how they’re allowed to interrupt anyone because they have certain gender, or presitage, or a big fancy bank account. When we’re interrupted, the feelings we feel linger and they can grow into a kind of resentment that will change how we interact with ourselves and with others. Learning how to process being interrupted is often harder than learning how to not interrupt others in the first place. And when we take a moment to look at how Jesus responded to all the interruptions that showed up in his earthly ministry, we notice that anger, frustration, and resentment are not the only things that can influence what we say and do.
Our reading today from the gospel according to Mark begins with the disciples being completely exhausted. Two weeks ago, we heard how Jesus sent them out, two by two, to bring grace and wholeness to others. Their journey required them to depend on the hospitality of strangers which, in itself, is pretty scary. And after meeting a bunch of new people, listening to their stories, and inviting them to experience the love God already had for them, they returned to Jesus full of all kinds of feelings. They were excited to share with him all they had done as well as express all the frustrations they experienced too. They need to process with Jesus and with one another all they had lived through. In other words, the disciples were looking to vent – to spiritually, mentally, and emotional decompress all they had experienced in the days and weeks since they last saw Jesus. And this need wasn’t something that they only saw themselves; Jesus recognized it too. So rather than sending them on another mission, Jesus became his own travel agent, organizing an all inclusive retreat where his friends could just get away from all. But when they finally arrived at the so-called deserted place, they ran into a crowd of people waiting for them.
Now it’s kind of surprising how, in an era without social media and cellphones, everyone knew exactly where Jesus planned to be. Word had quickly spread and a crowd of desperate people, as well as their family and friends, gathered to meet him. The people there weren’t on their own version of a spiritual retreat. They were, instead, people with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. When they heard Jesus was heading to a place near them, they interrupted their lives because they needed someone who could interrupt whatever they were living through. The crowd waiting for Jesus and the disciples were the same kinds of people they had already met in towns, synagogues, and along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And so I don’t think it’s too hard to imagine how Jesus’ friends felt when they looked out and saw all the stressful and exhausting work they had tried to leave behind. The disciples, I think, weren’t trying to be mean. They were simply tired. They needed to find a place where they could vent and be cared for too. But when they ended up at their vacation destination, it was interrupted by an incredible amount of human need. I imagine many of us, in our own way, know what it’s like when the break we need is interrupted by whatever real life brings. Even if that interruption is something small silly, when we’re exhausted, worn out, and overwhelmed by it all – a lot of grief, anger, and resentment comes out. It’s not difficult to realize how we would have acted in their situation and so we should give the disciples a pass for whatever they want to do. But instead of focusing on how the disciples reacted to this interruption, Mark choose to focus on how the One who would often go off on his own to pray; the One who could get mad; the One who was sometimes frustrated, sad, full of joy, and incredibly worn out; Mark invited to pay attention to what Jesus chose to do. He is the Son of God but he’s also pretty human too. He, along with the disciples, were tired and worn out in this so-called deserted place. But when his break was interrupted by the kinds of people he regularly met, Jesus, in the words of Pastor Joanna Harader, performed a miracle we often overlook.“In the midst of his own exhaustion,” Jesus responded to the crowd not with “exasperation but with compassion.” He recognized their pain, their suffering, and the hurt that had consumed their lives. And Jesus didn’t simply heal them; he taught them, included them, and in the story from the verses we don’t hear today – he fed them too. Jesus, in other words, simply loved them because his compassion recognized how they were already beloved children of God.
Jesus’ decision to respond to interruptions with compassion rather than anger or frustration isn’t always easy to do. When we are tired, exhausted, and completely worn out – even listening to someone else feels impossible. Taking the time to recharge our body, our soul, and our mind is something we’re supposed to do. And if you need to vent, simply ask – and remember it’s okay to tell those around you that you really do need help. Jesus knows we can’t go through life on our own which is why he made sure to connect us to each other. We are called to not only take care of each other but to be a people who protect each other too. And when you need to recharge, we all have an obligation to not only tend to your spiritual needs but to your emotional, mental, and physical needs too. We are called to be compassionate with each other so that we can learn how to respond to every interruption with compassion too. Now there are some things that do more than simply interrupt the words coming out of our mouths. There are other kinds of interruptions that utterly upend and transform the lives we planned to live. Those interruption are literally life changing and we can become quickly overwhelmed by all we’re living through. And when that kind of interruption happens, I hope you can experience deep compassion for yourself and through others while you mourn and rage. You are not defined by the worst thing that has happened to you. You are a beloved child of God. And there’s nothing that can happen to you that will ever interrupt the eternal connection that God, through Jesus, has already made with you.
Amen.