Now, Here: Compassion Out of Nowhere
“We Were There to Embody Love”
Psalm 23 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, July 18, 2021
First Presbyterian Church, Sandpoint, Idaho
Andy Kennaly, Pastor
Mark chapter 6 has a lot going on. Jesus is rejected by his hometown, the people who know him best from his growing up, and he’s amazed at their unbelief, their lack of growth toward openness and trust, so he moves on. Jesus sends the disciples in pairs to surrounding villages, and they preach and heal and call people to turn to God, to put their attention toward the divine. There’s an interlude where Herod, the King, has his prisoner, John the Baptizer, beheaded. Lots of drama, intrigue, and the more disgusting aspects of human nature at work. Then the Apostles return and tell Jesus about their mission. It’s after all of this, from deep sorrow to great excitement, from astonishment and disgust to joy and wonder, that Jesus says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” The crowds are swarming in, they can’t even eat, things are so busy. Mark says again, “they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.”
A deserted place by themselves. Twice this is mentioned. That means, in biblical narrative, this is important. To emphasize the need to have time alone, in isolation, in a place set apart, as community, is necessary. It helps give space to something Americans are very bad at. In our default modes of complacency or panic, we tend to ignore this very important action Jesus is guiding us toward. Retreat.
A retreat involves rest, a break from routine, and it’s intended to take us out of the stream of life’s busy-ness, the day-to-day tasks, the stressors that weigh in on us, and there’s something retreat is meant to help us with: to make meaning. Americans are very good at entertainment and distraction, we move from one experience to another in a constant, unbroken chain of self-indulgence. Constant noise, speakers playing music as you shop, televisions blaring in the background of most rooms. Making meaning is very lacking in our culture.
Jesus takes them to a deserted place. We might call this “the middle of nowhere.” Let’s play on that word, nowhere; n-o-w-h-e-r-e. Nowhere. But if you emphasize the pronunciation differently, we can say, Now-Here. Spelled the same, now, here. This emphasizes being present to Presence. There is no place in the middle of nowhere. Even a deserted place is somewhere, on the edge of everywhere.
To make meaning, silence may help, distance, and a community like the Apostles, in a boat, together; these all combine to help us learn and grow and deepen in our spirit. Jesus takes the disciples away, on a boat, to a deserted place, by themselves. In the middle of now, here.
A boat is the earliest Christian symbol. A small boat, with one sail. The wind is the Holy Spirit blowing as She will to move the community of faith through the waters of baptism and into ministry. Notice Mark uses the term, “Apostles,” as he describes them coming back from their mission. Apostles are people commissioned for a purpose, and they surround Jesus to tell him what happened. There’s a sense of excitement in this. But notice they surround Jesus.
Jesus is surrounded. John’s death puts it in the foreground that he’s also surrounded by a culture that is violent and unjust even as it holds itself up as the pinnacle of civilization. He’s surrounded by church leaders who condemn him even as they protect the system of priestly leadership and doctrines based on sacrifice and ritual, and the image of a God who demands purity. Jesus, the Christ, is showing them a new humanity, united and beloved by a loving God, claiming the divinity of God’s presence in all things, and they reduce his message to what they can control or manipulate. Jesus is surrounded by crowds of people who believe the myth that if they touch the clothing of a powerful healer, this Messiah will cure them of all their diseases.
He meets them where they’re at, the mythical stage of consciousness, and allows them to touch his cloak and they are healed. He sees the great crowds and has compassion on them. But this means more than sentimental feelings or pity. It’s a gut churning. It’s a mix of intense care and frustration. Jesus is surrounded by people that are unaware of the Presence that is now, here.
But maybe this image of Jesus surrounded by so many stressors is also a visual image to highlight his inner life. He is in the boat on the sea, like the Holy Spirit is hovering over the deep, dark void, the waters of creation. Having Jesus surrounded could be another way of saying that Jesus is the center. Or it could illustrate that Jesus is centered. In his life, Jesus stays focused on God, he embodies the call of the Apostles to repent, to turn one’s awareness to Divine Presence. He’s practicing what he preaches by taking the disciples to a deserted place to keep that attention, that center. By being surrounded, he shows us this holy presence is found in the center, within. Maybe we can learn to carry the retreat, the deep silence, the grounded Center within us?
“Brother Lawrence (1614–1691), was a French Carmelite monk of the 17th century” known “as a gentle and humble man who […] radiated holiness—not from the abbot’s chair but from the kitchen where he worked.” He practiced the Presence of God in the moment, especially as he went about his work of service.
He says, “My only prayer practice is attention. I carry on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God that fills me with overwhelming joy.
When we walk in the presence of God, the busiest moment of the day is no different from the quiet of a prayer altar. Even in the midst of noise and clutter, while people’s voices are coming at you from all directions, asking for your help with many different things, you can possess God with the same serenity as if you were on your knees in church.” Brother Lawrence says, “I can’t always maintain my focus on God, of course. I’ll suddenly discover that I’ve barely given God a thought in a good long while. […] But I don’t worry about it too much. I just turn back to God immediately. […] The Divine Presence occupies the here and now. If you are not aware of this—become so! (Center For Action And Contemplation, Richard Rohr daily devotional, https://cac.org/practicing-the-presence-of-god-2021-07-15/). In other words, Repent: turn and notice Divine Presence.
That’s why Jesus takes them in the boat, to practice what they preach, to help them find the source of meaning, the origin of their joy. It’s just a couple mere sentences in this busy passage of Mark. Crowds and crowds surround Jesus, yet he tries to show his followers the need to stay centered by claiming silence, the stillness of relationship, even as he actively embodies love. “Come away with me. Come to a deserted place. Come rest a while.”
As they float in the boat out in the sea, the crowds of people recognize them and follow along the shore. If we take this as an image of the Church, the disciples in the boat with Jesus, then what is it about the Church? What are we called to embody?
There’s an old camp song that says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Love is the defining quality of the Church. Divine Love is what, or who, we’re called to embody. One of the ways our congregation has done this recently is through yesterday’s Pride Festival. The group called, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, PFLAG for short, meets in this building for their support group. PFLAG partnered with local businesses to organize Sandpoint’s first Pride Festival and invited our church to have a booth. We were there. Why were we there? Were we there to spout? To drone on about doctrine and narrowly defined moralistic faith? No. Were we there to share information? Not really. We were there to embody Love. To show through our lives that Jesus leads us and lives in our hearts and has compassion for the world. We were there to give justice a face and to have fun with our friends, the very people who share this community. It was a Festival, festive, fun. There were smiles, laughing, and yet, at times, tears as people shared from their hearts about their experience and the challenges of life. The church was recognized, love was shared, and the touch of Jesus offered for healing from deep wounds and scars carried by so many.
And although we had many people come up to the booth to thank us for being there, thanks be to God for times set apart from the regular routines, for sending us as a community of faith to embody love, and for the Living Christ who helps us stay centered on God’s loving Presence and unites all things together. Christ continues to call us to a new humanity that proclaims peace. As we remember to take time and space to keep our intention of inner retreat with God, may God be glorified, NOW, even as forever. Amen.