Come and Get Some Rest!

9th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/22/18
Mark 6:30-34


Come and Get Some Rest!
I. From the One who knows your needs
II. From the One who supplies your needs


Anna Schaffner is a professor of medical history at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. A few years ago she admits that she became the latest victim of the “exhaustion epidemic” that seems to have flooded over our modern world. As accomplished as she was, she felt overcome by a kind of mental and physical inertia. At the same time, she watched and listened as numerous media outlets presented what seemed to be overwhelming evidence that this epidemic was a modern phenomenon, and an ironic one at that. For all our modern labor-saving devices, why this epidemic of exhaustion?

Being a medical history professor, she found the energy to do the medical research necessary to be able to publish a book entitled, Exhaustion: A History. Apparently, our sense of overwhelming fatigue is nothing new. Physicians serving people in ancient Greece were aware of the issue and had their own theories about the physical causes. It seems the human race has always been plagued with exhaustion, to one degree or another.

But you didn’t make the journey here to church this morning to be enlightened regarding the history of exhaustion and its causes. But I’m guessing you could use a little help with it. Am I right?

Prof. Schaffner is correct; exhaustion is nothing new. And although I didn’t read her book, I’m going to guess that she didn’t really expose the root cause of it. But that’s something we understand, don’t we? Our inability to balance our lives properly is a result of sin and sin has been in this world ever since that eternally fateful day in Eden’s Garden. Sin is the root cause of our physical and spiritual fatigue. And just as our God announced a Savior from sin which causes that fatigue on the very day that the human race fell into sin, so also on this day that very Savior from sin urges his followers to look to him for rest.

As exhausted, weary Christians, listen to his invitation. Here it is—the one he spoke to his disciples on this day recorded in our text, “Come and get some rest!” Could you use some rest in your life? Then spend a few minutes with your fellow Christians taking this invitation to heart this morning.

Part I.

There are few things in this life as distressing as dealing with an undiagnosed physical condition. Have you had that unfortunate experience? If so, you know what I mean. You don’t feel like yourself. You know something is wrong. You may even be miserable and you have sought medical help from any number of medical professionals. You’ve scoured the internet hunting for possible causes and remedies, but to no avail. So far, your malady has stumped some of the finest medical minds.

On the opposite end of the medical diagnosis spectrum, how wonderful would it be to be sitting in one of your doctor’s exam rooms, having your doctor enter, and, before you say a single word your physician informs you, “I know exactly what’s wrong with you”? You might wonder if your physician is God, right?

That was exactly the case with the twelve disciples of Jesus. Our text opens with the words, “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then…so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat.” These were twelve busy disciples. They had just returned from a brief mission trip. They were now at their “debriefing session” with Jesus. It seems as if they had put aside everything in their personal lives during this short trip. Now they were busy speaking with Jesus about their experiences and receiving his reactions, but they were interrupted. Throngs of local people kept coming to Jesus. In fact, things were so busy that they didn’t even have the time to get a bite to eat. And they didn’t see a kosher food truck heading their way.

But we don’t hear anything about this dire situation from the Twelve. They didn’t need to say anything, because the Lord of heaven and earth was sitting right there with them. Jesus knew what they needed even before they did. As chaotic as this situation seemed to be, Jesus had the entire scene in hand. But this time he doesn’t yet ask for five loaves of bread and two small fish and make them miraculously multiply. He doesn’t turn a small canteen of water into a never-ending supply of wine. He knows they need something else, something more.

And so he instructs them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Jesus knew that the root cause of the problem at hand was sin. If it weren’t for sin, these people wouldn’t have needed to come to Jesus in the first place. If it weren’t for sin, there would have been no need to send the disciples out. If it weren’t for sin, there would be no pangs of hunger to the point of fatigue. If it weren’t for sin, the word “exhaustion” wouldn’t have been in their vocabulary. If it weren’t for sin, there would have been perfect amounts of time awake and perfect amounts of time asleep.

So, the Savior from sin sends out this stunning, welcomed invitation, “Come and get some rest.” And he’s the perfect One to do so, because he’s the One who knows your needs.

Jesus knows what you need. He showed it here in this event with his disciples. As one of his modern disciples, you can count on the same thing. He knows what you need. But that’s hard for us to believe at times, isn’t it? Because, if he knows right now what I need, why doesn’t he do something about it? And not tomorrow; today! The fact that he doesn’t supply what we think we need right now only indicates one thing to us: he must not care. And the flip side of the “doesn’t care” coin is “doesn’t love me.” When that’s our frame of spirit, we make a terrible indictment against Jesus: he doesn’t love me. Be careful! That’s a subtle form of manipulation. It’s also a denial of one of the central truths of the Bible. Instead, see how Jesus manipulated every event so that ultimately he could supply what you need the most by sacrificing himself on Calvary’s cross. Jesus doesn’t ask us to love and trust in him because of what he will do for us, but because of what he did do for us. As St. Paul once reasoned: If God was willing to sacrifice his dearest possession for you—his Son—won’t he give whatever else you truly need? Indeed he will and he does—in Christ! He knows exactly what you need and he supplies it. So, come and get some rest in Christ!

Part II.

Have you ever yelled at your mobile device because it was taking so long to load the information you were requesting? Well, maybe you’d like to go back to the days when you had to search for that information in a book which might only be located in a library five miles away and closes at 8:00 PM on weeknights and isn’t open on Sundays. Bottom line: we’ve come to expect instant gratification.

Jesus provided it for the persons he was dealing with on this day in our text. He knew immediately that the disciples needed some rest so he led them to a solitary place. His intent was that they would get some much-needed time alone with him.

But then he saw a broader need. Imagine this scene as Jesus saw it from his seat in a boat as he surveyed the shoreline: “But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” He helped them, not by giving them bread to eat. Not by dividing up the money he and his disciples had. Not by offering them advice on how to win friends and influence people. But by teaching them. Teaching them what? The truth about their sin and the truth about himself as their Savior from sin. Those were the most important truths for these people to know at this moment; in fact, at any moment or even period of their lives. They needed to know and believe the truth about how much they needed a Savior from sin. They needed to know and believe that Jesus was and is that Savior. That’s what Jesus taught them.

But he did something else. Mark doesn’t state it, but the Gospel writers Matthew and Luke do. The people had brought to Jesus their sick loved ones. They wanted him to heal them. And Jesus didn’t disappoint them. The sick went home healed because that’s what Jesus knew they needed most at this point in their lives.

On this day in his life Jesus had a countless number of weary people before him—over here his twelve disciples and over there a multitude of people who had traced the shoreline to meet him as he disembarked. As many differences as these two groups might have had, they both needed one thing more than anything else—rest for their sin-wearied souls. And Jesus didn’t let them down. He gave them instant gratification.

He does the same for us. So come and get some rest from the One who supplies your needs.

How’s your level a satisfaction this morning? What did you expect Jesus to do for you as you met with him this morning? What did you expect to receive? A quick fix for whatever currently ails you? A solid piece of financial advice? A top-ten list of changes you should make in your life in order to achieve success and happiness? If so, then you will certainly leave disappointed. Jesus never promised those things when you come to him. But he does promise rest—spiritual rest. His ancient invitation still stands, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). The rest he offers is the forgiveness which our souls desperately need. He won that forgiveness by his sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, you go away from here this morning knowing that, even though everything might be wrong with the world, everything is right between you and your Lord. Now that’s some rest we can live with, even die with. Come and get that rest! Amen.