A trip on a boat...

 Mark 6:30-32

This is a copy of the notes of a reflective service led on Saturday 5th February, 2022. 

This evening we are going to be looking at the topic of being refreshed. What is it that restores our souls and bodies, and allows us to face the challenges of the coming day.

I want to stress right form the outset that tonight’s service will not be a handy ‘how to guide’; here are 5 steps to eternal happiness. If only! And I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to to tell you how you should find rest and refreshment. But rather, I would like us to explore the topic of finding rest, consider how you might find it in your own life and why that might be important to you?

And so, as we still our hearts and minds I encourage you to light a candle, sit comfortably and be aware of God’s loving presence around you.

Light a candle

Opening Prayer

Loving God, as we come before you this night, we approach just as we are. Help us to lay down all those thing that we have been carrying this week. Help us to come into Your presence with peace and hope. In Jesus name, Amen.

Take a look at this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU-6EtvG0wk

Something to help us picture the scene...

A reading from Mark, chapter 6, verses 30 to 32.

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.

A little earlier in this chapter Jesus had just sent the apostles out to minister without Him. They went in pairs and were told to take very little with them. They were to rely on God, through the kindness of strangers and the local community, for all that they needed. We don’t know how long they had been away, but upon their return they are full of stories and encounters of the people they had met.

Jesus, like a loving friend listens carefully to all they had done. He sits with them to hear of their joys and triumphs; their failures and missed opportunities. He takes note of not just their spiritual well being, but also their physical well being too.

Understandably they were tired. Drained and exhausted by their ministerial endeavours, they are in need of some rest.

And so, here we see Jesus attending to their physical needs. He encourages them to leave the crowds behind for a moment and ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while’.

One of the things about this encounter I find most helpful for my own faith is the acknowledgment from Jesus that we are fragile creatures in need of care.

We as humans are not robots. Our ability to cope and deal with the twists and turns of life can vary on a day to day basis. Sometimes we can feel fearless and rise to the challenges of each day. Then again, there might be times when even the thought of getting out of bed is a very real struggle.

These feelings can be circumstantial or sometimes unrelated to the ups and downs of life. We can, like the apostles, feel drained by the demands that are put upon us. Of course, this is not to say that all of these things are bad or unwanted. The pressures of work, family life, friends and, yes, even church, can be lovely but difficult to manage.

And so,

Jesus recognises the weariness of the disciples and encourages them to ‘Come away and ….rest for a while.’

So, where do you go to find rest? Where is your boat, ready to take you off for a few minutes of peace?

For me...well given the choice I’d probably go somewhere like here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKiNZ-u-HA

I can feel the combination of beach and campfire relaxing me already. The gentle lap of the waves. The crackle of the fire. It stills my soul. There is something very relaxing about a fire. If you ever catch me having a bonfire round the back of the church it’s probably been a stressful week.

So, where would you go for a rest?

But of course, we can’t always get there can we? Life would be just fine and dandy if we could live on that beach with that campfire, wouldn’t it!

But we can’t. The crowds gather, the jobs list grows. The emails keep coming.

So what are we to do with that?

I think we can take our guidance from the passage itself. But to do that we need to look at what comes before and after Jesus encourages them to ‘Come away and rest’.

We know already that the disciples have just been out on a ministerial experience like no other and they are tired and in need of rest.

After they have rested on that boat with Jesus they land ashore and a HUGE crowd is waiting for them. I mean HUGE. 5000 men to be precise, not to mention women and children and probably a few straw donkeys for good measure. And so begins one of the most famous encounters that Jesus and His disciples had in his ministry. The Feeding of the 5000 not only demonstrates the incredible provision of God, but also how you can do a lot with really not very much at all. And that’s good news for those of us with very little energy right now!

So I wonder...do you think the Disciples and Jesus were elated to see that huge crowd when their boat landed, or was it some kind of other feeling. Elation, excitement, dread, annoyance, grumpiness. Perhaps a mixture of all of them.

And as we study this passage of scripture we can start to see a little pattern emerging.

Jesus and the apostles go from busyness and hard work, to rest and recouperation, and then back to busyness once more.

Just like the waves of the sea that come crashing down upon the shore, so the demands of life do also. But, there are always those moments of calm, aren’t there. The pause as the water ebbs away and the new wave builds once more.

I wonder, whether the key to finding rest in all of this is much more about taking advantage of those calm moments, and choosing to get on that boat and rest for a while.

The waves will still keep coming, the jobs will still be there. But we can and should take a moment to pause and rest. I strongly doubt that when Jesus encouraged them to get on the boat that it was done at a time when there were no demands upon them. There would still have been the crowds to meet, people to talk to, the sick to heal, the blind to cure. But nonetheless...Jesus says Come away and ….rest for a while.’

Whatever it is that presses upon your time? Whatever the demands that are upon your life right now, be safe in the knowledge that it’s really OK to get on the boat and rest for a while. You are not being negligent, you are not being uncaring, you are doing as the Lord himself did. And that seems like a good thing to do, doesn’t it?

We are going to take a moment to rest not. Perhaps you could listen to the following and take 3 minutes and 27 seconds for yourself. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA

Blessing

Lord, you have brought us through this day to a time of reflection and rest. Calm us, and give us your peace to refresh us. Keep us close to Christ that we may be closer to one another because of his perfect love. And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you this night. Amen.