10/24/04
"Time Out "
Genesis 2:1-3
Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:17-22
Mark 6:30-34
There is absolutely no way that I can compete in my sermon this morning with the sheer drama and excitement of this past week throughout Red Sox nation. I love some of the theological references - for example, "We believe!" and "Keep the faith!" Why, we've even got a player who's a spitting image of Jesus himself! I don't know about you, but I was exhausted by Thursday, and of course, it started up again last night. Though I didn't know it when I decided on the sermon title, we all need a little rest from the hectic pace of being Boston Red Sox fans. But, we'll have to wait for our "time out" a few more days. In the meantime, here are my thoughts.
Today has been designated by the Mass. Council of Churches as "Take Back Your Time Day." You may remember that I devoted my September newsletter article to the concerns a lot of us have about the frantic pace of life many experience, a pace that often feels out of balance and out of control. What I hoped would happen was that each of us or each family unit, between Labor Day and today, would select four "windows" of time off from our long hours at work, school, or extra-curricular activities, and reclaim this time for rest, reflection, and spiritual renewal, taking the notion of Sabbath and extending it. What I was talking about was an intentional and focused "time out." Now, I'm not going to do this, but if I were to ask those of you who did undertake this discipline to raise your hands, I have a hunch most of us, myself included, would not be raising our hands. The ultimate irony is that for most of us, we're so busy we don't have the time to take the time to schedule time outs. I wish I were a better role model, but I'm not, and most clergy I know are the same.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus and his disciples are very busy. They need a break. "... many were coming and going," says Mark, "and they had no leisure even to eat." It's not a lot different in our lives, is it? Coming and going - to this meeting and to that, to this task and to that, responding to this need and to that. Join this group, attend to that problem, hurry to this event, take advantage of that offer. Go, go, go - do, do, do! Thank heaven for days off and vacations, times to rest awhile and get our batteries recharged.
But we Americans really are not very good at this. We work an average of nine full weeks more per year than do European workers, we have the shortest paid vacations in the industrialized world, and 62% of American women and 80% of American men put in more than 40 hours of work per week. (i) As I said, we clergy are no better than those working in the secular world - it seems like we wear our busyness as a badge of honor.
Times of rest and retreat are not new, of course. They've been around since the beginning of time. Even God rested on the seventh day of creation - this is where we get our notion of Sabbath rest. Jesus in his time needed, every once in awhile, to get away from the press of the crowds and the daily demands made upon him. And he recognized this need for his disciples also. In our passage today, the disciples have just come back from their first missionary journey. They've been going from town to town, preaching the gospel, driving out demons, and healing the sick. Hard work! Though they're pumped up about the good works they've been doing, they're also dog tired. Jesus, recognizing their exhaustion, suggests that he and they all go off somewhere by themselves to rest up for a while.
So they do, they go off in a boat, presumably across the Sea of Galilee, to what they think will be a deserted place. But, as so often happens in ministry, sometimes the best laid plans are interrupted, and the crowds, hungry for the Word and hungry for food, do an end run, discover the hiding place, and are waiting on the shore when they arrive. Jesus has compassion on them, because they seem like sheep without a shepherd, and he teaches them many things. Then in the passage following he and the disciples feed the multitude, all 5000 of them. They are fed by the Word and by food, and all are satisfied.
What this passage says to me is that it's okay to stop from our labors every once in awhile to be alone, to rest, to relax, to recreate. In our busy lives we need to get away for our own good, and for the good of those we love, and for the good of those for whom we work. We are whole persons and if one part of us - body, mind, or spirit - becomes wearied, then this affects the rest of us. When we start coming apart at the seams, physically, mentally, or spiritually, or preferably before we start coming apart, it's time for a little recreation and re-mending, it's time for a "time out." And the God of Creation stands ready to re-create us and make us whole again. (ii)
The problem is that we think that taking a vacation once or twice a year will satisfy all our needs for rest and renewal, relaxation and solitude. But this is usually not enough. Yet, few of us can afford to take the time to be away from our jobs and other responsibilities and go off on an extended "time out" every time we feel depleted. What's the answer? Perhaps another perspective.
We don't have to go anywhere to find solitude. We don't have to do anything as we usually think of doing, to find renewal and regeneration. Solitude is not so much a place to go to or a thing to do, as a state of mind or heart. We sometimes confuse loneliness and solitude. Loneliness is a negative aloneness, an inner emptiness. Solitude is an inner fulfillment, a positive companionship with that mysterious presence that we of faith call God. Solitude is to our life journey as the lighthouse was to the seafarers of another century - an invitation to enter a port for refreshment and rest. (iii) The journey of life is ideally an outward and inward journey. Just as busy bees need to return to their hives to be refreshed and renewed, so do we need to return to the Lord to find rest from our labors.
Solitude, rest, renewal, call it by whatever name you wish, is difficult to achieve, because it's one of the parts of life we must will, we must be intentional about. I believe that God is with us at all times, but we will rarely feel that presence if we are constantly busy, constantly on the go, if we never allow ourselves the opportunities to hear God's voice in the stillness of our hearts.
There are times in all of our lives, when life get really bleak, when we need to find a new sense of direction, a new way of dealing with our problems, a new beacon to lighten up our darkness. Though God speaks to each of us in different ways, sometimes it's beneficial for us to hear about what has been beneficial to others. Their journey may help ours. Light shines through many windows, like the windows of time we tried to find for ourselves these past two months, and sometimes the windows of our souls are similar to those of others. Here's a window I heard about that may help you; it's one I used it in a sermon many years ago, but it's still apropos.
Arthur Gordon, an author, found that he was running dry. He couldn't think, write, or function as he normally did. He felt as if we were having a nervous breakdown. So, he went to his octor, a friend, for a prescription. The doctor told him to go to the seashore - an easy prescription for us! - and he gave him four envelopes to open, one every three hours. So, Gordon went to the seashore one morning, and at nine o'clock, he opened the first envelope. The note inside said: "Watch and listen." For three hours he watched and listened to the waves, the birds, the people. He soaked in the sights and sounds of the seashore. At twelve noon he opened the second envelope, and the note said: "Try to reach back." So, for three hours he tapped his memory about where he'd been and what he had done with his life. At three o'clock he opened the third envelope. "Remember your original motives," the note said. For three hours the author asked: "Why did I start writing?" "Would I do it again?" "Why did I do this? Why did I say that? Why did I react that way?" At six o'clock Gordon opened the last envelope. The note inside said: "Write all your concerns in the sand." For three hours he wrote down his resentments, worries, and fears in the sand. Then as the moon came up and the tide came in, he watched as the waves gently washed them all away. (iv) What a wonderful way to spend four "time outs."
My guess is that what many of us yearn for the most - as we try to cope with the hectic pace of living, as we try to cope with our fears and anxieties - what we yearn for most is a sense of peace, a steadfast rock upon which we can cling, a solid grounding of hope - hope that we are not alone in the struggle, hope that there is some Power greater than the mere idols of power we often foolishly worship, hope that God's way will save this day and all the days to come. Our yearnings and hopes are answered in our faith in Christ. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians boldly states that Christ, who is our peace, brings together those who are far off and those who are near. There is a rock beneath the shifting sands on the seashore, and it is the peace that only Christ can give. (v) I want to conclude with a prayer that I have found meaningful. But first, a quotation, not from a Christian, but from a Jewish comedian of the last century, Eddie Cantor, who in addition to his humor, was also a good commentator on life. He said: "Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the serenity you miss by going too fast. You also miss the sense of where you are going and why." (vi) Wise words upon which to ponder. The closing prayer is by an unknown author. I keep it on my desk, and occasionally find the time to pray and reflect upon it. I'll bet you've heard it before. "Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with the vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me amidst the confusion of my day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book. Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values." Some time during this coming week, take the time to slow down and take a time out - beyond the ones you'll be taking in front of the TV rooting for the Red Sox. Take a real time out. You'll be glad you did. Amen.
The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall
i Statistics reported in Take Back Your Time Handbook, Mass Council of Churches materials, 2004.
ii The Clergy Journal, 7/85, p. 21.
iii Pulpit Resource, 7/18/82.
iv Ron Lavin, "Alone/Together," quoted in Emphasis, 7/85, p.27.
v Janet M. Edwards, Word & Witness, 7/21/85.
vi Take Back Your Time materials, op. cit.