Full service can be viewed HERE. Gospel reading at 38 min, sermon follows.
Pentecost 8B
July 18, 2021
Mark 6:30-34, 53056
INTRODUCTION
Remember two weeks ago, when Jesus sent out the disciples to heal and share the good news about the kingdom of God? And then last week we had this gory interlude about the beheading of John the Baptist? Well today we come back to the story of the apostles, and now they are returning, but we must also not forget that gory beheading story (I know we’d all like to!), because it shows us what bad leadership looks like, and Jesus will show us the opposite. Today’s gospel text is two transitional moments – you’ll notice there are some missing verses, which tell the story of the feeding of the 5000. What we will hear is on either side of that story, and they reveal something about the day-to-day life of Jesus. The reading includes this wonderful line about Jesus seeing the needs of the crowd, “and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Beautiful!
The other texts pick up that shepherd theme. Jeremiah describes the bad shepherds (an image for the rulers of the time) and the way they don’t take care of the people, making a contrast with who we come to understand as Jesus. And naturally, we will hear the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” That shepherding image is a common one throughout scripture. And Ephesians reflects on how it can look when we are indeed all sheep of the same flock, with Christ as our shepherd.
Hold that image of Christ as the care-taking, self-sacrificing shepherd of the sheep as you listen today. Consider how such a role makes you feel, as one of the sheep. Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I have a wonderful little resource I love to share with people, a single sheet entitled, “Needs Inventory.” I often share it with people who come to me with their challenges and struggles, and every time I bring it out, I am struck again by how useful it is. It is simple: it’s just a categorized list of both physical and emotional needs people often have. Things like, acceptance, respect, safety, laughter, sleep, order, wholeness. When I am feeling overwhelmed by life, stymied by a conflict, or just unable to articulate what is wrong, I can look at this list, and seeing the words all listed there it is much easier to just point and say, “Yes, that one. And this one. Oh, and I need this, too!” There is immense power in being able to articulate our own needs, yet I think many of us are not very good at it! I know I am much better at telling you what everyone else needs to do for my benefit (like, “I need for you to pick up your socks!”), rather than identify what lack I am feeling within myself (like, “I need order.”). And yet, if we can’t even identify what our own needs are, then how will they ever be filled?
As I read this week’s Gospel lesson, here’s what I notice: that in these somewhat mundane moments of Jesus’ ministry, he consistently responds to people’s needs, known and unknown. Jesus of course is a man who embodies compassion, and I think the way that compassion is made apparent to us here is in Jesus’ willingness and ability to see and understand the deepest needs around him, both physical and emotional, and to tend to those needs.
That sort of compassion is something often lacking in our lives, right? And I think part of the reason for it is that, again, we don’t very often take the time really to notice the true needs around us, let alone name the deepest needs and heart’s desires that we have ourselves. We see the symptoms of the need, but not the need itself. We’d rather keep it on the surface, treat those symptoms, and feel that we are satisfying our emotional needs with concrete, simple fixes. I’m sad, so I will buy myself a new toy. I’m scared, so I will buy a new outfit that makes me feel confident. I’m hurting, so I will pour myself a drink and escape from my pain. Quick, simple fixes. We do that because facing our true needs requires deep reflection and facing our emotions, and emotions can be so very complicated and make us feel so vulnerable and even inadequate. It is easier just to cover up the need with something else that may help in the short term, even if it doesn’t really address the root cause, the true need we have, the need we might not even know we have because we haven’t taken the time to consider it before slapping a band-aid on it, or just dismissing it as not all that important anyway.
But Jesus does it differently. Jesus sees the needs of those around him, and he tends directly to them. Jesus is compassionate. Jesus shows the disciples and the crowds what compassion looks like. And if we read this account with hearts open, we, too, can see how Jesus meets the true needs of those in the story.
There are numerous examples. The disciples are exhausted and need rest; Jesus invites them. Many need healing; Jesus heals. Others need guidance, and connection; Jesus teaches them many things.
But here’s the one I notice that is maybe less obvious than the other needs, and it is right there in the first verse. The disciples have just returned from a journey – remember, just a couple weeks ago, we heard how Jesus had sent them out to heal and cast out demons and share the good news. Now they are back, and I’m sure they are exhausted, but they also have had this incredible experience. Their eyes are opened, and their lives changed, and they are eager to share. In this case, their deep need, that is so easy to gloss over, is to be heard, to have someone actively listen to their story.
Oh, I encounter this need so often, both as the listener in my pastoral visits and as a personal need. So often when we listen to someone share their feelings or their situation, we want to try and fix it, right? To make it better. But sometimes all the person needs is just to know that someone cares enough to listen to their story, without distraction, and without doing anything to fix it. They need to be heard.
Michael and I enjoy the TV show, Parks and Rec. In one episode, Ann is very pregnant and very miserable, and Chris, a health nut and the baby’s daddy, bends over backwards to fix all of Ann’s problem – with shea butter, or a dietary supplement, or a foot massage. You’d think the weary mommy-to-be would appreciate his efforts, but instead, Ann is repeatedly frustrated by the fact that Chris always has a solution to every problem. She doesn’t want to be fixed. She wants just to grumble about the pains of late-term pregnancy, and know that Chris cares about her woes, cares enough to listen first, without jumping to make the problem go away. For his part, Chris is discouraged because he can’t understand why Ann is so grumpy when he’s doing so much to help. But relief from the physical pain isn’t what she wants help with. What she needs is relief from her emotional pain. She needs companionship. Chris’s friends give him the advice not to fix anything, which seems counter-intuitive to him, but still he tries. That night, as Ann laments about her sore body and long day, Chris starts to fix it, then takes a deep breath and simply says, “That sucks.” Ann looks at him wide-eyed, says, “Yes, it does!” and goes on to tell him more. This time he responds, “That really sucks.” Ann smiles contentedly, and leans into him, finally heard, finally at peace.
You see, compassionate listening has the power to heal our hearts – more than any dietary supplement or foot massage, or new gadget or outfit. And this is the compassion Jesus provides to his disciples: he hears their stories, he strives to understand how they are feeling. He joins them right where they are, feels with them, and invites them to come with him to a restful place.
There are so many needs apparent in this text, and the value of this is that texts like this can give us permission to start to reflect honestly on what our own needs are. When was the last time you really reflected deeply on your needs? It is such hard work, and soft work without an immediate result – plus, who has time for that, when so many quick fixes are so much more efficient at treating the symptoms of our needs? But it is so important to know our own hearts well enough to know what needs we have, and how they might be fulfilled. As you think about your needs, think about it in positive, not negative ways. So instead of, “I need to not worry,” or, “I need you to act differently,” think instead, “I need to feel safe. I need to find peace with this. I need to find forgiveness. I need relief from this burden.” You hear the difference? The latter are needs apart from other people’s actions, and these positive statements give better direction for you, for your own heart – a way to move forward.
And then once you’ve identified your need – I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this – bring that need to Jesus. Offer it in prayer, naming it, and asking Jesus to sit in that need with you. You might even try responding to his next invitation, and go to a deserted place with Jesus to sit together in that need and know first that it is heard by God and that God cares about it. Let me say that again: God cares about your need, even if it seems no one else does.
Simply knowing that might be enough for now. Sure, there are other steps to take to have that need filled, but most importantly, knowing that God sees you, hears you, has compassion for you, and is present with you in your need is enough to start to bring healing, to move you toward the abundant life God wants for you. May we all live and experience that life-giving compassion.
Let us pray… Compassionate God, you know our needs even when we don’t. Help us to be vulnerable enough to try to understand our own needs, and then willing to let you tend to them, so that we will be cared for and nurtured enough to be able to serve your world with full and generous hearts. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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