Running on Empty

Scriptures:     Isaiah 1:12-13, 16-18, Romans 6:1-11,  I Peter 3:13-22,                   Mark 10:13-16

Those of a certain age probably remember the Jackson Browne song:

Running on empty / running blind / running into the sun/but I’m running behind…..

At the moment described in our gospel reading, I think Jesus and his disciples could have related.  Jesus’ disciples had just returned from their first mission trip.  After getting an underwhelming reception at his hometown synagogue, Jesus had sent his disciples out, two-by-two, to preach and cast out demons.  Now the disciples were returning, eager to tell Jesus about where they’d been and what they’d done.  Meanwhile, while the disciples had been away, Jesus had just gotten the devastating news of Herod’s execution of John the Baptist.  Jesus needed some quality time with his disciples, and they all needed some time away from the crowds, with their endless demands – “Teach us, heal us” – over and over.

So Jesus tells them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourself and rest a while.” Mark’s gospel adds that “there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”  Sounds like a good plan.  They pile into a boat and set out for a deserted place that Jesus knew.  Problem is, the crowds saw where they were going, and got there before they did.  Jesus and his disciples pile into a boat to get away from the crowds; they get to land and the crowds say, “Here we are!”  It’s a scene that at one level is sort of comical – Jesus and his disciples literally can not get away from the crowds – and on another level touching…..the faith they had in Jesus….and on yet another level exhausting….no rest for the weary.  There’s a scene in the movie Jesus Christ Superstar, in which Jesus is slowly engulfed by a group of lepers and others seeking healing, as they sing “See my eyes I can hardly see See me stand I can hardly walk I believe you can make me whole  See my tongue I can hardly talk   See my skin I’m a mass of blood  See my legs I can hardly stand  I believe you can make me whole  See my purse I’m a poor poor man……” and at the end of it Jesus shrieks “Leave me alone!”- I think on the cast album he shrieks “Heal yourselves”.  That may very well have been what Jesus was thinking, but that’s not what Jesus did – in Mark’s gospel, we’re told that “He had compassion for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.”

Meanwhile, where does this leave the disciples?  They were really looking forward to spend some alone time with Jesus, and Jesus had offered them some time just with him.  But here they were again….the crowds, the crowds, the crowds, with their endless demands, “See my eyes I can hardly see See me stand I can hardly walk I believe you can make me whole  See my tongue I can hardly talk”  

I think we’ve all been there, in one way or another.  We’re exhausted, on low reserves, running on empty, looking forward to at least a nap, if not a vacation…..and something comes up….a family member gets sick, the dog eats something he wasn’t supposed to and needs to get rushed to the vet, a pipe breaks and we need to call the plumber right away, we get a phone call asking us to come in to work to cover someone’s shift…. so that we have to stretch ourselves still more.  What to do?

Remember Jesus’ words to his disciples:  “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest.”  We’re not machines, and even if we were, even machines need periodic maintenance.  Even your car needs to stop running and go into the shop to get an oil change every 3000 or 5000 or however many miles.  Why should we expect ourselves not to need some downtime as well.  Periodically, thoughout the gospels, we’re told that Jesus went off to a quiet place to pray.  And if Jesus needed quiet time to pray, so do we.  It doesn’t matter much what that time looks like – maybe in the morning before we start our day or some time praying and reading on the train going into work, even if we have to mentally block out the stop announcements and such.  Observant Muslims pray five times a day – before dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening.  Whatever they’re doing, when the call to prayer sounds, they stop what they’re doing and pray.  If Muslims can pray five times a day, I think we can challenge ourselves to find some quiet time at least once a day to pray, even if only for a few moments.  To use the words from an old commercial, consider it “the pause that refreshes.”  And we may be surprised how refreshing it can be.

But there are times when the demands are there and we can’t escape them…or shouldn’t escape them, even if we can.  At those moments, we can silently pray for strength – other than “thank you”, I’d say asking God “give me strength” is one of my most frequent prayers – and plunge in.  There’s always time for a snap prayer, to shoot a couple of words of prayer to God, even if it’s just “help!”.  What we may find is not only that God gives us the strength for that situation, but that God stretches us and enlarges us, so that we can handle something similar the next time, but much easier.   By God’s grace, I’ve found myself able to do things I’d have never thought possible, because I was faced with what seemed like an impossible situation, asked for God’s help, and plunged in as best I could.

And, I have to say, there are times when we get demands, and we may need to catch our breath and do some quick discernment.  Is this a real need?  If I respond, am I empowering that person, or just enabling them?......sort of like the difference between showing a child how to solve a math problem vs doing their homework for them.  And if it is a real need, am I the right person to respond, or should I be referring the person to someone else.  For example, while my seminary training included a course in pastoral counseling – and I hope to take more courses if time and finances permit – I’m not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV.   It would be irresponsible for me to try to do long-term counseling with someone who really needs a trained therapist.  So the most loving thing I can do is to do what I can in the immediate situation, and find the best possible referral for the long-term. 

And then there are situations where it’s hard to tell what’s the right thing to do.  This past week, somebody who’s not a member of the church, but who is on the fringes of my list of contacts for folks needing assistance from time to time, asked me three times in two days to drive them to Friends Hospital.  Three times I drove them, three times Friends said they couldn’t admit him, but could he wait around…..and three times he walked away on his own, and made his way down to Kensington.  After the third walk-away, I said I wasn’t going to be available to talk to him for the next few days – if he needed help, please try to find someone else to help.  Did I do the right thing?  I don’t know.  Some would say I shouldn’t have come back a second time.  Others would say I should have made myself available regardless.  Others would say I should know the system better, so that I could get him in some other place.  In any case, I tried, and I failed.  For me, all I can do is pray for God to make up for my failures and limitations. 

Yesterday, nine of us went to Bethany Children’s Home, and I think we got to see what it looks like when our efforts at helping are based on a foundation of prayer.  We visited the Brobst cottage, a residential cottage under the leadership of a couple of houseparents. Most of the children who come to Bethany come out of difficult family circumstances and need a lot of support- and sometimes support can come down to really basic stuff, like how to bathe, how to turn off a light switch, really basic stuff.  As one with no children, it’s hard for me to imagine living with other peoples children with that level of need day in and day out.  But the houseparent who showed us around the place was on fire for Christ; he himself had made some really bad mistakes in his life, and his experience being invited to a church – an African-American church, as it happens – turned his life around.  And now he’s spending his life passing on to others what Christ had given him.

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves to rest awhile.”  Jesus’ invitation to those first disciples is for us, his followers, as well.  May we remember to leave room in our lives for time with Christ, so that Christ can give us room and resources to serve those he sends our way. Amen.