Searching for the Deserted Place

Mark 6:30-34

“Come away to a deserted place…”   -Mark 6:31

I’ve had a busy month.  July started with the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston.  30,000+ high school youth, their adult leaders and others gathered for worship, speakers, service, experiential learning and the opportunity to mix and mingle with people from across the country and around the world.  It was an amazing, uplifting experience!  I just finished a week orienting our newest bishops. Another great experience which reminded me again that God continues to lift up gifted and diverse leaders for God’s Church.  In just sixteen days, I’ll be going to Africa to participate in a three day summit between the ELCA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT).  The ELCT is one of the fastest growing Lutheran churches on the planet.  We have a lot to learn from them!  In between all this, there is the usual round of meetings, activities, events, worship services, visits, phone calls, emails and conversations that is the daily fare of my ministry as the pastor and bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod. 

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves…” --Mark 6:31

A frantically paced life is not unusual these days.  I frequently meet people who are overwhelmed, or nearly overwhelmed with everything that is going on in their worlds.  I’m not exactly sure what ever happened to the “lazy, hazy days of summer”!  On my recent trip home from Chicago, I stopped at a “Rest Area” on the interstate and wondered at the busy-ness of the place!  Hurrying toward her car, a mother called her daughter from the playground,  “Come on! We need to get going!”   Keeping up with Facebook posts and other social media, the never-ending stream of news, the swirl of world events and the constant change can feel like we’ve been tossed into a raging river.   It seems that, often, every moment of our personal lives is filled with something: work, health concerns, bills to pay, family concerns, appointments to keep, friendships to tend, shopping to get done and on and on.

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  --Mark 6:31

Jesus’ invitation is a beautiful thought.  Isn’t it? To go out to a quiet place and just sit?  To escape the busy-ness, even for a minute or two?  Right.  It didn’t work for Jesus and his disciples either.  

I think the promise for us in this midst of this not-so-promising text comes in the very last line.  “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them…”   Jesus doesn’t abandon us to our busy-ness.  He steps into the fray with compassion and love and life.   He walks with us, shepherding us and teaching us and healing us, even when we cannot see or feel it clearly in the blur of our lives.  It’s true, we may not always be able to find the deserted, lonely place in our lives, but we are never deserted and we are never alone. Never.  And that’s a promise we can rest in.  Even on our busiest days.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

Thanks for taking a few moments out of your busy lives to read this week’s “On the Way.”