Pentecost 8

Pentecost 8 (Mark 6:30-34; 53-56)
Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest awhile.

Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.

Our Heavenly Father designed our species according to the pattern of the logos, the Word of God who is the beloved Son of God. We are each a unique aspect of the infinite and eternal love of the Son.

There is a meaning and a purpose to our lives. God the Father created us to be the forever friends of God the Son. We enter into that friendship in three fundamental ways: worship, service, personal transformation.

As the Father created all of us and each of us according to the pattern, plan and purpose of the Son, so He sends the Holy Spirit into the world and into our souls to help us become who He created us to be. The Holy Spirit is the Counselor who encourages us to read, mark learn and inwardly digest scripture. It is as we make the choice to follow the counsel of the Holy Spirit by reading, studying and memorizing scripture that the wisdom of God becomes real to us and present in our daily choices.

Jesus reveals two patterns of Divine Love in the gospel passage today. One is rest. The other is service.

As the love of God in human flesh, Jesus is the wisdom of God and the compassion of God. He is the pattern of this universe of matter, energy, time and space. As we study the life of Jesus, ponder his words and enter into His real presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, the Holy Spirit helps us to perceive, understand and apply the wisdom of Jesus and the compassion of Jesus.

From the very beginning, God created time to facilitate the purpose for our lives. Every seventh day is the Day of Real Presence. It is the particular time that sets aside the particular place where God promises to meet us, to refresh us, to infuse his love into our minds, hearts and wills.

The particularity of the time and place of real presence facilitates choice. The purpose of our lives is love. Love can only be real as we make a real choice to embrace that love.

Throughout history people have asked: where is God? He is right here. He is where he declared he would be in the realm of matter, energy, time and space. He is present in the reading of his word. He is present in the blessed sacrament of the altar.
God did not complete creation until he formed the seventh day. The seventh day holds all creation, especially time, in balance, harmony and joy. Sadly, most people most of the time throughout history have ignored this aspect of creation. We find the seventh day burdensome. Even those who attempt to honor the Sabbath have distorted it through legalism or minimalism.

Legalism provides a list of what you can and cannot do. The focus is on the list not the real presence of Divine Love. Minimalism has one eye on the altar and one eye on the clock.

Strangely enough, both legalism and minimalism ask the same question: what is the least I must do to get credit? How can I use this day to merit Divine favor and still do what is really important to me?

That question is formed by the old life- the life of separation. That question proceeds from the old way of living- the way of self will, pride and fear. That way is grounded in the distortion of scarcity. The great fear our species holds is that there is not enough for everyone so I must strive to get what I need and I want.
The seventh day exists as God’s promise that there is more than enough. There is in fact abundance. The new life of reunification with the Father through the Son by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit releases that abundance in wisdom, compassion and balance.

Jesus not only taught this balance he demonstrated the balance. Jesus not only demonstrated the balance he is the balance. The purpose of our lives is the threefold love Jesus gives us. That gift emerges in a personal relationship with Jesus.

Jesus holds the balance of work, rest, recreation and renewal. The invitation to come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile is an invitation to renewal. It is not just a cessation from activity. It is not a diversion. It is life.
The balance in life is demonstrated by Jesus as the balance between action and contemplation. Work and recreation are still action. Rest apart from contemplation is an inertia that can lead to stagnation.

To enter into the rest Jesus offers is to enter into the Divine Mystery of life itself. It is to set apart a time and a place to renew our minds, our hearts and our wills in the Real Presence of the Eternal Beloved of the Eternal Father through the eternal Holy Spirit.

Contemplation compliments action. Contemplation completes action. Contemplation creates action.

The action Jesus demonstrates is compassion in all of its practical forms. There is feeding the hungry. There is healing the sick. There is visiting the lonely. There are so many opportunities in this world to practice compassion and to show kindness. If we ask what is the minimum I must do to practice compassion we are stuck in legalism.

Compassion is not a law. It is a Way of life. It is a principle that guides choice.
The underlying power of compassion is contemplative engagement with the Divine. The highest form of this engagement is in liturgical worship. In the liturgy the Holy Spirit offers to help us perceive and enter into the very pattern of Heaven. If we ask what is the minimum time and attention we must offer in worship to practice contemplative engagement with the Divine we are stuck in a minimalism that leads to stagnation.

Jesus is the superabundance of God’s grace which is the very pattern of Creation.
Jesus invites us to enter into the rest of the eternal Sabbath manifesting in the realm of time through the timeless touch of the Divine Liturgy. The choice to enter into that rest produces a result. The result is an attitude and an action of compassion.