Priorities On Mission - Mark 6:30-44

Priorities.

Priorities are what makes the world work. We all have our priorities. Yours are different than mine. Mine are different than yours. Sometimes things come along that force us to rearrange our priorities. That happened to me this week, when I went in for a tooth evaluation and ended up with a root canal. Not my favorite thing to do.

Or a day later when I went and looked at an electrical job

If we do not set our priorities straight, and have them well ordered, we can make a mess of our own lives. Necessary things can be neglected, and we can spend so much time on things that don’t matter. There are many issues that we experience in life that can be fixed by simply rearranging our priorities.

That is true generally in life, but also when we seek to live life on mission. Several weeks ago we saw Jesus commission the twelve for ministry. In our text today we are going to see Jesus continue to teach us about what life on mission looks like as he sets forth three priorities.

Let’s turn to our text where we find the first of these priorities

The Priority of Rest

Mark 6:30–32 ESV

30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Now, this is not usually what you will see first in a list of priorities. But remember, we are picking things up after a brief interruption by the story of John the Baptist. If we rewind ourselves back to verse 7-13, we find the commissioning of the twelve disciples to go out into the world and do ministry. They were to live life on mission.

And they got after it! They lived a mission active life. They were telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ, and they doing miraculous things by the power of Him who sent them.

In verse 14-29 we saw that “interruption” in the story line, because Mark wanted to remind his readers. Hey. If you want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, you need to be aware. Some people will reject you and your message. Some people who reject will do harmful things to those who wish to follow Christ.

Nevertheless, there is a certain excitement to living life on mission.

Earlier in this book Jesus used the metaphor of proclaiming the Word of God to being like planting a seed. You plant the seed in the ground and you don’t know how it grows, but God causes growth and then there is fruit from the plant.

We don’t always get to see the fruit of our efforts, but sometimes we do, and when that happens, it is truly an exciting and encouraging thing!

So I can picture the disciples as they are coming back to Jesus in verse 30, and they are reporting to him all the things that they had done, and the excitement on their faces because of the joy of seeing people’s lives changed.

Because it is exciting isn’t it?? When someone comes to realize their lost condition and the reality of what will happen when they stand before God on judgment day, when they realize that their only hope is through what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, and when they embrace that, repent of their sins, and trust in the work of Christ and Him alone to save them, and then when they begin to see Christ reorder their lives to make them more and more like Him....

It’s a beautiful thing!

Seeing lives changes because of what Jesus did is almost beyond description.

Well, when we live mission-active lives, with mission-first priorities, there is a danger of getting so caught up in the work of ministry that we fail to properly rest from our labor.

Now, there is a temptation here to think that this is about people who are active in full-time Christian ministry as their vocation. This danger certainly is there for them, but I think this applies to everyone who is living a mission-active life.

Two sermons ago I defined living life on mission like this:

Living life on mission is the concept of Christians living as Christians by taking the Gospel with them and making disciples wherever they go.

For what its worth, there are people who are in full-time ministry who don’t live life on mission. There are others who simply work their jobs, but are on mission.

I remember having breakfast with a guy, who at the time was not in ministry. He was just working his job. He was always having spiritual conversations with people. He was so gracious and gentle with it, but it was always there.

This is the context of the first priority that we see in our text today. Rest is not the first overall priority, but rather the first in our text.

Jesus calls the disciples to rest a while.

Look at verse 31. They were to get away. They were to go by themselves. They were to go to a desolate place, a place that would be likely free from intrusion or distraction. And they were to rest.

Mark explains why this was a priority of Jesus for them:

For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

That word for leisure refers to having time or opportunity for something. They had no free time. They had no margin in their lives. It was all people all the time, such that even eating a meal was a complicated endeavor.

So again, it is in that context that Jesus calls for them to rest.

Why does Jesus bring them aside to rest? Why is rest important?

Jesus cares about his disciples. Today it is common to speak of the concept of “self-care”. I believe the concept of self-care can go off the rails in the many, many ways, but there is the very real need to care for ourselves, and the Scriptures call us to be watchful over ourselves in several places.

When you get on an airplane and they are explaining the instructions about the oxygen masks, they tell you that if those drop out of the ceiling, put yours on first, and then work to help other people, like children, get theirs on. Why? Because if you don’t have yours on, you might pass out in the process of helping other people get theirs on and then you both die. But if you get yours on first, you will be able to breathe so you can help others.

That is why it is appropriate to take time for ourselves. We can be of more service to others when we are appropriately caring for ourselves.

The concept of rest goes all the way back to creation itself. After God created the world, he then rested on the seventh day. He certainly did not need the rest himself, since he is all-powerful and inexhaustible, but rather he set the precedent and gave us an example of what we needed in our own lives. Rest.

If you are a workaholic, whose motto in life is “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” this may be a principle you need to work into your life. Failing to take time to rest introduces several dangers:

One is burnout. We run ourselves into the ground, running full throttle until there is no gas left. This can be damaging to our own personal physical AND spiritual health, and to the relationships of those we hold most dear.

Another danger is flameout. We can stay so busy with life and ministry that we never take a moment to keep watch over our own souls and we can fall into serious sin which leads to a crash and burn in life. The mission is damaged, the family falls apart, and life is rotten.

Failing to take time to rest can be disastrous.

On the other end of the pendulum, we can over-prioritize rest, and the Bible has a different word for that: laziness. We must not take passages like this as justification for laziness. The context is one of disciples being so active in ministry that they are completely covered up.

So for those who are active on mission, rest must be a priority.

Well, in our text, Jesus calls the disciples aside, and they get on a boat to get away for a time, because Jesus cares for them. But even in the midst of that rest, there are still people that need care.

Look at what happens next:

The Priority of Meeting Spiritual Needs

Mark 6:33–34 ESV

33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

They didn’t even get to the place where they were heading for rest, and the people ran there and got there ahead of them.

I knew someone who liked to fish, and one reason for that was not the fishing itself, but it was his opportunity to get away by himself and spend that time in thought and with God. He had his favorite places to go, but sometimes he would show up somewhere and someone has beat him to his spot! How did you get here before me?

How does Jesus respond here? He is seeking to make rest a priority, but that rest is being interrupted by people.

Does he send them away?

Does he inform them “Hey, I’m trying to get a little R&R here”

Does he ignore them?

What does the text say?

When he saw the great crowd, he had compassion on them.

Compassion. The word compassion comes from a word group that refers to inward parts of a person, or the bowels. There is a response within the very gut of a person who has compassion.

Our English word can be defined as a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. Stated more simply, It’s seeing someone in need and having a deep desire to help.

That’s Jesus when he sees the crowd. He sees a people that are in need, and he wants to help them.

What is their need?

the text says they were like sheep without a shepherd.

I was reading about what happens to sheep if left unattended. Sheep seem to be wired to follow each other around. The don’t often go in straight lines, but walk or run in winding paths so they can see in front and behind them. But because they are constantly looking around to see what their fellow sheep are doing, they aren’t the most careful about where they are going, and can be prone to simply run over the edge of a cliff for no apparent reason. But because sheep tend to follow each other, if one goes over, they all will likely follow.

Without a shepherd, sheep cannot get the food and water they need to survive. They don’t have an internal GPS to find water or grazing pasture. Unless they are led there they won’t know how to get there.

Sheep are also defenseless creatures. If a predator comes to attack, they have no means of protecting themselves.

Finally, if sheep are not tended, the will get overgrown with their own wool, which gets matted, heavy, and dirty. Diseases and parasites set in, and they begin to die because of what is living in their own wool.

Sheep need a shepherd. That fact that Jesus views them as sheep without a shepherd is an indictment on the spiritual leadership of the day.

Where were the pharisees? Where were the scribes? Why weren’t they caring for the sheep? They are hungry! They are needy! And no one is tending to them.

Jesus sees them in need, and moved with compassion, that desire to help, he takes action.

What does he do?

He teaches them. The text says he began to teach them many things.

Instruction. He sees them and people with spiritual needs and he seeks to meet that need by teaching them truth.

Living life on mission is going to give us eyes to see people and their spiritual needs. These people needed a shepherd. The people we encounter in life need a shepherd as well. Will you lead them to Jesus?

Will you lead people to Jesus, the great Shepherd, like a shepherd leads sheep to water.

We sang Psalm 23 earlier. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That Psalm describes God’s love and care for his people. we have the opportunity to lead people to this shepherd. A life on mission sees people with their spiritual needs, has compassion on them, and teaches them the Word of God.

what does this look like?

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be a systematic theology class. In fact it probably shouldn’t be.

Sometimes people express trouble that they’re having in life. Simply comments like “you know, I’m a Christian, and we can struggle with those things too. but in the Bible, God teaches us that we can deal with this problems in this way.”

Or “I’m sorry you are going through that. God’s design for the world was not to be so burdened with Sin. But did you know that the Bible says God is going to being perfect justice into the world one day? Have you ever thought about what would happen to you or me if he did?”

We can point people to great Shepherd. We can show them Jesus Christ.

A really simple way we can lead people to the Shepherd is through invited them to study the bible with you on a weekly basis. We have a couple copies of “one-to-one” bible reading on the table for anyone who might be interested in that approach. You might be surprised how many people would be willing to read the bible with out over lunch once a week.

Well, Jesus sees the people in need of a shepherd, and so he teaches them.

As time progresses, another need arises.

The Priority of Meeting Physical Needs

Mark 6:35–36 ESV

35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

Remember, they were going to an isolated location to rest. But now there are people, and it’s getting late. The people are getting hungry. The disciple’s solution is to send the people away so they can tend to their own physical needs. But Jesus is trying to teach them divine truth. If he sends them away, that teaching opportunity will be lost.

So look what he says in verse 37

Mark 6:37 ESV

37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”

The disciples are flabbergasted. Wut. How in the world are we supposed to feed them?

Jesus knew they didn’t have what was needed, but this was an opportunity to showcase his power once again.

So let’s see what he does:

Mark 6:38–44 ESV

38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

With just five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus does a miracle. He breaks apart the bread and fish and keeps breaking but never runs out of food. The food is multiplied to such an extent that everyone eats their fill and there is enough left over to fill up twelve baskets.

This miracle is another example of Jesus meeting physical needs. We’ve seen this several times throughout this book. Jesus’ compassion does not only extend to people’s spiritual needs, even though that need is really the most important. He sees people in physical need and he seeks to care for them in that way as well.

As we seek to follow Jesus, we can look at texts like this and say “okay, that’s great that Jesus did that. But I can’t do that. I’m not exactly able to multiply bread.”

That’s true. But that also misses the point. Sometimes we don’t have a lot to offer. Sometimes we can only give $5 when the need is $100. Sometimes we can only offer 15 minutes, when there is a need for two hours. Sometimes we can only provide one change of clothes when the need is a whole wardrobe.

But you might also be amazed at what Jesus can do with $5, or 15 minutes, or one change of clothes. There may not be a physical multiplication of the physical things themselves, but Jesus can take that $5, or 15 minutes, or whatever else and multiply the blessing.

Even if what you have to offer is not sufficient to meet the whole need, sometimes just being willing to do what you can is so meaningful to people that Jesus is able to take that and bring about other blessings through that.

The disciples picked up twelve baskets full of food! What can Jesus do with the little that we have to offer?

Living life on mission means that we are willing to do as Paul says “spend and be spent”. But in that process we must also make sure that we are taking the appropriate time to rest, or else that mission will meet a premature death in our own lives. But at the same time, our rest should be interruptable. Do you have compassion when you see someone in need? Teach them truth from God’s Word. do what you can to meet the physical needs. In so doing we follow in the footsteps of Jesus who is able to take our measly efforts and multiply the blessings in ways we never would have guessed.

Pray.