Make time

CALL TO WORSHIP

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Come away…and rest a while.’ Come into the Lord’s presence now, away from the burdens and stresses of life. Come with open arms, and receive the rest that Jesus offers – to restore our souls, and equip us for whatever comes next.

HYMN

Faithful One, so unchanging (StF 628)

GATHERING PRAYER

O God, you are our shepherd. Your care and compassion were shown in the life of Jesus. We ask that, this very day, we may experience the rest you offer, the peace that can restore and revive us and enable us to live the promised abundant life. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

God, our loving Father, who gently guides and leads us, restore our souls today as we come to worship you. Let us not hurry, but sit at your feet, gazing upon your lovely face. Amen.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Gracious God, you always make time for us; we are sorry that we don’t always make time for you. When we are rushing around being busy, sometimes even when we are doing your work, we forget about you. We are sorry when we make our lives so full that there is no room left for you – no room to get away, to be in a quiet place with you. Forgive us, Lord, and help us not to hurry but to slow down, to make space for you to dwell within us. And in that dwelling place, may we seek what you want us to do and who you want us to spend time with. Help us to get the right balance, a right rhythm that is in tune with you. Amen.

Even though we have gone astray, you are our Shepherd – the one who brings us back to the fold. We are assured of your forgiveness, and we are set free in the knowledge that you always make room for us. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those that trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

Forever and ever Amen.

HYMN

To be in your presence (StF 530)

READING 1

Genesis 1: 28 to 2-3

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

READING

Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he began teaching them many things.

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

HYMN

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father (StF 51)

SERMON

Time pressure and demands we face today are nothing new. Jesus and his disciples experienced these problems.

If you’ve ever seen the Harry Potter films, in one Hermione Granger is entrusted with a device that would turn back time so that she can attend more classes, but she finds out that having more time is not actually a solution if it just means doing even more each day. ‘If only I had more time!’, she says.

How many times have you said “If only I had more time” it is a rather large “IF”

But we never have more time; we only have now, the moment in which we exist, and our lives unfold.

Jesus made deliberate choices about the time he would spend alone and balance that with the teaching and healing others.

This week, the Gospel reading consist of two short pieces of text that are overlooked because they have the more exciting story of the feeding of the five thousand in the middle.

But these verses tell us of the pressures Jesus and his disciples faced.

The action takes place around the Sea of Galilee, it is an inland sea – rather like a large Scottish loch. If someone had access to a boat, it would be easy to row or sail across to the other side.

Unfortunately, because of the hilly ground all around, anyone watching from the shore would also have a good view of you and could make a good guess as to where you were going to land.

And because rowing – well, if it’s anything like my attempts this kind of rowing – is not the fastest form of transport, someone could make the journey on foot and be there to greet you. This is what happened when Jesus took his disciples away to a quiet place to rest and restoring their energy. The crowds got there before them.

Jesus, fame has grown and is now recognised and followed by crowds wherever he went, with very little time to rest or even eat sometimes.

No wonder that his desire – for himself and for his disciples – was to get away and have some ‘me time’ – even though his plans were somewhat thwarted.

The disciples had returned from spreading the word of Jesus, traveling to various town pronouncing the day of the lord preaching and performing miracles, and after such a time of great highs and no doubt some lows, they would have returned elated but tired.

Jesus understood their need for rest and tried to provide it.

Busyness – with all its stresses – is a common problem. For some people, the idea of rest as a way of moving on – or as it says ‘retreating in order to advance’ – is counterintuitive.

If I take time off or away, I’ll only have twice as much to do when I get back! But putting yourself first is not always the wrong thing to do.

Anyone one who has flown in a plane will know that you are instructed if the cabin pressure drops you must put on your own oxygen mask before trying to help someone else.

You see, looking after yourself puts you in a better position to show compassion to others and that’s the business we are in.

How can we be of service to others, and especially God when we have drained ourselves to the point of breaking.

So, where do you go to for your spiritual ‘me time’? do you seek rest when you most need it?

In our old testament reading we heard the completion of the earth, and on the seventh day God rested.

Jesus tells us in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath.”

This was in answer to a rebuke by the authorities who complained about his disciples picking corn on the Sabbath. You see their religious regulations where in effect more important to them than serving God.

You see these words of Jesus remind us, the Sabbath day was meant to be a blessing, not a burden.

Your day of rest can be any day, it may not be a full day but by taking some time out you can and will come back stronger.

Karon and I have spoken about this and may or may not try to have a day where we turn off our phones and all forms of media, but we will see if that pans out, if anyone fails it will undoubtably be me!

But if we do, please ask us how we did.

We all live in a world that seems to be moving faster and faster, technology has moved on and keep moving a an even greater rate but not always to the benefit of the individual.

Even though many of us have been retired for some time, we still face this whirly burly pace of life.

We should I think take some time out to reflect on God’s creation, where we are in our walk with him, time to breath, to breath in his spirit to rest within his presence to be restored.

Sabbath writes John Kessler writes “The Sabbath affords a rest by which we are not so much restored but are re-storied”in other words be restored in the spirit and ready to face a new challenge.

How can we serve and be of use if we are too busy to come to God for renewal. Its rather like Lazarus’s sisters in Luke 10: Martha is rushing around, while Mary sits a Jesu’s feet. Martha complained to Jesus, but he said Mary has chosen the best thing.

It’s true we can sometimes be so busy trying to work for our Lord, that we miss the most important thing, which is spending time with him.

Jesus is the prime example taking time out to spend with his Father. Often, we read he took himself away to pray. Perhaps we can learn from this this to. You never know what he may say to you, but he can only do this if we are listening to him.

People today have the same needs as those in the Gospel reading. A key difference between then and now is that Jesus’ death and resurrection brought about what Paul called ‘one new humanity’ – a much larger and more diverse crowd than the 5,000 who sat down by the lakeside. The Gospel story has echoes of Psalm 23 and Jeremiah’s shepherd-king – the one who had real concern for God’s sheep.

All of them. They are a clarion call for us to live out that notion of ‘one new humanity’ – a wonderful yet somewhat strange vision of unity in diversity. How does our compassion for all God’s sheep measure up to this challenge?

How do we serve his sheep if we have no energy left or allow ourselves to try and do God’s work in our own strength. Which will never work.

First we need to make time for God, to listen and also respond to his word.

Five easy ways we can do this.

1. Begin your day with prayer God is the greatest resource we have in life, and we have the privilege of talking to Him. Let’s utilise that wonderful gift and ask God to help us make Him a priority each day. ...

2. Set aside time in the morning ...I use Lectio 365 as a prayer resource.

3. Schedule an appointment with God ...Make a time that you commit yourself to do this for a month it will become a habit.

4. Use a daily devotional ...There are lots of devotional information and sites that can help on this.

5. Study with a friend ... There is nothing better than to explore God’s word than with others, to ask their thoughts on certain things that are hard to understand.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" This is an invitation to learn from him, because he is gentle and humble in heart, and he will give rest for your souls. He says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. This is a promise for all who are weary and heavy-laden

So, take time. Take a breath, come to Jesus and find rest, renew your spirit be ready and able to serve our Lord with renewed passion.

HYMN

My soul finds rest in God alone (StF 633)

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Thank you, Lord, that you always had time for people. Even when you were tired and needed a rest, when the crowds gathered your compassionate heart healed and restored all those who came to you. Thank you that you are kind and caring and lavish your love upon us. Your self-giving love has set us free to be the people you have called us to be. Thank you that you are present in the big and small things of our lives, in the ordinary and everyday times, and in the extraordinary and special times. You never leave us or forsake us. Thank you, Lord, our Shepherd and King. Amen.

Lord, your compassion for the crowds that swamped you was ever present. Compassionate Lord, we bring before you now our brothers and sisters around the world. In China where churches are being destroyed. In South Africa where many are being threatened with guns if they set foot out of their homes. We pray for all Christians. For all victims of prejudice, here and worldwide.

Lord of all righteousness and peace, we pray for a dissolving of hatred and a renewal of compassion and unity.

Lord, you took your disciples away from the crowds to rest and find refreshment. But it was not always easy, because the crowds followed and made demands on your time. We pray for your church today: for all ministers, worship leaders, youth workers. All those you have given the responsibility of leadership to. We ask that you enable them to find or regain a healthy balance amid the rhythm of life’s rushing and resting.

Lord of all righteousness and peace, we pray for a dissolving of hatred and a renewal of compassion and unity.

We pray for the bereaved. And all those who are sick, in mind, body or soul. For all those burnt out by rushing here and there caring for others without giving thought for their own selfcare. We pray for all those anxiously awaiting long overdue operations.

Lord of all righteousness and peace, we pray for a dissolving of hatred and a renewal of compassion and unity.

We lift before you all those in our communities who are finding life difficult and daunting. Refugees settling in new places. Young adults leaving care and forging their own life. Children leaving the familiar surroundings of junior school to head to bigger school after the holidays. Those leaving and looking forward to college or venturing into the rhythm and challenges of the workplace.

Lord of all righteousness and peace, we pray for a dissolving of hatred and a renewal of compassion and unity. Amen.

HYMN

Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist (StF 72)

BLESSING

A blessing from Lectio 365

May this day bring Sabbath rest

to our hearts and our home

May God’s image in us be restored and my imagination in God be re-storied.

May the gravity of material things be lightened, and relativity of time slow down.

May we know grace to embrace our own finite smallness in the arms of God’s infinite greatness.

May God’s word feed us and his Spirit lead us into the week and into the life to come.

And may the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be among us and remain with us always. Amen.