Pentecost 9 (2)

Mark 6:30-34 (NIV) 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.

In the past 18 months we have experienced something that caused a dramatic shift in how we interact with each other. Because of the COVID 19 pandemic and the ability of the virus and its variants to spread from person to person at an alarming rate, we were mandated not only to keep at least six feet away from each other but also to avoid gatherings of more than ten people at a time. This affected churches, schools, businesses, and recreational activities. One of the most dramatic in terms of large crowds vs empty spaces had to be for sporting events. Major league baseball games were held in empty stadiums as were NFL football games, NASCAR races, soccer games, golf tournaments, and so on and so forth. Those who watch on TV may not have noticed it as much because of piped in sounds and digital and card board cut out fans etc., but it was a dramatic change in our culture.

Well, for now, we are back to normal when it comes to major sporting events. This was evident during the recent championship run for the Milwaukee Buck basketball team. Not only were the stadiums filled (even when the team was away) but in Milwaukee the blocks surrounding Fiserv Stadium were jam packed with an estimated 65,000 enthusiastic fans pressed next to each other and cheering with hardly a mask in sight. Left unrestricted, people will come out in large numbers to see and hear what is important to them.

Where else to we experience large crowds?

Music Festivals

County Fairs

Grand Openings

Graduations

EAA Airventure in Oshkosh

Car show in Iola.

Church?

Yes. There was a time when large crowds gathered in the same place to listen to God’s Word. We have an example of that here in our text.

Verse by verse.

Mark 6:30–34 NIV84

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.

The apostles returned from their missionary trip and reported to Jesus the results. As they are doing this, word must have got out (perhaps people trailing the disciples?) and Jesus and his apostles were surrounded by people wanting to see him and be helped. Jesus provided rest for his disciples in a solitary place.

Aside: After an extremely period of work or vacation, we often still need time to unwind.

Jesus and his disciples traveled by boat but they were followed on land. We can imagine them sailing along at a good clip and taking a short cut. Desperate to follow him, we are told that the crowd ran to be near him.

Aside: When and why was the last time you ran? In those sporting events mentioned earlier, we watch athletes run except in baseball when someone gets a home run and trots around the bases. The Olympics have started this week and those who participate in many of the events will run. But for most of us, running seems to have become a thing of the past. Unless we really want to get somewhere in a hurry and we rush to get their.

Here we can see running on foot to see Jesus as an example of being determined to hear God’s Word?

Application: How determined are we to hear God’s word and to worship him?

Psalm 84:10–12 NIV

10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Zechariah 8:20–23 NIV

20 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.” 23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Psalm 122:1 NIV84

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Mark 6:34 (NIV84)

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.

We find out soon after this that crowd number 5000.

This crowding to hear the word of God was not limited to this one event (see examples)

Luke 5:1–3 NIV84

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

Luke 6:17–18 NIV84

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured,

Luke 12:1 NIV84

1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Acts 8:4–8 NIV84

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

Historically, people have eagerly crowded together and been determined to worship God.

It has been said that a person considering attending a worship service is not so concerned about how many people are going to be there but who is going to be there. This is often used as an encouragement to people to invite their friends and neighbors to church and how their being at the worship service could be a draw for them to come. But we need to look at it on a deeper level.

Who are we going to interact with in a worship service? God.

Jesus drew such large crowds because he had shown through his teachings and his miracles that he was no ordinary person. Although many still did not believe that he was the Christ, the Son of God, they at least recognized that he had come from God and that he taught the word of God and that the power of God was on him. They say in him an opportunity to encounter God and it led them to seek him out with determination.

For those today who believe that God’s word and worshiping him is a special opportunity, we still gather together (even if not in huge crowds) to worship.

In conclusion, I want to comment on the other side of the exchange. One we may not be able to identify with as much.

We may have been in the crowds of a sporting event or other venue that drew a large crowd to see whom or what interested us. We certainly are among those who gather together to worship God. But have you ever been the one people dropped everything to be near or the attention of a large crowd? Has there been a parade in your honor?

Thousands of fans lined downtown Milwaukee streets on Thursday to catch a glimpse of their beloved Bucks in a parade to celebrate the city’s first NBA championship in half a century.

The Bucks’ parade began at noon ET and snaked through the streets of downtown Milwaukee in celebration of the franchise’s first NBA title since 1971.

Perhaps the best we can expect are dozens of birthday wishes and greetings through social media.

I would think that if we were the recipient of the adulation of thousands, it would go to our head. But not Jesus.

Mark 6:34 NIV84

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.

You see, it wasn’t about him. It was about the people he came to save. And so he taught them all day and before they went home, he fed these 5000 people through a miracle.

When we come to God in worship, he still cares about us. Worship is his way of coming to us in word and sacrament to have compassion on us by reassuring us of the forgiveness of sins and encouraging us with his word. He does that for each of us personally as we crowd together around him in worship. Amen.