Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Sun. July 22, 2012)

Full Transcript of Father Swann's Homily:

What is it like to be a “celebrity?” I certainly would NOT know. I read an account about an “event” that happened to Jimmy Buffet the singer—you know – the Margaretaville guy. It seems that Jimmy Buffet lost his cell phone at a restaurant. It created a “panic” – for good reason-- among all his close friends—including President Clinton, Bill Gates, George Clooney and some others. All these people had “private numbers” on the cell phone. Can you imagine someone having “access” to all those celebrities.

Many in our culture today— “worship” celebrities. Fred Allen the old “wry” comic--– now long dead- once said that “a celebrity is a person that works hard all his life to become well known, and then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.”

Today’s Gospel lesson makes it clear that Jesus was becoming a “celebrity” in his small corner of the world. Mark tells us that the “disciples’ were returning to Jesus after their missionary journey. They were “downloading” all their experiences. Jesus, following his familiar pattern of “withdrawing” after being “exhausted” by the rigors of ministry—and out of concern for his “tired” disciples –realizes the need to “get away.”

What about us?? Quite recently Sharon had her second “overnight” at a Sleep Study Center- regarding sleep apnea. This helped me “make a connection” to some information about “weariness.” We are in many ways a weary people. Literally and figuratively, we are tired.

A survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 47 million American adults suffer from sleep deprivation. That’s almost a quarter of the adult population in America. That’s a lot of weary people. And it is a serious problem. It can also be deadly. Sixty percent of licensed drivers reported that they drove cars while drowsy. Sleep deprivation is a serious problem, and it has a number of causes: from lifestyle choices, to work, to illnesses, to sleeping disorders. The results of the survey are clear: many Americans, too many Americans, both adults and children, are not getting enough sleep. We are, quite literally, a weary people.

However, we really didn’t need a survey to tell us this. Most of us have heard people say things like: “I’m exhausted.” “I’m running myself ragged.” “I’m wiped out.”

People are “tired” these days and they will tell you so. We are over-worked, over-committed, over-extended, stretched-thin, stressed-out, and burnt-out. We are too busy and we are too tired, and we will tell you about it. It seems like there is some kind of ‘strange competition’ going on where we try to outdo each other with how busy and how tired we are. In a curious way, “busyness” has become a socially desirable good.

And we are not just physically tired. The Germans have a good word for this other kind of weariness: weltschmerz, which means “world weariness.” We are wearied by many things in our lives. In our work lives, people speak of being tired of the rat race. In our political lives, people are tired of broken promises, empty rhetoric, and partisan bickering, and “do-nothing” politicians.

In our personal lives, we are tired of being alone, tired of the routine. We may be tired of feeling angry all the time, or feeling afraid all the time.

In our gospel lesson, Jesus addresses the weariness and busyness of his apostles. We are told that the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they were doing and all that they were teaching, and, apparently, they were very busy. They were so busy, we are told, that they didn’t even have time to eat.

So many people were coming and going, that they didn’t even have a chance to grab something on the go. So Jesus’ words to them must have felt like ---cool, refreshing water to people who are slaked with thirst. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

How refreshing this response must have been to his weary disciples. Notice Jesus didn’t respond to the apostles’ reports about “what they were doing” by going over a new strategic plan. Notice he didn’t respond to their reports of “what they were teaching” by going over a new curriculum. No. He said to his weary apostles, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

No doubt we are created to find meaning and value in the work we do, especially when it is done to the greater glory of God and--- the service and up-building of our neighbors. But our “weariness” in what we do and our pervasive busyness are signs that something isn’t quite right.

We keep “adding” one more thing to our ‘to-do list,’ rather than take some time and reflect on why we are doing all these things.

Our Lord knows what we need, even when we do not. When we gather around him, we may want to tell him all the things we have done and all the things we have taught others. We hold up before him our busyness and our weariness as objects worthy of praise and reward. And we say to ourselves, “surely all these things will prove to Him----how important and valuable we are.”

And our gracious Lord looks past all our illusions and he doesn’t even mention them, because if he did, he would have to remind us that all that we are and all that we do are gifts from God in the first place. Rather, he looks into our hearts and sees what we truly desire, what we truly need. From our Psalm today---“He makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside the still waters and restores our souls.” And he says to us, “Come away to a place all by yourselves and rest a little while with me.”

Recall the words of scripture from our Rite One Liturgy; “Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” That is what we need to hear—AND—what we need to do.  AMEN.