Gospel - Flourishing For All

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” – John Muir (reknown Scottish-American naturalist)

This past summer my family vacationed in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. It was a beautiful place to hike, with powerful waterfalls, rushing streams, towering trees and breathtaking vistas. Getting outdoors may not be for everyone, but for us it’s a priority. We don’t get out on the trails as much as we want, though. As we get older, I find it takes more intentionality.

How about for you? Where do you like to go when you’re over-worked, over-stimulated by work stress, needing a place of natural beauty instead of pre-fab decor? Do you head to the beach? The mountains? The back 40 behind the farm-fields? The wilderness? You have permission to get out there and get some rest!

Jesus repeatedly in the gospel takes time to get away and get some rest.

Mark tells the story of Jesus sending out his twelve apostles to travel to the villages of Galilee to proclaim the kingdom of God and heal all who are sick. The apostles come back to Jesus after their journey to report on all the amazing things that had happened. Surrounded by many thankful people, and those still wanting healed, Jesus told his starving friends, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Is rest a gift to your rhythm of life, or is it a luxury? God gives us a whole day of rest each week, if we will take it. And he’s given us a stunningly amazing Creation to enjoy, if we will get out there.

Beaches and mountains are vital to restoration, but so can local areas for hikes, sitting around ponds, relaxing around a little campfire, breathing deeply in the fresh morning air of a sunrise. Getting to a quiet place to rest doesn’t have to be expensive or clog your busy schedule.

In the story that Mark tells, the attempt by Jesus to get away with his apostles gets thwarted. People from the villages come swarming to Jesus’ quiet place to be with him. As tired and hungry as he is, Jesus has compassion on them, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus welcomes them, he teaches them, feeds them, and then sends them home. He sends his disciples to the other side of the lake to rest, while he heads up the side of mountain to pray.

The plans we make to rest and enjoy stillness, to pray and soak up the quiet, don’t always come easily. We have to stay flexible, big-hearted, and committed.

But sometimes we don’t believe we need or deserve rest. Work has a way of wearing us down though, schedules have a way of carrying us along at a faster speed then our minds or bodies can keep up with. Rest is a way to press a necessary pause button, so our souls can catch up with our bodies.

I really like being in the woods. And I love a small fire by the lake at sunset. I enjoy landscaping on a sunny day. What’s better than a good book and steaming coffee on the back porch in the early morning?

What are the ways for you that you can creatively get away by yourself and get some rest? Keep it simple, keep it personal, keep it refreshing.

Jesus invites us to rest. It’s a way to be with him. It’s a way to be sustained by him in the work he has invited us to do with him. As followers of Jesus, what keeps us from resting like he rests?

If we’re following him, we have permission to make Sundays more restful, to insert more get-aways into our schedules. The work will always be there. So refresh your spirit, mind body with some rest, in a solitary place.

Hear the words of Jesus spoken to you: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Need some ideas?

Belief is powerful. When you believe in someone, when you have faith in them, what is it that you are doing? You are affirming their credibility and integrity. You are empowering their capacity for doing more good. You are infusing their identity with joy.

When you entrust someone with your belief, loyalty and allegiance, you are opening up new possibilities for flourishing in the world you inhabit.

I served on the Student Senate my sophomore year at Huntington University. Since I was a Bible & Religion major, I volunteered for the Spirituality Committee, which was tasked with helping improve our mandatory chapel experience for students. (At our small Christian college you had to go X amount each semester). We wanted to make it more engaging and student-led. Our subcommittee helped draft an idea that with modifications was approved.

When it came time to appoint a leader for the new student-led chapel on Wednesday nights, I was asked to lead it. To which I emphatically said, “No!”

This seemed like too big of a leadership challenge for me, and I really was afraid of all the work that it would require to make it successful. I liked the idea, and I really liked the idea of somebody else making it happen.

I’ll be forever indebted to the campus chaplain Bill Fisher for encouraging me to apply for this leadership role. He believed in me when I didn’t. It changed the course of my life. Bill had faith in me, which empowered me to see and do things that I hadn’t thought possible.

When you believe in people, you unleash new possibilities for the flourishing of souls and places and organizations. And when you don’t believe in people, when you don’t pour faithfulness and trust into them (because you don’t pay attention or don’t want to get involved) – well that’s when hope dies and possibilities wither.

This happened to Jesus. In a pivotal story of the gospel, Mark tells of Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth with all of his disciples. This should have been a homecoming of great honor for Jesus and the village. It started off well, with Jesus as a revered Teacher and famously powerful Prophet in the synagogue on the Sabbath reading from the Torah and giving brilliant commentary on it. “…many who heard him were amazed.”

But then something happened, maybe they got a little jealous, whatever it was, “they took offense at him.” They didn’t believe in Jesus anymore, they resented him; and this prevented him from doing any miracles there, he was only able to “lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith [in him].”

If Jesus is vulnerable to the power of belief, we obviously are too.

Think about what this means for your close family and friends? Sometimes they can be the hardest ones to believe in, because you know so much about them, maybe been hurt too much, it’s become too complicated. Something similar happened to Jesus when he went home after accomplishing great things for his nation. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”

But you know what? Jesus didn’t give up on his people, his family and friends, or his enemies. He didn’t quit believing in them, didn’t quit being faithful to them, even though they had quit believing in him. So what eventually happened?

We know that anxious Mary the mother of Jesus stayed at the foot of the cross during his execution, risking her own life to be there with her condemned son until the very end.

Unbelieving James the brother of Jesus would become the leading bishop of Jerusalem in the new church and became known as “old camel knees” because of all the time he spent in prayer, like his big brother Jesus used to do.

You want to heal and change the life of those you live or work with? Tell them you believe in them.

Imagine how your life would be empowered if more people looked you in the eye and said, “I believe in you.” Now go and do likewise.

Tag: Gospel

Get Some Rest

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