Having the courage to say “no” – Mark 6: 30-44

^‘The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.  He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.  And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.  Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.  As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.  When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’  But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’  And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.  And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.  Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.’

Reflection

Mark 6: 31 “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

The disciples were tired.  Jesus had sent them out on a preaching tour.  They’d returned excited by their experiences and told him all they’d done.  People had heard about the healings and were coming for more, making greater demands on their time and patience, so much so that they couldn’t grab a bite to eat.

The disciples were getting ragged round the edges, their tempers fraying, wondering how much longer they could cope.  It seemed all right for Jesus.  To them he appeared to have and almost inexhaustible supply of energy when it came to helping others, but however much they tried to live up to his example, somehow they couldn’t.  They were strained to the limit, and seeing it, Jesus didn’t demand more of them.  He looked at them with understanding and love, accepted their vulnerability, and told them they needed a day off to relax.

That seems to fit many Christians today, we are human, as the disciples were.  God created us human, and if that’s the way he made us then he knows we can only do so much before we get tired.  Getting tired is part of human life and nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s a lesson many of us find hard to learn.  We get busier, burdening ourselves with more and more work and, under the dutiful face of acceptance, resentment builds.  Even when we find the courage to say no to demands we feel guilty.  There’s no need, because Jesus understands.  He’s no slave driver, but a shepherd who cares for his sheep.

It’s not his demands that run us into the ground, it’s often the unreasonable demands we place on ourselves because we refuse to accept our own humanity.  “I can do all things in Christ” is only true when we are doing those things he actually wants us to do, and not the things our pride tells us we can do!

Prayer

Forgive us, Lord, and help us to forgive ourselves because we ask more of ourselves than you do.  When we are faced with something we just can’t find the energy to do give us the honesty to face the fact that maybe you’re not asking it of us.  You made the world, it wasn’t us and, valued as we are, it’s you who keeps it going. Amen.

Penny Bonham