Rev. Brent L. White

Sermon Text: Mark 6:30-44

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A new word has entered our lexicon: hangry. A combination of hunger and anger, it plays on the idea—which is surely true—that we tend to get grumpy when we’re hungry. The word has been featured in memes on social media and even recent advertisements—from the people at Snicker’s, for instance. One ad says, “You’re not you when you’re hangry.”

And maybe that’s what’s going on with the disciples in today’s scripture. They might be a little hangry. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus had commissioned the twelve disciples to go, two by two, to preach the gospel, to heal people, and to drive out demons—under his authority; he would give them the power to succeed in the mission. And they’ve just returned from that mission, as verse 30 indicates: “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.” 

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place 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 desolate place by themselves.

Mark 6:31-32

But let’s notice something: This “desolate place” where Jesus wants them to go and rest isn’t a place they go to without Jesus. They are going to this desolate place by themselves with Jesus. In other words, Jesus knows that the disciples have been very busy, working hard, doing ministry. And now what do they need to do? Go on vacation? Take a break from all this ministry work? Enjoy some downtime? No. Now they need to spend time alone with Jesus.

If you have your Bibles—and you should—turn a few pages to the left, to Mark chapter 3, verse 14. Jesus is calling the twelve disciples. And he gives a job description for a what a disciple is supposed to do: “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”^[1] So… looking at those two verses, you tell me: What is the most important thing that a disciple can do?

That’s right: to be with Jesus. It is, in fact, the most important part of the job. You’re supposed to spend time being with him, and then go and do work for him. We saw this in August when we talked about Mary and Martha. Martha criticized her sister for “being with Jesus” when, Martha believed, she should have been helping in the kitchen—literally serving Jesus by fixing him dinner. But Jesus said, “No, Martha, your sister has her priorities exactly right: I don’t want you to serve me as much as I want you to spend time with me… to be with me. Do that first, then worry about ‘serving’ me.”

Listen: I do not want any of you serving this church in any way unless you aren’t also spending time with Jesus! You’ll just get grumpy. You’ll just get mean. You’ll make other people miserable. Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. [Tell the story of Bill, the Admin Board leader and powerful committee chair who for years used his many church responsibilities as an excuse to avoid feeding his soul through worshiping and Bible study. He was always at church, “helping” the church, but never worshiping, never spending time in God’s Word. It’s not like he “tried me out,” didn’t like my preaching, and didn’t come back. No! I couldn’t even take it personally. But when he finally got mad enough to leave the church—because people like him who work at the church constantly without “spending time with Jesus” always eventually get “burned out,” get mad, and leave—when that finally happened, he went to another church. 

And he was trying to recruit his friends away from my church to go with him to the other church he joined. He said, “You need to come to my church. I’m being fed for the first time in years!” And one of my parishioners said, “Right, Bill, you are being fed. Because you’re not so busy serving the church that you’re actually spending time with Jesus. I’m glad that for the first time in decades you’re being fed.But you could have been fed at our church if you’d only ever bothered to show up for worship or Sunday school or Bible study.”]

When Jesus calls the disciples to “come away to a desolate place” and spend time with him, he’s calling them to do the same thing we see him doing throughout the gospels. In Mark chapter 1, verse 35: “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” But this is just one example. Luke’s gospel, especially, emphasizes the prayer life of Jesus. For example, all four gospels describe the Spirit’s descending on Jesus after he was baptized by John, but only Luke adds the detail that the Spirit came upon Jesus while he was praying.^[2] Matthew, Mark, and Luke each describe Jesus’ call of the twelve disciples, but only Luke tells us that Jesus had been up all night praying before he called them.^[3] Matthew, Mark, and Luke each describe Peter’s great confession of Jesus as the Messiah, but only Luke tells us that it happens after Jesus had been praying by himself.^[4]

And again, those same three gospels describe the Transfiguration, but only Luke tells us that this miracle occurred while Jesus was praying.^[5] All four gospels describe Peter’s three denials of Jesus, but only Luke tells that because Jesus prayed for Peter in advance, Peter’s faith did not ultimately fail, and that he would later be used by God to do great things for the kingdom.^[6]

Here’s what I want us to consider: Jesus was God in the flesh; fully human but also fully God. He was the only begotten Son of the Father; he was perfect and sinless in every way. He enjoyed a more intimate relationship with his Father than any human being who ever lived.Yet consider this: Jesus would not have succeeded in his ministry—and none of us would not be saved today—had Jesus notmade it his top priority to spend time with his Father. 

Doesn’t it go without saying that if even the perfect, sinless only begotten Son of God needed to do this in order to accomplish his mission, how much more do we? 

Obviously one way that we “come away by ourselves to a deserted place and rest with Jesus” is through having a quiet time and come to church—where we listen to Jesus through his Word [hold up Bible] and talk to him through prayer. 

One of my favorite contemporary preachers and writers, Tim Keller, confessed in a book he wrote on prayer that even relatively late in his life and ministry prayer was not the top priority it should have been. That only changed around the time he was diagnosed with cancer. He found, like so many of us pastors, that preaching is easier than praying. His wife, Kathy, told him something that helped motivate him to pray with his wife every evening. She said,

Imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would die within hours unless you took a particular medicine—a pill every night before going to sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could never miss it or you would die. Would you forget? Would you not get around to it some nights? No—it would be so crucial that you wouldn’t forget, you would never miss. Well, if we don’t pray together to God, we’re not going to make it because of all we are facing. I’m certainly not. We have to pray, we can’t let it just slip our minds.^[7]

Tim Keller

So the disciples got in a boat to go to this “desolate place,” but it’s no use: People on the the shore saw where they were headed, and they told other people, and those people told other people. And by the time they reach shore, there’s a crowd waiting for them. Time to do ministry again! No rest for the weary. And probably no food for the weary, either. Because remember: Before they got on the boat they hadn’t eaten. And there’s no indication that they have time to eat before it’s time to minister to get to work. So… getting back to what I said earlier, the disciples are likely hangry.

Which would explain why all Bible commentators say that the way the disciples speak to Jesus in today’s scripture is unprecedented in its lack of respect. It’s getting late. Jesus has been preaching God’s Word to a large crowd of people. The disciples are hangry. The crowds are hungry. And they tell him in verses 35 and 36, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” And Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” And disciples respond with perhaps their rudest, or angriest, words in all of scripture, in verse 37: “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” Two hundred denarii are almost a year’s wages. This response very sarcastic—even a bit mean: Like, who do they think they’re talking to! As if Jesus doesn’t know what time it is! As if Jesus doesn’t know what this crowd of people really needs! As if Jesus doesn’t know how seemingly impossible it is to feed all these people!

Where’s the humility? If they weren’t hangry, perhaps they might preface their question by using the word “Lord” or “Master.” “Lord, we don’t know how to do what you’re asking. Help us understand, please. How can we feed them?”

The disciples’ response to Jesus here reminds me of a meme I saw recently: “I want to serve Jesus… but only as an advisor.”

But let’s get to the question at hand. Verse 38: “And he said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go and see.’ And when they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’” 

So they have five loaves and two fish… We learn from John’s gospel that they only have these because a boy in the crowd shared with them. But the amount hardly matters: Remember, these are 5,000 men—with women and children, the crowd could be 20,000 people. Even if they had 50 loaves and 20 fish, or 500 loaves and 200 fish, the ultimate answer to Jesus’ question would be exactly the same… “Not enough.” “Jesus, we don’t have enough to do what you’re asking us to do.”

But here’s where the disciples are in good company. How often is it the case that God’s people in the Bible have “enough”—or are enough in and of themselves—to accomplish what God calls them to accomplish. Noah was just one man… He didn’t have enough time or manpower to save God’s Creation from the flood! Abraham and Sarah were too old—and were unable to have kids when they were young. They didn’t have enough youth, enough good health, or enough patience, to give birth a nation set apart for God! Moses had a speech impediment. He didn’t have enough oratory prowess to stand up to the Pharaoh! Gideon was the biggest coward. He didn’t have enough courage to lead Israel to victory over the fearsome Midianites! David was young. He didn’t have enough strength, experience, or stature to win a victory over Goliath and the Philistines. The prophet Isaiah was a “man of unclean lips who lived among a people of unclean lips.”^[8] He didn’t have enough “holiness” to rescue Judah from the Assyrians and tell them about the coming Messiah. And we know about Mary, and what she lacked… And we know about Peter, and what he lacked… And we know about Paul, and what he lacked.

Again and again, the common refrain: “I don’t have enough, Lord, to do what you’re asking. I’m not enough, Lord—I’m far too inadequate; I’m not good enough; I’m not strong enough; I’m not smart enough; I’m not wise enough; I’m not pretty enough; I’m not popular enough; I’m too big a failure; I’m too poor; I’m too big a sinner; I’ve got all this baggage from my past. Who am I to do what you say? Who am I to answer your call? Who am I to be part of your plan?

“I don’t have enough, Lord! I’m not good enough! I don’t have what I need!”

But if you feel this way, hear this good news: God has got you exactly where he wants you!

Oh, it’s true… In a way you’re right: You don’t have what you need… to save your marriage…. to save your business… to solve that problem at work… to solve your financial crisis… to kick your addiction… to kick your drinking problem… to save your family… to save your child… to overcome your health problems… to face that scary diagnosis… You’re not good enough, you’re not tough enough, you’re not smart enough, you’re not holy enough… You’re just too weak.

But brothers and sisters, hear this good news: “[Jesus] grace is sufficient for you.” You’re insufficient; but Jesus’ grace is more than sufficient. “For [Christ’s] power is made perfect in weakness.” Watch what Jesus can do through you—he’s got all the power you need! “Therefore [you] will boast all the more gladly of [your] weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon [you].” Your weakness is an opportunity for Jesus Christ to show you his power! Let him show you his power! “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses… For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Because Jesus Christ is going to be my strength for me.

Say, “I am weak… but he is strong.” Say, “I don’t have enough… but Jesus has enough for me.” Say, “I’m not enough… but Jesus is enough for me.”

Jesus is enough for me… Jesus is enough for me. Amen.

1. Mark 3:14-15 ESV 2. Luke 3:21 3. Luke 6:12 4. Luke 9:18 5. Luke 9:28-29 6. Luke 22:32 7. Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (New York: Dutton, 2014), 24. 8. Isaiah 6:5