First Reading Exodus 28:1-4, 30-38
30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He 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. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As 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. 35When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat” 37But 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?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41Taking 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. 42And all ate and were filled; 43and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” We’ve been in a deserted place for a while. And we’ve had enough rest. Maybe we’re ready to go back into town. Times like these are probably not what Jesus had in mind when he called his disciples to rest from all their work. The crowd follows them. The work follows us to our deserted place, too. The time apart isn’t really rest. It’s always temporary. The old problems come back in—the people are hungry. And maybe we are too. We’re still hungry for relationship, maybe even more than before. We’re hungry for rest, or relief from bad news. We complain. Jesus asks us to keep working, keep feeding. How can we? We have no bread. Jesus asks what we have. At this point it’s just a little—but, in God’s hands, it’s enough. We realize that, no little we have, no how hungry we are, how tired we are, in the hands of the Savior, it is always enough.
God, give us your rest and your peace. Remain with us, in your Son and Spirit, so that we may receive the fullness of your presence, and bread for the way ahead. We pray in Christ. Amen.
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