I've heard it said that when a person does something 21 times in a row then that something becomes a habit. When a human being engages in the same activity in the same way on 21 separate occasions then that activity becomes a part of who that person is. Maybe it's something as simple as flossing one's teeth, something as domestic as taking out the garbage or something as dangerous as driving without a seatbelt. We all have habits. If we stop and think about it for a moment Life is actually a long string of events built out of our habits; yearly celebrations like birthdays and holidays, monthly meetings, and the daily routines like our coffee and our commutes. This morning I'd like to propose that habits are not just accessories to the human condition, habits are the human condition. We live lives that are the sum total of our human habits.
These human habits are created inside of us. Each and every human habit is created by the interplay of four separate forces. Four forces create the human habits that create the human condition. I believe they are Character, Calling, Crisis and Control; Character, Calling, Crisis and Control. Let me take a moment to explain each of them and show you how each of them interacts with the other to create all of our human habits.
Let's start with our character. Every human being that has ever lived, lives now or will live was, is and will be a unique individual with a unique identity. We are God's unique and beloved creations. Within each of us resides a character of Divine design. That character is filled with emotion, ideas, intelligence and creativity. Our character is wholly and utterly ours. But throughout our life that character finds itself under siege from what others may think; for better or for worse. As we grow into adulthood our character contorts and shifts to fulfill the designs and desires of others and not the design or desire of the God who designed us. And these contorted characters become the soil into which our habits are planted. Character.
The second force is Calling. It's out of our character that we as individuals chart courses for our lives; these courses are our callings. With them we venture out into the world to find our place amidst all of its beauty and goodness as well as its chaos and confusion. Our calling is the product of our vision of our character. Who we think we are determines what we think we should do. If we believe that our character is bold and commanding we take life by the horns with a calling to match. If we believe that our character is weak and insignificant we find quiet callings for ourselves. Who we think we are determines what we think we should do. Our calling charts the course that all of our human habits will follow. Calling.
The third force is Crisis. We've all experienced crisis in the negative sense, but this morning I want to use the term crisis in a neutral sense. A crisis is the point at which we must make a choice. It's the intersection of two possibilities; action and apathy. Life is filled with these intersections from the mundane to the monstrous. Should we go to the movies tonight or should we have just one more drink for the road. Our character and our calling color every one. Who we think we are determines what we think we should do when crises come along. Crisis
The fourth force is Control. When a crisis arises we choose either action or apathy. In both cases we believe we are bringing our world under our control, and control is what we want. We want control over every crisis. How will we pay those bills that keep piling up? How will we pay for college for our kids? How will we live now that our loved ones are gone? That decision to take control by action or apathy is never made in a bubble. Our decisions to act and take control come directly out of our character, our calling which color the very crisis we face. That is Control.
In our gospel this morning from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Mark we are Jesus introduces us to the possibility of Holy Habits. They are built the same way our human habits are out of our character, calling, crisis and control, but with a deeply different set of assumptions. The sixth chapter of Mark is a remarkably busy chapter for Jesus and the disciples and our reading this morning represents just a portion of the picture. Without the whole picture we'll miss the Holy Habits Jesus offers us. So let me see if I can paint the missing bits for you to help you see the whole thing. At the beginning of Mark chapter six Jesus heads home to the sleepy village of Nazareth. He goes to the town synagogue on the Sabbath and as is his custom he starts teaching his holy message of repentance, God's love and God's call to each and every person to live into the Holy Habits of God. Many people hear Jesus in the Synagogue, and they are amazed. Jesus is an amazing teacher, but...unlike all of the towns Jesus has visited and healed people in these people know Jesus. These are his former neighbors, friends and family. They don't welcome him with open arms like the people in the other villages. They reject Jesus' message of repentance, God's love and God's holy habits. In a sense they hear him but they say to themselves, "Who does this guy think he is to come here and tell us that we need to change the way we do things? We know Jesus...he grew up here with us in Nazareth. Where does he get off acting all high and mighty? He's his mother's son and he's probably not even the son of the carpenter." The people of Nazareth are questioning Jesus' character and his calling. And so Rebuffed Jesus utters these famous words, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their own hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." At the beginning of Mark chapter six family, friends and neighbors reject Jesus' character and calling.
So Jesus, not one to give up easily, deputizes his disciples to head into the surrounding countryside two by two with his message and the authority to demonstrate the power of that message by casting out demons and healing the sick. If he is the problem...maybe it would be better to send someone else. It would be better to send those who share his character. And Jesus in doing this introduces the disciples to the first step in moving out of the rut of human habits into the business of holy habits. Jesus makes them aware of their true character. No longer are they second hand slaves of the Roman Empire. They are God's chosen people...God's beloved...They are meant for more than the ruts of human habits. Their character they start the story with. They are unique and loved by God and so are we. That's the beginning of having a Holy Habit. We take on Holy Habits when we understand that our character as Christians is a Holy one.
So Jesus sends them out into the nearby villages. When they understand their holy character then they can understand their holy calling. The disciples are called to preach the Good News to the world and bring healing and deliverance. As it says in Mark 6:7, "Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority." Jesus affirms their true character and brings them into their true calling.
Now here's where it gets interesting...last week our Gospel for the day was the gruesome retelling of the murder of John the Baptist. If ever there was a crisis for Jesus and his disciples this was it. Up until then Jesus' message and mission were a nuisance to the government. Jesus himself received the baptism of John as did many, and now this message of repentance and God's love made them an enemy of the state. Now Herod has cast his lot with persecution as the order of the day. Crisis engulfs them. What should they do? Do they rise up as an army of peasants and avenge the Baptist? Do they go and hide and send the movement underground? O do they cut and run and just melt back into the Judean hill country? With their character and calling in hand they stand at the edge of crisis ready to take action.
And so we come to this morning's passage. Mark 6:30 says, "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." In the midst of crisis they don't fight, and they don't give up. They travel to a deserted place to rest. Rest my friends is the way that Jesus took control. Jesus took control by not taking control. Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name THY KINGDOM COME THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Jesus didn't seek to do damage control or fix the broken. He responded to crisis by giving control over to the One who really has it. In rest Jesus remembered his character and identity as God's beloved Son. In that character He heard his calling to be the savior of the world. In his calling he foresaw the crisis of the cross and gave it over to God who sent him. That is the Holiest Habit; that is the Habit of Jesus.
The Christian life is not a command. It's an invitation. It's an invitation to put aside our human habits and lay hold of holy ones. The Christian life brings a message about our true character. You and I are God's beloved children and God like the parent of a prodigal son waits for us to turn and reach out. When we understand that character we are able to hear our true calling to take God's message of love to a prodigal world. In the midst of it all will come crises those both joyful and terrible and if were not careful we'll try to take control of them in an attempt and fall back into our human habits. But...if crisis comes and we remember our character and our holy calling we won't try to wrest control away from God, but we will learn to look to our God and find our rest. |
