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Jesus goes to a "lonely place" to pray
Mark 1:35 |
"A Lonely Place to Pray"
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
~ Mark 1:29-39
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are two events in today’s gospel lesson which this sermon is centered around.
The first is Jesus being taken to Simon’s mother-in-law as she lay sick with a fever. The second is Jesus going to a "lonely place" to pray. These two event have significance for our lives as it did for the disciples 2000 years ago.
Jesus being taken to Simon’s mother-in-law.
Jesus was at the synagogue, taught as one who had authority as we saw last week. The crowds listened to his words.
Then a man with an unclean spirit entered the synagogue. And Jesus healed the man by driving out the unclean spirit.
The disciples must have been impressed, but also curious for they did not know how to take Jesus. They had not been with Jesus long, so they must have been surprised and astonished at his teaching and at the healing He preformed.
So after the service, they went to Simon’s house to get something to eat. Notice there was nothing about Simon’s mother being sick that led them to Simon’s house. They just went as Peter was a gracious host and wanted to feed his friends.
Notice what the text says now: "Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them."
They told Jesus she was sick, but it does not say they asked Jesus to do anything. They did not demand anything of Jesus, but only made Him aware of the problem. What faith!! They wanted Jesus to be in a relationship with this woman and somehow they knew, they felt, He would take it from there.
The disciples had not been with Jesus very long. He had taught in the synagogue, He healed a man with an unclean spirit and now the disciples were able to let Jesus decide what He was going to do. This was remarkable faith on their part. They could have demanded that Jesus do something as they had seen in the synagogue, but instead they allowed Jesus to take the action himself.
Notice the text again. "And He, Jesus, came " Jesus took the initiative and brought His grace into her life. Jesus acted on his own accord. Jesus acted and the woman responded. After the fever left her, she got up and served Jesus.
We do not even know the woman’s name, it does not say anything about her faith, all we know is she was brought into a relationship with Jesus and Jesus responded. It all depended on Jesus not the woman.
Notice too, the disciples told Jesus of her, they began the relationship, but Jesus went boldly ahead to come into a personal relationship with this woman. He acted. He took the initiative. He brought His grace into the brokenness of this woman’s life.
She was a passive receiver. We do not have any account of what the woman said, but we do know her actions. Her response afterwards when she was healed, she served them. She went to the kitchen and made dinner.
I believe the important lesson for us in this story is to see that being in a relationship with Jesus is important, and in that relationship we need to let Jesus bring His act of grace into our lives as He sees fit. Because He is a God of love, He will do for us out of His loving heart. We must trust as the disciples did, trust Jesus with a faith and a conviction which will allow Him to act for us.
This point of allowing Jesus to act in our lives can be illustrated in the following:
In a textile factory where threads are woven into fabrics there is a sign above the machines: "If the treads become tangled, call the foreman." A new employee found the threads on her machine badly tangled. Frantically she tried to untangle them. The foreman came by and said, "Why didn’t you call for me?" she replied, "I was just trying to do my best." Then, very pointedly, the foreman told her, "Doing your best includes calling the foreman."
The ever-present God is available for our help, and we have not done our best until we have invited him into the tangled scenes of our lives.
They knew that no matter how much difficulty we are in, Jesus can handle it in His own way as illustrated by the following:
"A small boy was in a boat with his father. As he looked over the side, the water appeared dangerously deep. He asked his father, "Daddy, is the water over my head?" "Yes son, it is over your head, " his father said. Then after a pause, "Daddy, is the water over your head?" And the father replied,"Yes, son it is even over my head." After some thought, the boy then asked, "Daddy, is the water over God’s head?" Now it was the father’s turn to pause in thought. After a few moments he said reflectively, "No, my son, the water is not over God’s head."
In our relationship with Jesus, we need to allow Him to handle our problems in His own way. Like the disciples, we must be in a relationship with Christ, then have the faith, the conviction, the assurance, that He can handle the troubled waters of our life.
As the text illustrates when it says:
32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.
34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
That Jesus can handle every situation in life.
The second significant event in this passage says: "And in the morning, a great while before day, He, Jesus, arose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed."
Most of the time when we read this passage and other passages such as Mark 7:24, Mark 6:31, where it says Jesus went to a lonely place to pray, we think of a quiet, peaceful time. A time to collect thoughts and recharge batteries.
However, I would like to suggest that this was far from the point. It was not a peaceful time, but a time a soul searching, a time of turmoil, a time of decision. It was a time for Jesus to focus in on the mission His Father called him to do.
As the Rev. Thomas Longs says in his book "Shepherds & Bathrobes" "we have a miss understanding of this time, because the word which is translated "lonely place" is erhmov which is better translated as wilderness. The erhmov is a holy place, alive with the presence of God. The erhmov is a dangerous place, the atmosphere charged with the possibility of betrayal. The temptation to follow the will of the crowd instead of the will of the Father was present in the erhmov."
Peter told him, "Everyone is searching for you." Peter was saying: come back to Capernaum be the wonder worker, be their private priest. "There was Jesus in the erhmov, the lonely place, with two paths leading out. One path led back to Capernaum and a life of comfortable popularity. The other path led on to Golgotha and a costly sacrifice. One path led to a place where all were crying "Hosanna". The other path led to a place where all would cry, "Crucify him." The lonely place was no place of serene reflection; it was a place of momentous decision, the Kingdom of Self-interest versus the Kingdom of God. Facing the tempter again, Jesus decided, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."
This struggle is seen throughout scripture. The struggle to please the crowd verses the struggle of what Jesus mission was all about.
That struggle was seen in the story of Jesus feeding the 5000.
After Jesus had feed the 5000 He went up into the hills, to a lonely place to pray, because He knew the crowds would come after Him the next day and beg for more bread. He could have given them the bread that fills the stomach, but instead He gave them the "living bread" the bread of His wisdom, and the bread of His flesh as it says in John 6.
Over and over again in scripture, the lonely place was a place of struggle, a place of decision for Jesus. To do the will of the people, or to do the will of the Father.
In our lonely places the same thing happens. We decide if we want to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ allowing him to bring His grace into our lives as He sees fit.
Or if we want to be in control, if we want to be in charge, if we want to be the boss. In our prayer life, it is a constant struggle to allow Jesus to be in control and not us. Prayer is a time to surrender our will to the will of Christ. Prayer is the time to cement our relationship with Christ as we surrender our will and allow Him to bring a measure of His grace as He sees fit into our troubled lives.
A closing example speaks to all the lonely places, the broken places in each of our lives where we cry as Job did in about the unfairness of this world and we allow Christ to come and touch us with the Kingdom of God.
On page 95 in Elie Wiesel’s "The Town Beyond the Wall", there is a rebellious character who has profoundly experienced the lonely place of human suffering and who chooses not to bear this in silence. He loudly laments, crying angrily to God that his fate is unjust, indeed, that God is unjust. It would seem that he had fallen into the snare of temptation, but he confesses:
’I want to blaspheme, and I can’t quite manage it. I go up against [God], I shake my fist, I froth with rage, but it’s still a way of telling Him that he’s there...that denial itself is an offering to his grandeur. The shout becomes a prayer in spite of me.’........."
Sometimes, when the lonely place is a place of great disturbance, it evokes our rage against God, clarifies how seriously we take God’s power and presence and, thereby, brings us ever closer to God.
"The shout becomes a prayer in spite of me."
Dear Lord, meeting with you in morning prayer uplifts me and gets my day off to a good start. For I know You hear my words and will show understanding to my hopes and needs. All through this day, Blessed Lord, please guide me safely and surely wherever I go, whatever I do. Help me to reach my goals. I ask this not only for myself, but for each of my fellow church members. We want You close beside us today and always. Amen.
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New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
Sermon contributed by Rev. Tim Zingale, St. Olaf Lutheran Church on Feb 3, 2003.
"And in the morning, a great while before day, He, Jesus, arose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed."
