5th Sunday after Epiphany, February 4, 2006
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to redeem us from sin and death, and to reveal to us what it means to live in a faithful relationship with you, our Creator. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to follow Christ’s example. Teach us to be diligent and faithful in prayer, that we might not only come to you in times of need, but also to seek your guidance for our lives. This we ask in Christ’s Holy name. Amen.
According to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus ministry began with a bang. After all, we haven’t even come to the end of the first chapter in Mark’s account of the life of Jesus, and just think of what has already taken place!
Mark begins his Gospel with Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River, and as Jesus immerges from the water, Jesus perceives the heavens open and hears God’s voice proclaim to him, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Talk about an Epiphany! Even though Jesus was the only one, according to Mark’s Gospel, who heard God’s voice, it is an experience that one just can’t forget. It would be enough to inspire any one of us for a lifetime.
Then Jesus takes a stroll down the shores of the Sea of Galilee, spies some common fishermen, calls out to them to follow him, and they do! They just drop their nets and their way of life, and fall in line behind Jesus to become his first disciples. Either these guys were totally bored with fishing, or Jesus must have possessed some charisma that would be the envy of many a preacher.
Then the five of them stroll into Capernaum, and on the Sabbath day, they enter the synagogue where Jesus preached his first sermon. And the people were all amazed at his sermon, not because of his charisma, but because he taught with an authority they had never heard before. But that wasn’t all! Jesus also healed a person who was possessed by a demon, before they left worship, leaving the people stunned.
Then they left the synagogue and went to the house of Simon and Andrew, the first two disciples that Jesus invited to follow him, and they discover that Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a fever. So they told Jesus about her illness, and Jesus goes and takes her by the hand, invites her to stand, and the fever leaves her.
Of course, there is a bit of humor in this story. Mark doesn’t tell us that Jesus’ disciples asked him to heal Simon’s mother-in-law. They simply told him that she was ill. But when Jesus healed her, Mark tells us that the first thing that she did was to begin to serve them. This has led some to speculate that these men were hungry from their journey and activities of the past couple of days, and longed for a home-cooked meal and to take some rest, needing someone to wait on them. I guess some men are like that.
Nevertheless, by evening word had spread like wildfires about this Jesus, who taught with authority and could heal, even one who was possessed by a demon. And so Mark tells us that the whole city gathered around Simon’s house, bringing with them all who were sick or possessed with demons, and Jesus spent the night healing as many as he could.
Here we are, perhaps only a week into Jesus’ ministry since his baptism, and he is a huge hit with the people. The whole city was drawn to him- came out to hear him preach and teach and offer words of healing. And what does Jesus do? He gets up early in the morning, before daylight, and heads out to a deserted place to pray. Jesus goes to a quiet place to converse with God – to offer him thanks and praise for what God had enabled him to accomplish – and to ask for God’s guidance and direction for his life.
I believe that it is here that we encounter the first lesson that we, as our Lord’s disciples, can truly learn from him of what it means to live a life of faith. Many of us have never heard what we might perceive as a direct voice from God, proclaiming us to be his beloved son or daughter, even though, through our baptism, that is what God says to us. Most of us do not possess the God given ability to heal others, as Jesus did by his word or touch, even though I believe God listens to our prayers, and can heal us, according to his will. And none of us, myself included, can preach and teach God’s Word with the authority of Jesus, the very incarnate Son of God.
But we can all pray! We can all offer God our thanks and praise for the many ways our lives have been enhanced by his gift of creation, for his gift of redemption that we receive through our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, and for what we have been able to accomplish in our life as a result of his Spirit’s direction. Prayer offers us a means of asking for God’s help in times of stress, to be with us in our despair. And prayer can also help us discern God’s will for our lives, in the midst of confusing times.
This was the first lesson that our Lord’s first disciples learned, on that morning that they awoke to the shouts of the crowds still looking for him. He had left to find a quite place in which he could converse with God in prayer and thanksgiving, and discern from his Heavenly Father, direction for his life. Jesus was not as concerned about his popularity and fame, as he was about faithfully following God’s will for his life.
Prayer is an essential aspect of the Christian life, of walking in faith with God. And spending time in prayer can take many shapes and forms. For example, I have found it meaningful to follow our Lord’s example and go to a quiet place for prayer. I can’t tell you how many times I have been up to our cabin, and have walked out at night, looked up to the sky and beheld the presence of God.
The night is so quiet when I’m there. You can even hear the trucks and cars traveling on route 8, over a mile away. And in the quite, I simply have this feeling of being in awe of the majesty of God’s creation. And my heart is overwhelmed with praise and thanksgiving. It is a form of prayer.
And then my thoughts take over, with out voicing a sound. I simply think of the many blessings I have received from God, who has blessed me with the gift of life in the vastness of his creation, and I am humbled almost literally to my knees. In that moment, I let go of worries about anything that might be on my mind, and I experience a moment of peace that is beyond description. It is a form of prayer.
At other times, in that stillness, I am moved to speak, sometimes out loud, and sometimes just in my heart, to express the thoughts that just seem to flow into consciousness. I think of Josie, and other members of my family, whom God has given me to bless my life. I think of members of our congregation, who are in need of God’s healing grace, and those who have worked tirelessly to enable God’s work to be done. And again, I am at prayer.
And what I have noticed over the years, is that I don’t have to be at our cabin alone to experience communion with God in prayer. Even with a house full of people, I can walk outside and be overwhelmed with God’s presence. In fact, I’ve discovered that a quiet place can come upon me at almost any moment of life – while driving, while sitting at the table eating a meal, while watching a movie on TV. Oh, it may only last for a few minutes or seconds, but in that instant, I am at prayer.
And then there are the times that I really concentrate on prayer. Times when I sign up to come to church and pray during our prayer vigil, or prepare to offer and invocation at a banquet, or the prayers that I offer at the bedside of those I visit at the hospital or before stepping into this pulpit. These, too, are genuine prayers, in which I communicate with God, asking his guidance and will for those for whom I care.
The truth is, prayer takes many forms. But the first lesson our Lord teaches us, is that prayer is an essential part of living in a faithful relationship with God. There is not one of us here who can compare with our Lord’s ability to proclaim the kingdom of God, in the way and means that he was able to do. But as his disciples, we can learn from him to put our life before God in prayer – to offer him thanks for his many blessings and to seek his direction for our lives. And through the Spirits urging, we can become his faithful disciples, and continue, through our lives, to live in relationship with God, and to continue to spread the news of his saving grace to those around us.
Amen.
