MARK 1:29-39
ONCE A FATHER TOOK HIS
YOUNG SON TO MCDONALDS. AS THEY SAT DOWN WITH A BIG MAC AND A HAPPY
MEAL, THE FATHER SUGGESTED A SILENT PRAYER BEFORE THEY ATE. THEY
BOWED THEIR HEADS. SHORTLY AFTER, THE FATHER LOOKED UP. THE SON
CONTINUED WITH HIS HEAD BOWED AND HIS EYES CLOSED. FINALLY AFTER A
COUPLE OF MINUTES, HE LOOKED UP AND DUG INTO HIS LUNCH. “THAT WAS
A VERY LONG PRAYER,” SAID THE FATHER. “WHAT WERE YOU PRAYING
FOR?” “HOW SHOULD I KNOW,” REPLIED THE BOY. “IT WAS A
SILENT PRAYER.”
WHEN YOU READ THE GOSPEL
OF MARK OUT LOUD, YOU ARE AWARE OF HOW THINGS ARE RUSHING ALONG FOR
JESUS. LAST WEEK, HE CAME TO CAPARNUM, ENTERED THE SYNAGOGUE,
TAUGHT, AND CURED A MAN WITH A DEMON. THIS WEEK, REALLY THE NEXT
MORNING IN HIS TIME, HE MOVES ON TO PETER'S HOUSE, CURES HIS MOTHER
IN LAW, AND THEN CONTINUES TO TEACH AND HEAL AND DRIVE OUT DEMONS;
MARK MAKES IT CLEAR THAT THIS WENT ON PAST SUNSET. IT HAD BEEN A
LONG DAY FOR JESUS, PROBABLY A TYPICAL DAY; AND HE AND THE APOSTLES
MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP THE MINUTE THEIR HEADS HIT THEIR PILLOWS.
BUT THE NEXT MORNING JESUS IS MISSING, AND THE APOSTLES FINALLY FIND
HIM IN PRAYER IN A QUIET PLACE.
WE'VE ALL SEEN PICTURES
OF JESUS AT PRAYER. HE IS KNEELING, LOOKING UP TO HEAVEN, RESTING
HIS ARMS ON A LARGE BOULDER, AND THERE IS A LIGHT SHINING ON HIS
FACE. JEWS DIDN'T PRAY THAT WAY, AND I DOUBT JESUS DID EITHER. I
IMAGINE THE APOSTLES FOUND HIM SITTING QUIETLY, EYES CLOSED, LOOKING
LIKE HE WAS RESTING. IT WAS A SILENT PRAYER. IT WAS SILENT BECAUSE
THERE WERE NO WORDS. JESUS HAD EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT AND NOW WAS
RECHARGING HIS BATTERIES; HE WAS OPENING HIS MIND AND HEART TO GOD.
AND IT IS NO SMALL THING THAT MARK MAKES IT CLEAR THAT THIS IS
HAPPENING IN THE EARLY MORNING, BEFORE THE DAY'S DEMANDS START.
I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW
THAT THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE TIMES THAT JESUS GOES OFF TO PRAY. WHEN
I WAS LITTLE, I USED TO WONDER WHY JESUS PRAYED AT ALL. AFTER ALL,
IF YOU ARE GOD, WHO DO YOU PRAY TO? IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE. I
REMEMBER ASKING ONE OF THE SISTERS WHO TAUGHT ME THAT VERY QUESTION.
SHE SAID IT WAS TO GIVE US AN EXAMPLE. THAT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME
THEN, AND IT DOESN'T NOW. IF JESUS DID THINGS HE DIDN'T HAVE TO SO
WE WOULD HAVE A GOOD EXAMPLE, THERE IS SOMETHING KIND OF DISHONEST
ABOUT THAT. BUT I THINK JESUS NEEDED TO PRAY. SO WHAT WAS HIS
PRAYER ABOUT? HE WASN'T ASKING FOR ANYTHING, BECAUSE HE HAD JUST
GONE THROUGH A DAY WORKING MIRACLES. HE WASN'T REQUESTING
FORGIVENESS, BECAUSE HE WAS SINLESS. WAS HE THANKING GOD OR ADORING
GOD? BUT HE WAS GOD. PETITION, FORGIVENESS, THANKSGIVING, ADORATION
– THESE WERE THE SO CALLED FOUR KINDS OF PRAYER THAT WE WERE TAUGHT
ABOUT WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN.
BUT I THINK THERE IS MORE
GOING ON HERE. JESUS PRAYER IS A SILENT PRAYER. HE IS NOT
APPROACHING HIS PRAYER FOR ANY OF THOSE REASONS. HE IS ENTERING INTO
PRAYER TO LISTEN, TO COME INTO BALANCE, TO MAKE SURE THAT IN HIS
ACTIVE MINISTRY HE IS DOING WHAT THE FATHER WANTS HIM TO DO, NOT WHAT
HE THINKS SHOULD BE DONE.
JESUS WAS A VERY BUSY
MAN. THE GOSPEL OF MARK MAKES THIS CLEAR. HE WAS IN DEMAND; PEOPLE
SOUGHT HIM OUT, AND AS HIS FAME SPREAD, THE DEMANDS ON HIS TIME
BECAME GREATER AND GREATER. FROM DAWN TILL AFTER NIGHTFALL, HE WAS
HEALING, TRYING TO TEACH, DRIVING OUT DEMONS – AND WHEN HE WASN'T
DOING THOSE THINGS, HE WAS ON THE ROAD, TRAVELING FROM ONE TOWN TO
ANOTHER, ONLY TO DO MORE OF THE SAME.
I WAS TALKING WITH ONE OF
OUR OLDER PARISHIONERS A WHILE AGO. HE'S BEEN RETIRED FOR SEVERAL
YEARS. HE MADE NOTE OF THE FACT THAT HE HAS SO MUCH TO DO AND
COULDN'T SEEM TO GET AROUND TO IT ALL. BEING OLD MYSELF, I
SYMPATHIZED AND SUGGESTED THAT WE JUST COULDN'T DO AS MUCH AS WE
WOULD LIKE WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER. HE REPLIED THAT THAT WASN'T THE
CASE AT ALL; HE JUST HAD SO MANY PROJECTS GOING ON THAT HE COULDN'T
GET TO THEM ALL; HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME.
OUR WORLD IS A TIME OF
GREAT BUSYNESS. I CAN REMEMBER WHEN I WAS A YOUNG DOCTOR. I THOUGHT
I WAS BUSY THEN. BUT I REMEMBER TRIPS TO THE LIBRARY TO READ UP ON
SOME DISEASE. THERE WERE CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER DOCTORS IN THE
HALLWAYS OF THE HOSPITAL, AND I'D USUALLY LEARN SOMETHING. WE HAD
MEETINGS ABOUT PATIENTS, WE HAD SEMINARS AND GRAND ROUNDS. OUR DAYS
WERE BUSY BUT WE WOULD GO FROM ACTION TO REFLECTION, BACK AND FOURTH.
NOWADAYS, THERE IS LESS AND LESS DOWN TIME. A PHYSICIAN'S WORTH IS
JUDGED BY HOW MANY PATIENTS YOU PROCESS IN A DAY. WITH THE INTERNET
AND THE MASSIVE COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT CONTAIN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT A PATIENT IN ORDER TO CARE FOR HIM, TRIPS TO THE LIBRARY
ARE A THING OF THE PAST. IF YOU WANT TO CONFERENCE WITH ANOTHER
PHYSICIAN, YOU DO IT THROUGH THE INTERNET; NO FACE TO FACE CONTACT
BECAUSE BOTH OF YOU ARE TOO BUSY. AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
ABOUND, BUT THEY CAN BE SQUEEZED IN TO YOUR DAY SINCE ALL YOU NEED IS
A COMPUTER TERMINAL; YOU DON'T HAVE TO PHYSICALLY MOVE INTO A
CONFERENCE ROOM TO LISTEN TO A LECTURE.
AND THAT'S THE WAY THE
WHOLE WORLD IS TODAY. AND THE DANGER OF LIVING IN THE WORLD IS THAT
WE LOSE OURSELVES, WE GET SWALLOWED UP IN ACTIVITY, IN DANGER OF JUST
BEING COGS IN AN EVIL MACHINE. WHEN I WAS A PARENT, OUR KIDS HAD
DOWN TIME EVERY DAY. I WATCH MY GRANDCHILDREN GROW UP WITH A LONG
LIST OF ACTIVITIES IN WHICH THEY PARTICIPATE, AND I SEE THAT THE
BUSYNESS IS STARTING EARLIER AND EARLIER.
JESUS WAS AS HUMAN AS YOU
AND I ARE, EXCEPT FOR SIN. HE KNEW THAT GOD HAD SENT HIM TO PROCLAIM
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; IN FACT, WHEN HIS DISCIPLES FIND HIM, HE TELLS
THEM THAT THEY ARE MOVING ON TO CONTINUE THIS MISSION. BUT JESUS
ALSO KNOWS THAT THERE HAS TO BE DOWN TIME, TIME WHEN YOU PRAY, TIME
WHEN YOU OFFER SILENT PRAYER, WHEN YOU ALLOW THE SPIRIT TO REFRESH
YOU, AND THE FATHER TO SPEAK TO YOU. AND IT ISN'T JUST FOR JESUS.
IN ANOTHER PLACE WE HEAR ABOUT THE APOSTLES WHO HAVE BEEN SENT OUT TO
CURE THE SICK AND DRIVE OUT DEMONS AND ANNOUNCE THE KINGDOM. THEY
COME BACK TO JESUS WILDLY EXCITED. THEY TELL HIM OF THEIR SUCCESSES,
AND YOU CAN ALMOST FEEL THEIR EAGERNESS TO GET BACK ON THE MISSION.
BUT JESUS SAYS TO THEM, “COME AWAY WITH ME BY YOURSELVES TO A
DESERTED PLACE AND REST FOR A WHILE.”
SO LET THIS GOSPEL REMIND
US THAT WE TOO NEED TO MAKE TIME EVERY DAY TO ENTER INTO PRAYER. AND
PRAYER IS GOOD, BUT SILENT PRAYER, THE KIND OF PRAYER THAT JESUS
SAYS, IS NOURISHMENT FOR THE SOUL. AND WHAT WILL IT PROFIT A MAN TO
GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL?
