The Rev. Carol S. Wedell
February 8, 2009

Do you ever feel like you are spinning your wheels, going nowhere?  For many of us there just never seem to be enough hours in the day.  Whether we like it or not, we live in an incredibly fast-paced world.  Even then, we may find ourselves impatient, wanting things to hurry up - like the slow car in front of us, or the line at the grocery store that is inevitably slower than every other line the minute you get in it.  Note that when you send someone a card or letter through the post office, we now call it "snail mail!" - suggesting that if it arrives two days later, it took forever to get there.  

For many of us, demands are constantly made on our time - work, family, friends, church - what was the order again?  And the things we say are most important get shoved to the end of the list.  We're out of balance. It's not surprising that we refer to life as a "rat race," -- running in circles going nowhere.  As comedian Lily Tomlin has said, "The problem with a rat race is that even if you win it, you're still a rat!"

Some of you in retirement may feel as if that race still has a hold of you. I have to tell you, when I hear some of you talk about your frighteningly busy lives, it scares me!  I've been living under the illusion that retirement would mean time to read and walk, to see friends and enjoy sleeping in or taking a nap, to volunteer for those things that are near and dear to me.  Clearly, that is not what retirement means for many of you.  Others, whose health or mobility may limit your activities, may be at the opposite end of the spectrum, where days go by too slowly.  Either way, the balance is off.  We can sense that something is not quite right.

Our gospel lesson this morning offers us a way out - a way to find the life balance for which we yearn. These ten quick verses in the gospel of Mark show us the critical connections that sustain the kind of life Jesus lived, and the kind of life that helps you and me to "re-balance." These connections are the people and places to which we are tied that are life-giving, that support us in following Jesus. The connections that Jesus offers as a guide for a pattern of daily renewal don't come in a specific order.  Rather, it is clear that all are essential to live the kind of life God wants for us.

As always in the gospel of Mark, the story moves along at break-neck speed.  We are walked through "a day in the life of Jesus," which sounds every bit as demanding and hectic as our busiest days. (Imagining that we are the first people to have so many demands made on our time is ridiculous.  Consider what would have to be done in the 1^st century simply to prepare a meal!)

The day begins in the passage we read last week, with Jesus and the first four disciples at the synagogue for worship.  Critical connection number one: worshipping with the faith community.  No big deal is made of it. It is simply what a faithful person does regularly - gives honor and praise to God in corporate worship. It acknowledges that life itself is a gift from God.  It frames the week and declares that time as "set apart." It keeps us in community, with others seeking to live faithfully.

Then, as you may recall, a man possessed with demons stands up.  Jesus calls the demons out.  And the people are amazed at Jesus' teaching and power.  The word is out!

From there, our reading today tells us that "as soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John."  Jesus is invited into the intimacy of the family home, where important relationships are built between family and close friends.  When he enters, he finds that Simon's mother-in-law is ill with a fever, so he goes straight to her, takes her hand and lifts her up.  The fever leaves, and she becomes the first deacon, serving in the manner of Jesus.  Critical connection number two: quality time shared with the people most important to us; however we define "family." 

Notice an important part of that connection:  touch.  Simply a hand helping her up, but touch nonetheless.  In the relationships we value the most, touch is an integral component of communication and connection. In fact, to some degree a lack of touch may be an indicator of a relationship where closeness and vulnerability with one another are not present.  We shake hands or sometimes hug when we share the peace of Christ as one way to demonstrate our relationship within the body of Christ. Appropriately, we don't feel comfortable touching or being touched by people whom we discern to be dangerous or threatening to us. 

After sundown, when the Sabbath is officially over, the people begin to converge at the door.  Can you imagine the buzz that was going around Capernaum just now? "There's a man here who can cast out demons AND heal!" Word spread like wild fire. Mark says that the whole city gathered around the door. They have heard what Jesus can do, so all who are ill or are, in the words of that time, "possessed with demons" try and get to him. 

Seeing their need, Jesus heals many of them.  Compassion rules the day, and for as long as he can he attends to the human need in front of him, undoubtedly touching many - all of whom would have been considered "unclean."  Critical connection number three:  Serve the people who come your way.  Dare to "connect" with them. Do what you can for them, whether that be referring them to an agency that has more resources, or offering them a meal.  Maybe its just acquaintances that need to talk, or don't want to be alone.  All of us have resources:  the ability to hear, to care, to express concern, to pray.  Jesus uses the resources he has available, and when he can do no more, he goes to bed.

The next morning, Mark tells us while it was still very dark, Jesus went out to a deserted place and prayed.  You can probably guess what critical connection number four will be!  But before we get there we need to look at what this "deserted" place meant for Jesus and for the gospel writer.  The Greek word used for "deserted" is the same word that is used for Jesus' time in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan.  We are wrong to envision this as some idyllic place of prayer. 

Rather, this is likely a dark place and time where Jesus went to wrestle with God, trying to discern what his next steps should be.  It is not just a place where he talks to God, but also a place where he listens attentively.  Since Mark puts nothing in his gospel that isn't important, we are to understand that this time away from everyone else, this time spent with God, whether it be in peaceful communion or wrestling like crazy is undoubtedly critical connection number four:  time set a side to be in God's presence. 

The example Jesus sets acknowledges our deep need to rest in God's love, to be quiet in the presence of God - to pray.  At those times, God will give us, as Jesus, the strength to resist the "demons" of our life:  anything that tells us that our value is based on something other than our status as God's beloved sons and daughters.  It is a unique opportunity to step out of the rat race and spend time with the One who shows us what joyful, abundant life is.

Notice that Jesus didn't wait for a quiet space to open up in his day ("Maybe I'll have a break between lunch and that next appointment...) knowing that this is highly unlikely.  Like worship, the practice of prayer requires intentionality and yes, discipline.  But friends, that's not a bad thing! 

Those of us who have been participating in this session of Companions in Christ -Deepening our Prayer, have learned some interesting things.  First, was just how little many of us understood about prayer!  All of us were delighted to learn many different types of prayer, meaning that you don't have to adopt a model that doesn't fit you. We tried out many forms of prayer to see what most enabled us to be receptive and open to God's leading. It has been both freeing and encouraging, as we have moved toward "praying without ceasing."

If you're like me, you may be thinking, "where is this going to fit into my schedule?"  Here is the paradox.  The busier we are, the more time we need to spend in prayer, being grounded in God's priorities, finding a calm center in the midst of the chaos we call life.  How would you feel if you called to reach me during the day, and Diane told you that I was unavailable, because I was praying?  As your pastor, you should expect me to be doing just that!

You and I cannot give to others if our own well is empty.  So the more that people expect of us, the more we need to give it all over to God.  Coming in Lent, we will be offering a Sunday evening series on various spiritual disciplines - all intended to draw us closer to the God whom we worship and serve.  That is another opportunity to support one another on this journey.

But rest and retreat are not the whole of life.  As they always seem to do, the demands of life begin to press in upon Jesus, as they do upon us.  The disciples find him, "Everyone is searching for you!  There are lots more people here that need to be healed."

And as will happen many times to those who follow Jesus, Jesus surprises them with what he says and does next.  As he wrestled with God, Jesus understood that he could do good, helpful ministry if he stayed in Capernaum.  And after all - they loved him!  He could stay with Simon's mother-in-law; he wouldn't have to worry about food and lodging.  It would have been a nice, useful life.

But in his time of wrestling and discerning what God wanted him to do, Jesus moves past a "good" thing he could do to the "best" path illuminated by God.   So Jesus tells the shocked disciples that they aren't staying in Capernaum.  They are moving on to the next place that God is sending them.  Jesus invites them and us to go in new and unexpected directions.  Critical connection number five is a little more subtle:  seeking a connection with people who are not within our comfortable "circle" or neighborhood.  Jesus calls us to move beyond the safety and security of our own communities to a whole world in need of God's love.  The movement of God's love through Jesus must extend beyond the community we know.

Five critical connections that show us how to live, even on the most ordinary of days.  These connections highlight what Jesus understood to be most important, and which, by extension, should frame our lives.  The natural rhythm of worship, serving the people nearby, time with close family and friends, being in the presence of God, and then moving beyond our comfort zone to serve others we have yet to meet is the way to get out of the rat race and put our lives back in balance.

Jamie Korngold, rabbi and author of In the Wilderness (New York: Doubleday, 2007) tells the story of a doctor who became pre-eminent in his field and poured himself into his work with such a frenetic and all-consuming pace that he lost his family; he pushed the limits of his profession to such an extent that he lost his work-life balance; at the end of a day pouring himself out to his patients, he had nothing left for his family, and he lost all connection with them.  He gave up those closest to him for fame and fortune.  Then he was diagnosed with cancer at age 62. When it came time to think about his funeral service, he told the rabbi in no uncertain terms what he wanted said to his distinguished colleagues and friends:  "Tell them not to do it. Tell them it isn't worth it." he said.  "Tell them to make sure they have time for their families and not to be seduced by the prestige, fulfillments and joy of work.  In the end, it isn't enough.  Tell them to go home." (p. 103)

Friends, when his life threatened to be thrown out of balance, when the critical connections of his life were fraying, when Jesus was faced with the lure of fame and popularity, he went to the wilderness, to struggle with and to discern the still small voice of God.  "The rhythm of action and reflection, the balance between effort and listening, between human relationships and solitude with God, is essential to all of us. (Lectionaid, Vol. 17 #1, p. 46). Let's hold each accountable to live in ways that model such a balance - for our sake, and for the sake of the world.