Reaching Out – Reaching Up

Isaiah 40: 21-31 & Mark 1: 29-39

Roger Lynn

January 27, 2019

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In the Gospel of Mark we find lessons in faith revealed in and through the life of Jesus. We discover such lessons not only in the words which Jesus speaks, or even in the things which he does, but also in the shape and pattern of his life over the course of his ministry. One such pattern is revealed in the Gospel text for this morning. Even before the end of the first chapter, it has already become clear that actively caring for the sick and those possessed with demons is a central part of Jesus’ ministry. Relieving people’s suffering and restoring them to wholeness is at the heart of what Jesus does and who he is. And the more he does, the more demand there seems to be for such a ministry. He brings relief to Simon’s mother-in-law, who is suffering with a fever, and soon the whole town is gathered at the door desperate for an end to their afflictions. And Jesus obliged. He cured many. Scenes like this occur at several points throughout Mark’s Gospel. It is a powerfully compelling story which invites hope for those of us who live in this world which so often seems to be filled with pain and suffering. 

But Mark does not end the story there. Without any pause or transition whatsoever, the scene shifts from Jesus in the midst of the crowd, healing their brokenness, to Jesus alone, deep in prayer. And thus the pattern begins to form. We begin to catch a glimpse of the larger picture of Jesus’ life. Reaching out to touch the lives of those in need is a calling to which Jesus faithfully responds, but he cannot do so alone. Moments of public ministry, in which he gives of himself for others, are counter-balanced by moments of private prayer, in which he replenishes his spiritual batteries and maintains the intimate connection with God which is his source of both strength and direction. Jesus’ life reveals a cycle of reaching out to others and reaching up to God. Both are required for his life to be full and complete. Both are connected parts of one faithful response.

And the application for our lives seems reasonably clear. We are called to follow the path which Christ reveals to us, and Christ’s life distinctly and consistently points us in the direction of helping those who are in need. For Jesus that meant healing the sick and casting out demons. For us it may mean supporting efforts which seek to bring relief to those who are suffering. It may mean helping to cast out the demons of loneliness, or hunger, or homelessness. The specific ways in which you are called to reach out will be unique to you, based on your own unique gifts and abilities. But for all of us, the challenge is to risk reaching out beyond ourselves to touch the lives of those around us with whom we share life on this planet. 

Just as surely, however, following Christ also means taking seriously the need to establish and maintain a spiritual connection with God. And for many of us who strive to take a progressive and enlightened approach to living out our faith, this remains the more difficult challenge. Often we are pretty good at reaching out to others, even if only remotely by supporting the efforts of others. It is the business of reaching up to God which trips us up. Unlike Jesus, we frequently do not recognize the direct and vital connection between helping others on God’s behalf and nurturing our spiritual life through such things as prayer or other spiritual practices. Sometimes this is true because we think we can do it all on our own. Sometimes it is because we haven’t been exposed to very many positive role models in this area. And sometimes it is just because our lives are filled with lots of distractions. But whatever our reasons, if Jesus felt the need to maintain an ongoing connection with God through prayer, then perhaps we would be well advised to follow his leading in this matter, not because we have to, but because it works so much better when we do.

But spiritual matters in general and prayer in particular are not always easy for us to deal with. Roberta Bondi writes, “Why do we have so much trouble around the topic of prayer even at church, I wonder? Partly, perhaps, we’ve been told all our lives that prayer is something we “ought to do” as Christians. We are not sure exactly how we are to go about doing it, but because we are supposed to know about it, we don’t want to ask. Partly, perhaps, it is because we’ve been bullied or intimidated by people who have been happy to tell us not only that there is only one right way to pray, but that they will teach us how, whether we want to learn or not. Maybe we associate it in our minds with really holy people – or at least people pious enough that we don’t feel comfortable around them.

“Whatever the reason, however, it is too bad we feel like this. Prayer is such an ordinary, everyday, mundane thing. Certainly, people who pray are no more saints than the rest of us. Rather, they are people who want to share a life with God, to love and be loved, to speak and to listen, to work and to be at rest in the presence of God. Mostly, they are just simply stubborn, persistent people who know that every close personal relationship of love, including ours with God, involves a lot of risk taking, a lot of being in the dark, and a lot of persistence through times of boredom.” (from In Ordinary Time, by Roberta Bondi) 

Jesus’ words and actions in the Gospels do not provide us with a lot of concrete details around which to model either the nature or the content of our prayer life. We have the Lord’s prayer in Matthew and Luke. We have the priestly prayer near the end of John’s Gospel. From them we can see that for Jesus, prayer was about the stuff of life, like food to eat and how we treat our neighbors. But mostly what we find in the Gospels about prayer is a picture of Jesus praying. It was an ongoing reality in his life. It was how he dealt with the tough times. It was how he maintained a sense of who he was and what he was about. It was how he stayed connected to the source of his strength. It gave shape and substance to every other aspect of his life. And that is the model of prayer which we find in the Gospels – not necessarily a set of particular words, but the relationship with God which prayer makes possible.

In continuing her discussion about prayer, Roberta Bondi talks about some of the details of what such praying is like. It is, she says, “a new conviction: that your ordinary prayer must have as its foundation a commitment just simply to show up for it every day in whatever condition you are in. Everyday prayer in ordinary times is just not very inspiring to look at from the outside most of the time. What is important, though, is that however we are, in whatever frame of mind we are, we do simply show up. How do I visualize a regular practice of ‘just showing up’? For some people some of the time, it may be rather formal: scripture reading, meditation, and conversation with God. For others, the whole of our prayer may consist of what is sometimes called ‘centering prayer.’ For other still, it may involve sitting quietly in the presence of God receiving whatever comes in the way of images or thought or nothing at all; for others, there will be a strong physical element like running or walking. You must experiment to find what is right for you. Prayer is not just talking to God any more than friendship and marriage are just conversation. Prayer is sharing ordinary life, with its ordinary silences, distractions, pains, and pleasures, with God.” (from In Ordinary Time, by Roberta Bondi)

Each of us are different people with different strengths and weaknesses, gifts and limitations. As we seek to follow Christ in reaching out and reaching up, we will need to discover our own path for that journey. But one thing remains true for all of us. We cannot do the one without the other. Reaching out to others requires the sustaining strength which comes when we are in relationship with God. And reaching up to God leaves us forever touched by the One who eternally reaches out in love to the whole world. It is our calling. It is who we were created to be. May we follow Christ on this path to life.