Beyond Choas

Mark 1:29-39 After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. 31 He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them. 32 That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered near the door. 34 He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he didn’t let the demons speak, because they recognized him. 35 Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. 36 Simon and those with him tracked him down. 37 When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!” 38 He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” 39 He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons.

INTRO

This morning, we continue our Bread, Bath, and Beyond sermon series. We started this series looking at Bread (Holy Communion) and Bath (our baptism). In our baptism, we are incorporated into God’s kingdom, and in communion, we are strengthened for the new ways of living God calls us to. As we began to explore beyond, we named our call to move beyond our beliefs and biases to God’s ways. In this, we are invited to “come and see” as we follow after Christ and enter into a life of discipleship. Last week, we examined our call to move beyond the horizons of our lives as we embrace the call to respond to God’s call on our lives with action. In this, our whole lives are transformed as we become fishers for people living for God in all that we say and do. This week, we continue our journey to explore the beyond.

Our text this morning begins in chaos. Chaos has always been an interesting word to me. Especially given its formal definition as that which is unpredictable, formless, and without order, or my personal favorite is “a place of disorder.” Chaos is seen as forces that need to be tamed in the biblical view. God creates the ordered world, and God has to tame the waters of chaos; God holds back the water and divides it to begin the process of bringing about order.

Yet, we see chaos in a different way. To us, it’s found in the seemingly unbearable schedules that we keep: school, work, church, extra-curricular activities, and repeat. It can seem like chaotic waters as one event after another continues to come crashing against us; sometimes, we are knocked down, and after a while, our bodies give out. Jesus’ schedule on his first public day of ministry certainly sends us into a bit of a panic.

In Mark’s Gospel, verses 21-38 happen all in one day. He begins by teaching in the synagogue, heals a man with an unclean spirit, then heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and as evening comes, the whole town gathers, begging for healing. He then heals many who were brought to him; we can imagine these works of healing go late into the night. Within these verses, there is a Greek word that we translate as “just then,” or “as soon as” or “next.” This word occurs five times in verses 21-38, and eleven times in the first chapter of Mark. Our translations, however, do not do justice to the urgency and fast pace at which this text is occurring. In fact, the fast-paced nature of the text is meant to convey Jesus’ decisiveness as he begins his ministry. It is a crazy, busy, chaotic day.

While there’s a purpose that drives Jesus’ ministry, he never goes out and seeks to heal but heals only in response to those who seek to benefit from this authority over unclean spirits and illnesses. The town, the disciples, those gathering around Jesus and even us today are amazed. Jesus not only restores bodies but welcomes us into partnership. People love a good story of redemption. You were shot and lived? You were born deaf and blind but now can see? You survive a head-on collision? Look at God! What was it like? Look at how far you have come!

Often, we forget the invitation of Christ to enter into partnership. The good gifts of God become a distraction to us; we see Christ as a means to an end, a means to be healed, or a means to grow our church. Our successes, including fruitful ministry, can lure us away from the purposes of God.

So many of us get caught up in all the things we have to do. We have so many important tasks in our lives. We have ball games to go to, cheerleading practice, clubs we are involved in, church mission projects, plus going to church and Sunday School, choir practice, UMM/UWF, etc. etc. As the church becomes more and more alive, the church gets busier, too. It seems like we have more and more mission and ministry projects to accomplish, more people to help, and more tasks to do. Oftentimes, we get overwhelmed by all that we have to do. All we can focus on is how busy we are, what we have to do, and how we are going to somehow accomplish all these things. We lament all the stuff that we feel is cluttering our lives while we continually pile on more and more into business into our lives.

Our text this morning shows us several responses to the chaos. On one hand, Jesus goes away to a quiet place to pray. Do you realize how chaotic the scene is? The text tells us the entire town came to Jesus seeking healing. We don’t know what size town it was, but can you imagine all of Danville/Martinsville coming to one person seeking healing? In response to the chaotic scene and the healing work he had done, Jesus got up early and sneaked away to a quiet place so that he could pray alone. Jesus took a break. Jesus took a break from the cries and the need to recenter himself, to remember his mission, to reaffirm the call God had on his life.

On the other hand, Peter wakes up, realizes that Jesus is gone, and goes out to search for him. In fact, our translation of “tracking him down” does not come close to capturing what is going on here. The verb ought to have a stronger, more hostile sense to it. One commentary notes: “The Greek word behind “tracking down” occurs ten times in Mark, and in each instance, it carries negative connotations. Its first two occurrences refer to interference of Jesus and obstruction of his ministry; its next two refer to disbelief and faithlessness; and the remaining occurrences refer to attempts to kill Jesus.” Peter searches for Jesus, and his intent to convince Jesus is wrong for not capitalizing on his healing power. He goes to find Jesus, to correct him, and to bring him back to heal more people. Peter knows what Jesus should be doing, and it is NOT being alone in the quiet place to pray.

So often in life, we add to the chaos by reading into life what we think Jesus should be doing. This idea of what Jesus should do doesn’t come from intense theological study; it doesn’t come from communal debate about our faith and our understanding of Jesus’ ministry. Rather, we read into the situation what we think Jesus is supposed to do and move to make that happen. Rarely do we go to a quiet place to commune with God. When so much is going on, when there are so many needs in our world, we hesitate to stop, to pause, to pray, to listen. We must ask ourselves, how often do we listen through the chaos to fine-tune our mission and ministry? How do we listen through the chaos to ensure we are meeting needs but staying true to the mission?

On the other hand, Peter’s mother-in-law shows us the way in response to both of these ways of being. Before the crowds show up, Jesus has healed Peter’s mother-in-law. This woman has an odd response to being healed. She immediately begins serving Jesus and the disciples. Peter’s mother-in-law demonstrates for the disciples a model of servanthood, the service that Jesus seeks to model in his own ministry. It is not being a slave or getting walked all over or living until we can’t take on anything else. Rather, it is giving of ourselves for others as a sacred part of the mission of Jesus Christ.

This text in Mark shows us that in Jesus Christ, we are given the freedom to become true servants of others. We are freed from needing a way to measure our achievements. We are freed from critiquing our own habits and decision-making. We are freed from getting caught up in the chaos. We are freed to serve. We are freed to find a quiet place. We are freed to spend time alone with God in discernment, for it is Jesus Christ who frees us from our old ways.

When the storms of life come crashing in, how will you respond? Like Peter, who hunts out Jesus to tell him off, or will you go to a place of discernment? Will you seek to be a servant leader as you respond to God’s grace or tell Jesus what he should be doing? My prayer is that we will seek to follow after the heart of God.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen