Meditation for February 13, 2008
From The Rev. Peter A. Munson
Mark 1:32-42
32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." 38 He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
Praying, Loving, and Living With Purpose
I was at a meeting last night at which a brief conversation arose about who was a morning person and who was more of a night owl. In this passage from Mark, we hear that one evening, when Jesus was staying at the home of Simon and Andrew, "the whole city" arrived at the door and brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons. He must have been there for a while, healing all those people. And then Mark tells us that Jesus got up the next morning, "while it was still very dark" - that is, very early in the morning - and went out to a deserted place, and prayed.
So, was Jesus a morning person or a night person? Both? Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe it doesn't matter if we are morning people or night people. Maybe what matters is what we do with the time that is given to us by God.
Jesus seemed to have a sense of purpose. But that sense of purpose came from the regular time that he spent praying - seeking God's presence, and seeking the guidance of "Abba", his heavenly Father. The Gospel writers tell us, over and over again, that after Jesus prayed, he then did something quite purposeful. He received the direction and encouragement he needed from God, and then he went about his work. He prayed; then he chose his disciples. In this passage, he prays, and then he realizes he must take the message - the good news that the kingdom has come near - out to surrounding towns. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and even thought it was a tumultuous time, a time of great burden and even dread, he received the strength that he needed to go - willingly - to the cross.
I read in the newspaper on Monday morning that the average American spends 28 hours a week watching TV! Four hours a day! That's the average. So, if you are only watching 10 hours a week, someone else is watching 46 hours a week. It makes me begin to appreciate the bumper sticker that reads: "Kill Your Television." Don't get me wrong, I watch some TV. Julia and I have a couple of shows we like to watch together each week. I watch some sports. (That is much worse during baseball season. Just ask Julia!) But how much of that television is just trash, junk, garbage? "Reality TV?" Give me a break.
Do we really want to "get real" in life? Then we need to pray regularly, and seek God's will, and be about the work of love and service and healing and doing all these things that Jesus did, that are about buildling a kingdom - a kingdom where people love God and seek only God as their Lord; a kingdom where people love others, and strive to love even their enemies (!); a kingdom where people don't buy into the culture's lies that "This is all my money and I can do with it whatever I want to do" and "Just get more stuff and you'll be happier."
I read in the paper this morning (two mornings after reading about the 28 hours of TV a week) that the Australian government apologized on Wednesday "for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians" - the indigenous Aborigines of Australia. There is an accompanying picture of a woman of the Aboriginal community Kowanyama, smiling and proudly holding up the Australian flag. Lawmakers unanimously adopted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's motion on behalf of all Australians, which said, among other things, "To the mothers and fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry." (The Denver Post, p. 2A)
I don't know how all this came about, but I know good news when I read it. I know "kingdom news" when I read it. My hunch is that someone, or a number of someones in addition to the Prime Minister, spent some time being quiet, spent some time praying and thinking, and felt led by a loving, holy, and righteous God to act, and to do the right thing.
It is Lent. It is a time for "self-examination and repentance", for "praying, fasting, and self-denial", for "reading and meditating on God's holy Word", as we heard on Ash Wednesday. It is not a time for business as usual. It is not time for thinking only of ourselves. It is not time for "zoning out" in front of the TV. It is time to try and reduce the national average of 28 hours of TV watching a week, not just to reduce that obscene number, but so that we can be about the work of the kingdom. Who can you have coffee or lunch this week or next, who is hurting? What political candidate, who you think might have a clue what the kingdom of God is about, can you do some work for? What elderly person can you go visit? What evening can you set aside to play games with you family? When can you go out for an unhurried walk with a friend, and just listen deeply to each other? What morning can you take one of your children out to breakfast, and just listen to him or to her? What "enemy" of yours can you begin praying for? What meal can you skip, and give the money that you would have spent to Episcopal Relief and Development (where one well-placed $15 mosquito net can save an entire family in Africa, who might otherwise die from malaria)? What book can you decide to read, when you might have otherwise watched TV, and in the process, get a picture of how other people in the word live?
Jesus had this regular rhythm. He went out to be by himself, and prayed. Then he came back and offered his teaching, his healing, his compassionate love, the sacrifice of himself - all in God's name. Then he prayed again. And the rhythm continued. Do we have a similar kind of rhythm going for us? Or is it a "rhythm" where we just sort of stumble along, without any real purpose or direction to our lives? There is plenty for us to think about this Lent. Let us make the most of the time that God gives us. Let us make the most of Lent. May it not fly by in such a way that, at the end of it, we wistfully say, "Where did Lent go? I didn't really observe Lent this year. I didn't really engage. I didn't really stop or pray or read Scripture or think or serve or connect my life to another person's in any new way or deepen my relationship with Christ." No. Instead, may we be able to say, "I learned something new about God this Lent. I learned something new about myself. I learned something new about my neighbor. I learned something new about my spouse (or my child or my friend). I learned something new about what God wants me to do with my life."