(Feb. 5) Sunday Snippet

Mark 1:33-38

“The whole town gathered at the door” scripture tells us.  Yet it is the crowds, interestingly enough, which seem to begin creating a problem for Jesus’ ministry. And so early one morning, while it was still dark, Jesus gets up and goes to an isolated place, a quiet place, and there he prays. Jesus needs time alone; time to meditate; think; refocus.

Then dawn breaks, a new day arrives, and everyone wants to know, “Where is Jesus?”  So his friends set out to find him, literally, they track him down to inform him that the masses are clinging to his every word, that everyone is searching for him. In response Jesus says to them, “Let’s move on; go to the nearby villages so I can preach there as well, for that is what I came to do.”

Isn’t that interesting?  Instead of buying into the enormous popularity that his words and deeds had won him, Jesus seems to be distinctly uninterested in the kind of success other people wanted for him.  He resisted peer pressure, you might say.  The goal of making a big name for himself wasn’t his kind of goal, and when he did get a big name, Jesus had no desire to cash in on it.

Who knows what Jesus went off early before dawn to think and pray about (scriptures do not say) but by setting an example of what it means to keep our priorities straight - by modeling the importance of taking time out of our busy lives to recapture our focus - by showing us the importance of stopping whatever it is that we’re doing that is perhaps hindering our call - I believe Jesus here is illustrating what it looks like to live a life of balance and wholeness in a fragmented world.

And so early one morning, well before dawn, Jesus gets up and goes to a private place, a quiet place to pray. He needs alone time, some time to refocus, to reflect on who he was; to find balance between his God given mission and his Incarnate humanity; to think about his purpose.  This is what all of us in life are being called to do - find balance - discover wholeness.

Simon and his companions went looking for Jesus, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"  May we find balance and discover the wholeness we’re looking for as well.