"Connected to the Father"Sermon Transcript for June 11, 2000
By Rev. Mike BeckScripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39
For those of you who are new to Grace we begin today, this will be the third year that we have participated in what is called the 50-Day Spiritual Adventure. It’s used by some 30,000 churches worldwide. A time for intentional spiritual growth. A time in which all ages--children, youth, and adults--focus on the same theme. That theme this year being, "Celebrate Jesus". There are a variety of materials available to you in the Adventure. We encourage you to pick up a copy of this book "Jesus, the People’s Choice". One of the chapters will go along with each week’s message. There are also Journals for children of all ages--for youth, for adults--which will allow you on a daily basis during this 50-day period to keep abreast of the theme we are looking at on Sunday morning. Those are available at the table there in the lobby; $5.00 per item. Just leave your money in the basket or if don’t have your money today, your credits good with us. And we encourage you to share in that way. The goal of this year’s 50-day Adventure is to discover anew the secrets of Jesus’ life, and what it was that made Him attractive to others.
Take your Bibles again turning there to Mark, Chapter 1. And I would like for us, first of all, to look at some of the events that preceded our text for today. We notice in Verses 9-12 in Chapter 1 the event that marked the beginning of His ministry--his baptism by John the Baptist there in the Jordan River. And although Jesus was fully God we must also remember He was also fully man. And I wonder during His ministry, how many times he remembered these words heard from His Heavenly Father in heaven, "You are my Son whom I love; in whom I am well pleased" And then if you’ll notice in Verses 12-13, His ministry from there begins in a very difficult way. He goes in to the wilderness for forty days of fasting and prayer and where he was tempted by the enemy. And then, I believe, Verse 15 is a wonderful summary of Jesus’ message and purpose here on earth. The New International says, "Time has come," Jesus said. "The Kingdom of Heaven is near; Repent and believe the Good News." And then in Verses 16-20, He begins now to call His disciples.
Which brings us where we began reading today in Verse 21. Capernaum becomes something of a "home base" for Jesus’ ministry. I remember on my first trip to the Holy Land, one of the places where I felt closest to God, was standing there in Capernaum, although the Temple that Jesus taught in was in ruin, probably ten feet below the surface of the ground, buried by rubble. But, nevertheless, they know for certainty, that’s where the Synagogue was located. And we know from the scriptures Jesus taught there on several occasions. To be able to stand directly upon the spot where our Lord preached was so moving. Mickey and I are going to return to Israel this January. She’s never been before. We’re planning to go with the Bishop. We invite any of you that have not taken that pilgrimage to join us. And from Capernaum, the Word begins to spread about His teachings.
We are now beginning to use a team of about six people who meet for an hour and a half each week to think together about the following week’s worship services. And one of the things that we do is to read the Scripture aloud. As we met last Sunday afternoon, Steve Wakefield was the one to do the reading of this Scripture. And sometimes when you listen to another person read it you hear some things you haven’t heard before. These were some things that I noticed anew. Let’s look at Verse 32, "That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed." Verse 33, "The whole town gathered at the door." I’m just curious. How many retired pastors do I have out there today? Hold up your hand if you’re a retired pastor. Would you be thrilled if after a long day, after sunset, they bring to you all the sick and then the Word said "The whole town gathered at your door"? Especially if the Pacers were playing the Lakers that evening? And if we could skip ahead to Verse 37, the next morning when Jesus sneaks away to pray they come looking for Him and when they find Him, and it’s there in the last part of Verse 37, they say, "Everyone is looking for you."
Those verses clearly reveal the attractiveness of our Lord. But friends, that attractiveness had to have taken a toll on Him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But as we mentioned earlier, Jesus never seems to be hurried. There seems to always be a "center" and "focus" to what He does. And, oh my, all of us need that same center and focus in our lives. The "key" is found in Verse 35 which is our text for today. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed."
It was in His times alone with God that Jesus stayed "connected" to His Heavenly Father. It was in those times that He found the strength for His ministry. It was there He got His marching orders. We must do the same. Jesus put it this way in the Upper Room when he said to His disciples, he said, Guys, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. And unless the branches stay solidly connected to the vine, you are not going to ever bear fruit". In fact, He says, "...without the connection you will die." And if Jesus, who was God in human form, needed to pray and spend time alone with His Heavenly Father, how much more do we need to model that example?
I could not remember all the words to the song and I certainly wouldn’t want to have you endure listening to me sing it, but I recall one of George Beverly Shae’s songs that I think resonates with many of you. Do you remember this song?
Ere you left your room this morning,
Did you think to pray?
Did you ask for loving favor, as a shield today?
Oh...how praying helps the weary,
Prayer can change the night to day.
In a very practical sense, as disciples of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we must be apprentices of our Lord--especially in this area of prayer. Someone wisely said, "Learning to pray is like learning to play the piano. You will not do it well every day, but unless you do it every day you will never do it well!" Let me repeat that. Prayer is like learning to play the piano. You will not do it really well every day, but unless you do it every day you will never learn to do it well. Have you noticed what I have noticed? That is, that I can easily spot people who have a meaningful prayer life. They have a sense of calm about them. There is something in them that is attractive.
But we also must acknowledge prayer, in many ways, is an unnatural act. If we’re honest, we admit that we often struggle with prayer. Bill Hybels, in his book "Too Busy Not To Pray" writes, "To persons in the fast lane, determined to make it on their own, prayer is sometimes looked upon as an embarrassing interruption."
In closing, I want to quickly share three principles that I believe can help us make progress toward this goal of having a deeper prayer life.
1. Our prayer life and connection with God must be intentional. It must be intentional. There may be some hearing my voice this morning, that may say this, "Reverend Mike, I’d love to be able to do what you say, but I am a relatively new Christian, I don’t know where to begin." If that is true of you, let me urge you to pick up a Journal before you leave today. There will be a guide for the next fifty days with a passage of scripture to read, some questions to reflect upon and time for prayer. It’s a way to learn and be intentional.
On this matter of intentionality, at Annual Conference they allow pastors who participate in the group insurance plan to participate in a short health hazard appraisal. And I completed the form before conference and so I decided that I would run down and get the blood work, blood pressure and all that. Now I thought they had kind of a warped sense of humor, they wanted first of all to take your blood pressure but they located their booth at the top of the third flight of stairs. But then after the blood pressure was checked, this skinny little gal said, "Reverend Beck, would you step on the scales." Oh, I didn’t like that. You know, I’ve been saying for the last I don’t know how many years, "One of these days I’m going to shed twenty or thirty of these unneeded pounds." But do you know what? It’s never going to happen until I get intentional. Joyce, it’s not going to happen until I do what you did and take a little time on Tuesday evening to go and participate in a group where they will teach me how to do it and hold me accountable. Our prayer life is exactly the same. It’s not going to get any deeper until we get intentional about it.
2. And I hope this is happening for many of you. Our quiet times must fit with our unique God-given personalities. Let me repeat that. Our quiet times must fit with our unique God-given personality. I’ve tried on numerous occasions in my life to get up before the crack of dawn to pray and read the Word. My Dad does that well. He’s a morning person. God didn’t make me a morning person. And when I try and do that, invariably I’ll fall asleep. I’m a night person. My intentional time has to be the moments when I’m unwinding before I go to bed. God knows how we were put together. Don’t try and do it in a way that’s opposite of how you were wired. But however you are wired, do it in that sense.
God has given me an activist personality. I need to work to pray in the midst of my activism. This morning I was looking for a CD and thought I had maybe left it at home. I was already here at the office. I walked home and walked back. And during the time of walking, Deanna I prayed for you, I prayed for Sarai, I prayed for our music people. I used that two or three minutes of walking to pray. We need to be intentional; but then when we are intentional, it must fit the way God has put us together. In fact, an unexpected benefit of the voice problems has been this, I am such an activist, such a do-er that the voice problems, when the voice gets really strained or really soft, forces me out of that mode and forces me to spend more times of quiet with God.
3. And then, finally, although we need the intentional, set apart times with God, we also need to learn to "pray without ceasing". You can’t do that like this. But you can throughout your day’s activities learn how to use this analogy. To have a radio of your mind turned on and tuned in to your Heavenly Father’s frequency so that you and God are talking back and forth all day long in the midst of your other activities. Jesus intentionally stayed connected to His Heavenly Father attracting people to Him.
And so I ask, how is it in your relationship with the Lord? Were there intentional times of quiet alone with God this past week? Are "God-thoughts" going through your mind all day long every day. Are you trying to relegate God just to the time that you are in church Sunday morning? What powerful words are these: What seems at first glance to be so passive, so non-productive, in reality it’s that time alone with our Heavenly Father that makes all the difference in the world in our relationship with God.
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn