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January 2006
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February 5, 2006 The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany Mark 1:29-39 Recently, I was diagnosed with (what I consider to be a premature case of) A.A.A.D.D – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. (Perhaps you have already been diagnosed yourself…if you have received this). This, apparently, is how it manifests itself (according to an expert). I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go though the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trashcan under the table, and notice that the trashcan is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of soda that I had been drinking. I’m going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the soda aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over. I see that the soda sis getting warm and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the soda, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye—they need to be watered. I set the soda down on the counter, and I discover my glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter; fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers. I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back sown on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. (You get the picture). At the end of the day: the car isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid, there is a warm bottle of soda sitting on the counter, the flowers aren’t watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can’t find the remote, I can’t find my glasses, and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys. Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I’m really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail. (And I don’t remember who originally sent this to me, either). This morning, the message I bring to you is about distractions. In our Gospel, the disciples become distracted. They seem to get caught up in the moment…in the excitement of Jesus healing…they get caught up in the collective conscience of the people wanting Jesus to heal them…they get caught up in the crowd…Distracted. The disciples didn’t go looking for Jesus that morning—when Jesus had gone out to pray, they “hunted” for him. (The Greek word used here indicates that the disciples pursued him, almost in a hostile sense). Jesus had gone out to pray and they hunted him down on behalf of the crowd. Ironically, for the disciples, the excitement of his healing ministry had turned Jesus (for them) into someone to be acted against, rather than someone to walk with—they hunted and pursued him as an adversary, rather than following as a disciple follows a teacher. And so, this leads to some valuable questions for us to consider for ourselves…”Are we following Jesus, or are we hunting him?” Also, ”Who sets our agenda?” In this world, surrounded by all kinds of distractions, what is at the center of your life? “Who is the authority in your life?” or, “Who is your God?” Who or what is pushing your buttons and setting you off in directions that keep you from following Jesus Christ… There is need, my brothers and sisters, within this community…this crowd…this church…, to remove ourselves from the distractions from time to time…so that we can listen to what God is calling each one of us to be. So, once again, let us turn our eyes toward Jesus. We can we learn a lot from him today. 1) Jesus was a Sabbath Observer. While he does heal inside Simon and Andrew’s house, he saves his public ministry until the end of the Sabbath day (in those days the day ended at Sundown. 2) Jesus prayed. Many of us (myself included) in this modern day culture in which we live, have a difficult time acknowledging the spiritual realm all around us—believing that God will guide us, teach us, and lead us—that God will come to us when we wait upon him (Isaiah 40:31). And the Lord knows that many of us don’t give him a chance to direct our lives. But Jesus himself, was -a man who the very next day—went out to pray. -it would have been easy to get caught up in the moment, to get all caught up in excited frenzy of the crowd, awakened by the excitement of his healing ministry in Capernaum…it was a good ministry…but it was not what he set out to do. -No, Jesus keeps his perspective and his priorities in tact…he knows what he set out to do, and he does (to the chagrin of his disciples), he goes in a different direction. -And thank God for all of us that he did. We are only in the first chapter of Mark after all. Jesus Christ, was a man who, kept his attention on God first, and so are we as his disciples/followers called to do. As always, my friends, there is good news to be found here. Our Christian life is full of new beginnings, for just when we think we know what to do, Jesus says, “Let us go on from here…come and see what I have set out to do.”
Come, let us
follow. Joshua W. Magyar, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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