Text: Mark 1:32-39
A few weeks ago, I was leading a meeting with other clergy in our circuit about our shared ministry.
We got to the end and before we closed, I asked the question… is there anything we’d like to do differently for our next meeting.
One of my colleagues timidly raised their hand.
“Do you think we could, I dunno, maybe spend a bit of time in prayer before we start?”
In my last-minute rush to put together the details for the meeting, I had completely left prayer off the agenda.
And since it wasn’t written on the page in front of me, we hadn’t done it.
Before he died in 2021, my friend Junius Dotson wrote a book called, Soul Reset.
He talks about how, when you play baseball, you have to touch first base.
You could have a fantastic hit and make your way around the diamond, but if you miss the bag at first base, the run doesn’t count.
And the same is true in the Christian faith.
Our first base, the most important base to touch, is to touch base with Jesus.
We can do everything else, have the best meetings in the world, launch the best projects… but if we have missed spending time with Jesus… we haven’t gotten anywhere.
We’ve missed the very point and purpose of what we are there to do.
On Monday evening, about 20 of us gathered for a workshop with Rev. Dr. Jaye Johnson to talk about some possibilities for a new leadership structure.
As he talked about how meetings are designed with a single board or one board model, he shared that one third of the meeting needs to be spent focused on our spiritual lives.
We need to spend time with God and one another.
We need to ground ourselves in the love of God and love of one another.
If we leave that out…
If we miss it…
Then we have skipped over the very core of what we are there to do.
We can get so caught up in the agenda and the to-do list.
We can get distracted by the details.
We can feel pulled in lots of directions.
We have to make sure that we touch first base.
We need to center ourselves in God before we do anything else.
Even Jesus takes time to do this.
Our scripture for this morning comes from the gospel of Mark and one of the things about the way Mark writes is that it feels like our modern lives.
Everything happens so fast.
It’s all condensed and you jump from one place to another.
Jesus is here and then immediately goes there.
It is easy to get whiplash!
Yet, even in the midst of that constant movement and urgency, Jesus shows us how important it is to pause and spend time with God and rediscover what we are supposed to be doing.
In fact, maybe it is because everything is moving so fast that this is so important.
In verses 14-34, Jesus begins his ministry, calls disciples, teaches in the synagogue, casts out a spirit, heals people with diseases and drives out demons.
We are told that the whole town gathers at the door!
He has been up late into the evening caring for all of these people around him and it is very easy to imagine that he could just set up shop in the town of Capernaum doing what he does best.
I mean, he is hitting it out of the ballpark!
But the next morning before the sun comes up, he spends some time in prayer.
To go back to that baseball metaphor, he touches first base.
He grounds himself in God’s will and purpose for his life.
And I can imagine Jesus asking questions like…
“Is this where you want me, God?”
“How can I make the most difference?”
“What is the best use of my time and energy today?”
You get a sense that there is still work and healing and ministry to be done in Capernaum, because the disciples come looking for him.
If you look at different translations of this one phrase you find things like:
“[they] searched everywhere, looking anxiously for Him” (AMP)
“[they] tracked him down” (CEB)
“[they] hunted for him” (NRSVue)
You get a sense that they followed him, like stalkers, impatient for him to get back to work.
Any parents in the room feel that way when your kids wake you up early in the morning?
There is always more to do.
There is always something that demands our time.
There is always another meeting, another project, another mess to clean up.
There are things all around us that feel necessary, right?
But because Jesus has taken this time away to center himself, he is able not to react to all of the demands upon him, but to respond out of what God wants him to do.
He is able to set some boundaries.
He is about to be clear about his purpose.
He can live with intention.
So his response to the anxiety-filled requests of the disciples is, “I can’t stay here any longer. I am needed elsewhere.”
He says, “no” to the people of Capernaum, so that he can say “yes” to God’s bigger picture and his greater purpose.
Or, as the writers with Breakthrough Worship remind us, he is able to trust that God will handle the rest.
I remember a story told by Bishop Sally Dyck, who is now retired, about a small church in a bedroom community.
They noticed that young couples would start to attend worship, and pretty soon they were having babies, and they had a lot of toddlers in their church.
But when the children got a bit older, those families would move to a larger church in the nearby city.
The church was distressed by this and felt like they were failing.
They didn’t have the resources to expand their ministry and compete with the children’s program at those bigger churches.
This church community began to pray and seek God’s will and what they discovered when they really listened is that they had a purpose.
Their church was an incubator for families.
Their job was to help these families get off to a good start and then bless them as they launched into other places.
There is always more that we could do.
Another ministry to start.
Another project to undertake.
But we don’t have the energy and the resources to do it all by ourselves.
And we don’t NEED to do it all.
To take that baseball analogy one step further… you can’t play all of the positions at once.
Someone among us has the skills to be the pitcher, but they need someone else to play catch with.
Our task is to figure out our piece… our purpose… and to trust that God will take care of the rest.
Whether that is equipping another congregation or another person… we can trust that there are others on the team, working for the Kingdom, and that we just need to play our part.
As a congregation, we have spent time with God over the years and have figured out our core vision and purpose.
We will live lives of love, service, and prayer so that all who are hungry are fed by God’s grace.
We feed people in worship through music, prayer, and sacraments.
We feed people who are hungry for connection through elder buddies and coffee time.
We feed people who are hungry to go deeper in their knowledge and love of God through small groups and classes.
And, we feed people who have empty bellies with our little pantry, Joppa, and other local ministries.
We can’t do it all, and we don’t need to do it all…
we just need to focus on doing our part and trusting that God is building up and equipping other churches and congregations and community organizations to do the rest.
The same is true in our individual lives.
There are things that are tugging at you from every corner.
Projects that need done, people that need attention.
Everything is important, isn’t it?
Have you ever been busy doing good and worthwhile things, but felt like something was missing?
Maybe it is because we are simply reacting to what is in front of us, running to and fro.
What would it mean instead to set some priorities for this season?
What would it mean to figure out your role, your position?
What if you created space to spend time with God and to listen for your purpose?
There are a lot of different ways that we can go about this.
Jesus had to get up before dawn to find a quiet space to be with God.
Maybe it is your morning commute.
Maybe it is a day a month you set aside to be in nature.
Maybe you create a spot in your house where you can sit and pray and listen.
And I think you can simply ask a few questions like…
“Is this where you want me, God?”
“How can I make the most difference?”
“What is the best use of my time and gifts and energy in this season?”
When we know our purpose it makes it easier for us to say “yes” and “no”.
Because we know WHY we are saying yes and no.
We can be intentional about what we give our energies towards.
But… it also means that we can start to let go of the guilt we feel when say no in order to focus on a greater good.
We can spend that time in prayer placing it in God’s hands… trusting that God will make a way and is already at work helping that need or situation to be cared for.
Friends, each and every single one of us is beloved by God, just as we are.
And we all have been called and equipped for a purpose.
So, let’s step up to bat.
Let’s ready ourselves to do God’s work.
And let’s not forget to touch first base… to touch base with God… as we set out into the world.
If we do… whatever we do… will be a home run.
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