Jesus doesn’t need a retreat
If you’re like me, you’ve probably felt from time to time that you’d love to get away from it all to really connect with Jesus.
Away from the texts.
Away from the calls.
Away from all the things.
I’m not at all implying that there’s anything wrong with time away, especially as one who is a strong advocate of spiritual practices like silence and solitude. Believe me, I get the benefit of time removed from distractions. But the first chapter of Mark paints a different scenario, and I was challenged when I read it. Being the kind, sharing person I am, I thought I’d let you be challenged with me. 😀
Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, except for the fact that His words felt “heavier” than the normal teachers. His words had authority, and that authority led to an encounter with a demon-possessed man.
Side note: I bristle every time I read the words “in their synagogue” in verse 23 because I imagine how shocked we’ll all be when the authority of Jesus’ words and presence reveal the demons in our own churches!
The deliverance isn’t the point of this post, so let’s just move to what happened after the ordinary church service turned into an unforgettable church service. We’ll pick the story up in Mark 1:29.
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. (Mark 1:29)
This seems about right, doesn’t it? It’s the after-party, the “let’s go grab a bite to eat and relax after that incredible service” event that many of us have been a part of at one time or another.
But something happened when they arrived. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick and in the bed with a fever. Talk about a cold-water-in-the-face reality check! I remember coming home from youth camp once, filled to overflowing with the power of the Holy Spirit, ready to take on the world, only to become instantly grumpy when I was asked to take out the trash almost as soon as I’d walked in the house.
The extraordinary work of God away from the realities of everyday life didn’t last. My first thought then was, “I want to go back to camp!” Now, years later, I realize that I needed something more than another retreat.
I needed to learn how to see, hear, and be with Jesus in the everyday moments, the ordinary tasks that mark so much of our lives.
I needed to respond to the chore of taking out the trash the same way the disciples responded to a sick woman, who very well could have killed the post-miracle service buzz.
Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. (Mark 1:30, emphasis mine)
They didn’t try to take Jesus away from the situation, and they didn’t ask Jesus to take them away from it. Nobody brought up the idea that perhaps they needed to go back to the synagogue and recapture the emotions of the miraculous deliverance they’d just experienced.
Instead, they brought Jesus into the mundane moment of a mother-in-law in bed with a fever, and they left the rest up to Him.
We already know what happens when we share the news of healing and deliverance services. People show up. They come expecting, and they did on this day, too. In fact, after the miraculous synagogue moment, verse 28 says that “news about Him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”
But guess what happens when we invite Jesus into the mundane? The same excited, wildfire of excitement and awe! In fact, after the disciples chose to invite Jesus into that messy, average, everyday moment, the Bible records that by the end of the day, the whole town had gathered at the house (vv. 32-33).
Perhaps, what our world needs today — even more than another miracle crusade — is followers of Jesus who refuse to run away from the everyday distractions, and instead choose to invite Jesus into them?
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