And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” – Mark 1:35-38
In 2010 The Museum of Modern Art hosted artist Marina Abramovic’s performance entitled “The Artist is Present.” For 736 hours she sat immobile in the museum’s atrium while spectators were invited to sit across the table from her. It essentially was an artistic staring contest, but photographers captured incredible shots of people responding with laughter, smiling, and crying to the Serbian’s stares. It’s a fact that we all know from experience, staring at someone ordinarily evokes a response and the response can often be more pronounced than one would have guessed.
Stop and stare at the Savior here in Mark 1:35-38 and those few mornings hours after the Sabbath day. What do you see? What response is bubbling to the surface? What I see in this portrait of Jesus is a pattern for God’s people to hear and heed: Communion with God fuels mission for God. We find in our text Jesus praying, resisting, and preaching and all three points have something essential for us to see tonight as we meditate on the truth that communion with God is essential to mission for God.
3 RESPONSES TO JESUS’ EARLY WAKE UP CALL
First, see the priority of prayer. The start of His ministry has been a resounding success; His authority currently captivates everyone. They clamor for His presence and power, and what is His immediate response? He withdraws to a desolate place in order to pray. Let’s just think about Jesus’ practice of prayer that we observe in the gospels. When He was baptized we are told he was praying (Luke 3:21). When he was transfigured, we are told that His face was transformed as he prayed (Luke 9:29). Before He appointed the twelve disciples, Luke tells us He tells us He continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). After feeding the five thousand all the people want to crown Him as king, but He leaves them in order to pray (Mark 9:23). In the moments leading up to His betrayal, arrest, and eventually crucifixion we find Him crying out in prayer. Our Lord is consistently is found praying, it was a priority that fueled His mission.
We would be wise here to be challenged and encouraged by His devotion to prayer. In commenting on this passage, JC Ryle said, “Here is the pulse of our Christianity, here is the true test of our state before God.” How healthy is the pulse of your Christianity? What can we say about those who pray little, what’s the pulse of their Christianity? Let’s confess that this is most of us. We understand the value of prayer and can even recount blessings untold we have received at the throne of grace, but we progress slowly. What might our prayerless reveal? If prayer, as modeled by Jesus Christ is little more than an act of humble dependence, then prayerlessness is little more than an act of independence. Jesus was dependent on God for strength, wisdom, and assurance, and so He prayed. Might our small progress in prayer be rooted in a soul that finds greater joy in independence from God than dependence on God? We need to see first of all the priority of prayer and . . .
Second, see the pitfall of preoccupation. The disciples cried out, “What are you doing out here praying? The people need you.” We observe here, and will find similar occasions all over the gospels, that a recurring pitfall for Jesus’ mission on earth was preoccupation with earthly concerns. The people’s concern was with health and happiness, not with the King’s demand for repentance and faith. The disciples’ preoccupation with these things not only interrupted Jesus’ communion with God, but also threatened His mission for God. Jesus shows us that no one makes progress in communion with God or mission for God that is not schooled in self-denial. If your life were shot as a documentary for all to see, what preoccupations would the audience see? Any preoccupations that interrupt communion with God or threaten you mission for God? See the priority of prayer, the pitfall of preoccupation, and for this text, most centrally. . .
Third, see the primacy of preaching. This was Christ’s mission, to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Preaching was the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace, and preaching remains the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace. Have you ever thought about how incredible this truth is? That God builds His kingdom on the authority and power of His word? Not through signs and wonders, but through the gospel being preached to the ends of the earth!
Every weekend the church gathers and the element of our worship that gets the most extended time is preaching. You come each week and primarily get to sit and listen to someone speak to you. It’s strange is it not? 1 Corinthians 1:18 says that preaching seems foolish to the world. But let it not be foolish to us! The preacher may not be gifted and the sermons may be meager offerings, but it is God’s chosen grace to extend His kingdom. How then do you think about this chosen grace? Do you even think of it as God’s grace to you? Your commitment to and delight in hearing the word in your church’s gathering is a pretty good place to start your evaluation.
The people in the first century may have thought the Messiah would spend His earthly ministry keeping up the priestly institutions and ceremonies, like the great high priest Aaron. Many thought He would rule and reign in the manner of the great King David. But this Savior defied all expectations and conventions of the day. From the moment of His arrival to the moment of His death, He could be heard preaching, for that is why He came.
Stopping and staring at this portrait of the Savior will evoke a response. Let our responses be renewed interest in the priority of prayer, greater awareness at the pitfall of preoccupation, and strengthened delight in the primacy of preaching. However unexpected this scene was to the 1st century disciples, may the truth of this scene not be unexpected or unfamiliar to us, that communion with God fuels mission for God.