Epiphany V: Sexagesima-Wilderness Time

We are now just 50 days away from Easter. Already there are Easter eggs and baskets on the store shelves! We are so anxious to get on to the next ‘big thing’ that we don’t take time to savor the time at hand. Valentine’s Day is next Saturday, St. Patrick’s Day comes in a month, in the church calendar Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and all the days of Lent are still to come. It’s time to pause and look at the blessings that are right in front of us.

And that is what is important about the Gospel reading (Mark 1: 29-39) this Sunday. As we saw last week, Jesus has just healed the man with ‘an unclean spirit’. He goes to the home of Simon and Andrew. Perhaps he was expecting some quiet time with his disciples; or at least a nice dinner with friends. Instead, “Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” (Mark 1:30-31) Rather than having the chance to rest, the family asks Jesus to heal this woman. He does, and then “at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.” (Mark 1:32-34)

Is it any wonder that “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed”? (Mark 1:35). Even then Jesus isn’t left in peace, “Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’” (Mark 1: 36-38)

Jesus knew that he needed to take time for the important things. Healing Simon’s mother-in-law, and the others who came to the door was important. However, note that he took time to go ‘to a deserted place…and pray’ before saying ‘let us go on to the neighboring towns’.

Speaking for myself, I tend to get way too busy ‘doing’ things and neglect the wilderness prayer time. Bonnie Gray in her book Finding Spiritual White Space states “desolate places…are the last places on earth you’d look to find soulful rest… [but] desolation is where Jesus went to meet God…where Jesus chose to retreat.” She goes on to say “The wilderness. Where I’m exposed, unsure, undecided…is where Jesus found me.” Maybe that’s why we avoid taking time to go to the wilderness. We want to avoid facing the wild-ness-of our untamed hearts. We don’t like being ‘exposed, unsure, undecided’. We are afraid of what we might find in the wilderness. In truth, we will find and be found by Jesus in the desolate places of our lives. We will experience our own ‘epiphanies’ of God breaking into our lives.

As we approach the beginning of Lent, we may want to consider some intentional ‘wilderness time’ to allow God to speak to our hearts, perhaps heal something long hidden. God wants to open our hearts so we can savor and rejoice in ALL of life (not just the easy parts).

What can you do in your life to make some space for God to speak to you, now and in Lent and beyond? How can you savor more of life, both the joys and pains, more fully?

Next week we will come to the last Sunday in Epiphany and look at the story of Jesus healing a leper.