A few years ago, “The Obstacles to Growth Survey” collected data from over 20,000 Christians around the world aged 15 to 88. The survey found that, on average, more than 4 in 10 Christians around the world say they “often” or “always” rush from task to task. About 6 in 10 Christians say that it's “often” or “always” true that “the busyness of life gets in the way of developing my relationship with God.” Christians most likely to agree were from North America, Africa, and Europe.
While busyness afflicts both men and women, the distraction from God was more likely to affect men than women in every surveyed continent except North America, where 62 percent of women and 61 percent of men reported busyness as interfering with their relationship with God.
By profession, pastors were most likely to say they rush from task to task (54 percent), which adversely affects their relationship with God (65 percent). “It's tragic and ironic: the very people who could best help us escape the bondage of busyness are themselves in chains,” said Dr. Michael Zigarelli, who conducted the study at the Charleston Southern University School of Business.
Busy-ness is a problem in today’s world when it comes to our relationship with God in Christ Jesus, and no one is immune from it, not even people working in the church, myself included. There was an article in the New York Times about three years ago that offered an analysis of what might be called “the busy trap.” Listen to this excerpt: “If you live in America in the 21st century, you've probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It's become the default response when you ask anyone how they're doing: ‘Busy!’ ‘So busy.’ ‘Crazy busy.’ It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: ‘That's a good problem to have,’ or ‘Better than the opposite.’”
The article goes on to say, “Busyness serves as a kind of…hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day…[We're] busy because of [our] own ambition or drive or anxiety, because [we're] addicted to busyness and dread what [we] might have to face in its absence.”
Being busy may make us feel important, or it might hide feelings of emptiness or low self-worth, but it does nothing to enhance our relationship with God, even when we are busy in the Lord’s work. Just look at Jesus in today’s gospel lesson. For the last few weeks, up to and including today, we have been reading the story of Jesus’ first day of public ministry. Did you hear that, all that we have talked about in the last few weeks happened in one day, and the first day, no less! Jesus began very early as he walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of God and calling disciples to follow him and “fish for people.” With his newfound companions in tow, Jesus then headed inland a little ways to the synagogue in Capernaum for Sabbath worship. There he taught with an authority all his own and then cast out a demon.
Where we pick up this morning, Jesus has now gone with his friends to the home of Simon’s mother-in-law. It was the custom after synagogue worship to gather for a midday meal, which would have been the primary meal of the day. Jesus and his companions must have gone to the home of Simon’s mother-in-law thinking they could eat there, but what they find is a very sick woman, whom Jesus immediately heals. Once her fever is gone, she begins working on that meal, but in the meantime, word is really starting to spread about Jesus and people are coming from all over the place to be healed. So Jesus begins to heal these people, too, one after another, all afternoon and into the night. Jesus was incredibly busy, wasn’t he? And this was only on the first day of his ministry!
But look at what Jesus did the very first thing on his second day of ministry. Mark tells us that very early, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, went to a deserted place, and prayed. Busyness, my friends, is not a badge to wear, it is a simple fact of life today that we must learn to cope with. And one of the best ways to deal with the chaos of our lives and stay focused on God in the midst of all the busyness? Prayer.
If you all remember, last week we talked about the power of God that was made known in Jesus Christ. As Jesus taught in the synagogue, Mark tells us he did so as “one having an authority all his own, not like the legal experts.” After he was done teaching, Jesus showed the power of that authority when he cast out an “unclean spirit” from a possessed man. But here’s the thing, even though Christ is one with God, he still had to be intentional about staying connected with God in order to maintain that power of God flowing through him. Jesus knew that the best way to do that was to talk to God, to get away from all the distractions and all the demands, to kneel in solitude, and to draw from God’s strength in prayer. And here’s the thing, what was true for Jesus is true for us too.
In Jesus Christ, we are promised God’s presence and even God’s power. But this is contingent upon our staying connected with God. Even in the midst of our extremely busy lives, if we do not take intentional time to step away from the distractions and enter God’s presence in prayer, then our relationship with God will suffer, as will our ability to faithfully serve God in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that when Jesus woke up very early on the morning of his second day of ministry with the intention of finding a quiet place to pray, he did so knowing that without that time, he would not have the strength, patience, or power to continue at the pace of the day before; to teach and preach and call and heal. He knew he needed time alone with God, and so he made sure that happened. We can do no less.
I don’t know if there is any way I can stress to you all how extremely important such a practice of prayer is, even as I acknowledge how very difficult it can be. Prayer is considered a spiritual “discipline” for a very good reason, and we must be disciplined in order to sustain this practice and remain connected with God. So, I urge you, find what works for you! For Jesus, he needed quiet and solitude. But perhaps you work better if you can say a prayer at any moment; when you pass an ambulance, when you are excited about some great news, when you sense God nudging you in a new direction, and so on. If prayer is easier for you in the moment a need hits you, then lift a prayer to God right then. For me, I find that prayer is easiest when I journal. Like Christ, I need quiet and the absence of distractions, but I also need a pen and paper. I just start writing—sometimes I begin with scripture, sometimes I begin with my thoughts. As I think and write, my prayers are lifted to God. Do whatever you need to do, but no matter what, make sure you are intentional about connecting with God through prayer. Because here’s the thing, it’s not only about you, it’s also about the way that Christ touches lives through you. Christ needed to stay connected with God so that he could continue to heal people and to offer salvation.
There was an experiment done recently which was designed to test the effectiveness of prayer on patients suffering from similar illnesses. The patients were grouped into two groups, the first group of patients, in addition to regular medical treatment, had an assigned prayer partner, who was instructed to pray for the ill patient on a daily basis. These prayer partners each knew the patient they were praying for in a personal way, mostly through church. The second group had no prayer partners and simply received medical treatment for their illness. As treatments progressed, each patient was monitored closely, and compared against the progress of the other group of patients. In the end, the results were clear and indisputable. The members of the group who had people praying for them regularly showed earlier on a noticeable difference in improvement and quality of life.
When we stay connected with God in prayer, God’s power flows out into this world in amazing ways. It pulls us into a deeper relationship with God in Christ Jesus, exposing us more and more God’s abundant life, grace, mercy, and love. Then, it energizes us to do the work of God in the world, and to impact lives in much the same way Jesus did. Do you begin to see how vitally important a disciplined prayer practice is, especially in our very busy lives? We lose so much if we are not constantly connecting with God in prayer, and others suffer greatly too.
Look what happened as Jesus prayed early on the morning of his second day of ministry. We get the sense that he wasn’t there long before his disciples were interrupting him, reminding him of the “busy-ness” of his life. They were urging Jesus to return to Capernaum and continue his healing ministry. Certainly, there was work for Christ to do in that place, but Christ came for the world, and the time he spent in prayer that morning energized him for just such work. Though it will mean many more days of preaching, teaching, and healing, Jesus instructs his disciples to head in the other direction, to other villages and towns. “That’s why I’ve come,” he said. And so he went through all of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, and casting out demons. Jesus was a busy man, but he was able to sustain his work because he took time to soak in God’s presence through prayer.
I urge you to do the same. It’s not going to change the busy-ness of our lives, but it will change us, and it will change others too. And isn’t that what God’s kingdom is all about?
