Finding Your Deserted Place

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now 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. That evening, 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; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And 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.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

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Do you hear that? I don't know if my mic can pick it up. But there's wind. There's a wind blowing through the trees right now. And off in the distance, you can hear a bird chirping. If you listen closely enough, you can listen to the wind rustling the brush that's around me.

Last week, we heard Jesus embark on one of his first acts during his earthly ministry, which was the expulsion of a demon. This week, we get a little bit of that as well. But there's also focus on Jesus acting as a healer doing, honestly, quite a lot of healing.

I know that Jesus is the Son of God and all, but I think still, as someone who was fully God, fully human, Jesus must have felt a little worn out. With the hustle and bustle of the crowd around him, he had to get away. And so he did. Amid acts of healing and acts of casting out demons, Jesus wakes up early one morning and goes to a deserted place.

What is your deserted place? What is your deserted place? Where is the place you go? When you need healing; when you need rest? What is your deserted place?

I think it's essential that we all have a place like that. That we all have somewhere, we can go. It doesn't have to be a two-hour car ride away. But it has to be intentional. Jesus was intentional about going out to his deserted place. So again, what is that place for you? What is your deserted place? I don't think I could have asked for a better-deserted place. If you see now, as the camera zooms out, you can get a better sense of what I consider to be one of my deserted places.

It's a sacred space, a sacred space, a place that's set apart from the rest of the hustle and bustle of life. Just look out there. Look out there for a moment. For me, this is what evokes a place of healing, a place where I can get away. If you were to look out here, what would this be for you?

I talked about deserted places this morning because looking back over the events of this past year; I don't know how successful we've been. Successful at really setting time apart for us to heal. We've kept going; we've kept pushing, we've just kept going. Yeah, we're home. We could do the work that we needed to if our work allowed us to. But if you were to look back, did you ever take time to go to a deserted place?

If I'm going to answer that question, I'm going to say that I have been terrible about being intentional with my deserted place. I check my emails; I pull out my phone, I habitually refresh it. I'll check if I have any work-related calls. That's not really going to my deserted place. The same, of course, is true for those of you who are thinking the same thing.

Going to your deserted place doesn't mean you're still occupying that time with business, with things that don't allow you to rest, things that don't allow you to heal.

I think we all need a little bit of time to get away, to be able to look out on a landscape like this. To be able to do something even if it's at home.

That's not being apathetic; that's purposeful rest. That is finding your deserted place. Why do I talk about a deserted place? Why am I talking about a deserted place in the sense of rest in terms of getting away? Because as I said before, I don't think we've done a great job at doing that.

I think we've just kept winding the spring that pushes us forward over and over and over again. So I guess now we are almost at a breaking point. I know you've heard me talk about it before, and I know it's not a common occurrence, though, for me, it is repeating. But I've seen this in our culture in our town, you know, that intersection that's right outside the church. It's a busy intersection. But you know, yesterday, I was working, I was trying to write out some thoughts for today. And I heard loud yelling coming from outside.

And for some reason, I guess, drivers got into a little bit of an argument about each other's driving. And I don't know how bad it was. But apparently, it pushed one person to the point where they got out of their car still have traffic behind them to get around and yell at the other person through their window. What drives someone to do that? What pushes someone to that point where they let everything out?

Now, I don't know the root cause of this person's actions. And I wouldn't want to pretend that I knew what was going on. But I think it's a perfect example for us as we consider our deserted place—the place where we can get away and rest. What is that for you? Again, I asked this question about a deserted place because even Jesus knew he needed rest.

Jesus knew he needed rest and that Jesus could not do everything.

Right. Jesus had to keep moving to the next town, the next town. And imagine how many people were still left behind and weren't healed and didn't have unclean spirits cast out from them. There was too much work that needed to be done. And Jesus knew that it was just not possible to do everything to be everything to everyone. And so he went out to his deserted place to rest.

I want us to really think about that. Again, I want you to think about that throughout the course of this upcoming week as you look out here because that is something that will sustain us, something that will nurture us. Jesus knew the value of rest. The question is, do we know the value of rest? Do we know the value of a good nap? Do we know when we need to throw in the towel and just say I need a break?

I hope we do. I really do. So as we end our reflection here this morning. I'm just gonna open it up for you one more time to take in a view that is close to my heart. Now that you can enjoy it as we continue in our worship of God. Amen.