Mark 1:35-39

 If you look around you this morning you may see, you may even be seated next to a young man or young woman with a notebook in his her or her hand taking notes on the sermon.  These young men and women  - there are 22 of them - are beginning their four month confirmation class - a class that meets weekly with Rich and me to study and learn about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Church, this church, ministry and what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  It culminates with these young men and women joining the church - confirming their baptism - in June.

 I  bring this up because as a church family we celebrate the changes, beginnings and endings in our lives; such as baptism, receiving new members, weddings and funerals.  We share in the celebrations and rituals  - that’s what makes us a church family.  Many of you were here when some of these young men and women were baptized and you took a vow then that you would offer your love and support to that child as he or she  began their journey in the Christian faith.  And now here they are...taking another step in that Christian journey...the journey of confirmation, and because we are all part of this church family, we begin it together.

 These young men and women sitting near you or next to you are thrilled to be here as you can imagine, to be sitting here taking notes - we ask them to take notes because we want them to think about the service, to think about what worship means, to think about God’s word and what that means.  Sometimes we help them along in this process, give them a few hints now and then, for example, Rich or I might say during a particular point in the sermon, now if I were a confirmand I’d write this down, or this...this is important!   Or, there are just a few things you should remember about this passage.

 And then we check their sermon notes afterwards in class which is always fun.  Sometimes we find incredibly insightful notes, beautifully written, well thought out.  Other times we find word for word what their neighbor sitting next to them has written - and sometimes, this is my favorite, we will find very good notes with lots of doodles in the margin,  things like...when will this be over, I am so bored, what is she talking about? I’m so hungry.   I take that as really more a reflection of our sermons than their note taking.

 But this morning I’m going to make it easy for our confirmands and you.  My sermon has just three points - no more, no less.  One story, maybe two, and very little rambling (I hope).

 The sermon is entitled, "How to be an effective minister".  Right there in these 9 verses in the gospel of Mark is everything, or most everything we need to know about ministry.  And we are diving into this passage with this truth in hand: that we are all ministers.

 The task of preaching and proclaiming the good news of God and God’s love is given to all of his disciples - including you and me.  We are all ministers.  And if I were a confirmand, I’d write that down.

 The first point of my sermon is this...the world is a broken place and needs healing.    One of the first things we notice in Mark’s gospel - it’s early in chapter one - is the need of the people around him.  Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum, a town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and while in the Synagogue, during worship, Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit.  And now, after leaving the synagogue - please take note that Jesus worshipped God - with others - this is important - after leaving the synagogue - he went to the house of Simon and Andrew where he healed Simon’s mother-in-law who was in bed with a fever.  You’d think that would be enough for a day’s work but Jesus isn’t done.

 That evening, Mark tells us, at sundown, they brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons.  The whole city was gathered around the door - the whole city - and he cured many who were sick with a variety of diseases and he cast out demons, and who knows what else.

 And that was just in Capernaum...that was just the beginning.

 The world is a broken place and needs healing.  It was then and it still is.

 I was reminded of this all too well two weeks ago at Bangor Theological Seminary’s Convocation - where pastors, students and laity gather every January to hear inspiring preachers, teachers and leaders.  The theme was story telling.  My favorite preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor was there as was a professor from Iliff School of Theology in Denver and the area minister for the Baptist churches in New England.  They were all wonderful.  And Janet Reno, the former attorney general during the Clinton administration, she was there, too.

 Now, everyone was curious to see what Ms. Reno -  she asked us to call her Janet, but we just couldn’t, everyone was curious to see what Ms. Reno would say - here she was in the midst of about 400 church goers, pastors and seminary professors - what would she talk about?  What stories would she tell?  The church was packed when it came time for her to speak.  She stood up - she’s very tall - and the sanctuary grew still.  And, for the next 45 minutes, Ms. Reno talked about all the problems our country is facing.  Problems she had come across as attorney general in Florida and the United States.

 Problems like the sky rocketing costs of medicine, the out of control costs of insurance for patients and doctors, the problem  of inadequate housing for all people, the problem of homelessness, poverty, the need for better health care facilities for our parents and grandparents and loved ones, the problem of global warming and pollution and caring for our environment, the issue of justice for victims of crime,  the difficulty of raising kids in America, the problem of drug and alcohol abuse...especially with our young people, the problem of education, the lack of good education for our kids, the lack of money, the lack of teachers.

You name a problem in this country or in your life and she talked about it.

 After a while it began to feel a bit like a political rally  - as the list of problems grew, people began to clap and cheer her on, I, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction. I started to slump down in my pew under the weight of all that is wrong with the country and the world. As her list grew longer, I slumped lower. How can all that needs to be fixed, be fixed.  How can we change all the systems that need changing?  While everyone was clapping and cheering,  all I wanted to do was run back to my hotel room and hide under the covers.

 But then her message began to take a different turn.  After her long litany of the social ills facing America, she pointed to us and said, "And you,
the church, can fix this.  And then she told stories - personal stories of lives that were changed one by one, because that’s really how lives are changed, and systems are changed - one by one, then working together.

 She told a story of meeting a woman on the streets of Miami, a tiny, little woman walked up to her one day and said, "Are you Ms. Reno?"  And Ms. Reno, looked down at the woman and said, "Yes."  And the woman said, "I want to talk to you."  O.k., Ms. Reno replied. The woman went on , "These here are my two boys." She looked up at two strapping young men staring down at her.  The woman continued.  "You helped me get welfare when I needed it, when my husband ran off, and you helped me get child support to help me raise my two boys.  I’ve raised them and I want you to know they have turned out just fine.  The two strapping young men smiled down at Ms. Reno.  "I just wanted to say thanks," the woman said.

  The world is broken and needs healing and you and I can heal it.   That’s the second point.   The world...

 We can because we are Christians, we follow Christ and Jesus said in the gospel of John ch. 14. "Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact, will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father and he will give you a helper - the Holy Spirit - after I am gone."  What is Jesus telling us?  Thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit which abides in us, a gift from God, we, who follow Christ,  have the ability to do the works that Christ did, proclaim the gospel like him, to love like him and to serve like him.  H.K.? This is important - write this down.

 And we must because we are Christians...it’s what our faith demands of us...to look beyond ourselves and our lives - school, work and home - and see where the good news of Christ needs to be heard and received - to look around us and see where God’s love needs to be shared -  to look around us and see where we can serve and then  do it.  We do it because Jesus did it.

 *The world is broken and needs healing and you and I can heal it.*
 
 

 The only thing is... healing the world, this country, maybe even this town or the schools can be, well, tiring.  You may get overwhelmed or frustrated or both.  You may even want to give up or quit.  In order to avoid these things, you must take a break, withdraw from the demands of the world - of school, work, home, children - and pray.  You must take time to draw near to God and renew your strength and your spirit.

 *We must take time to pray.*  The third point.

 Jesus knew this, knew that in order to keep doing what he was doing, to continue in his ministry, he had to withdraw from the crowds and the demands on his life every once in a while.  He knew he had to take time to regroup, to center himself on God and God’s will, to replenish that which had been taken from him.

 So he made time in his life to pray.

 In the morning, Mark says, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, other translations say a lonely place, and
;.  There, he drew near to God.  There he prayed.

 Why pray?  One of my favorite quotes is this from  Julian of Norwich....It oneth the soul to God.  Prayer - talking and listening - whether it’s by ourselves,  or as a congregation, silently or out loud - strengths our relationship with God.  It can quiet our hearts, bring us encouragement, give us comfort.   Pausing in our lives to give thanks to God, or to ask for help, to ask for wisdom, pausing to make all that is on our hearts and minds known is so good for us to do and yet...so many of us forget to do it...we get so busy, there’s always one more thing to be done before we can stop, one more item to be crossed off that list, one more load of laundry, one more thing to be picked up, one more person to call - and I’m as guilty of this as anyone.

 The other day I had a nice long list of things to do - most of which had Brad’s name beside them - so I began looking for him, I stepped over the dogs wrestling in the hall, stepped over the boys wrestling in the kitchen - the noise level in the house was increasing - we were on the verge of chaos...and try as I might, I couldn’t find him, which made me a little angry, so I started yelling  - nicely at first - then not so nicely - he still didn’t answer.  I finally found him in the study, door closed,  sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and a book open on his lap - he looked much too comfortable.  "What are you doing?"  I asked.  Without opening his eyes,  without moving, he said, "I’m praying." Oh, "Well," I said, "Hurry up. I’ve got things for you to do."

 Like Jesus, in order to keep doing what we do, in order to be good and effective ministers at whatever we do, we have to withdraw from the crowds and the demands on our life every once in a while.  We have to take time to regroup, to center ourselves on God and God’s will for our lives, to replenish that which has been taken from us.

 Make time in your life to pray.  It’s important. (Write that down).

 Because before you know it, you will be back at it again, back at school, at work, caring for people in your life, in your home, the opportunity to serve, to share God’s love never seems to end.  I think that’s a fourth point!  When you’re done praying and resting and renewing, get back out there, because the opportunity to share God’s love is endless.

 After Jesus had withdrawn to pray, withdrawn for some time alone,  it wasn’t long before Simon and the others started searching for him, hunting for him.  He was needed.
 There was work to be done.  When he finished praying he joined the others and went on to the neighboring towns to proclaim his message.

 There is always work to be done. And there will always be someone looking for you.   The world is waiting.

 We are all following in Jesus’ footsteps.  As his disciples, as ministers, we have been given a message to proclaim, too.  The good news of Jesus Christ is for all people;  the gifts of God - love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, justice, hope - are for all people.

 The work is broken and needs healing.  We can and must heal it.
 Make time to pray, to renew your strength, and when you’re done, get back out  there, the world is waiting for you and your gifts.

 Above all, remember that God is with us on every step of our journey - in our beginnings our endings and all that other stuff in-between.

 Thanks be to God.  Write that down, too.

Linda B. Hirst