"Help Me, I’m Falling!" - Mark 1:29-39 - February 9, 2003

For the past eight years I have been teaching classes for Human Service majors at Edison Community College. Part of the curriculum includes a chapter on "Self Help." Since human service workers are such giving people they often forget to attend to their own needs. Consequently, many get burned out, discouraged or even depressed. They need to be reminded that their ability to help others is directly related to their willingness to get help for themselves.

Following the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and many local people from the city of Capernaum, Jesus, spent some time in a lonely place, praying. All that healing and counseling was hard work. In order for Jesus to continue he needed some respite time and personal meditation. Jesus went from town to town, person to person, healing, counseling, teaching, preaching and caring. To compensate for his ministry he included time for himself.

In the gospel of Mark, there are numerous accounts when Jesus rested and prayed. Five times he took a boat trip to get away, or just went down to the sea (Mk. 3:7, 6:45, 8:13, 2:13, 7:31). Two times he went into the hills (Mk. 3:13, 6:46). One time he took a walk through the grain fields, (Mk. 2:23) and another time we find him high up a mountain, (Mk. 9:2). There’s more. In (Mk. 6:31) he tells his disciples to "come and rest." On two occasions he goes where he wants to be "unknown" (Mk. 7:24, 9:30), and yet another time he simply, "went home" (Mk. 3:20). Still another time we find him "going beyond the Jordan" (Mk. 10:1). His final time to himself is climaxed with time alone and prayer in Gethsemane, (Mk. 14:2).

One night last week I was up late at the hospital, attending to a dying elderly woman in the congregation. The next morning I was reminded by my wife and a close personal friend to take a nap that afternoon. But, my day got busy and I never go the opportunity. I was a little tired the next day and not clearly focused. I wonder how I would have felt had I taken that nap. It is so easy for those of us in helping professions to push the envelope and forget to get adequate rest and time for meditation. All too often we consider these luxuries when in fact they are absolutely essential for our well-being.

We live in a hi-tech, fast pace, workaholic world where no one rests. We are constantly on the road, running errands, going places. We stuff ourselves with "fast food," overbook our lives with a myriad of things to do, and at the end of the day we are totally exhausted. We live (and die) by the clock. We are controlled by the need to produce. Time is money, time is how we keep in control of our lives. We resist quiet time by keeping the radios, televisions and computers on. The very thought of being alone, praying, scares us to death. We want professionals to do that for us. We haven’t learned that relaxation and mediation breaks will empower us to do even greater things. Thus, we continue to be busy. Consequently we are on a path to self-destruction, unable to help others, let alone help ourselves.

I know that I need to build in personal prayer time, time to relax, time to "get away." This story has reminded me to make time for myself a high priority. But, I have also learned something more important. The story tells us that Jesus took time away to pray and be refreshed. That is explicit. What we fail to see is that Jesus set aside this time to yield to the power of God. I believe we need to learn to yield to the power of God too. That means being free from all other distractions so that God can empower us and refresh us. Then and only then can we help others as the power of God flows through us.

An old woman was trudging along a country road with a heavy pack upon her back when her parson came along in his carriage and offered her a ride. Gratefully she climbed into the vehicle but kept the pack on her back. The clergyman suggested she put the pack on the floor of the carriage. The poor old lady said it was good enough of him to give her the lift but she did not think it fair to ask him to carry her burden too. The minister quickly found in this a little sermon. He told the woman that this situation was somewhat like our relationship with God. We believe that God’s grace can save our souls, but we fail to put our trust in God’s grace to help us with our daily burdens. (from Wellsprings of Wisdom by Ralph Woods)

We also live in a society that is strongly influenced by consumerism and knowledge. Buy this, buy that, to ease your pain. Take this pill, have that surgery, consult a specialist to correct your health problem. We also want an explanation for everything. If we can rationalize why we hurt, we can find something or someone to fix us and make us better. All it takes is time and money. That’s great when it works, but mostly we just keep spinning our wheels.

Building personal meditation time into our lives and yielding to the power of God will truly empower us. When the opportunity arises to provide help, and yes, even healing to someone who suffers, we can be an agent of God’s healing touch.

We know from the story that Peter’s mother-in-law was healed. "And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them." How Jesus did that we will never know. We only know that he went to her, gave her his hand and took time away to receive the power of God.

We can’t be lifted up, nor can we lift others up unless we are willing to grasp the hand of God that reaches out to us. It is a hand, filled with the power of love and grace. It is a hand that proclaims "the kingdom of God is at hand, your sins are forgiven, and may peace be with you."

In Mark, Chapter 3 there is a story about a man who had a withered hand. He was in the synagogue and Jesus was present. The Pharisees were waiting for Jesus to break one of their laws, like healing on the Sabbath. The man was embarrassed about his deformity, afraid to ask for help. But Jesus noticed him and he told him to come to him. Then Jesus said to the man "stretch out your hand. He stretched it out, and his hand was restored."

God wants us to reach and take God’s hand. We have to let go of being in control, like the Pharisees, and expose our vulnerabilities, like the man with the withered hand. As illustrated by that story, restoration is possible when we reach to God for the help we desperately need.

The world is currently perplexed by the space shuttle disaster and the potential war with Iraq. Commentators have been talking about the need to connect the dots in order to justify war or determine what happened to the Columbia. They want explain the situation and avoid future disasters or develop a rationale that will justify war. I had an experience last week that help me to connect some dots. It had nothing to do with world events, rather it had to do with a woman in my parish who was dying.

I mentioned earlier that I was called to the hospital late one night last week. As I sat by the bedside of the woman who was dying, she reached for my hand. I grasped her hand and she struggled to sit up. A relative took her other hand and she sat up, wanting desperately to communicate. The woman had Alzheimer’s and much of what she said was irrational and confusing. Only rarely was she able to connect. I asked her if she wanted me to pray with her and she nodded. I got close to her, bowed my head and started to pray. But, before I could utter the first word the woman began reciting the Lord’s prayer. She struggled with the words but with my help we completed the prayer together. Following the prayer, she seemed to relax and be less agitated. Six hours later the woman peacefully died.

The woman didn’t get up and "serve" like Peter’s mother-in-law, but she appeared to have acquired closure for her life and her final hours from then on seemed less of a struggle. It was a profound experience and I cherish that opportunity to grasp a hand that would soon move on to a much peaceful and eternal existence.

That experience has helped me to connect the dots of reaching out to others and taking time away to yield to the power of God. I see now why Jesus wanted his disciples to do the same thing. We think that filling our lives with things to do will satisfy us. We believe there is a reason for everything. God, however wants us to hold on to God’s outstretched hand and include time in or busy lives where we are receptive to God’s healing power.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio