A Deserted Place
with Rev. Laura Sherwood
February 4, 2024
The Scripture
Isaiah 40:21–31
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Mark 1:29–39
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Read the Full Text
After Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law at the beginning of today’s reading, the word quickly spreads and people come and seek him out to perform many more healings, and it soon consumes all of his time. After a good bit of this, the scripture says that he “goes to a deserted place to pray.”
The mention of a deserted place at first conjures the image of a real desert. Not many verses before this passage in Mark’s gospel, is an account of how Jesus had prepared for public ministry by spending time in the wilderness, 40 days to be exact, in a desert wasteland where there was nothing to sustain human life. In the desert he fought for the life of his spirit against the temptations of the spirit which are made greater by the absence of physical comfort. And yet, he emerged from this time stronger in spirit and ready for ministry in the human world.
While images of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert are brought to mind here, an actual place of desert was geographically unlikely in the area of Capernaum where this story’s events occur. The scripture does not say he went to a “desert” place, it says he went to a “deserted” place. Deserted, literally means uninhabited, a place where no one lives.
Finish reading
Jesus did not need a literal desert; he needed to be in a place with no other people. He needed to be where there were no distractions, no demands on his time, no problems to solve, no healings to perform or demons to exorcise. The scripture does not say that after this or any other “deserted” time, that he never went back to where the people were or never started healing and ministering again, it just says that he took time out from that activity to be alone.
He needed to be alone in a deserted place in order to pray to God. We see this happen all the time in each of the 4 gospels. Jesus goes off somewhere by himself to pray. He also prays with his disciples and with other groups of people, and he certainly does his fair share of ministry, but he also always takes time by himself, in a deserted place, to pray.
As I was thinking about this part of today’s scripture, it made me wonder about a couple of things: First, Jesus seems to be teaching us about a profound aspect of ministry – it must be balanced with time to pray, within the faith community but also time alone where it is just you and God. One does not replace the other – both types of prayer are equally important in the life of faith and ministry. This makes a lot of sense for all of us in the Church if we want to be engaged in ministry that is truly led by God and at the same time nourishing to our own spirits.
The second thing I wondered about came in the form of a question: Why did Jesus need to pray at all? Over the years, when I have talked with various people about prayer, the number one reason given as a reason to pray is to ask for and receive forgiveness. Another top answer is to ask for things that are needed by the person or on behalf of others. And, finally, a third common answer about the purpose of prayer is to get closer to God.
All of those are very good reasons for us to pray, but were they Jesus’ reasons for prayer? The scripture says that he was without sin, so did he need to pray for forgiveness? Jesus had the very power of God within him and was able to see what people needed and give it to them instantly. So, did he need to pray to ask for things? Jesus was God incarnate, God’s own self in human flesh – how can you get closer to God than that? So, why would closeness to God be a reason for Jesus to pray?
When God chose to come to us in human form, there was a sacrifice involved. For along with life in the human flesh comes all the vulnerability, limitations, and distractions of the human life. To be in this flesh means in large part to be captive to it, to necessarily devote time to its life, health and habits. The normal character of human life distracts from the life of the spirit which needs different things to stay alive and healthy. So, I believe that in order to live fully as God’s spirit on earth, the human Jesus needed to take time away from human needs and demands so that he could feed His spirit with its source of true nourishment. 35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
Jesus is not only doing this for his own spiritual nourishment, he is modeling it for us, pointing us to the essential need our spirits have to spend time away from the distractions of our lives to connect with God’s spirit in prayer. As much as I understand the importance of what Jesus is modeling for us, I must also confess that I am not good at finding those kinds of deserted places for prayer in the context of my busy life and work.
As you know, today is Scout Sunday. I’ve had the privilege of meeting scouts at churches I’ve served throughout my time in ministry. One thing that always impressed me is the scouts’ always drawn to their regular commitment to time away in remote places of nature. They don’t go to be completely alone, they go and work together, but places that are away from the usual rhythms and distractions of human life which I’m sure is good for their spirits.
When I picture an ideal deserted place to pray, I first think of a remote place in nature – it is where my spirit always wants to go, even if such a place is not nearby. Sometimes, I think I let that lack of access to nature be an excuse for not taking time apart in some other way to connect with God and receive nourishment for my spirit from God’s spirit. Today’s scripture has served as a strong reminder to me of how important it is to take myself out of the familiar so that I can more clearly attend to the life of the spirit. Perhaps it will be a similar reminder and encouragement for you.
When I turned to the entry for “Prayer” in Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, there were literally 2 pages about what prayer means and how it is done through the Bible. But it was the very first sentence that gave the most compelling definition: (Prayer is) (the) primary means of communication that binds together God and humankind in intimate and reciprocal relationship. (Eerdman’s, pg. 1077)
We all know the famous format for prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, millions of believers in every kind of Christian Church pray it every week, and we will do so a bit later in today’s service. But before Jesus teaches the words, he models something even more important for us to understand about it – that prayer is first and foremost about relationship – our relationship with God and God’s relationship with us.
Jesus went to a deserted place to pray to allow his spirit full connection with God, away from the distractions of physical life and work. He needed this time to not only receive the nourishment of that relationship, but also to express whatever was on his mind and heart, without reservation. It was his time, face-to-face with God, to wrestle with the challenges confronting him and the physical and emotional weariness they caused him. It was his time to be completely honest with God about his own human fears and hard questions. We see this the night before his crucifixion, when he prays in anguish about what is to come. “Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me, but not my will but yours be done.” Jesus did not pray to stop what was to happen, but he needed to pray in honest and open relationship with God in order to face it in the strength of his spirit.
As human beings tied to physical lives in a physical world, we must be intentional about seeking out the source of true nourishment for our spiritual lives. Time set apart with God, in whatever is a deserted place for each of us, is central to obtaining that which truly feeds our spirit – time with our creator. It is within the context of that relationship that we can most sincerely ask forgiveness, pray for healing and face God with the naked honesty of our emotions and the fiercest of our questions.
May God bless us all with deserted places to pray. Amen.