A handful of years ago, when I was stationed way out west in St. Charles, Chik-Fil-A decided to open one their first standalone restaurants right down the road from the parish. I had heard of this brand before. In fact, you could get Chik-Fil-A at the Busch student center and I often did in between classes when I was a student at SLU. But I was taken aback by the devotion and excitement people had for this new location. I would hear people talking about it, about how they drove by the construction and “boy, they are really moving on that new Chik-Fil-A building!” Some people even knew the scheduled completion date and how many days remained until the grand opening; if you didn’t know any better you might think they were discussing the due date for their new baby! But that wasn’t the end of it. In the days leading up the grand opening, people began camping outside the restaurant for a chance to be one of the first handful of customers who would win a free chicken sandwich every day for a year. I was more than willing to spend a few bucks for my sandwich and sleep in my own bed. But this love for free food and really for free anything is as old as the human race.
We see this over and over again in the gospels. Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes and a crowd of thousands pursue him looking for more. In today’s passage, Jesus stops by the home of his apostles Peter and Andrew. They tell him that Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever. Apparently St. Peter liked his mother in law because instead of asking the Lord to finish her off, he requests healing. Jesus obliges and instantly she is better. Immediately the word gets out that a miracle man is healing people, for free, instantly! St. Mark says the whole town was gathered at the door and they brought all who were suffering spiritually and physically. Now, suddenly, Jesus has become a one-man hospital. The Gospel says that Jesus healed many of them.
If the whole city was at Peter’s house that evening, then Jesus was probably healing well into the night. The Gospel says that Jesus left the house long before dawn and went into a secluded place to pray. He was so besieged by those who wanted healing that he could’t pray in the house.
When his disciples finally realized he was gone, they went looking for him. When they locate the Lord, they say, “Hey, everybody is looking for you! There are still sick people waiting” They seem to think that his urgent-care clinic should be open at all hours.
Now, of course, it is a good work to heal the sick. And, of course, those with loved ones who are suffering are right to want them healed.
And yet how absurd it is to suppose that prayer should take second-place to work, no matter what the work is! And how sadly and understandably absurd it is to suppose that the mission of Jesus is to be a “Doctor Without Borders.”
Each healing Jesus does is a good thing. Sickness, suffering and death were not part of God’s plan for us or the world He created. But believe it or not, good things can actually get in the way of serving God properly. To serve God well, a person cannot just do any and all the good things others ask of him. He has to do those good things that God has called him to do. It takes prayer to figure out which good things to turn down and which ones are part of God’s plan for our life and our day.
The disciples feel that Jesus needs to hurry back to Peter’s village to keep practicing medicine and take away every sick person’s ailment. What Jesus tells them, after his sacred time of prayer, is that he is leaving Peter’s village to continue his ministry—not of medicine but of preaching in other towns. Preaching is the purpose for which he came. Salvation of the human race is His sole focus of Jesus’ time here on earth. Miracles and healings, as wonderful as they are, are simply signs of his power and authority to save us.
What does this mean for us, as disciples of the One and Only Savior?
What is needed to serve God well is not doing endless good things that other people ask from us. We will not impress God by simply signing up to do more and more things. What is needed for the Lord’s service is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, manifested in a regular habit of prayer. From that time with God comes the wisdom and clarity to know what things we are called to commit to, how we ought to use our personal gifts and talents, and what relationships will lead us closer to God. This approach is not just for the areas that relate directly to God, this parish, or your spiritual life. We should bring everything to prayer. For example: how many sports should my children be signed up for? Running them around to practices and going on trips for tournaments have real impacts on finances and family time together and ought to be prayed about. Volunteering is another area where there are so many opportunities for doing good but there is only one of me and so much need in the world. Am I asking God to help me pick where to help or am I just choosing blindly…if I am choosing anything at all. Thinking about our lives, all of us can think of many instances where we have to choose between different good causes. Let God help with these decisions! Prayerful decision-making will make us faithful to the good things which fulfill us while keeping focussed on the most important thing of all: the salvation of our soul, our family, and our world.
