Job Chapter
7:
Job spoke, saying:
Is
not man’s life on earth drudgery?
Troubled nights have been allotted to me. If in bed I say,
“When shall I arise?” then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness
until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an
end without hope.
Mark Chapter
1:
When it was
evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by
demons. The whole town was
gathered at the door. He cured many, who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out
many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early
before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon
and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is
looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may
preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their
synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
The above quote from the Book of Job expresses how so
many people feel in life today, when Job laments: Is not man’s life on earth drudgery?
Night after night drags on; and yet, my life races by and comes to an end
without hope.
How many people are living lives like that right now – tragically
hopeless?
In the Gospel story from Mark, Jesus offers us another
way to live. In the passage above, we
are given three pointers on how to live a meaningful and rich life. The first
lesson comes from Jesus’ healing ministry. Mark tells us that the whole town
gathered at the door of Peter’s house that night. Some say that was about 1500 hundred people came to
Peter’s home that night; bring everyone in that town who was sick. And Jesus showed compassion to them all curing
everyone who needed it.
Jesus gives us an example of what can give meaning,
fulfilment, satisfaction and happiness to our lives. When we care for others, when we are
compassionate, when we seek healing, when we live for the betterment and the well-being
of those around us and of society ... life is good.
We have a choice – to live a life of drudgery as described
in Job or to live a life like Jesus full of rewarding service to others. The
choice should be easy.
Just think if we all lived to help others how enriched our
lives would be! And what a different
world we might have. It’s a paradox
really, the more you give the more you get, and the better life is.
So the first lesson Jesus teaches us in this reading is
that caring for others, bring healing, helping people to cast off the demons in
their lives brings joy to the world and joy and meaning to our lives.
You might say where are the demons today? It would certainly
seem that addictions are in that category – addictions to alcohol, to
pornography, to gambling, to overeating, to shopping all of them lead to the
kind of unhappiness we hear today in the
Book of Job. And we can help to cast off these demons! The AA 12 Step Program is a perfect example
of people acting like Jesus and making a huge difference in other’s lives.
The second lesson Jesus teaches us today is just as
important as the first. Did you notice
what Jesus did to rejuvenate himself after using all that energy to help
others. He went off by himself and prayed.
Mark tells us:
“Rising very early
before dawn, Jesus left and went off to a deserted place where he prayed.” Prayer is so important to living a great life.
Do you set aside time each day to pray, perhaps like Jesus
rising early?
The opportunity to pray often comes through the
invitation to pray for others. A friend Bob told me this story, while he was on
his early morning walk one day a garbage truck pulled up beside him. He thought
the driver was going to ask him for directions. Instead, the driver pulled out
a photo of a small boy, saying, “This is
my grandson. He’s on life-support in a San Diego hospital.” Thinking the driver
was begging for money to help cover the hospital bill, Bob reached for his
wallet. But the driver wanted something
much more than money. He said to Bob,
“I’m asking people on my route to pray for my grandson. Would you help us pray for him, please?” Bob
promised. The driver thanked him and drove off. That driver’s commitment to the
power and effectiveness of prayer is an example of the commitment that Jesus
had and calls us to have. Bob told me from that day forward he always used his
walk time to pray and it changed his life.
Finally, the third lesson Jesus teaches us about living a
meaningful life comes from the last line in the reading from Mark, which says that
after this amazing night he went into their synagogues preaching the Good News
of God’s Kingdom throughout the whole of Galilee.
Like Jesus we too are called to preach the good news of
God’s Kingdom, regardless of who we are. You might say, “I can’t speak well. I don’t have that
gift.” There is good story about that. A
young man Ruddell Norris was aware that every Christian is called, by Baptism, to
preach the Gospel. But he had a problem: he was very shy. How could he
preach it? The solution he hit upon was ingenious. Each month, he spent a
percentage of his earnings on Catholic pamphlets and placed them in hospital lobbies
and other similar places. One day he overheard someone say, “My introduction to
the Catholic Church came in a strange way: through a pamphlet I found in a
hospital lobby.” Overhearing that was a great blessing for Ruddell. It was as
if an angel spoke to him, saying, “Jesus just wanted to let you know that your
efforts are bearing fruit.”
The reading from Mark’s Gospel provides us with a
graphic picture of our Christian calling. We are called to be for our world, what Jesus was for his
world. Concretely this means we are called to show forth in our
lives the same three dimensions that Jesus did.
• We are called to show forth the
compassion of Jesus.
• We are called to show forth the
prayerfulness of Jesus.
• We are called to preach the good news
of God’s Kingdom by word and example
This is our calling as Christians— to be for our world what
Jesus was for his world. If we do, if we follow his example, we need not worry
about seeing life as drudgery.
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