Two weeks ago we told the next part of the story when Jesus called his first disciples.  He found them fishing, called out to them and told them, “Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  He called them to himself so that he could turn their everyday lives of fishing upside down and inside out.  He called out to them so that they would become fishers of men.  

Last week we followed Jesus and James and John, Andrew and Peter to Capernaum.  There in that city of roughly 1500 people in a synagogue on a normal Saturday we encountered the fundamental fact that Jesus wasn’t boring.  Instead when he taught people were amazed.  When he healed people were fascinated.  When he was doing his thing people couldn’t stop talking about it.

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!”

Think about this chain of events from the disciple’s perspective.  A few days or weeks before this they were living normal lives, fishing and eating, caring for families and playing their part in the drama of everyday-existence.  And then they are called.  They are just getting to know this new teacher with this irresistible charisma.  They are just beginning to grasp his authority and he starts healing.  He cast out a demon and heals a fever.  He rebukes evil spirits and brings people back from the brink of death.  The result is an explosion of expectations.  Suddenly the former fishermen are in the middle of a phenomenon.  They are in the middle of holy action.  They are on the way to bigger and better things.  And then Jesus is gone.  The next morning when the people come back for more, Jesus is nowhere to be found.  

Augustine described the Spirit as the bond of love between the Father and the Spirit.  What we see here when Jesus comes out is the way that bond stays strong.  When most people would have been sleeping after a big performance, Jesus is out praying.  He is out in the dark, in a solitary place reconnecting with his God and Father, worshiping and resting, blessing and being blessed, listening and speaking, giving and receiving joy.

If we see Jesus come out and head into that solitary place when everybody else would have gone for the triple crown,   then we see that Jesus is not going to have a ministry of fame because his most important characteristic isn’t visible through spectacle.  His defining power is dependence on his Father.  You just can’t see that if all you see is a wonder worker riding the waves of sucess.  And so, Jesus comes out.  He leaves the excitement behind and turns instead to the will of the Father that he go and preach in the villages, in the small places.  He turns from our sinful expectations and turns to his Holy Father to be restored for the surprising work he is here to do.  

Jesus’ way is to save the world one person at a time.  Preaching here, going there avoiding crowds when possible and showing his face and way to people along the way.  His way is to come out and stay out where God’s glory and not human fame is what draws people into the kingdom.  Just as he comes out to connect to the Father, so too will he go out to connect with people.

This deeper ‘coming out’ is the secret that only the powers of darkness know and perceive in Mark’s telling of the story.  The disciples don’t know it.  The crowds don’t get it, but as readers of Mark we get to hear the demon identify and describe Jesus as the Holy One.  In light of that out of the bag secret we get to watch as Jesus slowely but surely makes his way to the cross where he will come out again.  At that point he will come out of his perfect relation with the Father and be made sin so that we might become the holiness of God and come into our Father’s presence as his children.  

1. First suggestion is to get up very early in the morning.
   1. Think about Jesus again.  He is caught up in a wave of excitment, working hard and yet he pulls back, he creates space to connect with his Father and know at an even deeper level the power of their Spirit
   2. We need to do that same thing.  
   3. We need to get up very early in morning or get away for 15 minutes to 1 hours and pray, read, ponder, release the things of our hearts so that we can do what we are called to do instead of just meeting people’s expecations
   4. Quiet Times can be something you do and check off the list.  But the can also be the deeepest most forming thing you do if you truly connect with the Father through the Son in the Power of the Spirit.
2. Second suggestion is there in verse 39.  After Jesus comes out he comes to preach the gospel and cast out demons.  When he does, the disciples continue to follow.  
   1. That is what we are invited to do as well.  What I mean is that the Jesus who came out of Capernaum and came out of people’s expectations also came out from the grave.  He was raised again to new life is still on the move.  He is working and moving, healing and blessing, meeting and calling, convicting and preaching.
   2. We can still come out with him.  We can come out and share in this mysterious ministry of love, of speaking the truth, of serving and giving.  We can learn to see what Jesus did and what he is doing and join in the action.
   3. It won’t always be exciting or easy.  It probably won’t make you a Super Man or Super Woman who goes on win to tripple crown of social sucess.  But it will release you to be the person God created you to be and do the work within God’s work that will bring peace and grace, joy and justice, kindness and gentleness to the world.