Everywhere Jesus went, people flocked to him. They wanted what he was offering. They wanted inspiration. They wanted healing. They wanted God. Mark's gospel tells us that "so many people were coming and going they (Jesus and the apostles) did not even have a chance to eat" (Mark 6:31). That coming and going provided a chaotic atmosphere for Jesus' ministry. That chaos meant that even before Jesus got to a town, the mass of admirers and hangers-on rushed ahead of him and waited for his arrival (Mark 6:33). Mark points out that people "ran throughout that whole region of the Gennesaret and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was" (Mark 6:55).
In dramatic contrast to all this chaos, Mark simultaneously reports that Jesus said to his apostles, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place" (Mark 6:31b-32).
Chaos came to Jesus because people were attracted to him. The needy and the sick came to him. The people who were looking for an authentic relationship with God came to him. The people who wanted to hear the truth about life came to him. Jesus was a man people flocked to like tiny pieces of metal attracted by a magnet. That caused a mob atmosphere much of the time. That caused chaos. Nobody could protect Jesus from the crowds. Everyone wanted a piece of him. The poor and downtrodden wanted him to help them. The sick and suffering wanted healing from him. The lonely wanted fellowship with him. That made for one chaotic incident after another as the Lord moved from place to place. People were fascinated by and attracted to Jesus.
People were attracted to Jesus' integrity. Jesus was a man who said what he would do and did what he said. There were so many hypocrites around, people who said one thing and did something else, that Jesus stood out like light in the darkness. Many of the religious leaders fell into this unhappy category. They told the people what to do, but didn't do what they told others to do. They majored in minors, emphasizing man-made rules while neglecting God's laws and God's kingdom values. Jesus confronted them and faced them down on many occasions. People marveled that Jesus stood up to the political and religious establishment.
People were attracted to Jesus' authority. "No one speaks like this man," people reported. "He speaks with authority." Jesus held no office, but he spoke like a king. Jesus had no official position, yet he spoke like one accustomed to winning. Jesus had no wealth, yet he acted like a lord and master whose vineyard was the world. Where others reacted, Jesus always seemed to take the initiative. Even nature bowed down before him. The apostles, who followed him day and night, were constantly amazed by his commanding actions over people, situations, and nature. During a storm on the Sea of Galilee "... they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this that even the wind and waves obey him?' " (Mark 4:31). No one was like him, before or since. There was a powerful aura around him. People sensed it and saw it. When Jesus spoke, people heard truth spoken with authority.
People were attracted to Jesus' message of love, hope, and compassion. He not only taught that we should love God above everything else and our neighbors as ourselves; Jesus lived what he taught. You could warm your hands at the love he showed to the woman with an issue of blood, Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-43), and the 5,000 hungry people who were fed with a few leftovers (Mark 6:1-12). Jesus fed the multitude like a caring mother feeds her beloved children. Jesus showed that same kind of love to hundreds of other people. You could see the love in his eyes as he moved among people.
You could also see hope in his eyes. He was the most hopeful man that anyone had ever seen. Hope radiated from his words and from his being. He helped people overcome physical, mental, and spiritual problems by holding out hope in front of them. "Be not afraid," he often said. He saw the future that people could have if they would just turn back to God, and he held that future up in front of their eyes so they too could see it. Healing the blind, the deaf, the mute, and even the demon possessed, Jesus lifted up hope for one and all everywhere he went.
In the eyes of Jesus you could also see something else -- compassion. Where many others looked down at people, thinking themselves superior, Jesus always seemed to look out at people, from their level. Even the children, who were diminished by the culture, were treated as valuable people by Jesus. Children, as well as adults, flocked to Jesus because of the compassion they saw in him.
A little six-year-old boy was in a restaurant with his mother and father. After the adults had ordered their meal, the waiter turned to the little boy and said, "And, sir, what would you like to order?" The boy turned to his father and said, "He thinks I'm real." So does Jesus, son. So does Jesus.
With integrity and authority like he had, Jesus could have commanded governments and armies. Instead, he commanded peoples' respect and love. He still does. That's why people flock to him yet today.
With a message of love, hope, and compassion, Jesus was so unique that multitudes wanted to be where he was. They still do. If we could just get all of the human aspects of religion out of the way and help people see Jesus, their lives would be changed. "We would see Jesus," Greek seekers said (John 12:21 KJV). So would people today. Some people are attracted to Jesus because of what they hear about him or see in him. Multitudes of seekers make for chaos. So do multitudes of users.
Some people seek to use Jesus for their own ends. Just like some folks use friends or associates for their own selfish gain, like some people use the church just to get something, so some people come to Jesus trying to use him for their own ends. Often Jesus turned the tables on those who were trying to use him, for example the rich young fool and the lawyer who tried to test him with the question, "Who is my neighbor?" The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes who tried to trick him were often tricked by their own words. Some people still come to Jesus trying to use him for their own purposes. It never works. It just results in more chaos.
According to Mark 6:34, the people around Jesus were like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36 reports the same thing in a slightly different way. There we read that the crowd was harassed and helpless. Many people there were frightened, anxious, confused, and defenseless. Ever feel that way? Ever experience the chaos that abounds all around us? Chaos is catching. Have you ever succumbed?
There is no doubt that there is chaos in the world we live today. The speed at which we live, the noise that surrounds our days, the pressures, the stress, the expectations -- realistic and unrealistic -- people have for us today, the demands that blow our minds, the hectic pace of modern life all combine to make up the mad, mad world in which we live. In our busy, chaotic, and hectic lives, we need to see the one who touched the minds, hearts, and wills of thousands of people when he came to visit our chaotic world. Chaos is catching, but Jesus did not succumb.
There was chaos all around him because so many wanted to see him, touch him, and hear him. But there was a serenity within him that people could sense. Jesus was and is the still point in a chaotic and churning world.
Jesus said, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). Jesus knew that life includes heavy demands and hard work. Life has to have a counterpoint of rest, a time of recouping, and a healthy rhythm. Without that rhythm, life can become distorted, disheveled, and diseased. People in the marketplace must be balanced by meeting God in a quiet place. That's why Jesus took his disciples to a deserted place, a place of solitude.
Jesus' disciples had just returned from a mission of preaching and teaching the word of God. They had been involved in healing many diseases. The preaching, teaching, and healing had taken something out of them. They needed to have something put back into them. They needed some time to speak with God in order to be effective when they spoke for God. We are like them in this respect.
Actors have intermissions. Baseball players take a seventh inning stretch. Football players need a half-time break. Christians need meaningful intermissions in their lives too. We need time to refresh ourselves in the presence of God. Daily devotions can be that kind of break away from work. Prayer is the proper balance for work. Retreat can lead to a more meaningful re-entry. When that retreat is more than just a rest, when it is intentionally centered in God, it is called solitude.
To meet life's chaotic demands, we need some kind of retreat, a time of solitude with God. A retreat leader put it this way to a group of church leaders: "We are here to retreat by being with God so that we can re-enter the ministry of really being with God's people." Then he went on to do a spiritual exercise with the participants called "domains, demands, and responses." He had each person on retreat list at least three domains. He said, "A domain is any place or situation where you are expected to work or be responsible." Then he went on to explain, "Leave plenty of room after each word you write because after you have written down the domains in which you are involved, I will ask you to write down the demands you experience in those domains. After that you will need to write down your responses to those demands."
For domains, people wrote down:
- home
- work
- being a good spouse
- parenting
- personal finances
- being a good neighbor
- relating to relatives
- taking care of elderly parents
- and several other areas of responsibility.
For demands they wrote out:
- Do everything for all the children;
- Fix everything that breaks;
- Answer all questions;
- Never fail to be alert and loving;
- Never make a mistake when it comes to money;
- Always be kind, considerate, and compassionate;
- Always be responsible, even when I am exhausted from overwork; and
- Always make the right decisions.
They wrote down many additional demands they perceived were expected of them.
Then the retreat leader, said, "Now list how you responded to those expectations and demands that you or other people have placed on you." After twenty minutes of writing, the retreat leader had some of the people share what they had written. The responses included:
"I'm exhausted because I never get done."
"I feel guilty because I never get it perfect."
"I don't like myself because I always fall short."
"I get angry too quickly because I'm frustrated."
"I don't like this exercise because it makes me feel like there is no way out."
Then the retreat leader made a statement that really shook up the participants. "In most cases, you can't do anything about the domains or demands of life. You can't control what happens to you. The only thing you really have control over is your responses." After a lot of hot discussion and argument, most of the people agreed that the real area they could change was the way they responded to what happened to them.
"You can't control what happens to you; only how you respond to what happens to you," the leader said. "And that response has a lot to do with the state of your mind and spirit." The rest of the retreat was spent on Bible reading, prayer, and discussion of attitude and perspective in the light of what God revealed in his word. One woman, who had earlier identified a problem she had with criticizing others, came up with a formula that the group liked. "I think the best way to summarize what I need to work on in my life is 'The attitude I need daily is gratitude.' "
"I've been blaming others for what goes wrong in my life," a man who said he drank too much, chimed in. "I haven't wanted to take responsibility for my own life. If the only thing I can change is my responses, that means I have to take responsibility for what happens. That isn't easy, but with God's help, I will try to change."
A husband observed, "I guess you are all right about this business of having an attitude of gratitude, but I don't think I can change the way I have been living for 44 years." His prayer partner said, "I'll pray for you, Harry. You pray for me too. I'm not sure I can change either, especially if I have to do it myself. But if we pray for one another, maybe God will get us over the hump."
In the context of solitude -- time spent with God and with one another, many of the people on that retreat made the discovery that the illusions they had been living with had to do with trying to change other people instead of changing themselves with the help of God. Of course, not everyone got it. Joe Johnson said, "This is a waste of time. This solitude stuff is for the birds. I'm leaving." And he did. It's not clear at this time if Joe ever got it, but the point of that retreat on solitude was to make a deposit in each participant's account, a deposit that God could use to help people improve the rhythm of their lives.
In the closing devotions, the pastor, who was not the retreat leader, read Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." He also quoted Henri Nouwen, the Roman Catholic spiritual writer: "In solitude we can slowly unmask the illusion of our possessiveness and discover in the center of our own self that we are not what we can conquer, but what is given to us. It is this solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and that we are worth more than the result of our efforts."1
After commenting briefly on these words, the pastor quoted Nouwen again: "In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness."2 Then the pastor confessed, "This quote hits me right between the eyes (in my head): When we start being too impressed by the results of our work, we slowly come to the erroneous conviction that life is one large scoreboard where someone is listing the points to measure our worth."3
"We have retreated," said the retreat leader. "Now it's time to re-enter."
Joe Johnson, who had walked out of that retreat, later privately said to his pastor. "I shouldn't have walked out, but that retreat leader was getting to me. As president of the congregation and running my own business, I guess the stress was just getting to me. We are also having some trouble with one of our daughters who is dating a young man we think is a bum. That retreat leader was getting 'under my skin' with all his talk about solitude, demands, and responses. I usually can control the situations I'm in, but frankly pastor, I'm at overload."
"I know," Pastor Jones replied, "I've been praying for you every day since you left that retreat. I knew something was wrong." The two men then knelt down and prayed together.
1. Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude (Notre Dame: Ave Marie Press, 1974), p. 22.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., p. 18.