Why is Jesus So Attractive to So Many?

Jesus Was Connected with God Through Prayer

50 Day Spiritual Adventure, July 9, 2000

A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

Today we begin our Fifty Day Spiritual Adventure. The theme is: Celebrate Jesus! And the question we are asking is: "What Makes Jesus so Attractive to so Many?" Each week we are going to deal with one special reason as to why this is the case. Maybe some of you saw the Peter Jenning's special on Jesus a couple of weeks ago. Many disagreed with it and many did not like the skepticism of the scholars that were interviewed, but millions watched it. It was the top rated show of the evening. What is it that makes Jesus so attractive to so many? We are going to look at eight different answers to that question. The beauty of the adventure is that as we look at each of the eight themes, the power that was at work in Jesus can become a power that is at work in us. We can be changed for the better, and we can change the people around us.

How can we participate in the Adventure? There are four levels of participation.

1. The simplest level is just to make a commitment to be here for the next eight Sundays. Everyone should be able to participate at this level. Summer is a time for vacation, but it is not a time for vacation from God. Our relationship with God and our need for the support of fellow believers is not something we can set aside-not even for a short period of time. If we do, it diminishes us and it diminishes the people who need our support.

2. The second level of support is to buy the adult journal called Celebrate Jesus. These journals are available in the fellowship area and cost only $5.00. We encourage you to pick one up. On one level this devotional journal helps us to focus daily on the theme for the week. But it is also more than this-it is a prayer journal. It will help you grow in prayer, and it will help you grow as a disciple by encouraging some very simple actions.

3. A third level of involvement is to purchase the little book that accompanies the series. It is written in kind of a Reader's Digest format and provides deeper insight into each week's theme.

4. The fourth level of involvement is to participate in the small groups that will meet every Sunday at 9:30 or ll A.M. You can choose the one you prefer. These sharing groups will simply discuss the theme of the week and how we can support each other in living it out.

Well, that's our mission for the next eight weeks. It is not an impossible one, and I hope everyone will choose to accept it.

So, why is Jesus so attractive to so many? Let's look at the first answer to the question. The first answer is that he was so attractive to so many because he was connected with God through prayer. We learn the importance of prayer to Jesus as we look at the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark. This first chapter describes a typical day in the life of Jesus. What did a typical day in the life of Jesus look like?

First, it involves public worship. It begins with a trip to the synagogue (Mark 1:21-28). I guess we could say it begins with community prayer, uniting with a group of people desiring to connect with God through prayer. And Jesus is not just part of the assembly of worshippers, he takes an active role. It says that he teaches them.

But there is a lot more to his participation than this. He encounters and heals someone who is afflicted by an unclean spirit, a person who is out of control and screaming and convulsing. If you have ever been around someone like that-someone who is out of control and overcome by emotion-you know how draining that can be.

After worship they go to the home of Simon and Andrew for rest and relaxation. (Mark 1:29-31) But even here Jesus can't seem to get any rest. Here he discovers another sick person, the mother of Peter. It seems that no matter where he went there was always someone who needed him.

And in the evening his work really becomes demanding. The people in the surrounding area hear about him, and they bring all their sick and all their demon possessed to the very door of the house where Jesus is staying (Mark 1:32-34). And we can imagine that the healing and the exorcisms continued until late into the night.

And after a day of exhausting activity that lasts from early in the morning until late at night, what would you expect that Jesus would do the next day? We might expect him to sleep in or take the day off. That's what we would do. But that's not what Jesus does. It says that while it was still very dark he "went out to a lonely place and there he prayed." (Mark 1:35)

Needless to say, we look at prayer in a far different way than Jesus did. When we have had a day like Jesus had and face another day which looks equally challenging, we say to ourselves, "I don't have time to pray. I'll just forget about it. God will understand." We may not even give it that much thought. We may simply charge into the day at hand.

But Jesus didn't do that. It was his habit to get up and pray, and he simply would not abandon that habit even after the most exhausting of days. We might say, especially after the most exhausting of days. He knew that to abandon the practice was to lose touch with the power at the center of life -- the power that energizes and directs us and holds all things together.

Surely we've all had the kind of exhausting day Jesus had, but our response was to abandon the habit of prayer. Personally, I know that on the days when I neglect morning prayer, things do not seem quite right. There is a sense of peace that is lacking. Decisions are harder. Relatively minor frustrations seem like major ones. And it becomes easier to get sidetracked by activities that are inconsequential.

Martin Luther, a great man of prayer, was quite aware of this. He was once overheard to say, "I have so much to do today that I must spend the first three hours in prayer." That sounds incredible to us, but that is the attitude of people who know the power of prayer. They have learned where true power and guidance come from. They have learned how much anxiety is created from thinking that you have got to do everything and be everything for everybody. Because Jesus was connected with God through prayer, he knew what his purpose was and he knew how to say "no" to things that would pull him in the wrong direction. And, so, when the disciples interrupted him seeking to involve him in an activity that would pull him off course, he said "no." He informed them of the purpose that God had revealed to him through prayer.

So, the question is: do we want the same power and the same sense of purpose that Jesus had? The truth is that we can have it if we are willing to develop the habit of prayer. Now, we can make excuses. We can say: I simply don't have the time to pray. I have too much to do. I can't afford the time. But the question is: can we afford not to do it? On a basic level, developing the habit of prayer is no different than developing any other habit. It is like flossing or brushing your teeth. Once you've developed the habit, you don't feel right when you don't do it. Your mouth doesn't feel right. Your teeth don't feel right. And just as there are consequences when you neglect caring for your teeth, there are consequences that come from neglecting your life with God-we lack energy and we lack direction and life seems to come unraveled.

And, so, during the next fifty days we invite you to develop the habit of prayer. Or if you already have the habit, to grow in the habit of prayer. And, so , for the sake of starting on the same page, let's do one of the basic activities we are going to be asked to do every day during the Fifty Day Adventure. It is called, "Pray with a pencil."

So, let's just take a few moments to practice the first activity of prayer which is to quiet ourselves. Close your eyes and relax and just focus on your breathing for a while and try to ignore any distractions. Now, I'd ask you to open your eyes and take out the sermon outline from your bulletin and turn it over to the opposite side. Let's pray together the "show me" prayer printed there. Now write down the need that occurred to you as you prayed that prayer.

I hope everyone will buy a journal today. It may well be the best investment you've ever made because you will connect as Jesus did with the source of purpose and power. Let's pray.

Copyright 2000 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

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