We have come to our final week of our message series, “Defining Moments.” Next weekend we will have the Diocesan Annual Catholic Appeal weekend video. Many of you have probably already have received materials from the Diocese regarding the Appeal. For Lent we will start a brand new message series, “No Offense.”

In the present message series we have said that Defining Moments are brief intense experiences, so brimming with meaning that they bring definition and clarity into our lives that we did not previously have. Defining Moments matter. They help us to identify where we are and where we are going, especially when it comes to our faith.

Over the past few weeks we have reflected on the importance of learning to listen to the Lord to experience the defining moments God has in mind for us. We discussed defining moments of growth which happen outside our comfort zone. Last week, we looked at seizing defining moments in which God wants to do something new in our lives.

As we wrap up we are going to look at a defining moment we can create for others. No matter who you are, where you are in life, what position you hold or what you do, there are people who you influence. They look to you to understand what is valuable and important. No matter who you are you can influence people around you. And some moments are just made for it. We refer to these as teachable moments. 

A teachable moment is an opportunity that arises to impart or impress lessons in values. You can’t really plan for a teachable moment but you can prepare for it.

We are looking at an episode early in Jesus’ ministry that was a quintessential teaching moment for his friends and followers; impressing on them a core value that drove his life and gave power and purpose to his work. In order for the early Church to grow and go where it needed to go, the apostles needed to learn this lesson.

St. Mark tells us about how Jesus taught this valuable lesson. He writes, “On leaving the synagogue, Jesus entered the house of Simon Peter and Andrew” (Mark 1:29). 

This passage picks up where we left off last week. So after amazing the people by his preaching in the synagogue with a message that was new and had authority, and after setting the man free from an unclean spirit, Jesus goes home with Peter and Andrew.

“Simon Peter’s mother in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand and helped her up immediately. Then the fever left her and she waited on them” (Mark 1:30-31).

We see from this brief description that Jesus is a man of purpose, direction and action. He doesn’t hesitate, but knowing what he needs to do, he heals the woman. Also, we learn that when we, in turn, experience Jesus’ healing, it leads to service. 

St. Mark continues: “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” (Mark 1:32-34).

After a day of preaching, which is pretty exhausting, Jesus spends the evening healing people both physically and spiritually. 

While Jesus healed people and loved to heal people, it was not the driving purpose of his life, it was not the value that directed his life. We discover his number one value and number one priority in the verses ahead. “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Jesus had a habit of getting up very early in the morning to spend time with his heavenly Father. He did it first thing in the morning so that his time with his Father would direct his day and his actions.

Jesus’ prayer time, however, was soon interrupted. “Simon Peter and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, ‘Everyone is looking for you’” (Mark 1:36-37). Peter is very excited because Jesus has reached rock-star status, and everyone knows that Peter is his right-hand man.

We have all experienced the pressure to let other people’s opinions and agendas run our schedule and rule our lives. And sometimes that pressure can be very intense. The urgency of other people’s expectations for us can be very hard to resist. While we certainly have responsibilities to all those people, we have got to be careful not to allow their opinions of what we should or shouldn’t do be the guiding factor of our life.

So Peter comes to Jesus with energy and excitement but Jesus slows the moment down. Teachable moments require a change of pace. Jesus uses this moment to teach Peter the value that drove his whole life, “’Let us go out to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose I have come.’ So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee” (Mark 1:38-39).

Jesus did not live for the crowd. Instead, he lived for an audience of one. He connected with his heavenly Father on a daily basis and it was God’s plan and purpose that drove Jesus’ actions and agenda. Even more important to Jesus than healing people was fulfilling the will of his Father.

Jesus did not get caught up in the pressures of the moment, but rather he seized the moment to teach Peter an incredibly important lesson going forward; namely that the Church could not get bogged down in one place, it needed to go wherever God sent it. And he could seize the moment precisely because he had a clear understanding of his highest priority and purpose.

What is the highest priority or greatest value that you want to pass on to the people you lead or influence? The people who are under your authority or in your sphere of influence look to you to understand their priorities in life. But, at some point your time of influence will end. Your employees will move on. Your class or team will move up. Your kids will move out and go to college. When they look back at their time with you, they will remember a few key moments in which you taught them…something…positive or negative.

Hopefully, it will be a lesson in what you value. They will remember a time when you sacrificed money or popularity or comfort so that you could defend the values you hold. They will remember the times when they saw you passionately, purposefully defend your priority. 

While you can’t plan for teachable moments, you can prepare for them by knowing what is most important, by staying focused on the main thing. And that best happens in a daily quiet time, a daily prayer time.

In prayer return your focus to what you care about most, or what you should care about most, and then make sure they’re reflected in your priorities and choices.

Moments matter because life comes down to a series of moments. And in each of them, God is at work.