Rules to Flourish: Withdrawing to a deserted place

Rules to Flourish: Withdrawing to a deserted place

Sermon preached by the Rev Canon Dr Ian Meredith

Sung Evensong, Portsmouth Cathedral, Sunday 19th July 2026

Luke 5:12-16

There is a spot in the Gailee region of the Holy Land, associated with the life of Jesus, which most pilgrims miss. There is no sign pointing to it, and no church was built on it. It is close to the Church of the Primacy of Peter, and to the Mount of the Beatitudes which are far more popular with tourists.

The place is a cave called “The Eremos Grotto” and that is the spot which tradition tells us Jesus often withdrew to pray. The word Eremos is Greek for ‘desert’. While not part of the literal desert or wilderness of Judea, it was in the time of Christ, a deserted, quiet place.

Like that little cave, in this passage from Luke 5:12-16 there is a little verse which is easy to miss. It’s not as exciting as the story of the man covered with leprosy who was miraculously and immediately healed by Jesus. It’s not as dramatic as the success story of the great crowds who flocked to Jesus for their own healing.

It is this last verse which begins with the word ‘But’, indicating that these great ministry exploits pale into insignificance compared with this: that “Jesus withdrew to deserted places to pray”.

I come from such a full-on life of ministry where serious prayer so often get pushed out because there is too much to do. Most clergy I suspect are busier today than they have ever been. With all our so-called time-saving devices and technology, we are just creating more space to fill with work.

I sometimes feel like the disciples in Mark 6 where they were in the boat in the midst of a storm, rowing frantically against the prevailing wind, and despite straining on the oars, making very little progress. And even where there is progress, it can be at the cost of our own souls.

Those called to the monastic or religious life have in many ways opted out of the Church’s rat-race in order to concentrate on the real work of God – the Opus Dei, prayer. Yet there are many even in the Church who feel that this is not a great calling, rather you should be more productive. “After all,” they may say, “Isn’t all this praying a bit self-indulgent?”

And so, they suggest “You should be out there healing the lepers and drawing the crowds and generally being more successful in terms of what can be seen and measured.”

“But Jesus would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”

There’s a similar example in Mark 1:35-37 where we read, “in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you’”

Although there are many demands being made on Jesus by the people of Capernaum, he needs time for himself to renew his spiritual energy and be in contact with his Father. Even there he was not left alone, his disciples came looking for him saying that lots of people needed him. “Everyone is looking for you,” they tell him. Well, perhaps not everyone, but it seemed like it.

When Jesus returns from his prayer he does not go back to Capernaum, although there were certainly more people there to be healed and helped there. Instead, he went all over Galilee proclaiming his message of the Kingdom and making it a reality by healing the sick and liberating those controlled by evil forces.

This scene brings up the idea of our availability. We do need to be available to those who are in genuine need, but at the same time, there is what we might call the ‘poverty of availability’. No matter how generous and self-giving we are, we can only give so much. We need to find a balance between people’s needs and our limited resources. The priorities of other people cannot determine our priorities. The opportunities we have to do good exceed the time available to do them. Sometimes we just have to say ‘no’.

Our aversion to saying no is rooted in a desire to please people and not disappoint them. That’s all well and good, but at some point, saying yes to everyone is going to result in disappointing everyone. We do not help people by working ourselves to the point of ‘burnout’. We also need ‘quality time’ to be with God, to pray and to reflect on our priorities.

Jesus withdrew to a deserted place to pray. He got away from the crowds, even his close disciples. Even the church and its ministry.

Of course we can pray authentically when walking the dog, but if we want to pray more purposefully, passionately and powerfully, we need to find time alone. That may mean another room in the building or house. We don’t have to leave town to experience prayer. We just need to be intentional. But the commitment to get alone is important.

When I don’t pray, I’m in effect saying to God, “I can actually handle this in my own strength. I’ll call on you when things really get difficult.” In his mercy, he often blesses up to a point, but we’re “really running on the reserve tank”, and sooner or later we will splutter to a halt.

Let me be honest and say this is not simply an observation of people’s behaviour but a self-reflection and examination.

If Jesus needed to pull back to a quiet place, leave off for a while from preaching and working miracles, then why am I so proud to think that my work is too important to give way to quiet time?

There is a spot in in our spiritual life which most pilgrims miss. There is no sign pointing to it, no one checks me in our out, crowds don’t flock to it, no one gets healed during it, but it’s from that place that everything else flows.

It’s not so much a place as an appointment, it’s “The Eremos Grotto.” Have you found yours yet?