The Practice of Solitude

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

Early in the civil rights movement, before he was well known, Martin Luther King, Jr. went to Montgomery, Alabama to lead a bus boycott following Rosa Park’s courageous act of refusing to sit in the “colored” section of the bus. As the boycott dragged on, King received a rising tide of death threats and he feared not only for his own life but also for the lives of his wife and daughter.

On the evening of January 27, 1956, King could not fall asleep, so he got our of bed, made a pot of coffee and began to pray to God in the quiet. In a later sermon, King recounts that experience:

And I bowed down over that cup of coffee — I never will forget it. … I prayed a prayer, and I prayed out loud that night. I said, ‘Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. … But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now. I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage.’ … And it seemed at that moment that I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo I will be with you, even until the end of the world.’

Tension

I want you to keep that story in mind for a few minutes. I promise that when I come back to it, I’ll connect it to today’s message.

Truth

Before I do that I want to set the stage for the new sermon series that starts this morning that we’ve titled Transformed: Incorporating the Practices of Jesus. This is a series I’ve really been looking forward to since we first planned it at the end of last year.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but last year I read a book by Dallas Willard titled Renovation of the Heart. Other than the Bible, that has proven to be one of the most influential books I’ve ever read and it became the catalyst for pursuing some of the ideas that I took away from that book. I came to realize that for much of my life, developing my relationship with Jesus has been focused heavily on external behavior. And so a lot of my preaching has also had that same focus.

But I’ve come to realize that my focus needs to be more on inward development, or as Willard calls it, the renovation of my heart. In both the Old and New Testament we find that the key to doing the right thing outwardly is to develop our hearts inwardly.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Jesus confirmed this idea with His own words:

Luke 6:43–45 ESV

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

And most of us are probably familiar with this verse from Paul’s letter to the churches in Rome.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Notice that “be transformed” is a passive verb. It is not something I can do to myself. Only the Holy Spirit is able to do that. But I obviously have a part in that process, too. And my prayer for all of us is that this series will help us to engage in some practices that will allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus said to His disciples:, “Follow me”. He still calls us to do the same thing today, but what does that really mean?

That’s the question we will attempt to answer in this sermon series. I want to set the stage by beginning with a short two question quiz. Feel free to answer out loud if you want, or you can just keep the answer to yourself and later claim that you knew the correct answer all along.

How many times do you think the word “Christian” is found in the Bible? Only 3, and at least 2 of the three uses seem to indicate that is what outsiders called those who followed Jesus.

Next question: How many times do you think the word “disciple” is used in the New Testament? 268 times - that is the term that both the gospel writers and Jesus Himself used to refer to His followers.

That is really important for a number of reasons, but I think the most important idea it conveys is that there is no such thing as a Christian who is not also a disciple.

So we probably ought to take a moment to define that term - disciple. Many of the definitions you’ll find will define a disciple as a “learner” or a “pupil”. But in the culture of Jesus’ day it meant much more.

Greek mathetes =

someone who has adopted the lifestyle of the teacher

When Jesus called his disciples to follow Him, he wasn’t asking them just to learn information. He was calling them to copy His way of life. That’s why I really like how Willard and another of my favorite authors, John Mark Comer, describe being a disciple of Jesus as being His “apprentice”. I think that accurately portrays what discipleship should be all about. It is what Jesus meant when He exhorted His disciples to “abide” in Him. The idea is that we are to walk with Jesus every moment of every day in a way that helps us to become more and more like our Master.

In order to do that we need to engage in what are commonly referred to as “spiritual disciplines”. Depending on who you ask, there are probably around a dozen of those disciplines, maybe even a few more. But for purposes of this series, we’re going to limit ourselves to seven particular practices or disciplines that Jesus engaged in during His life here on earth. If Jesus considered these practices to be vital to Him, just think how much more crucial they must be for us.

Before we jump into the first practice this morning, it’s important to note that these disciplines, or practices, are not an end in themselves. They are merely the means that the Holy Spirit uses to transform us and make us more like Jesus and we apprentice under Him.

I want to begin with a passage that sets the stage for the entire series, as well as for the first practice we’ll focus on today.

Luke 4:1–14 (ESV)

1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”

5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,

6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’

11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Here we see at least 4 of the practices that we’ll be learning about in this series:

Fasting - I know most of you are especially looking forward to that message.

Prayer

Scripture

Solitude - as you may have already guessed this is where the story of Martin Luther King come in.

I want to ask you to imagine with me how the scene in his house that night have played out much differently today:

What if Dr. King had a smartphone and he sat down at that table and checked his Facebook feed? What if he started surfing the internet and fuming over the news reports? What if he had turned on the TV and started binge watching his favorite series? How well do you think he would have heard God’s voice if he had done any of those things?

Let’s make this even more personal. In an age of smartphones, emails, texts, social media and streaming services, how well are you hearing from God? How well are you doing in your pursuit of knowing God and growing in your relationship with Jesus?

When you read the gospels you notice that during His time here on earth, especially during the three and a half years of public ministry, Jesus had a rhythm to His life. He would engage in public ministry for a time, but then He would regularly slip away to a quiet place, where He would commune with His Father and be strengthened for that ministry. I think this back and forth rhythm of community and solitude is one we desperately need in this present day.

In the passage we just read, we see that before He began His earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into one of those times of solitude. Jesus spent 40 days in solitude in a place where He could be equipped by the Holy Spirit. And notice the result of that time. Let’s look at verse 14 again:

Luke 4:14 ESV

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

When Jesus returned to ministry from His time of solitude, He had now been empowered by the Holy Spirit to begin His ministry in earnest. If Jesus needed that solitude in His life, just think how much more we need it!

This is probably a good place to define what we mean by the practice of solitude. This will also serve as our main idea today:

Solitude is the intentional, temporary withdrawal from social engagement for spiritual purposes.

Let me focus briefly on a couple important aspects of solitude that we find in this definition and then we will look at some examples of how Jesus engaged in this practice in His life and then finally we’ll talk about some practical ways to incorporate this practice in our lives.

First notice that this practice needs to be intentional. Although I am going to suggest that we take advantage of those brief quiet times that pop up during the day, that is not enough. I need to be intentional and build times of solitude into my life on a regular basis.

Second, it is to be temporary. For some of you, like me, who are natural introverts, solitude is not to be an excuse to avoid living in community with others. We just finished the book of Ephesians where Paul stressed the importance of the church and personal relationships for our spiritual growth.

Finally, it is for spiritual purposes. It is a time when we lay our lives wide open before God and allow Him to speak to us, strengthen us, and equip us.

With that in mind, let’s take a quick tour through the gospels and see how Jesus incorporated solitude into His life and what we can learn from that.

Matthew 14:23 ESV

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

This occurs right after Jesus fed thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and two fish - probably the miracle witnessed by more people than any of His other miracles. Jesus had to have been completely exhausted after that day and He knew He needed to be renewed and strengthened by time with His Father.

Mark 1:35 ESV

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

I know that some of you don’t like this verse because it says ”very early in the morning, while it was still dark”. Interestingly the word translated “desolate place” is the same Greek word translated “wilderness” back in Luke 4. This time of solitude takes place right after another busy day of ministry in which Jesus had healed people from dusk to dawn.

Luke 4:42 ESV

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them,

This is Luke’s account of the same day we just read about in Mark.

Luke 5:15–16 ESV

15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

This passage is particularly instructive. The verb “withdraw” Luke uses here is in the present tense, which indicates that this was a continual practice of Jesus.

Notice in every case that Jesus withdrew intentionally, temporarily and for spiritual purposes, confirming the definition we developed earlier.

Solitude is the intentional, temporary withdrawal from social engagement for spiritual purposes.

Application

When we first decided to preach this series, Ryan and I both wanted to make sure that we make this really practical and to give you some concrete steps to take to incorporate these practices into our lives. So with the time we have left, let’s briefly talk about...

HOW TO INCORPORATE BIBLICAL SOLITUDE INTO MY LIFE

Start small

When we try to do something new in our lives many of us have a tendency to try and do too much all at once. It’s kind of like someone who goes to the gym for the first time and lifts weights for two hours and then never goes back because he is so sore and tired.

One of the ways to begin is to just take advantage of the “little solitudes” that come throughout the day. It could be something as simple as turning off your radio and silencing your cell phone as you drive to work and just talking to God. When you go on a walk, take out your earbuds and just listen to the sounds of nature and reflect on God’s creation.

Think subtraction, not addition

Avoid the temptation to “add” solitude into an already busy schedule. Instead think “What is there in my daily schedule that I can cut out so that I have time for some solitude?” I’m pretty sure all of us have some things that we do on a regular basis that just aren’t as important as being quiet with God. I was tempted to give you a list, but I’m pretty sure you already know what those things are.

Try to slow down and simplify your life so that you have time for what matters most - time alone with God.

Find or develop quiet places

Jesus apparently had some go to places where He knew He could go and be alone with God. Some of us have those places, too. For me, it is often on a trail in Catalina State Park. Most of the time I hike with Mary, but once in a while I really enjoy hiking alone and just talking and listening to God.

It’s also a good idea to develop a specific place where we can go regularly to be alone with God in a quiet place. For most of us that is probably somewhere at home. Just make sure that you have a place where you won’t have distractions. I like to do a lot of my Bible reading and study on my phone or computer, but for times of solitude I take my printed Bible to a place where those things aren’t there to distract me.

Establish a rhythm of solitude

We’ve already seen that Jesus had a rhythm to His life that included intentional times of solitude. For us that rhythm should include daily times of solitude as well as longer periods of solitude that we include in our lives on a regular basis.

That is going to look different for all of us. As I mentioned a moment ago, start out small - maybe just 5-10 minutes a day where you just have some quiet time with God. Then periodically schedule some longer time. Maybe start out once a week with 30 minutes of quiet time. And then maybe eventually you can build in a few hours or a half day several times a year. The main thing is that whatever you choose to do, you need to get it on your schedule and stick to that schedule.

Remember the J-curve

This is great advice for all the practices we’ll be covering in this series.

So what is the J-curve you ask?

Experts on learning tell us that whenever we set out to master a new skill, it tends to follow a J-shaped curve; we tend to get worse before we get better. I have personally experienced this in my life in a number of areas.

I remember the first time I took golf lessons. For a while, my golf game actually got worse as I learned how to change all the bad habits I had developed over years. But eventually, as long as I kept practicing the skills I had been taught, my golf game progressively got better.

If you’re not used to solitude, it’s probably going to be very awkward at first. You may feel itchy, anxious, or emotional. But if you stick with it, it will get easier.

Action

We’ve learned today that...

Solitude is the intentional, temporary withdrawal from social engagement for spiritual purposes.

For most of us, this is going to be the most difficult of all the practices of Jesus to incorporate into our lives. We live in a culture that is constantly bombarding us with noise and unless we take deliberate, concrete steps in our lives to incorporate solitude, it just isn’t going to happen.

So in just a moment, I’m going to pray at the end of this message. After I finish praying we’re going to end to service a bit differently than we usually do. After I pray, we’re going to spend some time in silence and solitude. How long you do that is up to you, but shoot for at least 3-5 minutes.

If you want to leave the auditorium to find a quiet place, please feel free to do that. During that time I want you to ask God to show you one practical step you can take this week to start incorporating the practice of solitude in your life. Go ahead and listen for God’s answer and write that down. Whenever you’re finished, you can quietly make your way over to the potluck that will follow.

Inspiration

Mother Teresa once said,

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.

Just imagine how much better the Holy Spirit could do His work of transformation in our lives if we would just set aside time to find God in the silence.