Silence and Solitude in the Life of Jesus

Joshua Erdtsieck

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Mark 1:29–39

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Scripture Reading:

Mark 1:29–39 (CSB)

As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. The whole town was assembled at the door, and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. Simon and his companions searched for him, and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”

He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Today, we are going to be looking at a habit of Jesus that we see time and time again throughout the gospels

Jesus regularly gets away from the crowd, even his own disciples, to find time to pray by himself

Most Christians call this the practice of “Silence and Solitude”

Silence because it requires us to be quiet before the Lord

Causing us to listen to his voice

Solitude because you do it alone

It’s simply time between you and God

This is something that I have been practicing for years

That has changed my life

But before we get quite into it, I want to quickly clear up a question that may arise

Biblical meditation and silence and solitude is similar to—but different than mindfulness

Everyone is hopping on the train of mindfulness because studies show how beneficial it is

I think that mindfulness is getting half way there but not quite hitting the point

I’ll talk about this later but there are two steps to silence and solitude

Slowing Down, Prayer

Mindfulness will slow us down and quiet our minds—but once our minds are empty, we must fill it with scripture, prayer, etc.

The point of silence and solitude is to connect with God—not just for the benefits you read about online

So I hope you are curious about this practice of Jesus

But today we are going to be looking at 3 things

The Need for Silence and Solitude

The Purpose of Silence and Solitude

The Practice of Silence and Solitude

Or in other words:

Why do it?

What is it?

How do we do it?

The Need for Silence and Solitude — Why

The first thing we see is the need for Silence and Solitude

Why do it? — Because Jesus does it

Look, if Jesus needs it, we probably do too

Mark 1:35 (CSB)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

You see, the context of Jesus sneaking away to pray is after a very long and busy day

He spent the Sabbath teaching at the Synagogue

He cast out a demon there

He goes to Peter’s home, heals his mother-in-law

And when sunset came, everyone in the town came to their door

And spent time with people

I don’t think it was an assembly line

He talked to and healed numerous people

And it’s after this long day that Jesus wakes up early (while it is still dark!) to pray

Do you see the priority Jesus gives to alone time with God?

More important than sleeping in, Jesus knows he need his time of prayer

You know, the way Jesus does things, constantly challenges the way I think I should do things

I often find that as things get busy in my life, I begin to have to drop stuff to make sure I have enough time

I’ll drop hanging out with friends

I’ll drop hobbies, reading/video games

And at a certain point, I’ll drop prayer

I’m too busy—God understands

But here we see the absolute priority that prayer has in the life of Jesus

Even when life is slammed, he makes time to be with God

Not only that but things are going well! Extremely well

Right, Jesus is proclaiming the good news and performing miracles—people are coming to faith

We tend to prioritize prayer when things are going wrong, but when things are going right, we must not lose sight on importance of prayer

But we see as ministry increases for Jesus, the need for prayer also increases

We never get to the point that we are so ‘spiritually mature’ that we not longer need to pray

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power”

—A.W. Tozer

Prayer and solitude were priorities for Jesus—It’s where He drew his strength

If we are to follow Jesus, we must take time for prayer

It’s not optional

So that is why silence and solitude is important

Simply put… Jesus did it

And Jesus teaches his disciples to pray

And this isn’t a new teaching of Jesus—the need for silent times of connecting with God is found all throughout the Old Testament:

Psalm 62:1 (NLT)

I wait quietly before God,

for my victory comes from him.

Zephaniah 1:7 (NLT)

“Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord,

for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is near.”

Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

“Be still, and know that I am God!”

Lamentations 3:25-26 (NLT)

The LORD is good to those who depend on him,

to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly

for salvation from the LORD.

Jesus knew what it meant to wait silently for the Lord

Jesus took time—even when his schedule was packed—to spent with his Father

And if we desire to be like Jesus—We have to do the same

“You can’t experience the life of Jesus, if you don’t adopt the lifestyle of Jesus”

ex. Marathon runner

Prayer is included

I want peace, I want to make a difference, I want wisdom, I WANT the life of Jesus

You need to begin living like Jesus

And silence/solitude/prayer is a time that we let the life of Jesus (the Spirit) sink into our hearts/minds/soul

So now that we talked about why we should do it

What is silence and solitude?—What is the purpose of it?

The Purpose of Silence and Solitude — What

The purpose of silence and solitude is to recenter and recalibrate ourselves on God

It is to quiet our hearts and minds in order that we can hear the voice of God

You see, we constantly need recalibration because we are constantly drifting off

It’s like the hymn “Come thou Font”

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Or like a navigator on a boat out at sea

Video game (mini-map)

Even Jesus needed time to recalibrate:

Mark 1:36–38 (CSB)

Simon and his companions searched for him, and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

And he said to them, “Let’s go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”

Everyone had their opinions on what Jesus should be doing

Why isn’t Jesus here, He should be continuing his healing ministry, time alone with God is a waste when there is ‘ministry’ to do

But Jesus needed this time with God to refocus on his mission

Like we talked about last week, his mission wasn’t to perform as many miracles as possible

But his mission was in his message

He was inviting people to enter the Kingdom of God

So Jesus walks away from this time of silence and solitude with his eyes on the big picture

He has his priorities straight

And guys, we all need the same recentering and refocusing

We live in a world full of voices that try and tells us what we should be doing or how we should be living

The Practice of Silence and Solitude — How

I’m going to get real practical

Because this isn’t just something that comes naturally

Our world is noisy and distracting and tries to invade any moments of silence

Mark 1:35 (CSB)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

Its something that you need to practice, at first it isn’t easy

It’s like trying to get someone who is sedentary to run a mile with you

When you first try to be silent it might seem almost impossible

You have an urge to check your phone

You need to reply to someone

There’s some chore/errand that you need to do

There’s a distracting thought that pops up

Whatever it is, you need to let it go

Now is not the time

Imagine if you told me that there was something you really wanted to talk to me about, that you needed someone to listen to your story

And every couple of seconds I check my phone

Or I get up to do a task

Or Im obviously distracted by some thoughts

You’d feel hurt—or unimportant

And we often do this to God

This is a time we are giving God our complete attention

So I really think there are two steps that are crucial

Slowing Down

Prayer

“We are so afraid of silence that we chase ourselves from one event to the next in order not to have to spend a moment alone with ourselves, in order to not have a look at ourselves in the mirror”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If you had a check engine light pop up while you’re driving—you’d have to slow down and stop the car before you could diagnose the problem

I think many of us live with the check engine light on—and we know it, but we are too afraid to stop

Out of sight—out of mind

It’ll go away eventually

But it will only make things worse if you don’t resolve the problem

So the first thing we have to do is ~slow down~

And this is the time that all of our to-do lists will pop up in our minds

Our phones are screaming for our attention

But we must dial them all down—like a mixing board—to hear from God (dial him up)

Most scholars think that it actually likes anywhere from 5-10 minutes for our brains to slow down

To be present in the moment, without our minds all over the place

We allow ourselves to simply be before God

Not ‘doing’ anything—just ‘being’

If you can’t take time to do nothing, you’re a slave to doing. Doing nothing is a radical, revolutionary act. It frees you from the universal slavery of our age: slavery to the clock. The clock measures doing but not being.

—Peter Kreeft

And Jesus did the same thing

Remember he spent 40 days in the wilderness before his ministry started—not ‘doing ministry’ as we would think

Even after his long day of ministry

He needed to take a break from ‘doing’ in order to ground himself in his identity

Remember he was God’s “beloved son in whom he was well pleased” before he did anything for him

And this is the hardest part of silence and solitude—slowing down

And once we are there, we pray

We speak to God, undistracted, with our full attention

Maybe there is a “check-engine light” that God wants to address

Sin that needs to be confessed

An ask for help where we are overwhelmed

But we will only experience the true blessing of prayer and relationship with God if we are willing to slow down

So super practically, this is what practicing this looks like

Get rid of any distractions (phone, computer, people)

Set a timer (start with 5 minutes)

Sit before the Lord (ask: what do you want to say to me)

At first, it will be difficult

And not every time will be a profound meeting with God

But you’re making time for him

Just like not every time you hang out with a friend is it an exciting memorable experience

But it is the regularity that builds a relationship

And if you have questions about it—please ask!

This is why we are here

But this is where my teaching ends

It can only go so far—You have to take these things into your own hands

You have to press into God for yourself

And like I said earlier—once we begin to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus—we begin to enjoy the LIFE of Jesus

Peace, joy, patience, love for others

This practice is one way in which we grow more and more like Jesus

Reflection Questions

When is a regular time you can practice silence and solitude?

What are things that constantly distract you from time with God?

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