The Rhythm of Away

INTRODUCTION

It is great to be back here at Vertical. I have missed you all so much over the past month. My time away was really good and refreshing for me and my family and most importantly with my relationship with God.

Me

I have not always done the best at rest. I can put in the work, long intense hours. I can be driven by achieving goals and hitting bench marks. I have sucomb to the pressure of acceptance of others while denying the truth of the Gospel that I am already accepted. The truth is that I have to check my rest meter more often

We

We live in a culture that says rest is not what we need. We are constantly trying to figure how to do more with less and get more done at the same time. We put our bodies and minds under large amounts of stress.

We have a culture says something very different. We have become consumers of productivity of the wrong thing.

Our cultures top three causes of stree are Money, Work, and Family. Funny how most people work for money to provide for family and some how they are all stressful.

God

God actually calls us to live another way from the hectic bust lives that we live. We are not called to live the way many of us live.

Jesus did not live that way.

It is not best for us to do as much as we do

We often have to do all we do becuase we have not learned to be content

Jesus models for us the way.

Jesus is not just truth but he is also a model for us. The reality is that many of us dont like Jesus as a model. We only like him as a savior, healer, and a friend.

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 13:15 NIV

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Now this text is specifically speaking of serving others as he was teaching to the disciples. Would it not only apply in some of the other areas of Jesus life.

Genesis 2:2–3 NIV

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God made this day Holy-meaning that the seventh day was Holy, set a part for purpose. It was not to be used like the other days. It was speacial.

Exodus 20:8–11 NIV

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Jesus did somehting that many of us either want to do and cant, can do and wont, will do but dont know how, or have done and failed.

Jesus knew how to get away.

He is the truth

We

We must learn how to get away.

If you are like me sometimes getting away can be more stresful then staying. Much of that is because we know how to get away but not rest.

Rest it really a by product of trust and security.

How can you rest if everything depends on you?

That idea alone sounds super stressful in it’s self.

Me

I want to talk about that today. Why we need a rhythm of away and how we do it.

CONTEXT

I want to look to Jesus as a template for what we must remember when it comes to having a rhythm of Away.

Luke 5:15–16 NIV

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Luke 5:

Jesus as you can see is on World Tour and doing what he does best. Heal people, preach the good news, transform hearts and minds.

Yet he realizes that he has to get away from it all.

1) AWAY FROM

Real quick think aobut somethings you want to get away from!!!

ok stop, come back to Church.

We all need to get away from some stuff, people, places, I dare say ourselves.

Yet ee all feel like we cant get away from anything.

Jobs, family, and relatoinships overwhelm and over demand to the point you are just over it.

May its becuase you didnt learn how to get away.

Luke 5:15–16 NIV

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

I love this part of the text. It said that everyone was sick and wanted t hear him but often Jesus withdrew.

What is pulling at you that makes you feel that you can not get away.

Luke 4:42–43 NIV

42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

What needs you more than you need God?

The thing that was suppose to provide security is also the root of stress.

The thing you prayed for as a gift has startedto feel like a curse because you have no rhythm of away from.

That feeling of not being good enough

Matthew

Matthew 11:28 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Worry

(The Message)

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

28 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. 29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

God even invites us away from the religious demends of that day that believed in workd righteousness. That you had to do all these special things to be with him.

The gospel frees us from things that we have not learned to come away from.

Maybe it is you tha you need to get away from. Your desire to have your own way and rythm of life.

We cant get away from some of the stuff we need to get away from because we think we need what we ahve to survive.

Believe it or not selfishness, the absence of God driven desires, had moved people from the healthy rythms of life.

Paul David Tripp Describes this root

“You see it in the whines of a little boy, you see it in the entitlement of the teenager, you see it in the needless argument of the married couple over something unimportant, and you see it in the bitterness of the old man. None of us has escaped this disease. It infects all of our hearts. It is the reason for so much of the brokenness, angst, and pain of the human community. It is the foundation of so much unhappiness and generations of war. It is a personal and moral disaster, yet it seduces us all. Its power draws all of us in. We see it in others and deny it in ourselves. It makes for uncomfortable family moments, friendship disloyalty, and violence in the streets. It makes us envious and demanding. It causes discontent to be more natural than thankfulness. It ruins our vacations and holidays. It makes us spend ourselves into hopeless debt, to fall into paralyzing addiction, and to eat more than we ever should. It turns siblings on siblings and makes war-making more natural than peacemaking.

2) AWAY WHEN

What is this thing that kidnaps us all? It is the selfishness of sin. “The idol of idols really is the idol of self. We make it all about us. We put ourselves in the center of the story. We evaluate life from the vantage point of a scary and tragic “me-ism.” We pull the borders of our concerns into the narrow confines of what we want, what we feel, what we dream, and what we think we need. A good day is a day that is pleasurable or easy for me. A good circumstance is one in which I get my way. A good marriage is one in which my spouse becomes a servant to my dream for my life. A good church has the worship, programs, and preaching that satisfy me. A good job is one that keeps me happy and engaged. It is a life shaped by a shrunken kingdom of one.”

Excerpt From: Paul David Tripp. “New Morning Mercies.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/p-8l4.l

Excerpt From: Paul David Tripp. “New Morning Mercies.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/p-8l4.l

2) AWAY WHEN

God says

God has given us a rythm of sorts.

Luke 5:15–16 NIV

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Luke 5:15-16

When you feel like it and when you don’t

The text says often Jesus went away to places of solitude.

You can walk all through the life of Jesus and see this habit and rhythm of rest.

If there was a book in the bible that told your story what would it say you did often.

He knew that there was something much more important that happend being away then what happend with others.

We was created for communion that

We are designed for connection with God before we were designed with connection with others.

This is the Rhythm

restoration

Renewal

refocus

God will not restore what you do not put to rest

Our culure tells us that rest is not important

The Light Bulb Changed Everything

Indusrtial Revolution

1830- American and European cultures were largely agrucultrial and farming.

The changing seasons of the year dictated what would be grown and and when it would be harvested.

People paced thier lives around agricultural rhythms of sowing and harvesting

The Change Happend with Demand

With advancement of machines changed the natural rhythm. With the demand of labor children as young as six joined the work force.

1879 Thomas Edison produced the first commercially available light bulb and in 1890 Edison wired one square block of New York City making it the center of a changing world.

Our writer Luke was a trainned and skilled doctor.

As a doctor Luke made greater observation of the life style and well being of Jesus habits more than any other writer.

He noted the small pieces of scripture that were hue parts of Jesus life.

Im sure that Luke made check-list like most doctors do. having a process written out what all nees to be done to ensure that nothing is missed.

Luke will show us that Jesus had a rhythm of Engage and Disengag

Inbetween our scriptures

Luke 5:12–14 NIV

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

Our scripture is nestled between two miracles

The Man with Leprosay being healed

Luke 5:12

The Man that was paralyzed and his four frinds who brought him down through a roof.

Previous scripture in Jesus had just healed perter mother and rebuked demons 38-42 he went into a desolate place.

Luke 6:12-113

Luke 6:12–13 NIV

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

Jesus prayed all night

God should shape our time, not our time shape our God

Luke 6:17–19 NIV

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Luke 6

Be alone with God

Be with a Few

Be invested in Your Work

Luke 21:37–38 NIV

37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

Luke

He engaged and disengaged. There was familiarity with the Mount of Olives as a place of comfort for Jesus.

Luke 22:39–40 NIV

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”

Luke 22:

Righ tbefore Jesus would do his greates work he went to this mount of olives to be with God yet again to pray.

When do you get away with the Father?

How often are you disengaged with others to be totaly engaged with him alone?

3) AWAY TO

Luke 5:15–16 NIV

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

The verbage of desolate places or lonely places actually sounds scary to many of us.

We are more comfortable with noise then silence.

Yet we need this so that we can hear what God is saying to our soul.

The way of solitude and silence enables the soul to rest and recieve.

While on my sabbatical I went to Blowing Rock which is a smaller town than even Hillsborough.

Silence

Solitude is a key spiritual discipline. Green Bank, West Virginia, is a great place to practice it. With a population of 143 and only one road into town, Green Bank has all the peace and quiet its residents need. In addition, it is also located in a National Radio Quiet Zone roughly the size of Maryland. This is the site of the Robert C. Byrd radio telescope that is searching the heavens for electromagnetic signals from the far reaches of creation.

Solitude

In Green Bank, you cannot make a call on your cell phone and you cannot text. There is no signal. Wireless internet is outlawed, as is Bluetooth. Journalist Michael J. Gaynor says, “It’s a premodern place by design, devoid of the gadgets and technologies that define life today.”

A few days of solitude in Green Bank, devoid of all our communication devices, might enable the serious disciple to find ample time to communicate in the oldest form of all: prayer and meditation.

Wilson, J. L., & Russell, R. (2015). The Town without Distractions. In E. Ritzema (Ed.), 300 Illustrations for Preachers. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.Solitude

A 2014 study concluded that people simply don’t like being alone with their own thoughts. The experiment called on participants who ranged in age from 18 to 77 to sit alone in a room for 6 to 15 minutes. Afterward, most of the subjects reported they did not enjoy it. In fact, 25 percent of the women studied and 66 percent of the men would rather give themselves a small electric shock than merely sit with their thoughts.

University of Virginia psychologist Timothy Wilson told the Washington Post concerning the study: “We have this big brain full of pleasant memories, and we’re able to tell ourselves stories and make up fantasies. But despite that, we kept finding that people didn’t like it much and found it hard.”

Wilson, J. L., & Russell, R. (2015). Unable to Be Alone with Our Own Thoughts. In E. Ritzema (Ed.), 300 Illustrations for Preachers. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

4) AWAY FOR

Luke 5:16 NIV

16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

He prayed, or the other word used here is communed. He was with God.

He just pured out and healed and models to us that we need time with God.

Not just 10 Minutes in the morning while but we need to schedule some time when we can for some of us multiple times a day. Just sitting and listening.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We must seek to be still in solitude with God if we want to be with others meaningfully.We must seek fellowship and accountability of others if we want to be alone safely.

We must seek fellowship and accountability of others if we want to be alone safely.

We must seek to be still in solitude with God if we want to be with others meaningfully.We must seek fellowship and accountability of others if we want to be alone safely.

Let him who can not be alone beware of commuinty, and let him who can not be in community beware of being alone.

How we are with God affects how we are with others.

Ulitmately God wants and desires for us relationship.

How will you know and believe the truth of what God says about you unless you take time with him.

One of the most beneficial things that I learned in my time away on sabbatical was that i had places in my life that I was living out because I believed lies that culture had taught me about my life.

I needed to get a way from God to quiet the noise of this world to hear the creator of this world speak to me little old me.

I got to know Jesus in a whole new way. I needed it deeply so that I could

Do you know God or do you know of him.

Have you given yourself a chnace to know him deeply.

We come away with him to know him

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