BEING THE CHURCH SERIES (2)

Being with Jesus in Silence and Solitude

DRAFT MISSION STATEMENT - Whitby Christian Fellowship is a community where followers of Jesus, practice the way of Jesus today, as we grow in faith together. We do this by walking with Jesus in the way; learning from His life and teaching and carrying out His purpose and mission on earth.

DRAFT ACTION STATEMENT - We strive to live out the life of Jesus in our community throughout the week, then gather at different stages as a collection of Communities.

WE ARE THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WITH JESUS IN...

We have looked at _ Being with Jesus when we read SCRIPTURE.

Being with Jesus when we SABBATH.

Today we are looking at BEING WITH JESUS in SILENCE & SOLITUDE.

Then, next week - BEING WITH JESUS when we choose SIMPLICITY.

BEING WITH JESUS IN SILENCE & SOLITUDE

Let’s not forget last weeks’s call to SABBATH - all these practices hang together - " Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest "(Matthew 11:28). What would it be like to hear those words right now? Do you think it is possible for you to find the rest you need? " - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

I hope you have been trying to enjoy the Psalm 131 experience. “Learning to rest in God in lonely times begins with the body, as the image of the breastfed child suggests. This image takes me back to the soft and tender moments of my early days as a mother. " - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence.

Now something even more arguably radical - Silence and Solitude!

"The practices of solitude and silence are radical because they challenge us at every level of our existence." - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

I. Jesus enjoyed SILENCE & SOLITUDE

Yes it can be enjoyed! I worked with students who found silence boring or even scary! - “Silence is so freaking loud.” (Sarah Dessen: Just Listen!).

Matthew 3:13–4:11 NIV84

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

In Matthew 3:14-4:11, Jesus came from his baptism and hearing the voice of God affirming His Sonship to the wilderness or desert.

Why did the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness? What happened during those 40 days of fasting in a place of solitude?

And why did the Devil wait to attack Jesus at the end of the fasting period?

Well, He had been praying and spending time alone with God and it was then that he was in a position to resist the devil successfully, even though he was weak and very hungry!

The desert wilderness for Jesus was not as we might mistakenly think, a place to be avoided, a place merely of temptation and spiritual danger. Thes desert was a quiet place to spiritually recover and feed His soul on God.

Jesus used it often, for example in Mark 6:45 46 Immediately after feeding the 5000, “Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.”

The desert place was a regular part of the rhythm of Jesus life - Luke 5 15-16 “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.”

And note how he passed this practice on to His disciples - Note Mark 6:28-35 where at the end of a really busy day of ministry, Jesus says to His disciples: , “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:30).

Silence and solitude is intentional time in quietness to be alone with God.

(i). External

the kind you experience during a quiet stroll before dawn in the remote countryside or a sleepless, untroubled night.

“We went down into the silent garden.

Dawn is the time when nothing breathes,

the hour of silence.

Everything is transfixed,

only the light moves.”

― Leonora Carrington

There’s a wonderful moment in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck when Curley’s wife’s body is discovered. The narrator says: “As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.”.

The described “moment” of time seeming to stop, is not only about Curley’s wife, losing her life or about Curley losing his wife, but also Lennie and George losing their dream. The end of their lives as they know them!

(ii). Internal

Silence can be internal as well because some of those sleepless nights are not untroubled, instead creating an internal noise of frustration; anxiety; out of control thoughts and fears. The mind is racing and sometimes even the heart rate.

Internal silence is when the heart and soul are at rest - “Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.”(Psa 116:7).

Solitude is perhaps not as self-explanatory as it appears:

Community is vitally important (Hence of our Draft Mission Statement) but so is solitude. We all need time to be with God - Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Solitude is physical aloneness or isolation but it does not need to be an empty experience because God is there! Neither in fact does solitude always take place in physical isolation

Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline says: “Solitude is more a state of mind and heart than it is a place. There is a solitude of the heart that can be maintained at all times. Crowds, or the lack of them, have little to do with this inward attentiveness.”

And this also serves to remind us that solitude does not always take place in silence, though, silence is strongly connected to solitude, it is possible to “switch off” and enter into an internal retreat in the company of others. - not I hope selective hearing such as teenagers have when they hear “tea’s ready” but not “put the kettle on” or words like “tidy your room” and “time to wash the dishes”! - you can be solitary in the presence of noise!

Question 1 - What part does silence and solitude play in your relationship with Jesus?

II. God calls us to Silence and Solitude:

Silence is stillness...

“Psalm 46: 10 tells us there is a kind of knowing that comes in silence and not in words-but first we must be still.”

The Hebrew word translated "Be still" literally as an adverb is more emphatic than in modern English, referring to the “power to keep still” or “hold” something still! It refers to keeping something under control such as Ahazariah who unfortunately did not have the power to keep the kingdom of Jehoshaphat under control (see 2 Ch 22:9).

To “be still” as a verb is “to keep silence” (Ps 4:4, etc) and so “to be quiet” (Ps 107:29, etc) or “inactive” in any way (Jgs 18:9; 1 K 22:3; Zec 1:11, etc). In Ps 23:2 “still waters” literally refer to “waters of rest” (Heb: מְנוּחָה, menūḥāh) to mean “waters with little motion.” Places where sheep will be confident enough to take a drink and be refreshed. These are not dangerous waters!

In the context of Psalm 46, to “be still” means to “desist from war”. The nations that are in upraor and the kingdoms at war will be brought to a cesation of hostility when God intervenes.

Silence is a good condition to discover the reality of God and His presence and ways!

"Silence helps us to dive below the superficiality of our mental constructions to the place of our heart, which is deeper in terms of its reality, than anything the mind can capture or express in words." - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Habakkuk 2:20 “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Psalm 62:5 “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”

Silence provides the right environment for solitude:

Think of Elijah, stressed out and exhausted as he was in 1 Kings 19: “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (vs 3-13).

The “still small voice” of 1 K 19:12 can be translated as the “sound of gentle stillness”. Heb demāmāh in its literal force of “silent,” but the word here means “whisper”—“a whispering, little voice.”

Elijah’s time in silence and solitude:

a. Required Rest - “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.”

Elijah has reached the limit of his ministry and he just needs to rest! Solitude becomes His place of restoration!

He needs space and time to recover - to go somewhere different and to have a nap, to be alone and do nothing! That’s not lazy, that’s sometimes good and it allows for recuperation - a holiday!

"When Elijah's entered the solitude and silence, one of the first things he had to take into account was how tired, how exhausted he was at all levels...The Lord began by dealing with Elijah's fatigue and physical exhaustion...The story of Elijah invited me to stop trying to fight exhaustion and surrender to it in the presence of the Lord...." - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

We can be exhausted by an over busy life. That’s why we need SABBATH. We need to take time to rest and let our body and soul get a break! - "Learning to listen to the body, to give it rest and to respect it as a place where God makes his presence known to us, then becomes an important discipline for the spiritual pilgrim." - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

Rest is needed from those things that distract and disease us! Including social media if needed!

Silence requires us to get rid of distractions and spend time alone with God

Beware the unintended consequences of the 2007 Technological Revolution - when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone and put infinity into our pockets. It was the year Facebook became widely available to anyone with an email address., becoming a global phenomenon. Twitter developed its own platform and became global. Great yes, but it takes away our times of silence and solitude. If our fingers twitch involuntarily even when we don’t have a phone in our hands or even worse, we start to feel stressed because we have not checked out our Twitter feed; Facebook page; Instagram account, etc then we are in serious trouble and need to take a Sabbath from our technology.

Seriously our attention span has taken a serious hit over the intervening years, dropping from 12.5 seconds to 8.5 seconds.

We live in an attention seeking age and it is leading to what Microsoft development engineer, Linda Stone called “continuous, partial attention.” “Continuous partial attention is not necessarily a dysfunctional state. However, it may lead to increased stress and decreased ability to focus and concentrate on the present moment, prohibiting reflection, contemplation, and thoughtful decision making. The constant connectedness that is associated with continuous partial attention may also affect relationships, lower productivity levels, and lead to over-stimulation and a lack of fulfillment.”

Now technology is not all bad of course, we are currently on it, benefiting from it, but it can become not our servant but our master and rob our souls of the joy of spending time with Jesus

“we are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion...It is not that we have anything against God, depth, and spirit, we would like these, it is just that we are habitually too preoccupied to have any of these show up on our radar screens. We are more busy than bad, more distracted than nonspiritual, and more interested in the movie theatre, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in church. Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives.” (Ronald Rolheiser: The Holy Longing).

b. Required Honesty - He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”...Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah could be said to rant here! He is at an end of himself and he is exhausted but it gives him an opportunity to lay out his heart.

He does not over-analyses or reason himself out of his honest assessment by theological reflection, but rather as Ruth Haley Barton says: “times of solitude and silence are not times to make judgments regarding our conduct. These are times to realize, to discover, the truth about ourselves in a given moment, and then present ourselves to God with everything that we have noticed. " An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

Elijah feels all kinds of emotional pain and has the courage and honesty to name all his frustrations not only at the world and the evil therein but at God as well - “He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (v14). This was honest, angry, raw and exaggerated but that’s what happens when you pour out your soul!

“What are you doing here Elijah?”

That’s a profound question and we need to append our name to it and take time to sit in God’s presence and answer it - “what are you doing here?”

How revolutionary would our experience of God and prayer be if we just opened up in all honesty to God and told Him what we are doing here!

"What if we choose to stay in the presence of God and talk to him about our tiredness, acknowledging it the way a child would in front of his father who cares and can help him?" - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

c. Required God’s Presence - “the Lord was …in...a gentle whisper. “

Silence and solitude may not be good in themselves, but will be as they are used as opportunities of being in God’s presence; otherwise silence can be just so “freaking loud” and scary and solitude becomes just loneliness!

Thar's why the modern practice of mindfulness as a kind of secular attempt at meditation is limited - it can certainly do you good but it cannot satisfy the longing soul that waits on God.

Who wants a silence and solitude after all that tells you that you really are alone in the Universe!

Silence and solitude reminds us that we might be on our own but we need not be lonely! - “if we possess inward solitude we do not fear being alone, for we know that we are not alone. Neither do we fear being with others, for they do not control us. In the midst of noise and confusion we are settled into a deep inner silence. Whether alone or among people, we always carry with us a portable sanctuary of the heart.” —Richard Foster

“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

When we seek God in silence and solitude, we can find God there! - Psa 46:10.

We discover like Jesus that taking time out to find a quiet place and spend time with His Father is never wasted time.

And we can rest "confidently while we take our place under the lonely bush in the middle of the desert of our own doubts, questions and unfulfilled longings, because we are in good company." - Ruth Haley Barton, An Invitation to Silence and Stillness: Living God's Transforming Presence

Question 2 - How has consideration of Elijah’s experience of silence and solitude, inspired or challenged you?

APPLICATION:

Let’s get practical!:

(i). Know your personality, season and stage:

extroverts will find this harder than introverts and for some this will elevate anxiety whereas for others it will ease it. Those going through stressful stages in life with busy workloads or demanding families can only dream of having the time to do this.

The important thing is to remember that though this is important and beneficial it is a practice not a rule.

Manage it in a way that suits your personality, season in life and stage of spiritual development.

(ii). Try and create a rhythm by beginning and ending your day with silence and solitude, however small the opportunity window:

I want to recommend the EXAMEN for this: (Sanctuary people have seen this…). In the 16th Century, Ignatius Loyola developed a prayer model known as the Examen to serve as a guide for reflecting on the events of the day.

There are 5 different stages in the Examen, which requires a pause and silent prayer in between each stage.

Ask God to send His Spirit - Acknowledge that we need God’s help by asking the Holy Spirit to open your eyes, heart, and understanding.

Give thanks for the day - Think back on the events of the day and remember moments of happiness, enjoyment, and blessing. Now thank God for those gifts.

Review the day - Consider the moments in your day where you felt overwhelmed, angry, or lonely. Were there situations where you wish you had responded differently? Bring these thoughts and feelings before God.

Ask for forgiveness - Where necessary, ask God for forgiveness. Take a moment to reflect on the gift of forgiveness, and to receive this gift.

Pray for the next day - Now, ask for the presence and help of the Holy Spirit. If there are any needs or challenges that you will face tomorrow, bring them before him specifically.

(iii). Don’t expect silence and solitude to be a comfortable experience, all of the time:

Richard Rohr said: “A good journey begins with knowing where we are and being willing to go somewhere else.”

“What are you doing here Elijah?” = Elijah’s journey to Horeb took 40 days but should have taken around 8 days. It was a long, slow, painful journey in which he rehearsed all of his grievances abut how God and others had badly let him down!

And once he got to that place of solitude and silence he was ready to explode with righteous indignation and bitter gall.

It was painful and unbeknownst to him, he had so much more to discover about himself and God before it was done!

The lesson for us is that the silence and solitude we crave and need is elusive and when we finally get it and get to that place where we can enjoy it there is a whole load of stuff that was awaiting our arrival and crowding for our attention!

We RETREAT to spend time with God and to discover ourselves and our needs so that we might be better equipped to REENTER our World in readiness for service

“One hour of thoughtful solitude may nerve the heart for days of conflict — girding up its armor to meet the most insidious foe.” —Percival

“Similarly, each of us is ill served by remaining constantly on the “frontlines” of life. We need to rotate into silence and solitude to maintain our morale, emotional balance, and ability to continue the fight. This respite allows us to re-orient our priorities, re-direct our compass — re-commit to a greater purpose that may have gotten lost in the little details of daily life.” (The Spiritual Disciplines).

Conclusion:

Lets keep working at BEING WITH JESUS

In SCRIPTURE as our soul is fed through the reading and meditation and feeding upon Scripture.

In SABBATH which is intimately connected with solitude and silence because as Dallas Willard says: “Solitude is tied to Sabbath. And, actually, it’s very difficult to practice Sabbath unless you are habituated to solitude.  The rule for solitude is no work – you don’t work...Sabbath is a command; it’s not just a discipline, but it is a tremendous discipline as well, and it is primarily a discipline of turning loose. Sabbath, you turn loose. You don’t do any work. And, not only that, you’re donkey doesn’t do any work either. You got a donkey? Okay, then he gets to go out and look at the flowers also. See, that’s an extension of you turning loose. You turn your donkey loose; you turn your undocumented labor loose. Just turn it loose, that’s the law of the Sabbath. Now, most people aren’t able to practice that unless they have learned to practice solitude. Solitude is the radical cure of entanglement, and it teaches; it breaks our habits; it enables us to be assured that if we don’t show up the world will go on and God will take care of it, and other people will be able to serve as well as we. “[Disciplines and Human nature 17:10]

Question 3 - Linking what we have learned so far - being with Jesus in Scripture; Sabbath and Solitude - what have you or are you working on to try and deepen your relationship as an apprentice follower of Jesus?

Psalm 16:8 says: “I have set the Lord always before me. He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

“how do we seek the face of God? How do we come to the place to where He is before us?...I think that solitude is one of the ways that we begin to move in that direction and we need to make a place for it. ...if you will establish it as a posture in life then you can carry it with you wherever you are, and when you do that, you aren’t going to be overwhelmed with responsibilities and other people and so on, even though you have to work very hard.” (Dallas Willard).

So let’s begin the practice of silence and solitude:

To quote from what must be my new favourite book title― Thomas L. Friedman, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. “When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings they start,...You start to reflect, you start to rethink your assumptions, you start to reimagine what is possible and, most importantly, you start to reconnect with your most deeply held beliefs. Once you’ve done that, you can begin to reimagine a better path.”

“This knowledge of God progressively replaces the rabid busyness and self-importance that drives most human beings, including the religious ones. It comes to possess us no matter where we are. Now, "Whatever we do, in word or deed, we do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Col 3:17). Solitude and silence are not another job. They are not, really, something we have to think to do. They are whom we have become. We still need to cultivate solitude and silence, from time to time going alone and being quiet. But we carry them with us wherever we go. In the contemporary context (especially the religious context) someone needs to tell us about solitude and silence just to let us know there are such things. Someone then needs to tell us it's okay to enter them. Someone needs to tell us how to do it, what will happen when we do, and how we go on from there. " - Ruth Haley Barton, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence