Community Covenant Church - Sermons - Sacred Rhythms: Solitude: Creating Space for God

July 8, 2007

“Sacred Rhythms: “Solitude: Creating Space for God“

Scripture Readings

1 Kings 19:1-18

1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."

3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 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." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

10 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."

11 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. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 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?"

14 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."

15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."

Message

When was the last time you, as adults and youth, actually took “time out”; not because you were bad or you were bored with other alternatives, but because you wanted to become better… more like Christ?

This summer we are exploring what Ruth Haley Barton refers to as “sacred rhythms” in her book of the same name; those things we can do to arrange our lives for spiritual transformation. The problem is, if we don’t want to change; or if we want to be in control of any and all changes that happen to us, these summer messages are useless to us. That is because spiritual transformation is all about opening ourselves up for God to change us. It is all about giving God permission, and giving God opportunities to transform us; our minds, our hearts, our souls, our actions.

But if we are serious about our Christian faith; a faith which not only proclaims the good news of our eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, but also serious about celebrate the power of God’s indwelling Spirit to make changes in us even now… as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church:

“…to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12)

… if we are serious about our Christian faith, then we must not only give God permission, but also opportunity to transform us. We must deliberately build into our busy lives the “sacred rhythms” that allow us to connect with God and to allow His transforming power to change us.

For those who are interested in spiritual transformation, today we consider the practice of SOLITUDE, what Barton refers to as a deliberate act of creating space for God to work.

1. Solitude and life today

Tell me something:

Is solitude a pleasure for you, or does it feel more like punishment?

When you find yourself physically alone; alone from the distractions of family, friends and co-workers; alone from projects needing to get done right away; alone from TV, radio, music, computers, phones & email… when you find your self physically alone, do you feel pleasure or panic?

In his book, A Taste of New Wine, Keith Miller tells a story about being a very young boy and discovering one afternoon that he was alone in his house. The excruciating silence terrified him, so he began singing at the top of his lungs and beating a tablespoon against a brass tray. He said he felt, "If I could only keep up the noise, nothing would creep up and get me."

Eventually his mother came in the house from the back yard and found him making a racket. He said, "I can still remember the exhaustion and the tears of relief as I collapsed into her arms and was released from my self-made prison of noise and fear."

How comfortable are you when you find yourself alone?

- When you walk into an empty house, or are the first to wake up, do you click on the TV or radio for company?

- When you’re free from school and find yourself walking home alone, does your iPod keep you company; pushing away the painful silence of reflecting on your day or of thinking about yourself?

Noise and the busyness of the world have a way of drowning out personal doubts, fears, loneliness and pain. But just like drugs people take, or quick getaway we escape to … noise and busyness are only temporary fixes… distractions from dealing with what really needs to change.

As I was observing our world the past few weeks with morning’s message in mind, I couldn’t help but wonder about the overly-emphasized life of Paris Hilton, specifically about her recent time in jail. She reportedly, , panicked those early days in jail because of claustrophobia, but I honestly wondered what it was like for a young woman whose life have been purposely designed to live in the spotlight of media attention (who actually makes money by bringing that attention to selected parties); I wonder what it was like to suddenly be placed in a cell isolated from the world, being told to live even for a short time in solitude.

I found it interesting that even before she was released she was proclaiming that she had “found God” while in jail. Now I don’t know what all that means to Paris, I guess we will find out in the years ahead… but it’s not surprising that this could have happened.

- We know from his words, and even more so from his changed life that Chuck Colson found God while in prison for his Watergate offenses.

- You might also remember that televangelist Jim Baker announced that he did not know the real Jesus until he discovered Him in prison.

Sometimes God’s grace shuts down the world for us, and gives us a chance at solitude where we discover that it is not such a bad place to be. In reality, it is when we embrace solitude, that we experience the greatest peace. As F.B. Meyer said,

"Loneliness is an opportunity for Jesus to make himself known."

As you were invited by your bulletin to meditate upon before our worship of God began… from Lamentations 3:

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26

Quiet solitude is difficult to find in today’s lifestyle, but we need to work at it as we learn the lesson that

2. In solitude we are never alone

As Frederick Faber, a 19^th century British theologian and hymn writer (“Faith of Our Fathers”), once wrote

There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear, because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on. - Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863)

First of all, let me note that these were the words describing English culture in the 1800’s…. so don’t think we are uniquely busy or distracted by worldly noise.

Secondly, note what yet another practitioner of solitude discovered; that rather than torment, silence and solitude draws us to the One who offers us healing from that which we try to suppress with our noise and busyness. Again, didn’t your pre-worship bulletin meditations drive this point home?

Thomas Merton - As soon as you are really alone, you are with God.

Or as Ruth Haley Barton herself writes in Sacred Rhythms:

The only time when I am not lonely and my longing for union is satisfied is when I am in solitude. (p. 42)

In Dallas Willard’s wonderful book, Hearing God, a book described by Richard Foster as “The best book on divine guidance I have ever read”, we are reminded that Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, and the Bible, God’s written word offer us by far God’s loudest voice. But after them, Dallas Willard states that of all the other ways in which God speaks to individuals, that “still small voice” we hear in silence and solitude plays by far a vastly greater role in our lives. (p. 87)

In other words, as the Bible describes in the past and people continue to seek angelic messages, prophetic utterances, dreams, visions and “burning bush” experiences; while all this is happening God is waiting for us in places of solitude to hear our heartfelt fears and concerns so that He can speak his love and grace and direction into us.

We are never alone in solitude…. God is waiting there with his salvation!

3. Solitude is essential for our salvation

Today I am not advocating a monastic life of anybody. While I believe Christians are called to live as God’s Children among those who do not know God, I am comfortable stating that a certain about of solitude is essential for our salvation. Followers of Jesus know that ministry is a combination of engagement and withdrawal, engagement with the world, and withdrawal to those places of solitude with God. This is how Jesus lived. Though tempted as we are to make the most of our time by getting more and more things accomplished, scripture reminds us that Jesus often went off by himself to be with the Father; to focus again on who the Father says He was, and not to let the world define Him by what He did for them.

When we fail to withdraw, to allow for God to center us in His grace and love, we can easily lose ourselves in the frantic pace of the world.

Dallas Willard noted an experiment done with mice a number of years ago. A researcher found that when amphetamines are given to a mouse in solitude, it takes a high dosage to kill it.

But give it to a group of mice, and they start hopping around and hyping each other up so much that just a fraction of the dosage will be lethal—so great is the effect of "the world" on mice.

In fact, a mouse given no amphetamines at all, placed in a group on the drug, will get so hyper that in 10 minutes or so it will be dead.

Let us not lose the irony here that it is not only mice, but also men (and women) who continue to hang out with others so hyped up on frantically pursuing mindless activities for no discernable purpose, that they too put their lives at risk! John Ortberg, "Keeping Your Clock Ticking," Leadership Weekly (8-29-02), www.LeadershipJournal.net

We desperately need our times of solitude with God to save us from the disorientating effects of a world. Jesus did; why do we think we don’t need to? In fact Jesus kept pushing His followers toward solitary places.

In Mark 6 beginning in verse 30, the Apostles gathered around Jesus with all their successful reports of going out in His name, and doing the things of Jesus. Soon the world crowded in around them, but Jesus worked hard to find a quiet place to get some rest. The more they tried to get away, the more the world kept coming after them. “Successful Christianity” leads to increasing demands that must be met with efficiency, but also with structures which insure times of solitude with God. As Mark’s account ends, Jesus is pushing His Apostles out to sea as He goes up on a mountain to pray. Mark 6:30-46 If Jesus did it, why don’t we?

In fact, every great leader of the Bible was familiar with solitude. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, John, and so on—these individuals knew the power of solitude because they experienced the power of solitude. In fact, we see examples of how they structured it into their schedules.

And, if we were to do the same, we too would become familiar with King David’s prayer, as it would become our own:

Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

In describing his experiences with God, in those “still small voice” moments of his turbulent life, King David wrote: "I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me" (Psalm 131:2).

Think about that image; a child at rest with its mother—it's the picture of peace, contentment, and security. This describes our relationship with God when we take the time to be still and quiet before him; when we give God permission and the place to meet us and transform us.

So where do you begin if you want to experience spiritual transformation? Three suggestions:

#1 - Find time to be alone

Even in a busy world, we are good at finding time to be with those we love. Do you remember all the things you used to do… or still do, to manipulate the demands on your life just so that you can make time to be with the one you love? When God is that One you love, you will find time to be alone with God.

#2 - Make it as quiet as possible

One of the great lessons we learn from the story we read earlier about Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-18), something we can relate to today… is that God met Elijah with all his fears and anxieties only after all the noise and chaos passed.

Meeting with God is not one of many things we can do while multi-tasking. Even if it is for a brief moment…. To sit down for 10 minutes, God wants our undivided attention; a heart that is open and available to only Him. Make those moments as quiet and still as possible.

Even though it was I whom God called into ministry, Carole was always the one who exemplified the discipline of solitude. And I remember how difficult it was for her to create that solitude during our early years of marriage when we lived in an apartment in Chicago while finishing school. Busy street noise and apartment clatter made it hard for Carole to find a time when it was truly quiet.

A quiet world helps us to quiet our souls before God.

It has been said that,

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." - Hans Margolis, (former Chief UN Weapons Inspector)

#3 - Practice the art of silence

David wrote:

"My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation"

(Psalm 62:1 NASV).

When you give God a moment of solitude, wait upon God to act. Don’t go into solitude with an agenda; neither one you’ve created nor one suggested by anyone else. Wait upon God’s Spirit to move your spirit, to reveal feelings and concerns from the depth of your being. And know that as you do so, God’s love and mercy will accept those feelings, and will speak to them at the right time. So, (1) Find time to be alone, (2) Make it as quiet as possible, and (3) Wait in silence for God.

If you are interested in being supported in your pursuit of the discipline of solitude, I encourage you to join me in the corner of our Fellowship Hall after getting a cup of coffee. We will share answers to the four questions listed at the bottom of your morning message outline.

Questions:

1. Do you currently practice regular opportunities for solitude?

2. When could you make time for solitude with God?

3. Where can you find the quiet necessary to make solitude most beneficial?

4. How good a listener are you?