The Call to Quietness
I have to say that I am very glad that our gospel reading today skips over the horrific story of the beheading of John the Baptist, and rather moves on chronologically from last week. We read then how Jesus sent out the twelve disciples in ministry for the first time. Today we meet them again on their return.
Let’s just imagine that scene for a moment. They would have all been gathered around Jesus, literally bubbling over with stories of all that had happened – the miraculous healings; the casting out of demons; the hundreds of people who had turned back to God in repentance. They must have been falling over each other to top each one’s stories. Their voices raised to fever pitch there would have been plenty of pushing and shoving as they each clamoured to be heard.
The whole atmosphere was crackling with excitement.
And how did Jesus react? He said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
That’s what I want us to think about this morning, Jesus reaction – the call to quietness – which, just as it was for the first disciples, is a vital part of our Christian walk.
There’s a story told of a missionary who was making a long trek through the jungles of Africa. Tribesmen from the area were hired to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The missionary had high hopes of completing the journey in double quick time. But come the second morning the tribesmen refused to move. For some strange reason they just sat and rested. When he asked about this strange behavior, he was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that the tribesmen were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.
There are times when our lives move so fast, that we need to slow down and let our souls catch up with us -- not literally, but figuratively.
We will rarely find God in the hectic moments of our lives, but we will often find Him in the quietness.
You’ll recall the story of Elijah who was told to stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord was about to pass by. The Lord wasn’t in the great and powerful wind that shattered the rocks; He wasn’t in the earthquake or the fire that followed it, but the Lord was in the gentle whisper.
Isn’t it true that we prefer to see God in activity, in all the things we are doing for him? We rush around; get caught up in chapel meetings, bible studies, prayer meetings, visiting the sick, caring for the needy, working amongst the children and so on and so on.
And please do not misunderstand me, these are all extremely important ministries that God calls us to. But perhaps the mistake we sometimes make is to think that these are enough.
There’s a danger that we spend all our time doing for God and not enough of our time listening to God. We want to feel the strong and powerful wind and we fail to hear the gentle whisper because it’s drowned out by everything else
I wonder how many of you are like me – when push comes to shove and life just gets too busy, our devotional time with the Lord is often the first thing to be put aside? Of course we never consciously say, “My daily quiet time with the Lord doesn’t matter.” We rather dress it up with nice words. “God will understand,” we say to ourselves, “After all I’m doing his work.”
But if you really think about it, what we are actually doing, is pushing the Lord to one side in order to take care of what we think is really important.
In 2 Corinthians Paul urges us to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. So what was Jesus like when it came to taking time to be quiet. In Luke 5 and verse 16 we read, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Surely it’s significant that Luke, that meticulous gospel writer, thought that it was important to record this fact right the middle of all the healings; the driving out of evil spirits and the recruiting of the twelve disciples. For Luke it was a vital and essential element in the character of the Messiah he was describing to his readers.
Over and over again throughout each of the gospels we see Jesus drawing aside to be quiet and to pray. He could well have sat back and argued with God that the more time he spent in prayer and meditation the less time he would have to preach, teach and heal. But Jesus recognized the need for constant refreshment in body and soul.
Isn’t it almost ironic that Jesus, the Son of God who, on the face of it, needed prayer the least, because of who he was, was in fact the one who was the most constant and consistent in prayer?
We need to ask ourselves why that was. In John, 6 verse 38 Jesus gives his reason for being on earth. He says, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” And how did Jesus keep constantly in tune with God’s will? By consistently talking and listening to him in quiet prayer.
Why do we suppose for one moment that we can be any different?
The most important thing we can do in our lives is develop a relationship with God. And no deep and lasting relationship can ever be built on estrangement. If we are to have a relationship with God then we have to have time with God.
None of us would consider trying to keep our families and our friendships alive without communication – and the same goes for our relationship with God.
Which leads me to the nub of our thoughts this morning, and it’s in the form of a question which I can assure you I ask of myself often – how is my prayer life?
And if you want a measure against which to answer that question then let’s look at Ephesians 6: 18, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17, “Pray continually!”
But my purpose this morning is not to beat you, or myself, with a big stick over this issue but rather to explore together Jesus’ call to quietness and to prayer.
The first significance of this call to quietness is that it usually comes in the midst of times of great activity. And why do the gospel writers go out of their way to mention it at such times? Precisely because they saw that quietness and prayer were Jesus’ source of strength and replenishment.
Unlike the widow’s jar of oil in the story of Elisha, we are not inexhaustible – though sometimes we like to think we are! We need filling up in body and spirit and the only effective way of achieving this is to draw aside as Jesus did. Stop what we are doing and spend time with God.
How can we ever hope to help others if we are running on empty – either physically or spiritually?
And the danger of running on or near empty is not only that we become less able to help others, but also that we ourselves become more vulnerable. In Ephesians 6: 11 and 12, Paul tells us to put on the whole armour of God. Why? “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We are in a constant battle and we need the strength of God to ensure victory – and the source of that strength is quiet and prayer.
The second thing I want us to understand about this call to quietness is that it is not a time-bound ritual. God is accessible to us at all times. Yet how often do we take advantage of this wonderful opportunity?
I believe one of the reasons that we resist is that prayer is costly. It costs us time and, quite frankly, for very many of us time is one of the most precious commodities we have. Prayer demands time and it demands effort and everything around us is at odds with such commitment. Our minds fight against making the effort, so too do our bodies and you can bet your bottom dollar that Satan is waiting for every opportunity to make things worse!
If you’re anything like me, once I’ve missed out on my quiet prayer time in the morning for one or other reason, some of which may be perfectly valid, then I tend to tell myself that that’s it for the day. I’ll try to make up for it tomorrow.
I look at it as though I’m keeping an appointment with the doctor – if I miss the time then I’ll have to wait for the next appointment! Well God doesn’t work by appointment – he is available at any time, day or night. And for any length of time. Don’t think that your prayers have to be a certain length of time to make them worthwhile.
So the call to quietness and prayer is something that can take place anytime and anywhere.
The last thing I want us recognise this morning is that there is no set formula for our call to quietness – there are no strict rules on what to do or how to do it.
Try to think back to when you were courting your husband or wife – I hope you can still remember back that far! You would have become quickly bored with each other if every date was the same and the conversation was all about just one or two topics.
It’s the same in our meetings and conversations with God. He is desperate for us to share our real feelings with him; to pour out our doubts and fears; to listen to our needs and worries. And it doesn’t have to be in fancy language!
For his part he asks only one thing of us – to listen. And that’s perhaps the hardest lesson to learn. It’s difficult enough for some of us to listen to someone standing next to us – let alone God with whom we are communicating in spirit! Yet if we want our relationship with God to grow and develop in these times of quiet, then we must learn to listen.
And as you learn don’t be afraid if things don’t always go the way you want them to. Don’t for one moment think that you are the only one whose mind shoots off in all sorts of directions when you try to be quiet before God. It happens to all of us. But then few of us learnt our two times table in a day!
Our world today is obsessed with activity. In fact busy-ness is often equated with success. The danger is that we allow this attitude to spill over into our Christian lives. The end result can be the same as it is for many of today’s business executives – stress and burnout! Jesus recognized that when his disciples returned after their first ministry. I’m sure that most of them would have been eager to get back on the road again. But Jesus called them to a place of quietness, a place of prayer where they could replenish their spirits.
I pray that all of us will hear Jesus when he makes that same call to us.
Amen.
