Spiritual Discipline of Meditation
February 10, 2008
I was reading a story about a man who was running on his treadmill. He had it set at an incline of 5.5%. About 30 minutes into his workout the treadmill had a slight malfunction. He was running at a fairly decent pace and doing incline intervals, and wanted to start his warm down. So, he hit the button to decline the treadmill back to level.
However, the button didn’t respond. He hit it again - - nothing happened. He was stuck. At this point he said he literally began to ‘freak out,’ those were his words. He said he had this mental image that he would die on the treadmill because no one would have found him until it was too late.
Then a thought popped into his head, “Hey stupid . . . . just step off the treadmill.” So, he did.
Have you ever felt that when you were caught up in a situation, you were literally unable to think rationally. Those moments seem to come when we can least afford them. We are busy, we have things to do . . . it’s kind of like what I was talking about last week when we don’t make time to celebrate and experience the joy of the Lord.
Our lives are so caught up in busyness and muchness, that we don’t know how, we can honestly take the time to slow down. Yet, if we could . . . that is exactly what we would do. So, how do we cope when life is spinning out of control, and all we think we can do is hang on, and what we hang onto is the very thing we should be letting go of? Oh, we do hold onto God, but it is a yelling, a calling out, a crying out to God, we hang on like a cat clawing its way up a screen, and we wait for God to show Himself in our lives.
So how do you cope with those situations? You see, God didn’t create us to simply endure this complex life, instead, we are to enjoy it, we are to take passages like John 10:10 as fact and believe this is what God wants for us . . . to live the exceedingly abundant life. Are you living that life? Are you living the EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANT life? Because you and I were created for so much more than we can ever imagine.
One of the ways to connect with God and experience that amazing life and joy is through something most Christians are very suspicious of . . . meditation.
Honestly, when we think of meditation we think of Buddhists and people sitting with their legs crossed in some position which I cannot get into, and we chant or simply say “Ummmmmmm.” That is our view of meditation. In fact, from the Spiritual Discipline presurvey, 81% of those who took the survey do not meditate on a regular basis, if at all.
On 58 different occasion we are told to meditate in the Old Testament. Passages like Psalm 1 tells us,
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 119:97 reminds us, Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Psalm 63:4 “I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.
We even hear of Isaac going out to meditate in the fields in Genesis 24:63.
The point of meditation is to connect with God, so that we can be obedient to God as we listen to what God’s desire is for our lives. It’s almost that simple, yet there is something about meditation that is scary. It is not concrete. It’s not like reading the Bible, where you can hold the book in your hands. Meditation is about you and God . . . and maybe that in and of itself is the scariest part. We come face to face with God . . . alone. Just you and God, and that is pretty scary, yet isn’t that what we do in prayer, we call upon God, yet maybe meditation has a more personal aspect to it, and maybe we just don’t know much about it, so we shy away from it.
Richard Foster said “meditation boldly calls us to enter into the living presence of God for ourselves. It tells us that God is speaking in the continuous present and wants to address us. God speaking to us. . . isn’t that what we long for?
In meditation we create an emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to build an inner sanctuary in our hearts. In that wonderful passage from Revelation 3:20, Jesus stands at the door and knocks, wanting to come in and eat with us, and in a sense, “meditation opens the door and, although we engage in specific mediation exercises at specific times, the aim is to bring this living reality into all of life. It is a portable sanctuary that is brought into all we are and do.”
So, what does all of this mean? It means we create an intentional space through meditation, so we can experience God, not just on occasion, but on a very real and regular basis. Because we experience Christ on a more regular basis, we now gain a greater entrance to knowing and understanding what He wants us to do in our lives. And that is one of our issues in life, we just don’t know what God’s plan is for our lives. This opens that door to the holy.
Now, you might be wondering, how is this different from what we would call New Age or Buddhist meditation? It is totally different. You see, the goal of eastern meditation is to empty our minds. I can make lots of jokes about emptying our minds. Eastern meditation seeks to detach oneself with the world and merge with the cosmic mind. We want to be freed from the burdens and pains of this life and to be released into the impersonality of Nirvana. Personal identity is lost and personality is seen as the ultimate illusion. There is no God we can attach ourselves to, because the goal of Eastern meditation is detachment, not attachment.
In Christian meditation there is a sense of detachment as well. However, the real goal is attachment with God. You see, we try to detach ourselves from all our worries and concerns so we can attach ourselves to God. Once we attach ourselves to God in meditation, there is a new openness to experience God and have a growing life in Christ.
Christian meditation is simply the ability to hear God’s voice and obey His Word. It is no more complicated than that simple definition. It requires no secret knowledge, no mysteries, no mantras, and no mental gymnastics, but it does require one thing… practice.
Another way of describing meditation is to call it contemplative prayer. It is a calming of our minds and hearts so that God’s voice can be clearly heard. God is alive and is constantly seeking us out to have a relationship. Meditation calms us so that we can do just that, have a relationship with God.
Another way of describing meditation is inward fellowship. It is this kind of inward fellowship that will transform who you are and your personality to be more Christlike. It is connecting with the Holy Spirit which took up residence in you on the day you said, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ!”
Meditation allows us to connect ourselves to God with our minds (what we’re thinking about), our hearts (what we’re feeling), and our souls (what we’re concerned about). Meditation is connecting to God with our whole self and holding nothing back.
I know there will be some people who look at Christian meditation and think this is a big bunch of touchy-feely fooey. But it is not. It is a way to bring ourselves closer to Christ, to experience His presence, even in the midst of our most difficult times in life. It is not something that is very difficult to learn, we just need to give meditation, Christian meditation a chance.
Meditation helps us learn to experience that still small voice of God. When we meditate we seek to discover Christ’s presence in our lives. We want to hear a word from Him, we want to be like other spiritual giants we have read about, who say, “when the Lord spoke to me . . .” and we are in awe of their ability hear God. You don’t need an advanced degree to be able to meditate. You just need your own willingness to be open and receptive to God.
It is true that mediation may reduce your blood pressure and help relieve tension, but that is not the purpose of it. Because when you walk away from time with God, I would think the tensions in life would melt away.
So, how do we enter in to mediate. A wonderful Biblical example comes from Paul’s words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, Paul tells Timothy ~
12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. (NKJV)
The word meditate means to consider something, to remember, to muse, to rehearse something in your mind. I like that last one best. Paul is calling Timothy to rehearse in his mind all these things which God has given him. Paul says, “meditate on these things.” What things? Meditate on ~ the gift which was given to Timothy, it is a gift which is already in him and being made evident to the people. His gift is his teaching of Christ, because of his relationship with Christ.
Besides that, Timothy should meditate on what it means to hold onto the word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, purity, reading, exhortation, and to doctrine
How does Timothy meditate on these things? He talks to God about them . . . and he listens to God’s response. I love the way John Ortberg describes this process, “Why is it that when we speak to God we are said to be praying; but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic?”
Good point by Ortberg. If someone said, ‘I heard from God this morning . . .’ or if they said, ‘God told me I needed to do something . . .” we look at those people as a little different. Yet, this is exactly what God wants for us. Because for us to become more like Christ and to be transformed more and more into His image, we need to know God even better and be able to recognize and listen to His voice.
Since meditation is pretty foreign to most of us, I want to spend the last part of this message talking about meditation in more practical terms.
Any time is a possible time to meditate. The early church fathers sought to experience what they called “holy leisure.” It means having a sense of balance in life, having an ability to be at peace through the various activities of the day, an ability to rest and enjoy God’s creation, as we pace ourselves throughout the day.
This is something which has been lacking for me while I have been working on this project. I have gotten stressed, overly tired, and grumpy. This session on meditation has come at the right time for me. Hopefully for you too.
When you meditate you want to find a comfortable place. The place should be free from interruptions, there should be no television, radio or other device which is on. There should be no pagers, cell phones, telephones and whatever communication device you might have. It would be nice to have a good view, but that is not necessary.
Your posture should be whatever feels right to you. Prayer can occur in any position. Yet, you want to find a position which is not restrictive or constrictive. You don’t want to sit in an uncomfortable chair or sit with legs crossed, which cuts off circulation. You should notice your body position and consider what it is telling you; are you chewing gum in a way which looks like you’re ready to attack?
If you are filled with anxiety and concern, you should intentionally pick a position which signifies peace and relaxation. The Bible gives us images of people in all types of postures, sitting, standing with arms raised, lying prostrate - face down. Regardless of how you meditate, the aim is to center the attention of your body, mind, emotions and spirit upon God’s glory.
There are different objects we can focus on when we meditate. The first and most obvious is Scripture. Joshua was about to lead the people into Israel, these words came to Joshua from God in Joshua 1:8, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; MEDITATE on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua was to meditate on the word of God, doing it day and night. The image the Bible portrays of Biblical meditation is that it was a natural thing to do. The Bible never gives us an explanation of how to do it. It was assumed the people knew how to do it. What we see Joshua doing is contemplating, going over the Word of God. This would take place in his heart, mind and spirit. He would reflect on God’s word and how it applied to his life and listen to God for instruction and guidance.
A key part of meditation is the ability to listen. This means we have to get rid of all types of distractions. One thing I learned to do came from a book by Eugene Gendlin, called ‘Focusing.’ While it is a psychology book, it taught me to focus my mind and get rid of all the extra stuff that was getting in the way of letting God have greater room within me. You see, once we clear our mind of distractions, we are able to focus on God and listen for His Words in our lives.
When we meditate on a passage of Scripture, the internal meaning may be different for each of us because we come searching for God in different ways, yet, the point is to read the Scripture, then meditate on that passage, hear the water, see the crowd of people, hear the pleas of the sick, feel the sun on your shoulders, touch the hem of His garment. When anxious about something, take time to meditate on what it means to receive the peace of Christ; or consider what it means to have Jesus as your Shepherd. Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer are examples of Scriptures many know.
Take the first passage I preached here from Luke 14:26 ~ when Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.”
What does that mean for me, how can I meditate on that scripture and hear what Christ is calling me to do. Remember we enter into the Biblical story, not as a passive bystander, but as an active participant.
There are ways to meditate when out in nature, Jesus said in Luke 12:27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Picture a field of lilies, picture an amazing looking Solomon, and he didn’t look as wonderful as these lilies.
There are so many images for us to hold onto from the Bible, but we can also look at images in nature and life. Go outside and marvel at the rain, the snow, the wind, the trees and flowers as they bloom; look at nature come alive; look at your own life, your family, your children. At the end of a day, stop and consider what occurred and how you can reconnect with God.
As we meditate on a regular basis, we find that when trouble does come our way, or when difficult moments arise, when we are about to be interviewed, we have this ability to stop, even in that moment and sense the presence of God is very real and very much with us.
