Matthew 14:6-13
6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. 13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.
1) The sounds of Silence
- Read 1 Kings 19:9-13
1 Kings 19:9-13 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.
- How many of us go about our lives… so busy… so filled… so hectic… that we never ever… stop to listen?
- (LONG PAUSE)
- It has gotten to the point that… for some of you… that silence was awkward, for others… perhaps it was like finding a long lost friend, for others… perhaps it was “Boy Pastor Homan sure is wasting a lot of sermon time today!”
- But believe it or not… meditation has been a long standing tradition in the Christian church… however a practice many of us have long lost
2) What is meditation?
- Eastern Meditation (Go and take a squat)
- Christian Meditation (Not an emptying… but a filling)
3) Believe it or not… you all have already mediated… in fact many of you are master meditators
- A really… REALLY bad song. (Sing...It’s a Small World)
- How many of you have it’s a Small World stuck in your head now
- Read Psalm 1:1
Psalm 1:1-3
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. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4) Bringing it on home… “So What?”
