Back to School
Whose Got Rhythm?
Psalm 119:161-168
November 22, 2009
Who has rhythm? Rhythm is a part of life. It is literally in our hearts. In our last sermon of this series, I want to leave you with the encouragement to intentionally develop a spiritual rhythm in your life. This is where you sync up your daily rhythms with God’s.
Further out in the Midwest, farmers prepare for blizzards by tying a rope from the back door of their house to the barn. When a blizzard hits, farm life goes on. Cows at the least still need to be milked several times a day.
The blizzards come quickly and blow furiously. Literally a farmer could not see the end of his hand, let alone, the barn or the house. Many farmers froze to death as they wandered in circles lost in their own backyards within a few feet of their back doors.
Between the excessive busyness and the storms of life, we get disoriented and confused. We are addicted to doing. We need to rest but we have to cram yet one more activity into our schedule. Even Sundays get jam-packed. I’ve been a part of churches where you get up early for choir practice, Sunday school, go to worship, go out for dinner, go home to change your clothes and maybe cram in a couple of chores. But then it is off again to choir practice or youth group followed by yet another service and then off to Wendy’s to grab a quick meal (because who has time to cook) before coming home to crash exhausted before getting up for work.
American Christian spirituality is focused on a quiet time with church on Sundays and maybe a small group hoping this will enable the average follower of Jesus to withstand the blizzard of life swirling around us. But it doesn’t.
Within a couple of hours of our devotions, we forget God. We trust that God is there and have not forsaken God but God doesn’t have any of our attention. By lunch, we are grumpy and short with people. Oh sure, we might listen to WCTL on the way home to remind us again of God. But then at home, our spouse and kids are wondering where our Christianity is at.
Sometimes we just surrender and accept that this is just the way things are in this world that we live in. But it doesn’t have to be. It isn’t supposed to be. I want to share with you an important concept not as something more to do but as a framework for your life. It is sometimes called the Daily Office but I am calling the Rhythm of Life. The basis is found all throughout the history of Christianity and even Judaism. It is derived from Scripture in several places but I want to use Psalm 119:161-168 with special attention to what David said in verse 164.
161(IS)Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart (IT)stands in awe of Your words.
162I (IU)rejoice at Your word,
As one who (IV)finds great spoil.
163I (IW)hate and despise falsehood,
But I (IX)love Your law.
164Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your (IY)righteous ordinances.
165Those who love Your law have (IZ)great peace,
And (JA)nothing causes them to stumble.
166I (JB)hope for Your salvation, O LORD,
And do Your commandments.
167My (JC)soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I (JD)love them exceedingly.
168I (JE)keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my (JF)ways are before You.
David said that seven times he prays. Seven times throughout the day, David stops to meet with God. His life is organized around these seven times. It gives him rhythm. This isn’t something to fit into your schedule. This is the framework to fit your schedule into.
Christians have been doing this for thousands of years and they got it from Hebrews. I’m not sure how much you know about Islam but one of the several things that have impressed me about those who are devout (not extremist) is that they also have a rhythm of life. They pray at designated times. This is something that most American Christians have forsaken and even shunned.
The Rhythms of Life
1. Stop
The important things about rhythm is that you must have starting and stopping. In drums, there is the moment when you hit the drum. It is often called the beat. Musicians learn to play on the beat and then off the beat. But no one plays continually and constantly. No one constantly makes sound. You have to breathe and stop. That is what creates rhythm. Stopping and starting.
Yet often our lives seem like one huge long note that drones on and on and on. Never stopping. Never ceasing. Never breathing.
Developing a rhythm in your spiritual life means organizing your life around times of stopping to remember God. What is important is not the length of time but that you regularly stop to refocus on God. It could be five minutes or forty minutes. It could be your break time. Monks have develop a regular schedule where they stop and remember and pray. For example, at 3:45 am there are what is called Vigils. Lauds is @ 6:00 am. Prime is 6:25 am or the “First” hour often being a worship service. Later the call to worship would sound at 12:15 pm and 2:00 pm. Then Vespers would occur at 5:40 pm and Compline at 7:40 pm which is before bed.
The exact times are not important or the number of times is not either. Although I would think that once or twice misses the point. When we moved to Erie, I really focused on adding an intentional noon time where I stop and focus. When I was a chaplain at Miami Valley Hospital, I would take a fifteen minute break around 3:30 to grab some frozen yogurt and refocus. Of course, I will admit that it is much easier to develop a rhythm when much of your vocation is centered around seek God’s face.
Set your watch or phone to beep softly. So that whenever you hear the beep, you are reminded to say a quick prayer. One suggestion is to try 60 for 60. Say that with me, “60 for 60.” For sixty days, set your watch or whatever device to softly chime at the top of the hour and let that be a reminder to say quick prayer. It might even give you the chance to tell others what you are doing. Every sixty minutes for sixty days.
But really just stopping to remember God is not quite enough. You need to include intentional times of another aspect as well. You might not need to take this much time every hour but certainly you need to include some intentional time in your day for this:
2. Centering
Psalm 37:7 says: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Psalm 46:10 says: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Centering is where we move into God’s presence and rest there. This is a time of quiet contemplation, mediation, and reflection. Quiet your mind and let go of your tensions, distractions, and begin resting in the love of God.
Here is just a basic outline to begin.
• Be attentive and open
• Sit still
• Sit straight
• Breathe slowly, deeply, and naturally
• Close your eyes or lower them to the ground
If needed do some relaxation exercises. If you mind wanders, let your breathing guide you back. Breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out your distractions and anything that is not of him. A couple of variations include focusing on a single word as your breath in and out such as “Abba” or “love” or even “Jesus.” You can also use an ancient, ancient prayer called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Breathe in on the first half and breathe out on the second half.
Taking even five minutes two or three times a day and pay attention to God will go a long way in moving you into a deeper communion. But there is a third part:
3. Silence
Too often we spend all of our time telling God our business or should we even dare to honestly admit telling God “His” business. Silence attends to God. Silence and another disciple Solitude are perhaps the most radical disciples of Christian life. Solitude is being absent from people and things. Reflecting this need in our lives, the comics gave the great hero, Superman, the need for a Fortress of Solitude, where even the almost invincible could take time to be absent from people and things. Henri Nouwen said that “without solitude it is almost impossible to live a spiritual life.” Silence is quieting oneself to attend to God.
These are the most challenging and least practice disciplines and certainly the most neglected aspects in formulating a rhythm of life. Noise and distraction fill our postmodern lives. Studies suggest that the average group can only bear fifteen minutes of silence. If you have even asked a question in a small group, even three seconds of silence can seem like an eternity. Most worship services reinforce our wishes for noise and distraction.
When creating a Rhythm of Life for yourself, you should stop, center and be silent. Again the length of time is not as important as being regular and consistent. Even the number of times should not be rigid. Find what works best for you. It is your Rhythm of Life as God has created you during this phase of your life. You will most likely find that as you progress, you will need to make adjustments.
But there is one last thing that I strongly encourage you to include:
4. Scripture
The psalms are the foundation to any Rhythm of Life or Daily Office book that you might find. They have served as THE prayer book for Christians for centuries. Jesus quoted the psalms more than any other book except Isaiah. Look for books on the Daily Office. These books will often provide you readings from both the Old and New Testament and give you balanced diet of spiritual food and topics. Many people have found that concluding their time with a specific prayer to be helpful (such as The Lord’s Prayer or The Serenity Prayer or another prayer that is meaningful for you).
There plans to read through the Bible in a certain amount of time. You can put on a favorite worship CD. The lectio divina is an approach to meditating on Scripture that can be used as well. If it helps, use it. If not, put it aside. Maybe it isn’t for you or at least not for you at this time.
Be attentive to your heart and to what God is doing inside of you. Let God be your guide. Remember the purpose is to remember God and commune with him all through your days. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 reminds us to “Pray without ceasing.”
If you can’t remember anything else remember this: Rhythm Keeps You Regular
There are several other ideas that should be a part of this such as keeping a Sabbath and developing a framework much like a trellis holds up fruit and flowers that includes other disciples including a Rhythm for Life. But this is perhaps one of the most essential to developing an emotionally healthy spirituality. I encourage you to dig deeper in the resources that I have included in the bulletin over the last several weeks as this series is just a start.
