After the song "I Miss My Time With You"
I wonder to how many of us God would convey the same unmet longing this morning? To how many of us do those words connect, as if God would actually say those same things to us?
History is rich with the examples of “holy men” who set aside hours, days, years, even lifetimes to separate from the rush of living and spend time alone with God.
The earliest famous person to do this was a peasant from Egypt named Antony the Hermit. He was born in mid 3rd century, and his example was followed by others – living alone in the desert, prayer, meditation, Bible study, and fasting were all part of their attempt at achieving closeness with God. Many went to weird extremes, like walling themselves up in caves, learning to sleep while standing up, confining themselves to tiny boxes only a few feet square, or living on top of pillars. One of the most famous 5th cent. pillar-sitters was a guy in Syria named Simeon Stylites. The last 36 years of his life was spent sitting on top of a pillar some 50’ off the ground, and people made pilgrimages from miles away just to see him and listen to his counsel. A church was built around the site of his achievement, and there in the middle is the base of his pillar. (see picture)
All in the name of holiness. All in an effort to spend time with God.
Then there are the people a little closer to home, like Don Dewelt, who stressed the need to spend at least an hour a day alone with God, and even developed a very structured way to do that. I remember the last class that Don taught at OCC, Expository Preaching, where we spent the first week on this subject, and where the first requirement of the class was the hour every day alone with the Father. Here we thought we’d gotten into a preaching class, and instead we were learning about spending time alone with God!
So where does God want us? Who was right? Whose example is the right example? Who had the right balance of work and play? Of socialization and solitude? Of blank time and busy time?
To which I must say: Well, Duh, Jesus, of course! While His mission in coming to earth wasn’t to just be a good example, we can bet that the way He treated this is definitely the right example.
It seems fitting to me, at the end of the summer, for us to reflect back and look at what we did with our “time off.”
What did we do in the way of recreation? God is in the recreation business. It’s root has to do with being “re-created,” and that’s what God does to people. So, did your recreation consist of activities that helped “rebuild” and “recreate” you? Or are you still recovering from it?
What did we do in the way of vacation? Did you go somewhere? Leave home? You can see in the word vacation the word “Vacate.” But more than just going somewhere, it carries the idea of freedom and exemption. Was your time of freedom from the grind a time that refreshed you and prepared you for the rigors of life? Or was your vacation a rigor of life?
How did you do? If you’re like me, we tend to not focus our time away from the normal hustle as a time to get closer to God. We tend to use it as a time to get away from everything, including God – but how sad it is that we spend our lives running away from something, as if life were an angry dog – rather than running to our God!
So, yeah, I’m going to say this today: that Jesus lived the priority of regular time alone with the Father. And I know that inward objections are going to trigger, saying something like “My day’s so full, I never have time alone, let alone with God. I already don’t have enough hours in the day. There’s no way I can set aside more time for anything else. No one around me will understand or appreciate it – they won’t help.”
If you want to say those things, go ahead. Jesus could have said them more quickly than any of us, because those are all challenges that He faced and that we face when it comes to spending time with the Father. Let’s look again in Jesus’ early Galilean ministry and flag some of those challenges together:
(I. Challenging)
1. People
You meet them wherever you go. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, other people are going to impact your life.
They were certainly impacting Jesus. In fact, in this part of His ministry His days are full of people.
(Matthew 4:23-25) Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Jesus understood the challenge of having to be around people a lot – “throughout Galilee…healing every disease… all over Syria…all who were ill… Large crowds…” He knew it was hard to get alone. Yet, He does.
Now, we’re going to put pieces of both Mk and Lk together as we read the next section:
Mark 1:35-39 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Luke 2:42b) The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
The next section tells the story of one man – a man with leprosy who believed Jesus could heal him, and he did, only He gave him a very stern, almost angry warning after healing him, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.” And, of course, the man did just what Jesus said. He didn’t tell anyone at all that he’d been healed of his leprosy. Well, not exactly…
Mark 1:45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
Luke 5:15 the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
It’s pretty easy in the ministry to say “I’m so busy serving people and being around people that I don’t have time to get alone with God.” If anyone could have said this, it was Jesus. Still, even though He was swamped with people, Jesus got alone to be with the Father.
If Jesus, Who was the Son of God and Who was constantly surrounded by people, found it necessary to get alone to spend time with the Father, how much more do we need to do the same?
2. Tiring
Did you notice how Jesus managed to be alone? It took getting up very early in the morning, while it was still dark. Do you imagine this always came easily for Jesus after being around people all day right on into the night? Of course not, but it was necessary if He was going to get it done.
I usually get up first in our household – but before you get excited and say how spiritual I am, understand that a major reason for it is that I’m not fit to be around for the first hour or so! I can give an eyewitness testimony: getting up when the sun hasn’t even bothered to do it yet just isn’t natural! And, I’ll confess to you, that some times the natural man wins the argument when my alarm goes off in the morning.
But what I see in Jesus is a willingness to make it happen, not to just sit back and say, “Well, I’m pretty tired. I guess I can’t have time with the Father today.” When it was important enough to Him, He made it happen.
If Jesus, Who was the Son of God with a flesh and blood body that grew tired just like ours, found it necessary to get up early to spend time with the Father, how much more do we need to be willing to give up time for the same?
3. Misunderstood, not appreciated
The 3rd challenge to this time is the way that others will tend to not understand it.
-Peter and the others hunt Him down. It’s as if they are trying to help Him get His priorities back in order. “Jesus, everyone is looking for You! What are You doing out here when there are crowds to deal with? Isn’t that why You’re here?” And the crowds do find Him. They want Him to stay. After all, when you get a good healer and teacher in town, you want to keep Him around.
But Jesus has been out visiting with the Father. Jesus has a mission to accomplish. If He was going to do it, He was going to have to spend time, on a regular basis, with the Father. The point of it wasn’t to just serve Himself. The point of it was still the people. He couldn’t be what He needed to be if He wasn’t staying close to the Father.
You would think that people like preachers and Bible college professors would have some kind of special exemption from having to do this sort of stuff, wouldn’t you? Ill - Charles Hendricks tells of one of his professors, an older man who had taught for many years. The prof had a reputation for staying late and studying. Someone questioned why he would need to devote all that time to study after teaching for so many years and he said, “I’d rather have my students drink from a running stream than from a stagnant pool.”
Jesus had a mission to accomplish. It would take a lot of preparation and spiritual strength. He’d have to stay close to the Father. Deep down, we know it. We know that we can’t be nearly as effectively for the Lord if we neglect staying close to Him.
Quote - It’s Martin Luther who’s credited with saying, “On my very busiest days, I don’t know how I could possibly get everything done unless I spend the first 3-4 hours in prayer.”
If Jesus, Who was the Son of God was misunderstood for spending time alone with the Father yet went ahead and did it, how much more should we be willing to be misunderstood for taking this priority on ourselves?
Jesus lived the priority of regular time alone with the Father, and that’s a challenge.
(II. Necessary)
But it’s necessary.
Story - Cathy Fussell, Apopka, FL “ I have found if I don't have my quiet time each morning, I tend to lose my temper over insignificant things. Recently, my son, Andrew, reminded me of the need for daily prayer. He had accidentally spilled his drink and I went into a tirade. Andrew ended my harsh words when he quietly asked, "Mom, did you forget to ask Jesus to help you be nice today?"
I share some of Cathy Fussell’s experience. If I don’t spend time with the Father, things aren’t going to go well. But even more, I’m convinced because Jesus found it necessary, it’s even more necessary for me. And that brings me to the point of wondering: How can I think something is so important and then fail to do it! Are you with me? So we need to take this 2nd step now and talk about how to successfully prove we believe it.
I’m so glad this morning that we have these passages to consider. I’m so glad that I don’t have to stand before you and say, “In my opinion, this is necessary” – that instead I can point to Jesus and you can see it right along with me. I’m also glad, that when it comes to making time alone with God a priority we don’t just say, “Let’s all try to do better at this.” Instead, we can look at Jesus and ask, “How did Jesus make it happen? What did Jesus do that made time with the Father a cornerstone of His life?” He obviously thought it was necessary.
I see 3 elements, at least. And if we’ll get a hold of these, our lives will bear out that we also think time alone with the Father is necessary.
Regularity
(1 Thessalonians 5:17) pray continually
(Ephesians 6:18) And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
This whole topic acknowledges that our relationship with God isn’t a one-time event. It’s an on-going relationship that requires maintenance.
A wedding is an event; marriage is a relationship.
Buying a house is an event; making house payments to the bank for 30 yrs is a relationship.
You didn’t come to accept Jesus because of just one event, neither will one event be all that counts in your relationship with Him. That’s good news if you’ve had some mess-ups along the way, but that’s bad news if you aren’t regularly spending some time with the Father.
Look again at Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Time with the Father was an on-going event in His life on earth. He didn’t just get a hold of some great devotional book and for a few weeks really go at it like it was a new diet of some kind. It was a regular thing for Him. Other parts in the gospels bear this out. We find Jesus, off by Himself, praying. In the desert for 40 days, on the mountain before walking on the Sea of Galilee, on the night before choosing who will be His 12 apostles, in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before being crucified. Jesus, often, deliberately in lonely places, praying.
How often have you found yourself sometime past noon and, except for meal time, you can’t remember when you’ve spoken to the Father?
We can’t treat God like a fix or an occasional visit we make. It’s no relationship if the only time He hears from us or we think of Him is when life is a mess. Don’t be satisfied with a relationship with God that just brings you knocking when you need something. Don’t approach Him just for what You get. Approach Him to know Him and to be close to Him and to share your life with Him because He already owns it anyway.
Sacrifice
Go back through these verses and look for what Jesus was giving up in order to have time with the Father:
• Sleep
• the image of what people wanted Him to be
• human company
– or maybe we should go back to the moment when God the Son confined Himself to the womb of a human woman so that for 33 years on earth the One Who was by very nature God had to approach God from a human body with human limits and problems.
There’s some light conversation to have during lunch today: What was it like for Jesus to speak to the Father? Was it different, now that He was bound to earth? Was it awkward or strained?
Most everyone knows what it means to give something up for the sake of a relationship. Jacob worked 14 years for the hand of Rachel. My dad sold his 38 Studebaker for the sake of buying an engagement ring. On and on go the stories.
Whenever we start talking about what Jesus gave up for us, what He asks for us to give up doesn’t seem like such a big deal after all.
And maybe that’s where you should start this morning: What have you given up in the past week, the past month, the past year, for the sake of having a close relationship with the Father? And what is there that you need to give up, that’s standing in the way of it right now?
He Who knew no sin became sin in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Who, although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be held on to, but He emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of man, and being found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Does our sacrifice sound like something we can’t do?
The 3rd element is…
Planning
Time alone with the Father didn’t happen because Jesus just occasionally found Himself with time on His hands or things just happened to turn out that way. It happened because Jesus determined this was an essential part of His work, and He planned it, He scheduled it, He caused it to be.
There’s no way, with the number of people who were pressing in to see Him or be healed by Him, that Jesus would have “found time” to be alone with the Father unless He had deliberately planned it out. He didn’t take an opinion poll to see if everyone else agreed with the idea. If He had, He would have spent all His time with them. He didn’t check with everyone else’s schedule and then see if He could fit it in. He planned it, which just makes sense, because His whole life on earth was part of a big plan.
Make a mental list this morning of the things you plan: doctor appointments, shopping, nights out with a loved one, school schedules, trips – maybe your plans are very detailed, maybe not. But one thing’s for sure: if something is important to you, you plan for it. So, in your list of things you’ve planned to do, is one of the items a regular time alone with God? Write Him in.
Quote - Don Postema - "I used to write in my daily calendar '7-7:30 a.m.: Prayer.' But many times I passed that up. It was one more thing to pass by that day. Now I write '7-7:30 a.m.: God.' Somehow that's a little harder to neglect."
When it comes to living the priority of regular time alone with the Father, we need to purposely plan the usual time it’s going to take place. If we don’t, it won’t.
Conclusion:
The picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is too kind. You’ve seen it – His hands neatly folded, His face pointed toward heaven, a circle of light around His head. That’s not the picture the gospels paint.
The gospels record a Jesus Who is entering into His greatest time of anguish ever. He knows what He’s about to face. He knows that Judas will betray Him, that His closest followers will all run away. He knows that He’ll be arrested and beaten, and that the guilt of every one of us will be placed on His shoulders and He’ll be punished for it. The gospels record a Jesus Who’s feeling the pain, Who says His soul is greatly troubled, to the point of death. They show us the picture of Jesus Who goes off by Himself – Who wrestles with the moment and Whose sweat pours off of Him like great drops of blood on the ground. The picture is of a Savior Who asks His 3 closest disciples to pray with Him, but 3X they fall asleep instead. This is Jesus, fallen down on the ground, with His face in the dirt. And at the most crucial moment in all His time on earth, He’s spending time alone with the Father.
The crucial time passes, Judas comes to betray Him, the guards have come to haul Him away. And this Jesus approaches them. He knows exactly what’s going to happen. Jesus asks them who they’re looking for. When they said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Jesus said, “I am He!” Something in the way He said it, the sheer power of His presence – John doesn’t tell us what it was – makes them all back off and fall over on the ground. They’re so blown away that Jesus has to help them arrest Him!
And I want you to consider with me what was the only difference between that Jesus and the One Who was on His face just in the dirt just before that: He had just been alone with Father.
And I can feature that for many of us, that sometime in the future, in a moment of crisis when everyone else is falling down, when enemies are assembled against us or a situation looks grim we’ll be able to stand with complete strength and confidence because we’ve been alone with the Father.
I want that for you and for me. And you can rest assured that God wants that for you today as well.
