Sermon by Judy Turner
1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:1-4
Jesus came that we might have life in abundance in relationship with God. The same relationship He had with God the father, with all the joy and delight and depth of intimacy, he makes available for us. This relationship results in our living the kind of life Jesus lived, loving God and people, putting that love into action.
Let’s think about what a relationship has to have. Relationship requires communication. If there is no communication, there is really no relationship. Jesus describes a life of following Him as we hear His voice. He continually communicates with His followers, and they know His voice. If Christians are honest, we may have to admit we don’t have much of a relationship with God. Oh, we go to church and we pray. We talk to God, maybe even talk to God a lot. But we really don’t experience God communicating with us.
The spiritual practices of solitude and silence are key to our experiencing an authentic relationship with God, in which we “hear” God speak. These practices are often associated with the Christian Contemplative Tradition. Let’s talk about how the Contemplative Tradition emerged. As early as the Third Century AD some Christians were distressed by how secular and apathetic the church had become. They saw fellow Christians whose lives weren’t different from others in the culture, pursuing the same worldly ambitions and values. They looked at the church and didn’t see the character and actions of Christ, nor the vital Godly community described in the book of Acts. These individuals left society, went out into the dessert to devote themselves to prayer in solitude and silence and to discover God. They practiced self-discipline, sometimes in ways we would consider extreme, but they developed a reputation for wisdom. People would come out to the desert to seek the Godly counsel of the desert Fathers and Mothers. Abba Anthony, one of the best known of these Desert Fathers, after 20 years of solitude in the desert, was sent back into the world to preach the gospel, teach, counsel, heal the sick. He worked tirelessly with the poor in mines and prisons and confronted unjust judges. He often brought reconciliation between hostile groups.
As time went on, some of these Christian contemplatives lived the life of prayer together in some form of community. By the 6th Century Christian monasticism was an identifiable movement, with people seeking to live the life of Christ together. Benedict was the founder of monastic communities that survive to this day. His rule, which involved living simply in a daily rhythm of work and prayer provided a model for many other monastic communities. The monasteries that thrived in Ireland from the 5th through the 9th centuries also became centers of evangelistic mission, learning, and the arts. The monastic tradition continues as the most visible expression of the Contemplative Tradition in Christian life.
I’m grateful for monastic communities which nurture the life of prayer through offering places of solitude and silence. Discovering this stream of life in Christ literally saved my life in ministry. I’ve shared with you the story how after 3 years as a pastor, I thought I would have the shortest ministerial career in history. My life was a frenzy of activity running from one meeting to another, one crisis to another, and then Sundays rolled around I swear every other day and I had to have a sparkling sermon, and then those weeks when I couldn’t handle one more thing, someone would be so inconsiderate as to die, without checking with me as to whether it was a convenient time for a funeral. I was burning out fast. A friend suggested going to the Hesychia House of Prayer near Paris, Arkansas, a ministry offered by a several Benedictine nuns who lived a quiet life of prayer themselves and offered a quiet place for people to come and seek a deeper life in God.
It was hard at first to settle into the silence, but like the woman knitting before the face of God, as I just tried to be attentive to God, I discovered that God does communicate in all kinds of ways. My relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit became more real and intimate. I actually learned to enjoy God, as we took long walks together, or just sat in the evening on the porch and watched the sun set. Not just reading scripture but meditating on it, the words came alive and spoke very personally to me. Some of God’s communication was hard. The Lord confronted me about why I was working so hard in ministry- and I had to admit a lot of my motivation was not to serve Him, but to succeed in my chosen career. He confronted me about how I was going about things – driven by my ideas and goals, not even asking Him what He wanted for His church. I saw how destructive the ego-driven life is, especially when it poses as Godly. I shed tears of repentance, and asked that Jesus show me a whole new way of living life in ministry. As my spirit came to life, I realized how dead I had been and how gracious God was to not let me keep on like that, but invite me to a time away so He could draw me closer and speak to my heart. My shepherd Jesus spoke to me and invited me to continue making space in daily life to just be with Him and continue getting to know Him. And I discovered the practices of daily prayer in solitude and silence as necessary to my spiritual well-being as eating food is to my physical well-being. I still try to get away for extended times of retreat, but one of the habits He has helped me develop is to make times of silence and solitude in the course of every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
Every movement has its extremes and dangers. Contemplatives can become “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” The life of prayer is not an escape from the world, but genuine prayer powerfully connects us with the suffering and pain and injustice of our fallen world. Another danger is consuming asceticism, engaging in practices that deny the body to the extreme that health is endangered. The practice of solitude can be taken to the extreme that one is not connected with a community of faith. That is a danger, because the Christian life is designed to be lived in community with other Christ-followers.
But the benefits of the prayer-filled life are huge. Some of these benefits are described by Richard Foster in Streams of Living Water:
· We experience a deepening love for God that feels more like a gift than an achievement
· We experience peace, a quiet rest and assurance. It is not the absence of conflict and problems, but a sense of God’s Presence in all our circumstances.
· Delight is a part of growing intimacy with God. There is pleasure, friendship, joy- deep joy. And playfulness.
· Wisdom is a fruit of time spent with God. This is not only knowledge, but being able to see as God sees and to rightly discern what is of real value and to find the right path.
· Transformation: As we are attentive to God, God gradually transforms the heart, the will, the mind, the imagination, and the passions. The result is the transformation of the entire person into the likeness of Christ. More and more we take on His habits, His hope, faith, and love, His actions.
When you discover a great restaurant, a wonderful place to visit, you enjoy telling other people about it. You want others to experience the benefits you have received. I have looked forward to this sermon, as one pilgrim on the spiritual journey telling another pilgrim where there is food, rest, and delight. Silence and solitude are practices which lead to growing intimacy with God. The work in the world which makes an eternal difference flows from this depth of relationship with God.
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