When Alone Isn’t Lonely

Mark 1:35

Do you ever feel as if your schedule, your life leaves little time for

truly spiritual things?

Do you often find yourself on Sunday mornings picking up your Bible

and casually brushing off the week’s accumulation of dust?

Do you sometimes realize during the offertory prayer that the last

time you’d prayed was the previous Sunday’s closing prayer?

Does the concept of solitude/silence seem so vague, so foreign to

you that you can’t begin to define it, much less practice it?

At first glance, this sermon won’t seem like it fits in this series—after

all, for months we’ve been exploring some of the characteristics of

authentic, Christian community...and one thing each of these

characteristics have in common is the interpersonal, interdependent,

relationships we share

-living in peace with one another

-loving one another...forgiving...supporting one another

-living in humility with one another

--and the list goes on...but you get the picture

But this morning we need to take an apparent detour to introduce

another key characteristic of belonging in community—solitude

-I warned you...it’s almost as if this is a complete contradiction to

everything we’ve been discovering this spring and summer

--but the truth is that we have a strong biblical call for, not to

mention an intense, spiritual yearning for solitude

Now, you might disagree with me on part of that because you may be

thinking, “James, I have no desire whatsoever for any kind of

solitude...and the only intense yearning I ever have is for chocolate.”

-while that may be a debatable point (and one we’ll come back to),

I can present a clear argument that God calls us away from the

hectic everyday busyness we call “life” and invites us to enjoy

life-giving solitude with Him

--there’s not time for us to read these together—note references

After years of faithful obedience to God, the prophet Elijah was left

physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted

-he is so bad off that the Bible records a period in his life when he

quickly goes from fear to despair to hopelessness to near suicide

--hardly the ideal model for your typical biblical hero

-Read 1 Kings 19:3 – 13

--in the solitude and silence of the cave, Elijah hears God speak

After a series of stunning acts of disobedience, Jonah, by God’s

mercy, found himself in the belly of a great fish

-Read Jonah 1:17 – 2:7

--in the solitude and silence of the fish, Jonah returns to God

What may be the most surprising of all, our clearest example comes

from our perfect example—Jesus

-in the Sermon on the Mount He teaches à...when you pray, go

into your room, close the door and pray to your Father (Mt 6:6)

-Luke 3:16 à Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

-Mark 1:35 à 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.

-Mark 6:31-32 à ...because so many people were coming and

going...[Jesus] said to them, “Come with Me by yourselves to a

quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by

themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

-Matthew 14:32 (after Jesus receives news about the death of

John the Baptist) à When Jesus heard what had happened, He

withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

-Matthew 14:22-23 (after Jesus feeds the 5000) à Immediately

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of

Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He

dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to

pray. When evening came He was there alone.

-Luke 22:39-41 (the night He was arrested) à Jesus went out as

usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. On

reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall

into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond

them, knelt down and prayed.

It’s impossible to doubt Jesus’ practice of solitude...but...

You still might have doubts about why/how you should practice this

relatively unfamiliar spiritual discipline

-it seems so bizarre to us because so much of life is screaming just

the opposite...pastors and books are telling us to do more for

God, do more for the church, do more for our communities

--and while there is a time and a place for that, Jesus’ example

reminds us how ministry and life are done in, as John Ortberg

describes it, “a rhythm of engagement and withdrawal”

-simply we need it because our way of living is killing us

Dallas Willard cites an experiment done with mice a few years ago

-researchers found that when amphetamines are given to a mouse

in solitude, it takes a high dosage to kill it

--but you give it to a group of mice, and they start hopping

around and hyping each other up so much that a fraction of

that dosage will be lethal—so great is the effect of other mice

-in fact, a mouse given no amphetamines at all, placed in a group on

the drug, will get so hyper that in 10 minutes or so it will be dead

--you might first think, “Ah, that sounds like the last middle school

lock-in I helped with”

--but the reality is that we adults—who are supposedly so much

more wise—do the same thing

---we drown ourselves in what everyone calls “living”...but

there’s no real living to it...only dying

---as Robert Orben observed, “The problem with living in

the fast lane is that it gets you to the toll booth quicker.”

We need solitude/silence because it renews our strength

-it’s why God gave the gift of the Sabbath to the Israelites

--He didn’t mandate a day of rest to be a burden on them (which is

how you and I usually see it), but as a precious treasure

--a day to walk away from the fields or from the shop and rest and

spend time with Him

-and still today we resist this gift...it’s so sadly ironic that we’ve taken

what God has given us for our own good and we’ve twisted it into

some horrible method of divine torture

--Read Isaiah 30:15 – 18

We need solitude/silence because it enables us to hear God speak

-Frederick Faber wrote in the mid-nineteenth-century à There is

hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us

well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in

the soul...then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always

whispering to us, only we do not always hear, because of the

noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on.

-again, I argue from Christ’s example

--if He—the very Son of God—needed to get away to a quiet place

to pray, how can we pretend to be better equipped to hear the

Father in the noise of life

Henri Nouwen à Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a

spiritual life.

-yet we try

--we’ve become a society practically addicted to noise

---we have our tv, our radio, our ipods, our cell phones going

all the time to the point where we’re essentially immune to it

---we don’t even hear what we’re hearing...so we’re certainly

not going to hear what we’re missing

We need solitude/silence because God responds to our searching

-James 4:8 à Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

To experience the presence and the power of God, we need to

discipline ourselves to spend time in solitude and silence

-already the protests and riots are being organized

--“That’s impossible! I have a job. I have teenagers. I live in a

noisy house on a noisy street in a noisy neighborhood. I work

in a noisy office.”

-let me tell you the truth—you’ll know it’s the truth because not only

will it hurt, but it will also help: the more you protest that you

cannot find solitude/silence in your life, the more desperately you

need it...in fact, your relationship with God depends upon it

The keys to this are practice and discipline

-even though it is God’s work, His grace, His ministering to us in and

through the solitude/silence, it is still true that nothing significant in

our life happens without practice and discipline

A couple of years ago a friend told me about his swimming routine

-I replied, “I could never swim that far.”

--he said, “Before you trained for your marathon, what’s the

furthest you’d ever run at one time?”

-I knew where he was going with this...so I mumbled, “Six miles.”

--“Six miles?!! That’s all? Six miles is a million miles from twenty-

six-point-two miles! That’s impossible! I’m sorry you weren’t

able to do it.”

-I didn’t even argue with him—he had me

--“James, it’s the same thing with swimming. Do you jump in the

pool and swim a mile the first time? No. You swim half a lap.

And you gasp for air. Then you swim another half a lap. And

you gasp for air. And you keep doing that until after a couple

of days, you make that turn and you complete your first lap

without stopping. It’s not easy and it’s not quick...but with

some effort and persistence, you’ll find yourself swimming a

mile or more and wondering why you ever doubted.”

A similar principle applies here

-first of all—it’s not about building up our endurance...it’s not about

being able to brag, “I spent two hours in solitude and silence.

Aren’t I spiritual?”

--I’m simply remind you that many people fail in this, and other,

spiritual disciplines because the first thing they do is plan for a

week-long retreat of solitude/silence

---that’s like running a marathon without training

----you’re going to fail at both of them and then you’ll

simply give up and say, “Either I’m not cut out for this,

or James has no clue what he’s talking about.”

Ask God to help you intentionally carve out times in your day

-it might be while you are running, walking, swimming, driving

--instead of viewing an extended time in your doctor’s waiting

room as a pain, see it as a gift...pray, read Scripture

-remember how it was in high school?

--the bell would ring and it was time to switch classes, the halls

would be packed with students and your girlfriend would meet

you at your locker so that you could walk her to her next class

---you only had 2-3 minutes, but those two or three minutes

meant everything, didn't they?

---they made even chemistry bearable!

That's the practice we need to get into with God, seizing those

opportunities throughout the day when we can have five minutes

here, fifteen minutes there, alone with Him

-and just like we would try to make the most of that "date" between

classes, we need to learn to make the most of our moments

alone with God

-we do what David describes in Psalm 131:2 à I have stilled and

quieted my soul.

If you live with other people, involve them...get their cooperation

-let them know what you are going to do...ask for their help

-if you are a single parent, ask a friend to help you

-this isn’t about creating a “me” time, it’s about creating a “God” time

Create a place of retreat

-garage, backyard, room...Jesus talks about going into a closet

-we need to do that here...sanctuary, prayer room

Here’s what you’re going to discover

-instead of being a chore... “I have to put in my time today”...you

will see it as a gift...and you will come to desire it because it’s

there you will meet with God...as you pray, as you immerse

yourself in Scripture, and as you are silent before Him

Silence is the ultimate “you-first” activity there is

-when we refuse to try to impress God with our long, flowing,

righteous-sounding prayers...when we simply offer ourselves to

Him and in our silence say, “I am Yours. I trust You. I will patiently

wait for You.”

--may we learn to say to God, as the young boy Samuel did à

Speak, for Your servant is listening.

What is God speaking to your heart this morning?

-calling you to trust Him?

-surrender?

-obedience?

-closer walk?