When Jesus calls us to follow him, he gives the simple command to abide in him (John 15). If we are to bear fruit in our lives (love, joy, peace, etc.) then it is essential to be connected to Jesus. We are all connected to something that nourishes the fruit we produce but it isn’t always Jesus. Building a structure in your life to help you be connected to Jesus is essential for being a true follower of Jesus. This structure historically is called a “Rule of Life.”
Habitual practices shape who you are and for your heart’s desires. The world goes to great lengths to form your habits and your heart to shape you into the person they want you to be. Therefore, Jesus implores us to abide in him. The structure you build for your life to be connected to Jesus is not what saves you. These habitual practices connect you to the one who saves.
For years I have been captivated by the history of the church in the first few hundred years. Followers of Christ went from being a persecuted marginalized minority to the state religion of the “Christian Nation” of Rome. This transition also meant that it took little effort to be a follower of Christ but great risk to remain a pagan. Many became Christian in name only causing others to fear the loss of the ancient faith. These Christians began fleeing society to find God in the desert. Our gut reaction has often been to look at people removing themselves from society and respond, “What good are they for the world then?”
This early monastic movement to the desert is depicted in this way: The early Desert Fathers and Mothers regarded society as a shipwreck from which everyone had to swim for their lives. For one to simply let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of society, was simply a disaster. The only way to save others from the shipwreck is to find your footing on solid ground. Fleeing the wreckage helped them find their footing to then return and save others.
This fleeing to the desert follows in the footsteps of Jesus who fled to the wilderness for forty days of fasting and prayer before starting his ministry (Mt 4). Throughout his life, he continued this practice of “going to lonely places to pray” (Lk 5:16; 6:12-13). Moses also spent 40 years in the desert before beginning his ministry of liberation (Ex 3:1). Deuteronomy 6 provides a type of “Rule of Life” for remembering dependency on God in the desert when entering the Promised Land. John the Baptizer called Israel to return to the wilderness to find God again. This call to repentance echoes the warnings of Moses in Deuteronomy 6. Paul tells us in Galatians 1:17 that after his encounter with Jesus he retreated to the desert for three years before joining the other Christ followers. The followers of Christ, who saw the changes in society and the church and fled to the desert, followed the example of Christ and others before them. They sought a solid foundation on which to stand so they could then return and save others.
Solitude is a daily habit where we return to the presence of God again and again to find our footing in the shipwreck of the world. What does this look like for you daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly?
This solitude is alone time with God where transformation takes place. To go deeper into this solitude and find our footing, we must also develop practices of silence. To prepare for this Sunday’s lesson, spend time in reflection on the words of James 1:19-27 and 3:1-12.
I talk a lot. I talk too much at times. It is a major part of my job to talk. One thing I’ve noticed over the year is that I have had to apologize a lot more for what I say than for what I don’t say. In a wordy world where everyone gives their opinion at every moment even when no one is listening, we need to reclaim practices of silence so that when we do speak our words have meaning. Silence creates space in our lives for God to shape our words. These words develop in God’s New Creation to speak life into this broken creation.
As we prepare to explore the need for practices of silence, I want to get your reaction to a challenge I tried many years ago. It would not work for most of us to take a vow of silence but what would it look like to set aside 24 hours to speak only what love required us to say?