Sermon 8th March 2015

Today, our Honorary Assistant Minister, Gill Tayleur, preaches. The reading is from James 4: 1-10

MEDITATION, CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE

We’ve just heard in that reading from James: “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

People often remark how much they like the invitation to Communion Cameron introduced into the parish, and written by William Barclay: “Come to this table not because you are strong but because you are weak. Come because you love the Lord a little and want to love him more. Come because he loves you and gave himself for you”, and so on. It’s an appealing invitation - to come to God, to get closer to him. Receiving Holy Communion or a blessing may be one way we come to God - but what about the rest of the time?!

As we’ve heard, today is the third Sunday in Lent and this year’s Lent book is Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Quite a lot of people are reading it individually, and all of us are seeing what we can learn from it in this series of sermons during Lent.

Simon started us off on Ash Wednesday, challenging us to see these spiritual disciplines as a matter of celebration! The way the discipline of practice and training for a race, - that later leads to success - is a cause for celebration.

And then last Sunday Cameron introduced the idea of discipline putting us in the place of receiving God’s grace. Cameron explained (as Richard Foster says in his book), that we can’t really change ourselves as we’d like, can’t make ourselves grow in faith, or goodness, just by trying really really hard. Like plants, that we want to grow. We have to put the seeds in the right soil, at the right time; and we have to water them – but we can’t make them grow. Only the soil & sun can do that; our part is to give it every chance to happen. And that’s exactly what the spiritual disciplines can, and will, do. They’ll put us into a place in which God can enable us to grow.

So – what are these spiritual disciplines? Celebration of Discipline has 12 of them, grouped into 4 inward disciplines, 4 outward disciplines and 4 corporate disciplines. This morning we’re looking at one of the inward disciplines, meditation. The other 3 are prayer, fasting and study.

So, meditation, or meditative prayer. Being still, and being quiet are pretty big challenges in our culture today. Hurry, noise, busyness, crowds – that’s what 2015 London life is like, and often what our individual lives are like. We’re rushed, pressured, life crammed full, living on the go – and perhaps on the surface. We may feel stretched very thinly, in terms of our time, our attention, even our relationships, as we squeeze so much into our lives. Richard Foster says if we hope to move beyond the superficialities of our culture, including our religious culture, we must be willing to go down into the re-creating silences, into the inner world of meditative prayer.

I wonder if this idea of meditation, or meditative prayer, appeals to you? I must admit that although the idea sounds good, to me the reality feels like a huge and uncomfortable challenge.  I’ve had only little forays into meditative prayer, myself. But that’s the point of a discipline, isn’t it? That even if it’s something not comfortable or easy to start with, that we choose to do it, because we believe it will produce something good. Like the discipline of training for a race. Or of eating healthier for our cholesterol level. But what is promised to those who come near to God is so much better than that! Come near to God and he will come near to you.” You and I can come near to the living God and He to us! To be with Him. To encounter Him. To speak with Him. To hear from Him.

So – whether you’re already experienced in meditative prayer, or interested in the idea, or frankly a bit reluctant, let’s find out a bit more about Christian meditation today. We start by looking at the Bible – which uses 2 different Hebrew words for it, and they’re used 58 times in total. These words have various meanings, including: listening to God’s word, reflecting on God’s works, remembering God’s deeds, ruminating on God’s law, and more. In each case there is an emphasis on changed behaviour as a result of an encounter with the living God in meditation.

Many people and many different sorts of people in the Bible are described as meditating, right through from Old Testament characters like Isaac, Eli, David and Jeremiah, to the New Testament, including Jesus himself. He made a habit of withdrawing to a quiet place by himself, to be with God.

Richard Foster says, “Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey his word. It’s that simple. I wish I could make it more complicated for those who like things difficult. It involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into cosmic consciousness.” It is simply God speaking to a person, who listens quietly and then obeys.

The Bible is full of people hearing from God, or Jesus. Hearing His teaching, His direction, His guidance. “The wonderful news is that Jesus has not stopped acting and speaking. He is resurrected and is still at work in our world. He is not idle, nor has he developed laryngitis. He is alive and among us, as our Priest to forgive us, our Prophet to teach us, our King to rule us, our Shepherd to guide us.” Christians through the centuries have witnessed to the truth of this ongoing reality of hearing God’s voice. Probably not an audible voice, but a prompting, a nudge, a sense an insight.

Yes of course we might mis-hear, and have to check that what we think might be from God fits with what else we know of Him especially from the Bible, but we’ll get better at that with practice – after all, this is a spiritual discipline.

So what stops you (& I) from practising meditative prayer and hearing from God? There are several understandable misconceptions about it.

First is, that it’s the same or very similar to the concept of meditation found in Eastern religions or new age movements. Actually they are poles apart – because in Christian meditation, we’re not emptying our minds or trying to be more detached from the world. It’s just the opposite, that in Christian meditation one is focusing on God and His word, with a view to hearing from Him how to live in the world. Often meditation will bring insights that are deeply practical and almost mundane. An idea will come on how to relate to your partner, or how to deal with a sensitive work problem. God wants to speak with us about how to go about our everyday lives.

Another misconception is that meditation, or listening to God, is difficult or complicated. Maybe it’s best left to the clergy or church leaders, to grapple with it. Not at all! Hearing God’s voice is for all Christians, and doesn’t need any special techniques to teach us how to go about it.

And one more common misconception about meditation is to see it as a religious form of psychological manipulation. A way of lowering one’s blood pressure or relieving tension. But rather than seeing it that way, if we believe in a personal creator God who loves us more than we can imagine, we’ll see meditation as a communication with the God who delights in our relationship with Him. Maybe that’s why meditation is so challenging or even threatening to us (and why we’re so reluctant to do it). It boldly calls us to enter into the presence of the living God for ourselves. It tells us that God is speaking in the continuous present and wants to address US. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”So, does this appeal? Would you like to hear from the living God today?! We can! We do!

HOW??

Richard Foster has suggestions for some ways to start, but first let’s say what is perhaps obvious, that we need to set aside some undisturbed time for this – start with say 5 or 10 minutes? – with the phone on silent. In a reasonably comfortable position, we get still, consciously relaxing our muscles and breathing fully and slowly.

So, what are the ideas for what we meditate on?! One is with a passage from the Bible. A short passage, maybe only a phrase or verse, not to be studied on this occasion, but rather to be dwelt upon, pondered upon, allowing it to sink in, to take root in us. Suppose we meditate on Jesus’ wonderful statement, “My peace I give to you.” (John 14v27)

Rather than trying to study or analyse these words, we’re seeking to experience the reality of which they speak. We mull over the truth that Jesus is now filling us with his peace. We open the heart, the mind, and the spirit to His inflowing peace. We may sense that our fear and anxiety is stilled by His peace. Rather than dissecting Jesus’ words, we are entering into them, being gathered and enveloped into His peace. We don’t have to try and make ourselves more at peace, or think laboriously for ways to act peacefully; we just sit with his promise of peace and drink it in.

Another way of meditating on the Bible is to imagine oneself in the situation of a passage, maybe from a gospel, about Jesus. Imagine feeling the heat of the day or cool of the night, the gravel on the dusty road, the smell of the market place, the wind across the hills. Imagine the noise – quiet footsteps, or a crowd, or shouting or sobbing maybe. Try to imagine the people; a crowd or just a few? What do they look like? Are they upset or peaceful, angry, impatient, expectant? Are they paying attention to Jesus, or wishing he would go away? And where do you imagine yourself to be in the situation? What do you feel? Are your feet sore from walking a long way? Are you hungry, thirsty? Are you in pain or need of healing? And lastly, what conversation do you hear? Does Jesus turn and speak directly to you? What does he say? What do you say to Him?

Imagining ourselves like that right in a Bible passage, and how we’d respond to being there, can bring insight into God’s word to us for today.

Another form of meditation is what the contemplatives of the Middle Ages called re-collection, and what the Quakers have called Centring Down. One example in doing this is a simple exercise called Palms down, Palms up.

Begin by placing your palms down as a symbolic indication of your desire to turn over any concerns you may have, to God. Inwardly you might pray, Lord I give to you my anger toward Robert. I release my fear about my hospital appointment. I surrender my anxiety about not having enough money to pay the bills this month. I release my frustration over trying to find a babysitter for tonight. Whatever your concerns, just say “palms down.” You may even feel a sense of release in your hands. After several moments of surrender, turn your palms up as a symbol of your desire to receive from God. Perhaps pray silently, Lord I would like to receive your love for Robert, your peace about the hospital, your patience, your joy, each time saying Palms Up. Then spend the remaining time in silence. Do not ask for anything, just allow God to be with you and listen out for any impressions or directions that might come.

There are other sorts of meditations, and much more that could be said about it. But I’d like to finish by getting us to have a taster of it right now. We’re going to imagine being with Jesus and his disciples as he calms a storm, from Luke 8. Please try to enter into this – just for a few minutes.

So get comfortable, be still and aware of breathing in and out. Maybe close your eyes if you want to. Imagine you are with Jesus’ disciples standing near the Sea of Galilee. You can hear the lapping of the water. Feel the moisture in the air and the blowing of a gentle breeze.

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You hear Jesus call out, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” Jesus is already in the boat, so you and the disciples quickly get in.

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Some of the disciples begin to row, and the boat slowly moves away from the shore. Jesus takes a place in the back of the boat, grabs a cushion for his head, and lies down.

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As you and the others go across the lake, you begin to feel the force of the wind picking up and more cold spray in your face. You see the waves are starting to get higher and stronger. And you feel the boat go up and down and side to side rather more than is comfortable.

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The waves continue to grow, and they start crashing over the edges and into the boat! Water is coming in, a little to start with, but more and more, loads of it, a really scary amount!

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You look at the faces of the disciples: Simon, Andrew, James, and John, fisherman who grew up on the lake. You see fear in their eyes and hear panic in their voices. “Start getting some of this water out of the boat!” they shout. Your mind is racing, fear is rising as each wave crashes into the boat, bringing with it more water.

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You suddenly remember Jesus - powerful, caring, concerned, and here. You turn to look at him, hoping to draw strength and courage from him. But he’s asleep! Jesus is sleeping while you and the disciples are facing death.

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You might feel angry - doesn’t Jesus care? Your fear turns to panic and you rush over to Jesus, frantically shaking him and shouting, “Don’t you care that we’re about to drown?” Jesus wakes up. “Quiet down,” he says. The wind and waves stop.

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He then looks at you and the disciples saying, “Why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?”

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What thoughts and fears would you like to bring to Jesus, from the storms of your own life? Maybe a setback, a worry, a fear, a disappointment, a pain.

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What do you want to say to him about it?

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And how does Jesus respond? What does he say to you?

That’s an example of an imaginative prayer meditation. If you want to talk or pray with someone after about any of this, do come speak to me [or find someone on the prayer team with a red badge over there] after the service.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.” What an exciting invitation! Let’s accept it! And now let’s pray together [as we sit]...