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Why are you here today? In what way will you hear Jesus' call to, "Follow me!"? Each of us will have their own way to reflect and pray: For some it will be through much needed sleep! (God speaks as much in dreams as in signs and visions). Others will find the stillness in walking in the garden, sitting in a solitary room or in private prayer. Remember that the Lord has called you here and he will guide you in the way he wishes to touch you. As always our guide is Jesus who withdrew on occasions to be alone with his Father to be refreshed and renewed in his ministry.
A quiet day does not mean that you may not talk to others but it does require each of us to be aware of our own or another's need for silence and solitude.
A long-time favourite for me is a small book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer called, "Life Together", in which he sets out Christian ideals for the community of faith. (See note 1). In chapter three - The Day Alone - he says of solitude and silence, "Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray….."
So, today we will seek, together and alone, the way of faith in the community.
A quiet day is a chance to put aside the immediate things which have engaged our minds and to hear the guidance of the Lord clearly: It is a time to still the daily concerns which so often provide the background clutter of noise and diversion which prevent us from following the Lord's call.
This is not to escape or avoid our responsibilities but rather a time to review and reflect upon the past and to recognise in it how God has guided us through our faith so far and to use that to be more effective in his service in the future.
But, beware! The future is in the Lord's hands: If you want to give him a good laugh, try telling him YOUR plans for the future! Yet we are called to work with the Lord and offer to him our fears and hopes so that he may guide us in a future which is both his and ours.
In our second Reflection time I will look at the consequences of our choice to 'walk by faith'. For now, though, it is enough to set the scene and to concentrate on allowing the Lord into our consciousness.
For Rosemary and me, a quiet time came unexpectedly while on holiday in November last year: We were in Death Valley in California. We had been to the lowest point, 282ft below sea level and a day later we were at the highest point, 5,00ft above sea level. We were the only people there and as we each looked out at different parts of the valley far below, the stillness and awesome size spoke powerfully of God's hand on all we saw. The road at the bottom of the valley was no more than a strand of a spider's web across the vast wasteland. In our private reflections we were aware of God's ability to make the desert flower. We had seen pictures of the inhospitable emptiness below after just an hour of rain: It was full of colour and life. God spoke through the magnificent desolation of a future where hopes were fulfilled and life restored.
So, the Lord will speak to us in his way and at his time: It will not always be when or where we expect but in times like today we create 'doors of opportunity' in which we seek to be especially open to hearing him. We are given the choice of calling him as much as he calls to us.
The famous painting by Holman Hunt is based on Revelation 3 : 20 - "Behold, I stand at the door and knock…" (See note 2). The painting shows a half hidden door among brambles and weeds with the Lord, holding a lantern, standing knocking: The door has no handle. It may only be opened from the inside. The area around the door represents a person's life and all that surrounds it. The door is the door to the person's heart. The Lord may only enter if the person opens the door and invites him in.
If we choose to open that door through silence and prayer, he will speak to us.
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What we hear and how we respond will determine how our faith walk will develop. For each of us, the Lord has a particular plan. Only by listening and praying will this become clearer. Don't expect a detailed, clear road map, though! St. Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 13 : 12, "For now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror" (NIV). What we might get is a general direction along with some choices.
Our prayer times can include periods of mental silence when we wait upon the Lord. These can be helpful but need some practice to achieve. The technique is to learn to focus one's whole self on Jesus. Without this focus there is the danger of leaving a 'mental vacuum', full of depression and loneliness.
For me this occurred during the three day silent retreat which culminated in the ordination service in Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford. I almost walked away from being ordained. One of the others there, given insight by the Lord, saw and understood what was happening. He quietly took my arm and led me out of the college. "We're going on a walk by the river and you're going to tell me what's wrong". No '"Will you?" or "Shall we?", just a direct command! The gentle stroll beside 'still waters' and an understanding ear put me back on course again. God had shown me that I could not go forward in my own strength and sent his messenger to re-assure me of his will that I should follow in the path of ordination. He had filled my vacuum with his guidance. It was a lesson in the prayer of waiting and listening while walking the way of faith.
The walk of faith is well charted in the lives of many in the bible and right up to the present day: Each person has their own story of triumphs and pit-falls. Their experiences help us in our own walk to interpret God's messages and see a clearer path but we each still have to make our own choice of response.
The time now until lunch is yours to use as you wish: I shall be around and available for any of you who wish to speak of your own experiences, ask questions or pray together. I shall also be watching for those to whom the Lord guides me!
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What is faith?
To walk by faith is always a walk into the unknown, putting one's total trust in the Lord.
For Christians this begins with an unshakeable belief in Jesus as Son of God and saviour.
In the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 11, the writer defines faith by listing giants of faith from the Old Testament and what they had done as a result of their faith. A paraphrase of part of that chapter starts like this:
'Abraham gave up city life and went wandering in the desert in obedience to God.'
We know Abraham was 75 when God told to him to go. He had no idea where he was going or how he would get there with his whole family and all his livestock. He is not recorded as asking where or how or when - he just went! He knew that there was a 'Promised land' which God wanted him to find but had no idea how or where!
Imagine being told by God now to give up security and home and move to somewhere yet to be agreed in a direction which you will be given eventually! Well, there are still many who are so called to do exactly that! The prospect would be too daunting and frightening if it were not for their total trust in God.
'Noah was prepared to be foolish for God'.
He built the ark in the middle of a desert and in a time of long term drought: His friends and neighbours wrote him off as having gone mad but Noah continued to listen to God rather than his neighbours.
Today, there are those who are called by the Lord to stand out against the prevailing wisdom and present an alternative view - God's view. Many are still treated as outcasts by a society which condemns their alternative wisdom as madness. That said, it is possible in the last 200 years to see these 'mad' ideas becoming accepted and accredited as a significant part of an international moral code. Such examples as the abolition of slavery, votes for women, campaign for nuclear disarmament, Green Peace and Christian Aid are just a few which might be included in the 'fools for God' people.
In every case given in Hebrews 11, (and there are many!), it starts with the faith of an individual which becomes shared and owned by the whole community of faith. To walk by faith not by sight is the Lord's call to each of us and it demands a personal faith to be turned into visible action. Each one's faith is entirely personal but is of no use to God if it is kept totally private! For each of us, our God-given faith is our contribution to the whole of the faith community in order that that community may be more effective in offering Gods' love to the whole world through Jesus. For each person, however, there is both personal choice and guided level of action: For some it is a series of small steps while for others the giant leap of faith: For most of us it is a graduated response according to where we are in our present circumstances.
Within this ideal is the natural and entirely human fear of both the unknown and the consequences of walking by faith. Sitting here, it is possible to work out an ideal action plan for God in my life but if I try to put it into practise and it will quickly become an impossible nightmare!
But God is faithful and will not take us beyond what he knows we can bear. (See note 3)
For me and Rosemary this became clear when I felt a call to ordained ministry.
The call for me to serve through ordination was a leap of faith. It needed to be tested, first with Rosemary and then through many levels of the Christian community. I was in a job which I greatly enjoyed and which paid well but there was no contest in choosing to test God's call. As we worked out on paper the financial implications of such a move it was clear that we would not manage! The Lord knew that it would be a great worry for me, (I don't do debt!!), but we had to trust that he would provide. We tore up the calculations and said, "Yes". He has been faithful and we have never needed for anything necessary in all the years since.
To look at the disciples gives a sense of the bold times and the crises in each of their lives as they followed Jesus and how they managed to stay in tune with the Lord and with their faith in him. Take Peter, for example: He gave up a life and work he enjoyed when Jesus called him. No questions about why?, where to?, or what next?; he just followed.
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But look at his recorded ministry throughout the New Testament and you will see moments of doubt and despair, guilt and remorse, then finally a confident fearless faith in action.
It was in Matthew 14; 25 - 31 that we are told of one of his lapses: Jesus is walking over the lake at night to the disciples in a boat. He says, "Do not to be afraid, it is I". Peter calls, "If it is you, tell me to come to you". Jesus replies, "Come then". As Peter leaves the boat and begins to walk on the water his eyes are fixed on Jesus. Then, as he looks down and away from Jesus, he realises what he is doing, his faith weakens and he sinks! His call to Jesus is, "Save me" and, of course, Jesus does as he takes Peter's hand.
If you want to look at others who followed Jesus and had times of great faith and great uncertainty, you have only to look at Nathaniel, (John 1: 45 - 49). In v.45 he asks, "How do you know me?" Jesus' answer leads to a confession of faith.
Thomas, (yes the unfortunately called 'doubting Thomas), went through a similar reversal from doubt to faith after Jesus' resurrection - John 20: 24 - 28. Earlier, (in John 14), Jesus had been telling the disciples that he was preparing a place for them in God's house and they knew the way there. Thomas objected: "We don't where you are going so how can we know the way?" Faith returned for them all when Jesus replied, "I am the way, the truth and the life…." By following him and trusting in him in faith they would enter the Kingdom of God.
Walking by faith, then, needs a willingness to stay in touch with the Lord through every day with all its good and bad parts. Acting on God's word is our sign to ourselves and others that we are confident in our Lord. It is important that, as a community of faith, we share our dreams and visions with one another. None of has the whole picture but together we might see rather more clearly that going it alone. The ultimate assurance for each and all of us is to know God's peace in all that happens: It is a peace which exists visibly in the middle of chaos, danger and doubt.
The disciples lacked that peace on the day of Pentecost until they received the Holy Spirit. Then, these cowering, frightened, hiding men received God's peace and were able to talk to a potentially hostile crowd and tell them of Jesus and how to receive God's forgiveness and love for themselves.
At the end of each Communion service there is an invitation to, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord": When we leave here today the same invitation calls us to walk by faith not by sight and with God's peace resting within us.
NOTES:
1 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and pastor who was executed in 1945, a few days before the end of WWII, for his opposition to the Nazi regime. 'Life Together' was written in about 1937.
2 "Behold, I stand at the door and Knock.." Picture by Holman Hunt
3. 1 Corinthians 10 : 13b - And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Tony Whalley
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