“Mums the word”

The Disciplines of Christ - Part 11

The Art of Silence

Intro: Silence is golden, a proverb used since the ancient of times. It means that there comes a time when circumstances are such that the best thing to do is not speak. We’ll see that in this week’s story as Jesus demonstrates this discipline with divine control. This discipline of silence plays off last week’s discipline of Rest because usually this discipline is linked with Solitude. But as you will see today, the true SELF-DISCIPLINE of SILENCE is most difficult to practice when in the company of others. 

The Discipline: Silence for the purpose of Godliness.

The art of Silence

It should be no surprise that this discipline can be a struggle for those who love to talk. However, even for the man of few words this discipline can be difficult. For whether you’re more of a talker or a listener, there are often occasions in life when we must bite our tongue, sometimes so hard we need a kleenex to dab the blood as it drips down the edge of our mouth.

As this discipline pertains to Solitude and Rest, many practice this to attain certain spiritual goals…goals like seeking God’s will on a major decision in life. Or perhaps one’s life has gone astray and therefore they might use this discipline to help get back in tune with God. Therefore, they may also read scripture, pray, and meditate during their quiet times. Hopefully by now you are seeing how the disciplines overlap.

Now for the sake of this lesson, the D90X version of the art of silence comes from all the Godly mothers who have ever walked this earth. Momma’s advice, " if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything all". While we’ve all heard it before, don’t knock this as sound spiritual advice. It’s been my experience that most Christians don't practice this discipline too well. This Bible says this discipline will help keep you from sin. Proverbs 10:19 (NLT) -Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

As you will see in today’s story, this discipline is more than just biting your tongue, but it’s also learning when to speak and not to speak. Consider the warnings of James, “ ⁵Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell ^{James 3:5-6}. So take heed of James warning, and look for the wisdom of God in this week’s story.

The Story - King of the Jew vs king of the jews. (Luke 23:7-12^NIV)

 

 

 ⁷ When he (Pilot) learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

Questions to Consider: Why do you think Jesus didn’t answer Herod? What do you learn of Herod’s character in the text above? In light of this, how does the following proverb pertain to Jesus situation? Proverbs 26:4-6 (NIV) - ⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

 

Helpful Commentary: Jesus has never met Herod, but the readers of Luke have – several times. We meet him when he beheaded John the Baptist, all because of a drunken promise to his teenage step-daughter whose lewd dance delighted his perverted guest. We meet him again when he confessed Christ to be a mysterious miracle worker with the power of the beheaded Baptist. Another time we learned that he wanted to meet the Master. Some Pharisees warned Jesus about his intentions, and Jesus called him an insignificant she-fox. The general tenor of these Herod texts is that Herod is dying to meet Jesus and Jesus will likely die if he does.

Herod Antipas is only one of four Herod’s of Luke’s two volumes (Acts in v.2). The first is Herod the Horrible. He tried to “meet” Jesus too, but his parents stole him away to Egypt. The other baby boys of Bethlehem were not so fortunate. The second is Herod the Antipas, already mentioned (the murderer of John the Baptist). The third is Herod the Agrippa of Acts 12. He is the one who killed the first apostolic martyr. Under his cruel devices James lost his head and Peter only narrowly escaped. From these first three we learn that whenever Jesus or his associates stand before a Herod they die.

Luke is the only writer to record this Herod encounter. Clearly he is drawing parallels between Jesus and Paul in his Gospel and Acts. He is showing that the trials of Jesus mirror those of Peter and Paul. By extension, they also give us a model to follow in our own suffering. In other words, what Jesus goes through, we can also expect to endure. How he handles himself is a pattern for our own actions. Most striking along this line is Jesus’ silence. He chose not to defend himself, like a lamb before its shearers (Isa 53:7). The King of the Jews refused to talk to the king of the jews. He chose faith in God above personal vindication. This may not mean that we never speak out on our own behalf. But it certainly means that the pattern of our lives is faith in God rather than manipulation for our own advantage.

            ^{Mark Moore, Encounters with Christ, p. 191-193}

Further Reading:  Habakkuk 2:20; Mark 6:31

   The Application Questions:  

1)    How can the discipline of Silence and Solitude teach you tongue control?

 

2)    What people do you find it hardest to hold your tongue with?

 

3)    Tell a story of a time you stuck your foot in your mouth.

 

4)     GROUP DISCUSSION:   Take a census of the group, who is talkative and who is not. For those who struggle with talking a lot, TALK about your struggles to bite the tongue. For those who seem to be quieter (less talkative), are there any situations where you find yourself having trouble holding your tongue?  Most people who have trouble talking in groups or in public usually won’t find it hard to talk up at home.  If so, do you find yourself ever ridiculing your spouse/family or snapping at them when you should have just kept silent?

 

5)    Some people who might not be vocal publically find a new courage to speak up with social media. The same principles of the integrity of silence should be practiced here. How have you abused social media in this way or how have you seen it used?

 

Strengthening your discipline of Silence:

1)    Minute retreats: Think about the moments of silence you have available every day to you, being put on hold, standing in line, waiting in traffic, ride in the elevator, etc… SO take those minutes--those moments and use them as an opportunity to embrace the silence. Take a few deep breaths, acknowledge your Creator, and seize the moment of peace. Try that instead of surfing Fb or the web on your phone.

 

2)     Quiet Places: Follow Jesus example ( Mt, 4:1; Mt 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42).  Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place for prayer, silence, and solitude. Establish times and place to withdraw for quiet time. However, keep in mind, sometimes you don’t need solitude, you just need a place that is quiet. The local library or coffee shop or bookstore usually are good options.

 

3)    Noise: List the noise in your life, job, TV, social media, family, kids, etc… And list the amount of time you spend with these noises. OK, now you’ve made your list, take a day a spend it without all of those noises in your life.

 

4)    Trade off responsibilities: If you’re married, trade off on responsibilities to make sure each of you has time and space for quiet time.

 

5)    Prayer and journaling: Jesus was able to hold his tongue because all the time he spent in solitude with God. If you struggle with holding your tongue, if you struggle with your temper, there is no substitution to “being silent before your sovereign Lord”^{Zeph 1:7}. Use your prayer time to address these struggles with God and ask for his help. Journal about your progress in this so you can monitor your progress.

Praying through today’s discipline:  For today’s prayer time, go back and read through the supplementary text in today’s lesson and then highlight some words/phrases that speak to you and meditate on them. Get somewhere quiet and make no request of God except this, “Lord give me ears to hear your Spirit speak to me now”? And then just meditate on his words is silence and listen.