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 23:7-12NIV)
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.