Mark 6:31 – “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark’s comment about “so many people coming and going” reminds us that not much has changed even in 2000 years. We may wish for things to slow down but unless we head the call of Jesus we will always be caught in the chaos. Jesus invites His disciples to follow Him to a quiet place to rest. Its easy to get caught up in the needs around us but at some point we all need to trade the crowd for Christ. The Greek word “quiet place” here is literally “desert place.” The “desert” had strong associations for the Jewish people as it was in the desert where they often encountered God. In the book of Exodus, we are told that while traveling through the desert God came to live with His people. Elijah experienced God’s presence and provision after wondering despondently into the desert. Jesus before starting His public ministry went into the dessert. For the Jew, the desert was both a place of proving and testing, as well as a place of renewal and restoration. By calling his followers away from the crowd to a desert place, Jesus is reminding us that the essence of being a Christian isn’t doing stuff for Jesus, but it’s being with Jesus. This is the most incredible invitation and one we often miss, you see Jesus is inviting them to hang out with Him, to let down their guard, they don’t need to perform or act, but to simply be. Although their time of ministry was effective, they need to disassociate themselves from ministry for a while.
When we don’t come away it isn’t long before we become overwhelmed by the chaos. Caught in the currents of the crowd and worn down by its constant coming and going, a tide of relentless needs. In a chaotic world solitude and silence centers us, providing perspective, painting the bigger picture of eternity. In this get it now society, driven by the latest fades where the only constant is their consistent fade into the temporary, we need an eternal reminder. Without this eternal reminder we become earth bound, caught in a culture consumed with production yet bankrupt of peace. We have traded the treasure of relationship for the temporary trinkets, and there rusty riches. Leaving us to live in the lie, and endure its empty meaningless life, void of any real pleasure. Jesus’ call to “come away by yourselves to a quiet place” is an invitation to intimacy. Yet we fight rest, even from our earliest moments we resist rest, children don’t want to go to bed for fear of missing something. But what if in our constant activity and avoidance of rest what we are really missing is intimacy with Jesus? In our ceaseless wrestling most of us miss the invitation to the intimate, the “come away by yourselves to a quiet place” Today we live lives so caught up and consumed by doing that we miss the Master. The tragedy of our times is that we are trading the miraculous for the mundane. We are over run by the ordinary, stuck in the rut of routine, instead of resting with the Redeemer. In our buy now pay later society, with its focus on temporary and immediate gratification its easy to loose sight of eternity. It is during these times of coming away to rest that we discover God’s purpose, solitude provides an opportunity to pan out and gain an eternal perspective. Without this broad view we become trapped in our tunnel vision, forgetting our real calling and purpose in life. Rest helps us to remember what really matters, while providing a distraction free place to make decisions. Just as Jesus sought out solitude before many major events in His life so we need to cultivate a coming away to a quiet place. Seeing the big picture also allows us to see who we are as well as who we are not. We let much of our lives be shaped by the opinions and wants of others instead of our Maker. In Solitude we learn to live in integrity, listening to the voice of Christ more than the crowd. How much of out lives is spent on wasting time, time spent trying to measure up instead of listening to the truth. Trying to live up to who we think we should be, instead of living out who He say we are. We are all tempted to live as people pleasers, rather than live in integrity with who the Father has called us to be. The more time we spend in solitude with the Father, the less other’s judgments will dictate and direct our lives. It is our Savior that calls us special, and this is separate from any of our accomplishment or accolades. The sad truth is that rather than base life on what He says we chase after the fleeting and fickle applause of the crowd. As if its hollow applause could somehow fill our empty lives.
So how do we build solitude into our lives when we live in a society that seems to be moving at the speed of light? How do we develop a practice of solitude, so we sit with the Savior regularly and not so sparingly? First we need to stop being so reactive and learn to be proactive, carving out time in our calendars. If we try to just wait for things to slow down we will always be swept along by the tidal tug of some current crisis. Its not just going to happen, and if we want to participate in His call then we have to be proactive. Without the practice of proactive living we become consumed by our calendars and their current demands. Life becomes a series of knee jerk reactions, void of rest, and quickly disintegrating with every reactive decision. The truth is that we make time for what we think is important. Jesus didn’t live a reactionary life, responding to the continuous demands of the culture, instead of reacting to the world, the world reacted to Him. This time that we carve out to be with Christ, Christians have traditionally called “a quiet time.” Take some time out of your day, find a place that you can be alone and quieting yourself before God. Start small and build, for those unaccustomed to stopping to be silent at first it can be overwhelming. Many find silence to be deafening when you take away the noise! Silence can still the heart, but many of us fear that if we take time in solitude we won’t have time to get everything else done. Yet it is silence and solitude with the Savior that puts everything into perspective and preparing our hearts to be productive. Nothing prepares and purges the heart more than solitude for it purges us of the incessant need to pursue pointless things. Rest releases us from the need to constantly rush, instead of a hurried life we live a holy one. Today we wonder why we live such unhappy lives, I wonder could it be tied to the fact that we are stuck in the rut of rushing? I believe that when there is always hurry and no hush there will always be unhappy. Along with quiet times, we can go on retreats, wether for the day or longer. These prolonged times of stillness and can be powerful times of connect with God. You might think that going on a solitary retreat is only for super Christians, people in full time ministry, or people who are really messed up, or all of the above. But the truth is Jesus was calling His disciples to retreat with Him, so let me ask you, are you a disciple of Jesus? Some find it easy to quiet themselves before God, but for most it takes practice to quiet our souls. First take away any expectations, this is not about accomplishing, its about being not doing. Prayer can play a big part in these times of solitude but remember its not about the petition its about His presence. Practice pausing when you pray, give God time to speak, remember prayer is a two way street not a one way dead end. Sometimes I will read and meditate on scripture, but often I will start simply by sitting still, dismissing the seemingly urgent demands of the day, and letting the mentality of do dissipate into be. Give your heart a chance to shift gears, just like anything that is moving it takes time slow down. Solitude is about carving out sacred space in our lives, shutting out the world and spending time with the Savior. I think our cultural tendency is to talk, we seem to have a need to fill the silence with noise. I have been traveling through Scotland, seeing many amazing places along with others who also come to experience its rugged beauty and turbulent history. As you stop to see one of its breathtaking sights maybe a majestic castle or serene Loch, what are the people all around doing, talk, talk, talk. Rather than standing silently in awe and soak in the scene we speak, mostly about nothing. Right now the World Cup is also going on and there is the non stop chatter of commentators. Their job is to talk and tell us what is going on, but have you noticed the subtle shift in commentating? We have gone from communicating on the game to constant babble. Its not just the World Cup listening to any sports commentator, they constantly point out the obvious, talking about everything and yet nothing, its as if they get paid for every word they speak. We have become a culture of constant chatter and no communication. We are afraid of silence, even our elevators have background music, because a ride in silence might get uncomfortable! But silence stills the tongue long enough for us to stand in awe of the Almighty to listen as He speaks. When was the last time you were silent and just soak in the Savior? Next time you get in your car, try not turning on the radio, recognize God’s presence as you ride to work. So now comes the hard question, “when are you going to get away with God?” Jesus says, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place . . .“ will you heed his call?

Mark 6:31 – “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Here in Mark 6:31Jesus invites His disciples to join Him on a journey on a retreat into rest. Rest is a word we often hear about, but do we really understand it’s importance in our lives? It doesn’t take long as you read through the Gospels to see the relaxed, calm pace with which Jesus responded to life. As He relates to others He doesn’t appear hurried, even at times of great stress His steps seem sure and clam. When one His closest friends, Lazarus, was on his deathbed, even then Jesus didn’t rush. So how is it that Jesus moved through life so slowly and yet accomplished so much? It makes me wonder in our push to progress, is there something that contemporary Christians have missed? Just like the disciples we too can be inundated with the no stop demands and distractions of this world. We live in a noise drenched world, soaking us in its downpour of sound, drowning out the voice of God. Silence and solitude are like umbrellas, that once engaged, shed the constant sheeting of sound. Today our souls need time to soak in the silence, free from the distracting deluge that pounds against our souls. In Luke 13 Jesus told a parable about a man who had a fig tree that for three years bore no fruit so he commanded the gardner to chop it down. But the gardner asked for another year, so he could dig and fertilize around it. Just like the fig tree, our hearts also need tending to. There are many things that prevent fruit in our lives, if asked for a list I don’t think many would point to silence and solitude. Yet silence and solitude provide time to till the soil of our souls. Without it the field soon becomes crowded with weeds, robbing the needed nutrients and chocking the crop. Just as fertilizer provides nutrients to strengthen a crop so solitude strengthens the soul. Silence is the place of strength for the believer, because it gives us space to set our sight on the Savior. Paul paints a powerful picture of Christian Strength in his prayer for the Ephesians 3:14-19: “I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Christian strength is the ability to know the love of God for us. Silence provides a place to set our hearts and minds on God with sufficient intensity and duration that we stay centered on Him. Many today glance at God, going to Him only when they need something. Instead of the Father being the foundation of our focus, we treat Him like a rear view mirror, glancing and giving Him only occasional attention. But if we want hearts that are steadfast and secure we need times of silence and solitude. Just as fasting is the abstinence from food for spiritual purposes, solitude is the withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes. There is nothing that replenishes the soul like silence and solitude, but it is not something that we naturally seem to crave. Jesus had to invite his disciples to cease their comings and goings and get away with Him. But like most things in life that don’t come naturally when we participate and practice them we soon creat a craving and a thirst for more. We all have longings in this life and when I first heard Bono’s song “Where the streets have no name” I was intrigued with his craving for something more and the picture he painted of longing.

I want to run,
I want to hide.
I want to tear down these walls
that hold me inside.
I want to reach out
and touch the flame,
Where the streets have no name
… and when I go there,
I go there with You
It’s all I can do.”

Yes we all have longings but where does The Lord rank on your list? For many instead of a longing to be alone, we often fear it, and even work hard to avoid it. We have created a culture so filled with noise that many can’t even sleep in silence, but needing noise to aid them. For many their fear of being alone drives them to noise and crowds, keeping up a steady stream of sound even if their words are inane. Look around next time your in a large city and notice the headphone covered heads. I think T. S. Eliot analyzed our culture well when he wrote, “Where shall the world be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence.” The truth is what we really fear is loneliness, so we try to fill it up with noise and activity. But have you ever been alone in a crowd or felt left out and lost even with the noise. The truth is that Loneliness is inner emptiness, where solitude is inner fulfillment. The extremes of loneliness or loud clatter are not our only alternatives, Jesus calls us to cultivate an inner solitude of silence that sets us free from loneliness and fear. Some don’t like to be alone because if they were honest they don’t really like their own company. Their personality has become so shaped by those around them that they don’t know who they are when they are alone. Jesus calls us to come to the refreshing rest found in silence and solitude. This is not something that Jesus prescribed but didn’t practice. Silence and solitude wasn’t just some suggested theory in the life of Christ but a practiced reality. Jesus inaugurated His ministry by spending forty days alone in the desert (Mt. 4:1—Il). Before He chose the twelve He spent the entire night alone in the desert hills (Lk.6:12). When He received the news of the death of John the Baptist, He “withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart” (Mt. 14:13). After the miraculous feeding of the five thousand Jesus made His disciples leave; then He dismissed the crowd and “went up into the hills by himself . . .“ (Mt. 14:23). Following a long night of work “in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place . . .“ (Mk. 1:35). When the twelve had returned from a preaching and healing mission, Jesus instructed them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place . . .“ (Mk. 6:31). Following the healing of a leper Jesus “withdrew to the wilderness and prayed” (Lk. 5:16). With three disciples He sought out the silence of a lonely mountain as the stage for the transfiguration (Mt. 17:1—9). As he prepared for His highest and most holy work, Jesus sought the solitude of the garden of Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36—46). One could go on, but perhaps this is sufficient to show that the seeking out of a solitary place was a regular practice with Jesus and so it should be for us.
But before we get caught up with the place of solitude we need to remember that it is not so much a place but a peace, a state of mind and heart. One of the beautiful benefits of being alone with God is our true character is revealed. If we are going to be real with the Father and ourselves then we need to get alone with Him often. In the quiet of solitude, all pretensions are striped away, the things of this life that try to mold us into their image are removed, the requirements of this world dissipate, and we can stand before God like the hymn “just as I am.” Yes for some this is scary, and yet its what we all really long for, the relief of being real, free to not be a fake, after all its not like we can defraud the Father. It is in solitude that I am reminded of the life giving lesson, that my true identity is defined by my heavenly Father and the foundational fact that I am God’s adopted, chosen son. This is the real benefit of solitude with the Savior, it cultivates a culture of authenticity, reminding us of what is real and really important. Some are unsure of what God really thinks of them, so being alone with Him seems scary, yet I know He loves me and longs to show me. Today if you are unsure get alone with God, listen to his loving voice. After all scripture tells us that one of the first things that the Holy Spirit teaches our spirit is how to say “Abba, Father” Today Jesus is calling you on a journey “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” will you come?