I hope your week is off to a good start. Have you gotten the chance to spend time in solitude with God? If not, hope on that spiritual motorcycle and make yourself available to God. Learn how the motorcycle transports us to God in solitude.
Follow the link for the audio of "Motorcylcles of Solitude."
http://www.mediafire.com/file/tpigdj8octi3g6v/Motorcycles%20of%20Solitude.mp3
“Motorcycles of Solitude”
Brimfield Faith UMC / October 10, 2010
Matthew 6:5-6
THE BIKER
Bikers are a unique section of society. Do we have anybody that rides a motorcycle in the congregation? Will you stand up for a second? These guys don’t generally look like bikers, do they? What images do we think of when we talk about bikers? I personally picture rough and tough looking guys. They wear leather, have tattoos, lots of tattoos, and are overall scary. The only thing scarier than a hardcore biker is a gang of bikers. Bikers and biker gangs don’t exactly have the most upstanding image. They are typically considered antiestablishment, free spirits, and the renegades of society. No mother dreams of their children growing up one day to become a biker. The biker and the motorcycle typically represents the rebel of society.
And yet not everything about riding a motorcycle is negative. Those who ride motorcycles will talk about the joys of being on the road. The thrill of running down the road and feeling the wind in your face. The peace and relaxation they feel on the bike. The freedom and excitement from the experience. Even the renegade image is been overdone and hyped up. There is something valuable to being that which the motorcycle represents: a free spirit, slightly antiestablishment and occasionally breaking the rules.
In fact, if Jesus lived today, he just might own a motorcycle, at least on occasion. While the biker image is that of the modern day rebel, Jesus very much played the role of religious rebel in his day. Jesus challenged the religious authorities of the day. He was antiestablishment at times. And he could definitely have been labeled a rough character. He hung out with the wrong crowd, touched the wrong people, and broke too many rules. Jesus embodied the spirit of the biker and essence that the motorcycle represents.
SPACE FOR GOD
The motorcycle is important in a life of prayer because The motorcycle transports each of us to God in solitude. God is inviting us to learn the ways of the motorcycle and to adopt a bit of a biker image and mentality when it comes to our prayer lives. See the spiritual life of prayer isn’t always about maintaining the good Christian persona and an appearance of holiness. For prayer to truly allow us to come closer to God, it requires getting dirty and breaking out of our traditional paradigms and boxes. What we sacrifice in image, we reap in relationship with God.
The practice of solitude is one that we are largely unfamiliar with today and yet it is one of the most ancient spiritual practices. Almost all of the major characters of the Bible had significant experiences in the context of solitude. Abraham is called to leave his family and his country so that God can fulfill the call of his life. Jacob wrestles with God in the darkness of the night. Joseph is sold into slavery and thrown into jail. John the Baptist prepares of his ministry while away in the desert. Jesus was led by the Spirit to spend forty days in the wilderness. Paul spent time in the desert before launching into his ministry. Solitude is a vital aspect in the practice of Christian faith because Solitude is the vehicle that makes us available to God through prayer.
Solitude isn’t just being alone. We can be isolated from other people and still not be in solitude. Instead, solitude is creating a space within the chaos of our lives to allow God to find us and for us to find God. Solitude is the space that allows prayer to happen and connection with God to occur. We can talk all day about prayer but if we don’t create the space in our hearts and our schedules to do it, then it won’t happen. In actuality, the practice of solitude and the quieting of our souls is a form of prayer within itself. No words need to be uttered for solitude to bring us closer to God. The act of solitude is an act of prayer within itself.
While solitude is a vital practice for the growing Christian, it does not come without its sacrifices and dangers. Just as riding a motorcycle comes with certain stigmas and dangers. Solitude must be handled with care and with guidance. I want to share to insights from the motorcycle in relationship to solitude for our benefit in this spiritual practice.
#1. Solitude sacrifices image.
Riding a motorcycle will not promote a choir boy image. Fathers do not want their daughter dating guys who ride motorcycles. Now you don’t necessarily have to get the tattoos and shave you head and grow a big grizzly beard, but riding a motorcycle will not help an image of conformity and high societal standards. Mature, responsible adults drive the Toyota Prius, not a Harley Davidson. Am I right?
Practicing solitude won’t make you look more spiritual. In fact, it might make you look less spiritual. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus teaches us about the rebel approach to prayer. ““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Essentially, Jesus is advocating the importance of solitude in the spiritual life in this passage. We must hide ourselves away if we want to pray and effectively connect with God. If we want to look spiritual and holy, then we should go on the street corners to pray. This was a practice of the Pharisees to stand on street corners during the times of prayer and even additional times. They wanted people to see they were spiritual, religious, and holy. Their intentions were not to connect with God through prayer but rather to allow others to see their devotion to God.
We have all seen people like this is our lives. People who like to advertise their religion to the world so they look good. The folks that pray a little louder before their meal at a restaurant. Or the guy who is reading his Bible at the coffee shop. Or the person who wears the tshirt with the tacky Christian saying. Or how about this… the Jesus fish on the bummer of the car. This is not to say that public displays of religion are entirely bad, in fact, they are far from it. We need to share our faith boldly to a broken and hurting world. But we need to do it out of a love for God and people, and not with a motivation of self-promotion and self-praise.
Instead, Jesus teaches us that God honors and rewards those who seek God for the simply joy of seeking God. If you want to look spiritual, solitude is not for you. But if you want to find God, solitude is essential. Now that we have some insight into the motivations of solitude, we can turn to the actual practice of solitude.
#2. Solitude has a proper season.
Many people will tell you the dangers of riding a motorcycle and they would be correct. I have to confess that I have never been on a bike for that reason. My uncle when he was younger, had a van pull out in front of him while he was riding. He went head first into the side of the van. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet, but nonetheless, he almost died as a result of the injuries. By the grace of God, he fully recovered from the accident.
The reality is that many riders don’t. The fatality rate in motorcycle accidences is much higher than if you wreck your pickup truck. While you can never ensure riding will be entirely safe, there are ways to minimize the risk and maximize the enjoyment. Wear a helmet and proper attire is one. The other is riding in the appropriate conditions. Any experienced biker will tell you that it is only safe and enjoyable to ride their motorcycle in certain conditions. Weather and the seasons play a large role in the ability to ride. On nice summer days I see a lot of bikes on the road. When it is rainy or cold, I don’t see any. There are appropriate and inappropriate times to ride motorcycles.
In a similar way, solitude should not be practiced all of the time. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” and it goes on to list a number of different circumstances. In verse 7 it says “a time to be silent and a time to speak.” There is a certain rhythm to solitude. I cannot tell you how much time you should spend in solitude. Instead, I can tell you that it is important to spend time in both solitude and community. Dietrich Boenhoeffer, a great author and theologian says in his book, Life Together, “Be wary of the man who spends all of his time in community. But also be wary of the man who spends all of his time in solitude.” Being a spiritual recluse is no more valuable to God than the spiritual busy person.
History has given us a great example in a group of people known as the desert monks. In the 4th Century a group of Christians withdrew into the desert in solitude. They rejected what had become institutional Christianity sanctioned by the Roman Empire and the Emperor Constantine. Their lives were astetic and simple. They lived in caves, owned nothing, and ate little. They had minimal interaction with other people. Eventually, they realized they couldn’t do the will of God isolated in the desert and they returned to the community to worship and serve the Lord. They realized that solitude alone couldn’t transport them closer to God.
THE CHALLENGE
It is important that we learn the same lesson of the desert monks, that we need both spiritual community and spiritual solitude. Therefore, we cannot approach the solitude with carelessness if we wish it to carry us closer to God. We must intentionally plan both times of solitude and times of community. We must pray on our own and with others. If we only pray at the dinner table with others present, we will miss the joys of prayer in solitude. In contrast, if we never pray with others we will also miss those joys of corporate prayer. To deepen our faith, we must grow comfortable praying alone and praying with others. If we neglect either one of them, we miss out on unique connections with God.
As a church, we want to model the importance of growing together but we also must grow in our faith outside of the worship context. If Sunday morning is the only time that you read the Bible, or think about your faith, you will not grow in your faith. You will not come to know God. And honestly you are wasting your time. Sunday morning is part of the rhythm of faith, of community and solitude. If you rarely attend worship and only practice faith in solitude, you will stray and slip and fail to grow to your full potential in God. You need both community and solitude. You do not get enough on Sunday morning to grow you into a mature follower of Jesus who enjoys the fruit of the Spirit and the Christian life. You will find faith lacking and believe the lie that it isn’t relevant for your life if you don’t practice solitude.
So I would encourage each of you this morning to take a hard look inside. Are you prioritizing regular weekly worship? Regular times of solitude and personal spiritual devotion to God? If you aren’t, why not? And what are you missing because you aren’t?
Follow the link for the audio of "Motorcylcles of Solitude."
http://www.mediafire.com/file/tpigdj8octi3g6v/Motorcycles%20of%20Solitude.mp3
“Motorcycles of Solitude”
Brimfield Faith UMC / October 10, 2010
Matthew 6:5-6
THE BIKER
Bikers are a unique section of society. Do we have anybody that rides a motorcycle in the congregation? Will you stand up for a second? These guys don’t generally look like bikers, do they? What images do we think of when we talk about bikers? I personally picture rough and tough looking guys. They wear leather, have tattoos, lots of tattoos, and are overall scary. The only thing scarier than a hardcore biker is a gang of bikers. Bikers and biker gangs don’t exactly have the most upstanding image. They are typically considered antiestablishment, free spirits, and the renegades of society. No mother dreams of their children growing up one day to become a biker. The biker and the motorcycle typically represents the rebel of society.
And yet not everything about riding a motorcycle is negative. Those who ride motorcycles will talk about the joys of being on the road. The thrill of running down the road and feeling the wind in your face. The peace and relaxation they feel on the bike. The freedom and excitement from the experience. Even the renegade image is been overdone and hyped up. There is something valuable to being that which the motorcycle represents: a free spirit, slightly antiestablishment and occasionally breaking the rules.
In fact, if Jesus lived today, he just might own a motorcycle, at least on occasion. While the biker image is that of the modern day rebel, Jesus very much played the role of religious rebel in his day. Jesus challenged the religious authorities of the day. He was antiestablishment at times. And he could definitely have been labeled a rough character. He hung out with the wrong crowd, touched the wrong people, and broke too many rules. Jesus embodied the spirit of the biker and essence that the motorcycle represents.
SPACE FOR GOD
The motorcycle is important in a life of prayer because The motorcycle transports each of us to God in solitude. God is inviting us to learn the ways of the motorcycle and to adopt a bit of a biker image and mentality when it comes to our prayer lives. See the spiritual life of prayer isn’t always about maintaining the good Christian persona and an appearance of holiness. For prayer to truly allow us to come closer to God, it requires getting dirty and breaking out of our traditional paradigms and boxes. What we sacrifice in image, we reap in relationship with God.
The practice of solitude is one that we are largely unfamiliar with today and yet it is one of the most ancient spiritual practices. Almost all of the major characters of the Bible had significant experiences in the context of solitude. Abraham is called to leave his family and his country so that God can fulfill the call of his life. Jacob wrestles with God in the darkness of the night. Joseph is sold into slavery and thrown into jail. John the Baptist prepares of his ministry while away in the desert. Jesus was led by the Spirit to spend forty days in the wilderness. Paul spent time in the desert before launching into his ministry. Solitude is a vital aspect in the practice of Christian faith because Solitude is the vehicle that makes us available to God through prayer.
Solitude isn’t just being alone. We can be isolated from other people and still not be in solitude. Instead, solitude is creating a space within the chaos of our lives to allow God to find us and for us to find God. Solitude is the space that allows prayer to happen and connection with God to occur. We can talk all day about prayer but if we don’t create the space in our hearts and our schedules to do it, then it won’t happen. In actuality, the practice of solitude and the quieting of our souls is a form of prayer within itself. No words need to be uttered for solitude to bring us closer to God. The act of solitude is an act of prayer within itself.
While solitude is a vital practice for the growing Christian, it does not come without its sacrifices and dangers. Just as riding a motorcycle comes with certain stigmas and dangers. Solitude must be handled with care and with guidance. I want to share to insights from the motorcycle in relationship to solitude for our benefit in this spiritual practice.
#1. Solitude sacrifices image.
Riding a motorcycle will not promote a choir boy image. Fathers do not want their daughter dating guys who ride motorcycles. Now you don’t necessarily have to get the tattoos and shave you head and grow a big grizzly beard, but riding a motorcycle will not help an image of conformity and high societal standards. Mature, responsible adults drive the Toyota Prius, not a Harley Davidson. Am I right?
Practicing solitude won’t make you look more spiritual. In fact, it might make you look less spiritual. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus teaches us about the rebel approach to prayer. ““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Essentially, Jesus is advocating the importance of solitude in the spiritual life in this passage. We must hide ourselves away if we want to pray and effectively connect with God. If we want to look spiritual and holy, then we should go on the street corners to pray. This was a practice of the Pharisees to stand on street corners during the times of prayer and even additional times. They wanted people to see they were spiritual, religious, and holy. Their intentions were not to connect with God through prayer but rather to allow others to see their devotion to God.
We have all seen people like this is our lives. People who like to advertise their religion to the world so they look good. The folks that pray a little louder before their meal at a restaurant. Or the guy who is reading his Bible at the coffee shop. Or the person who wears the tshirt with the tacky Christian saying. Or how about this… the Jesus fish on the bummer of the car. This is not to say that public displays of religion are entirely bad, in fact, they are far from it. We need to share our faith boldly to a broken and hurting world. But we need to do it out of a love for God and people, and not with a motivation of self-promotion and self-praise.
Instead, Jesus teaches us that God honors and rewards those who seek God for the simply joy of seeking God. If you want to look spiritual, solitude is not for you. But if you want to find God, solitude is essential. Now that we have some insight into the motivations of solitude, we can turn to the actual practice of solitude.
#2. Solitude has a proper season.
Many people will tell you the dangers of riding a motorcycle and they would be correct. I have to confess that I have never been on a bike for that reason. My uncle when he was younger, had a van pull out in front of him while he was riding. He went head first into the side of the van. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet, but nonetheless, he almost died as a result of the injuries. By the grace of God, he fully recovered from the accident.
The reality is that many riders don’t. The fatality rate in motorcycle accidences is much higher than if you wreck your pickup truck. While you can never ensure riding will be entirely safe, there are ways to minimize the risk and maximize the enjoyment. Wear a helmet and proper attire is one. The other is riding in the appropriate conditions. Any experienced biker will tell you that it is only safe and enjoyable to ride their motorcycle in certain conditions. Weather and the seasons play a large role in the ability to ride. On nice summer days I see a lot of bikes on the road. When it is rainy or cold, I don’t see any. There are appropriate and inappropriate times to ride motorcycles.
In a similar way, solitude should not be practiced all of the time. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” and it goes on to list a number of different circumstances. In verse 7 it says “a time to be silent and a time to speak.” There is a certain rhythm to solitude. I cannot tell you how much time you should spend in solitude. Instead, I can tell you that it is important to spend time in both solitude and community. Dietrich Boenhoeffer, a great author and theologian says in his book, Life Together, “Be wary of the man who spends all of his time in community. But also be wary of the man who spends all of his time in solitude.” Being a spiritual recluse is no more valuable to God than the spiritual busy person.
History has given us a great example in a group of people known as the desert monks. In the 4th Century a group of Christians withdrew into the desert in solitude. They rejected what had become institutional Christianity sanctioned by the Roman Empire and the Emperor Constantine. Their lives were astetic and simple. They lived in caves, owned nothing, and ate little. They had minimal interaction with other people. Eventually, they realized they couldn’t do the will of God isolated in the desert and they returned to the community to worship and serve the Lord. They realized that solitude alone couldn’t transport them closer to God.
THE CHALLENGE
It is important that we learn the same lesson of the desert monks, that we need both spiritual community and spiritual solitude. Therefore, we cannot approach the solitude with carelessness if we wish it to carry us closer to God. We must intentionally plan both times of solitude and times of community. We must pray on our own and with others. If we only pray at the dinner table with others present, we will miss the joys of prayer in solitude. In contrast, if we never pray with others we will also miss those joys of corporate prayer. To deepen our faith, we must grow comfortable praying alone and praying with others. If we neglect either one of them, we miss out on unique connections with God.
As a church, we want to model the importance of growing together but we also must grow in our faith outside of the worship context. If Sunday morning is the only time that you read the Bible, or think about your faith, you will not grow in your faith. You will not come to know God. And honestly you are wasting your time. Sunday morning is part of the rhythm of faith, of community and solitude. If you rarely attend worship and only practice faith in solitude, you will stray and slip and fail to grow to your full potential in God. You need both community and solitude. You do not get enough on Sunday morning to grow you into a mature follower of Jesus who enjoys the fruit of the Spirit and the Christian life. You will find faith lacking and believe the lie that it isn’t relevant for your life if you don’t practice solitude.
So I would encourage each of you this morning to take a hard look inside. Are you prioritizing regular weekly worship? Regular times of solitude and personal spiritual devotion to God? If you aren’t, why not? And what are you missing because you aren’t?
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