Week Thirteen-Day One: Survey

It is important for us to stop periodically and look at where we’ve been, where we’re going and why we’re on this path. Let’s do that this morning looking at three images which could be used to describe our exercises.

Suburban monks

We said on our very first day together that we were undertaking these exercises as an attempt to insert serious spiritual nourishment into seriously busy suburban American lives. The guiding theory is that by embracing a spiritual rhythm, we might be able to do just that. In adopting this kind of rhythm, we are following in the footsteps of generations of those before us who have connected with God. In fact, the terminology “daily office” is centuries old and comes out of the monastic movement. Monks have historically been known for their simple, common lives punctuated by regular times of corporate worship and/or reflection throughout the day. These exercises are our attempt at becoming suburban monks.

• How does the term “suburban monk” feel?
• How could your experience with these exercises be enhanced?Plan to grow in that direction.

God’s choir

Psalm 16

A miktam of David.

¹ Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
³ I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴ Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.[1]

Did you notice the title of this old Jewish hymn? We often ignore these when we read the Psalms and for good reason, but the word “miktam” is probably a musical term telling the singers how this is to be sung. In fact, this old chorus probably would have been sung by a choir.

They sang together, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” They sang together, “You alone are my portion and my cup; You make my lot secure.” And they sang together, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord.” The daily offices is a practical way for us to keep our eyes “always on the Lord.” This is a practical way to have us singing God’s song all day long. This is also a way to keep us singing together.

• Singing in a choir requires timing and coordination.Everyone has a part and must sing their part well for the whole to sound good.How do these exercises help us perform more effectively as God’s choir?

Heavenly colony

These exercises are also designed to remind us that our lives are set apart and unique. Paul called us “citizens of heaven”.[2] Our lives have a different meter, a different timing because they are connected to a very different power source. Take a moment with this quote from Thomas Kelly.

“Such practice of inward orientation, of inward worship and listening, is no mere counsel for special religious groups, for small religious orders, for special ‘interior souls,’ for monks retired in cloisters. This practice is the heart of religion. It is the secret, I am persuaded, of the inner life of the Master of Galilee. He expected this secret to be freshly discovered in everyone who would be his follower. It creates an amazing fellowship, the church universal and invisible, and institutes group living at a new level, a society grounded in reverence, history rooted in eternity, colonies of heaven.”[3]

• What prevents us from being more decidedly a “colony of heaven”?

BEFORE YOU START YOUR DAY

1. Ask God to meet you at noon and at 5 PM with reminders of His presence.
2. Place your agenda for the day before God.Ask Him to use you as He sees fit.