Beyond the Surface Part III

Text: Luke 5:12-16; 6:12
Title: Beyond the Surface III Solitude
3/21/10 Clarksville 3rd Sunday in Lent

Jesus had a habit of embracing what the rest of the world worked hard to avoid. His disciples said “get the kids out of here.” Jesus said “Let the children come to me.” The Pharisees said “stay away from the sinners and tax collectors. Avoid the depressed, possessed, and oppressed.” Jesus said, “They are the reason I came. I’ll be having dinner with them tonight.” Makes you wonder what he was like as a kid. “No, I don’t want any ice cream, just fill my plate with brussel sprouts and broccoli.” He embraced what the rest of the world tried to avoid. The rest of the world said “keep away from those who are sick and definitely don’t go anywhere near the lepers.” Not Jesus. He was drawn to the people and places everyone else found repulsive or threatening. When others said “push them away” Jesus said “pull them closer.” That’s what happens in our scripture today. Read text

There are actually two things here that other people avoided but Jesus embraced. The first was a lonely leper who needed a healing touch. Hard to tell how long since he’d felt something as simple as a handshake from a friend, a hug from his wife, or one of his kids jumping into his arms. As a leper, he was untouchable. Every other person saw this man as a threat. The first thing they saw when they saw him wasn’t him, it was self. They had no thought of how he might have felt as a social outcast or the loneliness that must have haunted him - because they were so concerned about themselves. Everyone else’s fixation with self-preservation made this poor leper an untouchable to everyone - except Jesus. Luke tells us that Jesus didn’t just say “be healed” as he had done with other miracle healings. He reached out his hand and touched the untouchable (v.13), embracing what others worked so hard to avoid. I think that act itself would have been priceless to this rejected man even if he hadn’t been cured of his disease. Jesus’ first thought when he saw this leper wasn’t about Himself, it was about this man and his
needs. Jesus sees our needs too, and He still has a willingness to reach out and touch those whom the rest of the world would prefer to avoid, which is good news to everyone who feels avoided, forgotten, untouchable.

The second thing in this text that others avoided but Jesus embraced was lonely places. Lonely places. The Message translates it "out of the way" places; NLT and KJV, NASB all say - "wilderness." Jesus was always looking for someplace to get away from the noise and the needs that constantly clawed and scratched for his attention. He sought out solitude. He felt compelled to be alone. He embraced the things everyone else tried to avoid, including lonely people and lonely places.

Usually when we see Jesus the crowds aren’t far away. At times they literally pressed in upon him. When a woman who suffered for 12 years reached out and touched Him she was instantly healed. Jesus said, “Who touched me?” (Luke 8:40-46) It sounded absurd to his disciples who said, “What do you mean who touched you, there are people everywhere!” Most of the time, Jesus was surrounded by people. But there were times (frequent according to the word Luke uses here- imperfect tense which means it was ongoing, He often did it) when Jesus sought out lonely places, desert places, wilderness places where he could go to be alone.

Lonely places. We tend to think of lonely places as dark, empty, isolated, depressing. Most people work hard to avoid it. There are exceptions, those who prefer a cabin in the middle of nowhere, miles from their nearest neighbors, but we call them odd, out of the ordinary, social misfits. Jesus wasn’t a social misfit but he sought out lonely places just as often as He did lonely people.

Many people can’t stand being alone because they don’t like the company. The noise is too loud, the silence deafening, the darkness overwhelming. When the noises out there are silenced, a space is created where whispers are heard. Whispers that are usually drowned out by TV, radio, or non-stop conversations. We all live in a surround sound world that muffles the voice of God and silences the voice of self so that if we don’t want to face what’s inside we don’t have to. Just turn up the volume on something else. Being alone is haunting when we don’t like what we hear. I think that’s why ‘lonely places’ are so often connected with darkness. Some scientists say it’s not depression that leads to loneliness, but loneliness that leads to depression. So why on earth would Jesus seek out lonely places? Was He some kind of freak who delighted in giving himself an emotional beating? That’s how many people see lonely places. This week I found a website all about loneliness. It had studies, articles, and some powerful poetry.

Loneliness
Loneliness is darkness
A never-ending night.
Even though the black won’t go away,
You’ll never fall asleep.

Because loneliness sparks a fear
And unlike other nightmares
Awakening will not vanish it;
For the darkness is too strong
To allow any rest.

It makes memories into ghosts
And dreams into spirits.
Too vague to remember
Too important to forget.
~K.L. (www.weboflonleliness.com)

Entangled in Emotion-
I am half drowned in shadows
Brought forth to the light
The empty wisp of warmth pulled out of my sight
And I am choking on loneliness
The key is yet unfound
That would stop my wandering brain from becoming unbound
And yet here I remain
In my own garden of misery, where the earth bleeds forth tulips and poppies and twain.
So walk away from the girl who is too entangled
The thoughts at her feet are broken and mangled
Her hair is so messed
Her sky isn’t blue.
And the thing she keeps telling herself isn’t true.
Darkness creeps around her
Its hands on her ankles
Pulling her down, seducing and secure.
But I keep on standing, for time is a blur. (unknown)

Loneliness can be excruciating. But there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. It’s the difference between painful feelings of isolation and sweet times of solitude. Jesus got alone on purpose. He withdrew to lonely places. He sought solitude.

A few days a year I’m in the woods before daylight. It’s what Luke might call a “lonely place’ and it’s invigorating. My senses are heightened, more attuned to the sights and sounds of nature than at any other time. It’s still. Silent. Serene. No cell phone ringing, computer beckoning, radio blaring or tv talking. It’s quiet. Quiet enough to hear yourself breathe. There is time to think, reflect, ponder, pray. There is time to listen not only to creation coming alive but to the voice of the Creator. It’s a time of heightened sensitivity when just as nature awakens to a new day, my Spirit awakens to the voice of God. This solitude is not only a time of increased God-awareness, it’s a time of increased self-awareness. For me, this solitude isn’t just a sunrise, it’s a sunrise for the soul. It hasn’t always been that way. I used to hate being alone. I didn’t’ like silence at all, couldn’t stand it. I filled nearly every waking moment with noise and activity. But I’ve come to believe that whether it’s the woods, a park, a car or an empty room, we all need “lonely places” where we shut off the surround-sound of our lives so we can hear ourselves breath, and hear the voice of the God who made us.
In solitude, God speaks, reveals, examines us. He brings us face to face with ourselves and whatever God wants and needs to do in us, to us, through us.

Jesus craved it. Made time for it. Found a way to experience it even when the crowds relentlessly pressed upon Him. He purposefully and regularly said “no” to the noise of the crowd so He could say “yes” to the voice of the Father. It was His pattern. Time in lonely places, time with lonely people. Time in lonely places, time with…

I think it was Jesus’ time in lonely places that prepared Him for going to lonely people. He didn’t have to spend his public life focusing on Himself because He took time to do that when He got alone with the Father. His time alone got Him ready to face the crowds. When we go to lonely places it gives God a chance to deal with what’s going on in us. He speaks, reveals, refines, restores. He invites us to take a look inward, which frees us up the rest of the time to look outward, to see others not as threats to be avoided, but people to be embraced. Time in lonely places, time with lonely people. Time I lonely places…

Lonely places. Lonely people. Jesus seemed to have a habit of embracing them when everyone else avoided them. As His followers we are called to do the same.

Communion
Benediction: May God who invites us to lonely places lead us to touch lonely people.