April 2019
A Contemplative Exercise for April
The following is a possible framework for the Witnessing of the Word. It
can be personalised, or altered: its purpose is to serve as an example of how
this Saying might be used primarily in the context of a Prayer Group, but it
may be used by individuals if so wished. It is not intended to be definitive.
In the context of a group: the periods of silence should be appropriate for your group - probably not less than 5 minutes, or more than 15 minutes.
Saying for the month
“Deny yourself … (take up your cross) … and
follow me” Matthew
16.24 (from various versions which use
this direct speech)
To begin the exercise, first spend a short while in relaxation and preparing to be still; become aware of the sounds around you and put them aside; offer this time of prayer to God.
Say this introductory
invitation to prayer, then keep a further minute or two of silence:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will
give you rest" Matthew 11.28
Introduction to the first silence - a preparation for listening with the mind:
“Deny yourself … (take up your cross) … and follow me”
As I write this in March we are entering the weeks of Lent - beginning to think how we can prepare for the events ahead, of Holy Week and then Easter, which we know will come in April. In these verses from Matthew 16 (vv 21- 28) Jesus is looking ahead to what he knows is to come during his earthly life, and beyond that, to his coming into his kingdom in the glory of his Father.
Peter is central to this passage – as so often, he demonstrates
contradictory traits. He proclaims Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living
God and is termed the Rock by Jesus, the recipient of the keys of the kingdom.
Moments later, he over-confidently rebukes Jesus for anticipating the turn of
future events – the rock has become a boulder, a stumbling block, an impediment
rather than a foundation stone. In the days to come, Peter will deny Jesus
three times; here in these verses Jesus tells his disciples they are to deny
themselves, to lose their lives in order to save them.
These words of Jesus occur in almost the same form in the Gospels of Mark (8.34) and Luke (9.23) – they were obviously taken to heart by the disciples. In various translations the words are, in full, ‘Then Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me” (ERV). The Message has “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.”
I am reminded of two things. The first is the teaching I had as a child which reminded us that the symbol which was the cross of the Christian was ‘I’, crossed out. This is exactly what Jesus is telling us here: ‘me, me, me’ is not the way - we have to forget ourselves and our own concerns and let him lead. The second is a memory of riding a tandem around Cambridge: sitting behind a friend, unable to see ahead or determine where we went, I felt I had no say in anything to do with our progress, which I found hard to accept. But we reached our destination safely and speedily, by dint of my letting go control and just doing my share of pedalling.
“Deny yourself … and follow me”
A time is now kept for silence of the mind - between 5 and 15 minutes
Silent repetition of all or part of the Saying can be helpful as we listen to the Word
The silence concludes with
a short thanksgiving, and/or repeat the Saying:
Father, we thank you for the gift of your Word.
“Deny yourself … and follow me”
Introduction to the second silence - a preparation for listening with the heart:
“Deny
yourself … and follow me”
Lent is traditionally a time when we decide to give up something – chocolate, marmalade on our morning toast, alcohol... More and more, however, people like to decide to do something extra – give to a charity, read and study a book of the Bible, every day write a letter to a friend you seldom see… ‘Denying oneself’ has become less of a penance or an imposed hardship, but rather more of a proactive commitment to giving time to something particular rather than to one’s normal routines.
During Lent I am following a book of daily readings called ‘The Resilient Disciple’ by Justine Allain Chapman*. It is practical and pragmatic as well as profound, and the first section on the ‘journey from adversity to maturity’ is subtitled ‘Follow’. Following Jesus involved for the disciples a process of invitation, then a weighing up and finally a response. Justine points out that the huge catch of fish (Luke 5.1-11) indicates that we follow Jesus not just out of emptiness and need but because of God’s blessing on our lives.
Following him puts us in a relationship, not just with God but with each other, fellow followers. Going deeper into that relationship with Jesus brings us closer to other followers – like ourselves or unlike - and in so doing releases gifts in ourselves and in them of which we were previously unaware.
This going deeper into a relationship with God can also mean that
we trawl up things that we might prefer to leave unseen below the surface of
the lake of our lives. We become open to him and to other people, which can be
uncomfortable and unsettling. Following in the light of Jesus can illuminate
these dark places at the same time as illuminating the way ahead. Times of
suffering and setback can result in the discovery that we have lost some things
– but gained others. The support and companionship of other Christians, in our
churches and prayer groups, can help us as we travel and change and grow,
learning from those whose ‘following‘ journey began in quite different places
from our own.
Finally – a thought from another book. In ‘Beyond the edge’**, Andrew Mayes considers the way in which the Jesus of the Gospels is continually on the move, leading his disciples across borders, into risky places where they will be challenged. “Where I am, you shall be also” (John 14.3); “Follow me!” (John 21.22). So we pray for an intrepid heart, that we will be venturesome, that we will be prepared to go beyond the edge to where he is leading us.
“Deny
yourself …and follow me”
A time is now kept for silence of the heart - between 5 and 15 minutes
Again, you could use a silent repetition of the words of the Saying to help you listen to them
Conclude the silence with a
short thanksgiving and/or repeat the Saying:
Father, we thank you that your Word is alive and within us.
“Deny yourself … and follow me”
Introduction to the time of intercession – we use our will to reflect God’s Word outwards.
“Deny
yourself … and follow me”
In this third part of our time, we seek to allow God to speak these same words through us to those for whom we wish to pray.
We hold the person or people before God and allow him to speak the words to them. It is the opposite of what most of us are used to in church or in our own prayers where we address God and ask him for things. Here we are allowing him to speak and to act in the lives of those we hold before him.
Say the name of a person or a group of people, and after a short pause, repeat the saying.
Conclude the time of intercession with words of thanksgiving:
Father,
we thank you that your Word has gone out through us to those for whom we pray.
Use the Fellowship Prayer
or another closing prayer to conclude your time of contemplative prayer.
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for all your unsearchable riches which pour forth from you as light from the sun, in boundless profusion and generosity, whether received, ignored or rejected. And now we offer to you, in so far as we are able, as an emptiness to be filled with your divine fullness, ourselves, our souls and bodies; all that we are, all that we have and all that we do. Amen
You may wish to say
the Grace together before departing.
Using the Watchword….
During the days and weeks ahead, you can use a shortened form, or part, of the Saying as a Watchword – for brief moments of prayer, whilst walking or working, at moments when they come to mind or seem especially appropriate for a particular situation:
A
Watchword for this month … “Deny
yourself” or “Follow me”
The two books mentioned are
*The
Resilient Disciple by Justine Allain Chapman Published by SPCK 2018
ISBN
978-0-281-07853-0 e-book 978-0-281-07854-7
**Beyond the
edge by Andrew D. Mayes Published by SPCK
2013
ISBN
978-0-281-07114—2 e-book 978-0-281-07115-9
This month's exercise was contributed by CO