contemplation – Page 2 – Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

So, Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’” (NIV)

The ancient Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage, wandered through the desert for forty years, and, after the death of their leader Moses, were poised to enter the land promised to them. It was going to be no cakewalk. There were pagan peoples entrenched in the land and it would be a huge accomplishment to conquer their territory. Joshua, the young aide-de-camp of Moses, now leader of the people, would be the one to go before them in battle. As you might understand, Joshua was likely nervous, perhaps even downright scared.

So, the Lord came to Joshua and told him to be strong and courageous, to not be afraid to claim the good promise of the land. The path to success for Joshua, as well as all of God’s people, would not be by the physical sword but by the sword of the Lord, the Word of God. The Lord was plainspoken about the need to intimately know the Law given to the people and to continually meditate upon it. Being careful to do everything written within it, Joshua would find both the courage and the wisdom to lead the people to victory.

It remains true for all God’s people that faithful knowledge, sage wisdom, and careful adherence to Holy Scripture comes through meditation upon its contents. There is a great need amongst believers to continually ruminate on God’s Word. We may sometimes wonder how to address and deal with certain situations and problems that seem as large as taking the Promised Land. The place to begin is by going to the Word of God – not so much in an anxious, hasty, or impatient question-and-answer sort of way which looks for a quick response; but instead, in a slow, deliberate, contemplative way.

Lasting and genuine spirituality, as well as a sense of settled success, comes not only through acknowledging the Bible is God’s Holy Word; it develops through meditating upon it consistently and continually.

Scripture memorization is a discipline worth pursuing. Having large chunks of Scripture within our minds and hearts helps us to home in on relevant and helpful verses, narratives, and messages when facing challenging situations and adverse circumstances.

What is more, when engaged in tedious work, we can engage our minds in the practice of contemplation on those verses we have committed to memory. Meditation on God’s Word is a necessary practice if we want to have success in living the Christian life.

Courage and meditation are a package deal. Bravery and contemplation are meant to be wed together. One rarely comes without the other. Which means the realization of our good dreams for self and world need the practice of Scripture meditation.

God Almighty, my delight is in your law, and on it I meditate day and night (Psalm 1:2).

O how I love your law! It is my meditation, my food and drink, all day, every day (Psalm 119:97).

I will meditate on your precepts and honor your ways in all I do and say (Psalm 119:15).

I am determined to lift my hands to your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on your statutes (Psalm 119:48).

I look forward to the wee hours of the night because it provides me the space and the quiet to meditate on your word (Psalm 119:148).

In fact, I meditate on all your doings through both day and night; I ponder and consider the works of your hands (Psalm 143:5).

I pray through Jesus Christ your Son, my Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit reign forever. Amen.

There is a great deal of loneliness in this world. Increasingly, more and more people live alone. As job hours build to crazy levels, disconnection occurs simply out of having no discretionary time to spend with others. So, for many people, taking the time to sit in the presence of God and forget about the clock seems almost absurd. It is as if contemplating Christ is some luxury instead of a necessity. But it is a vital Christian practice.

I propose that just maybe the reason why so many Christians, churches, and ministry organizations have contemplation off their spiritual radars has to do with how we view our relationship with God. Communicating with God is a great privilege, and made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christian contemplation we do not just pray to get something; we seek to adore God and enjoy being in his presence. God longs for our companionship. Yes, you read that right. God delights in us. He wants to be with us. This weird notion that God always wants something from us is one-dimensional and truncates the true knowledge of God into a business transaction where we give God obedience and he answers our prayers.

If that is your typical understanding of how we relate to God, consider the beginning of humanity. God enjoyed “walking in the cool of the day” with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8-9). The original garden is portrayed as a paradise because it was the place where God and his creatures simply enjoyed being with one another. We must come to grips with the reality that becoming spiritually mature means learning to love God for who he is, not just for what he can do for us.

Contemplative prayer has as its singular goal being with God, period. It is about allowing time to melt away into an enjoyment of God, and God’s enjoyment of us. If this seems strange, mystical, or medieval, it is only because contemporary evangelicalism has strayed far from the streams of living water offered through the kind of prayer that contemplates the grace and love of God in Christ. Maybe you can only view God loving you if you are living a perfect life. Remember this: there is nothing you can do to make God love you more or less. It is high time we relax enough to receive the wondrous reality that God loves us for who we are and not for what we can give to him.

God longs to be with us! The “Jesus Prayer” is a simple and ancient prayer that combines the prayer of the tax collector from Luke 18:13 (“God be merciful to me, a sinner”) with the earliest confession of the church (“Jesus is Lord”). Put it together, and the Jesus Prayer is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is meant to be a means of entering into the presence of God and experiencing communion with Jesus. Repeating phrases from Holy Scripture are some of my favorite ways of engaging in contemplative prayer. I like personalizing Philippians 3:10, “I want to know you, Lord Christ, and the power of your resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings.” Using the biblical book of psalms is a wonderful place to express the desire of our hearts toward God, and to drink in his love for us. Over time the repeated words begin to fall away into a deep connection with God.

Again, if I seem to be sounding like some reclusive monk locked up in a remote monastery, I can assure you that I am not in any such place. I am a busy pastor who has more responsibilities that he ought to have. But I do neither my church nor my God any favors by constantly working with no time set aside to connect with the reason we are to engage in this Christian work to start with: to know Jesus to the very core our beings. None of us are brains-on-a-stick meant to check off on a list of beliefs; then, go on our merry way being uptight, anxious, and worried about everything under the sun because we did not let those beliefs sink down into the marrow of our spiritual bones.

God is huge, and he is full of huge love for his creatures. The Western church must begin to allow the fog to lift so that we can walk with God in the garden of the soul. How will you and your church allow God into your lives to make this happen? The answer to that question might just be the very thing you have been looking for all along.