Silence Is Golden: Christ Prefers Quiet

By Dan Gilliam
Sunday, August 17, 2003

Christ Prefers Quiet by Dan Gilliam

 

"When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead, but asleep." (Matt.9:23 NIV)



The grieving was in full swing. As was the custom of the day, hired wailers and musicians had been summoned to enhance the sorrowful mood. Singing the blues was a legitimate vocation in those days. Perhaps being paid by the tear, these professional mourners were hard at work stirring up the emotions of the gathered friends and family. Unable, or perhaps unwilling, to participate in the pre-funeral party, the father of the deceased had left and returned with the one man who could reportedly heal the sick and raise the dead. Seeing his faith, Christ had responded to his plea for help and had followed him home. Entering the house, He immediately went to work with His first order of business being to create a climate of quiet wherein He could perform His miracle. The contracted noisemakers laughed at Him for His seeming inability to distinguish between sleep and death, but never-the-less they left without argument. "And after the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up."(v25)

Often, as in this gospel account, my heart and head must be quiet for Christ to do His work. It is in the still moments at the beginning of each day that I benefit from sitting with God and His word. It is on my quiet walks in Nature when I hear His voice and feel His assurance. It is in the gathering of fellow believers when I am aware of his love and acceptance. I have discovered that loud is easy to manufacture, especially in cars and corporate worship. There are flutes and wailings galore not to mention drums, guitars and basses. But silence and stillness, much maligned and ignored components today, especially in services designed to attract the spiritual seeker, require courage and deliberate intention to implement and practice. Has anyone else noticed that the more "contemporary" a worship service is labeled, the louder the music and the busier the format? Are there still congregations who practice a quiet "call to worship", the time traditionally reserved for contemplation and prayer before the formalities begin? I have many fond childhood memories of sitting quietly, praying to these quiet tones of piano and organ.

There are some among us who believe that the church today, American and otherwise, is being molded, even polluted by the commercial and busy ways of this world. One of the symptoms of this, I believe, is our inability to sit still in worship for more than a moment without entertainment or instruction. Another is our seeming dependence on the service bulletin where every minute of the "worship hour" is accounted for to ensure all necessary announcements are made and that the ending time is secured. It would not require great changes to see dramatic results in the quality of many corporate worship experiences. By penciling in 5 measly minutes (or more) of time for God to speak to our hearts in shared silence during meeting we could positively alter the impact of our Godly gatherings. Though Christ is known to have performed miracles on boats in raging storms and in the crush of hungry crowds, it is apparent from the text above and many others that He also works well and may even prefer to operate in the midst of calm. For all we know, Christ may prefer quiet.

Since helping start Art House Friends, a Northwest Yearly Meeting Quaker plant in Oregon, I have had the opportunity to regularly experience first-hand the results of silent, open worship with a group of God-seekers. I have watched with surprise as active children and talkative adults have learned to settle in together for 15-20 minutes of “listening to God” through Scripture, silent waiting and art, leaving minds and mouths to rest and ears and hearts to receive. We have heard testimony on many occasions of Christ teaching through our gatherings in ways that have been true, personal, and specific. Week after week, those who desire to experience this fellowship with Christ and His followers are touched and taught by Christ through this quiet form of worship. Those who need more activity or direction usually don’t come back for long and this is to be expected. We are aware that not everyone will desire to worship in this manner. But those of us who do are finding the experience to be real, rewarding and appealing to those who are spiritually hungry but religiously tired. And we are seeing for ourselves that when we trust Him, Christ is capable and willing to show up and be the “Present Teacher in our midst”. We can rest in the assurance that when we gather in His Name, He is in our midst ministering to needs that we don’t even know exist in each of us. Our goal in pursuing the sanctuary of the quiet is not so much to enable Christ to teach, as He is able to teach whenever and wherever He wills. Our hope is that we can still our busy, distracted hearts long enough to hear what He has to say to us.


Dan Gilliam

www.DanGilliam.com

Return to Worship Home