{"id":219,"date":"2009-12-08T08:07:27","date_gmt":"2009-12-08T15:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=219"},"modified":"2010-01-02T21:17:29","modified_gmt":"2010-01-03T04:17:29","slug":"what-to-give-up-for-lent-silent-retreats","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=219","title":{"rendered":"What to Give Up For Lent? Silent Retreats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><strong><a href=\"..\/2006\/HeavyLifting\/Spirituality\/SilentRetreats.pdf\">Printable PDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What to expect on a silent retreat:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt is not comfortable at first. You\u2019ll sit in your room alone, having no radio, TV, or anyone \t\t\t\tto talk with. No one, that is, but yourself and God. Having no noise to hide behind, you will eventually be moved to \t\t\t\tcontemplation, reflecting on the essence of your existence and what it means for you to live your life in the presence \t\t\t\tof God. It is here, in the silence of your heart, that <strong>God\u2019s Word can come to you with minimal interference<\/strong>.\u201d<sup>1<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Is this true? Not at all. When you are alone in your room, or on a lake or mountaintop, you are not alone with God. \t\t\t\tThe Evil One is also close at hand, deceiving you into thinking you have an inner receptor tuned to the Lord. Or a spark \t\t\t\tof divinity within you. But you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>None of us do. Rather, we are rebels \u2013 totally sinful \u2013 even when we don\u2019t <strong>feel<\/strong> rebellious. \t\t\t\tEspecially when we don\u2019t <strong>feel<\/strong> rebellious. Then we are caught in spiritual pride. We think we <strong>can<\/strong> hear <strong>and \t\t\t\tdo<\/strong>. We think: \u201cBy making myself quiet, I will be able to hear what God wants me to do. I can make it happen.\u201d \u00a0But \t\t\t\tyou can\u2019t. We can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>But what about Psalm 46:10? \u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d This verse does not mean that posture, gesture, \t\t\t\tor place function like TV antennas which help God\u2019s Word \u201ccome to you with minimal interference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea that a silent place is conducive to better reception of God\u2019s Word is really a kind of works-righteousness. \t\t\t\tAs Luther wrote: \u201cOne thing is for sure: We cannot pin our hope on anything that we are, think, say, or do.\u201d<sup>2<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Thus to use Psalm 46:10 to claim that one can by oneself \u201cbe still and know that I am God,\u201d as if we can \t\t\t\tmake ourselves receptive and \u201cstill,\u201d is to misuse the Bible. As Luther wrote: \u201cIf opponents use Scripture \t\t\t\tagainst Christ, then we use Christ against Scripture.\u201d<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Luther again: \u201cAccordingly, we should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal with us except through \t\t\t\this external Word and sacrament. Whatever is attributed to the Spirit apart from such Word and sacrament is of the devil.\u201d<sup>4<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Instead of a silent retreat where the spirit you encounter may be the Evil One who appears as an angel of light (2 \t\t\t\tCor 11:14) \u2013 go to church, that is, a congregation gathered around the cross alone. A fellowship where it is proclaimed \t\t\t\tthat salvation is in Christ alone by faith alone.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><sup>&lt;p&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;1<\/sup><em>Worship <\/em>\u201996, November, p.3, ELCA publication, emphasis added.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup><em>Smalcald Articles<\/em> III\/3, p.309:36; Tappert.<\/p>\n<p><sup>3<\/sup> WA, DB 39:1. See WA, DB 40:1, 458-59.<\/p>\n<p><sup>4<\/sup><em>Smalcald Articles<\/em> III\/8, p.313:10, Tappert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Printable PDF What to expect on a silent retreat: \u201cIt is not comfortable at first. You\u2019ll sit in your room alone, having no radio, TV, or anyone to talk with. No one, that is, but yourself and God. Having no noise to hide behind, you will eventually be moved to contemplation, reflecting on the essence [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-219","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219\/revisions\/222"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}