Group and Church Meditation

Learning to Meditate in Church

Perhaps the single best place to learn Christian meditation is a worship service in church, groups can also help support your meditation practice, but I have found that church is a great place to learn and practice meditation.

The Divine Service is thus the school for Christian meditation, its proper context. There we receive meditation as a gift. There we learn to meditate for ourselves as the Holy Spirit does His work in us while we listen to God’s Word. The beauty of that arrangement is that it requires so little from us in time and effort and ability.  (Kleinig 2008, 119)

When we are in church, we are already aware that we are in the presence of God. Through worship our hearts have been opened. We are invited to simply take scripture that we hear and gently repeat it to ourselves, mull over it, and open our hearts to it during those times of silence in the church service. Another way of using the church service as a form of meditation is to think back on the service itself to what was said in the sermon, to a hymn or song, the reading or the Lord’s supper. In Psalm 63 David reflects on his worship experience in the Temple, “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory...On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night” (Ps. 63:2,6 NIV).

Psychologists have documented what has come to be called the negativity bias: in everyday life, “bad is stronger than good.” It is not uncommon to have a day ruined by a single negative event. The neuropsychologist Rick Hanson captures this truth by telling us the brain seems designed to be “Velcro for bad experiences but Teflon for good ones.” (Hanson 2013, 2) I can remember a dinner at a home after church when I was in seminary where the initial conversation consisted of the host family mentioning the sermon bloopers, fashion faux pas, and other annoyances from church. I do not doubt the accuracy of what they reported but notice how the “good” of worshipping God and hearing his Word had been drown out by the “bad.” One of the simplest ways of meditating in church is simply to pause and savor “the good.” Perhaps after a hymn or a scripture reading, you just take in what you heard and savor it as you would fine chocolate.

Seek to meditate on the scripture that is read in the service. When the reading is finished, take a moment to gently repeat a verse or phrase you heard that stuck you. The sermon and Lord’s Supper provide an opportunity for one to take to heart the truth seen, heard, and tasted.

I still remember two testimonies of God’s faithfulness I heard in college over fifty years ago. One was given by a physicist who was at the top of his game academically. He said that as a graduate student, he was facing great doubts. As he thought about casting aside his faith, he was comforted by Peter’s observation, made Jesus notes that many followers were leaving and he asked the twelve if they were going to leave him also, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68 NIV). I am certain that in dozens of times of doubt or discouragement, I have used this verse as a comfort. This is what the Psalmist described when he said, “One generation commends your works to another… and I will meditate on your wonderful works (Ps. 145:4-5 NIV). I have meditated on the testimony of that faithful physicist. And words of testimony in the worship service provide an easy way to encourage people to meditate on “your wonderful works.”

Meditation Groups

A decade ago, I was at a retreat focused on learning patterns of Christian meditation. In an opening meeting, the speaker asked how many of the attendees had learned to meditate on their own, and only one or two hands went up in the audience of one hundred. Biblical meditation is something that we oftentimes learn best in groups, and then we are able to practice on our own. Retreats and group settings offer us the space to have uninterrupted time to meditate. Whenever we learn a new skill, whether it be a sport or a musical instrument, there is an initial beginner’s awkwardness that makes it hard to continue. When you have signed up and driven some distance to go on a retreat, you find that you have been given the space to do what you want to in ordinary life, but it is made easier in a retreat atmosphere. During one semester, I was able to go to a series of meditation classes, and I benefited immensely from knowing that there was an hour set aside for me to enter into that space and engage in the process. I have also benefited immensely from being in a small group of men that meditate weekly on scripture. The time set aside, and the support of others helps deepen my practice. With many things, when we are seeking to learn a new skill, we join a class or a club, and the camaraderie and support of others helps us. The Chicago Marathon is in October, so in early fall I see groups of runners heading out and I meet groups of runners on their long runs as I am out running. I know the benefit of running groups; I returned to running in middle age and I do not think I would have continued without the support of my running group. The same is true for meditation. Not only do they spur you on, but they help you learn techniques and strategies. You are encouraged, and you hear about the struggles and testimonies of those who have persevered. Find a meditation group in a church and join it.

Spontaneous Meditation throughout the day and meditation in your church service are the meditative practices most often portrayed in the Bible. These practices that take no time but fill your time, can provide the foundation for dwelling in the Word. In the next chapter, we will look at formal meditation, which many people find provides the grounding for a life of spontaneous meditation on scripture.

References

Kleinig, John. 2008. Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today. St. Louis, MO: Concordia.

Hanson, Rick. 2013. Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm and Confidence. New York: Crown Publishing.