Retreat!

This is the message I did for Crave 10/10/12. I never use message notes, I write my entire message out. So here it is. Thought I would share it.

During this series, we’re talking about illusions; lies that Satan tells us, that maybe don’t sound like such terrible things, but are designed to throw our lives out of whack. It’s like this series’ theme verse says, 2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” The lies that he tells us are lies that we can accept as being useful. You know, we’re not doing anything that bad. But they’re still lies. And as such, we need to fight against them as much as we do his blatant lies, like when he tells us we are worthless and sin is ok and whatnot.

This week actually has to do with our fall retreat that’s coming up. A couple of years ago, we had a debate about whether we should keep calling them retreats, or change to a different name. Because retreating makes one think of running away, and losing the battle. Not something we want to do. So the lie is that if you need a retreat, you are losing.

See, we are in a battle. Every day, we are fighting against our enemy. And if we go by what the average person would say, retreat would be the ultimate shame for any warrior. We would have the same opinion that Spartan women had when they sent their husbands and sons to battle. They would say, “Come back carrying your shield, or lying on it.” See, they knew that there was no way a man could carry his huge shield while running away from battle. They knew if he came home carrying his shield, he made it through the battle, and if he came home lying on it, at least he remained honourable and chose death over retreat.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5   For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We don’t wage war as the world does, meaning that we do not have to look to the worlds standards as far as retreat goes. Retreat can give us the tools that we need to win the battle.

We are supposed to follow Jesus’ example, and when he was doing God’s work, he often retreated into the wilderness to get away from the crowds that followed him, and to spend time alone with God in prayer.

Mark 6:45-46 And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell, he departed to the mountain to pray.

This was immediately after the miracle where Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. You would think that after that, he would be so pumped that he wouldn’t need to step back at all. He would just go with his disciples and celebrate what had happened. But he knew that he needed to depend on God, and step away from everything that was happening, and spend time alone with God. 

I’ll use an example of retreat from somewhat more recent history.

In 1814, the War of 1812 was drawing to a close. The British were intent upon capturing New Orleans and from there, the land gained through the Louisiana Purchase. December 23^rd, the British troops were only 9 miles away from New Orleans, and waited for reinforcements. U.S. troops, determined not to allow the British to sleep on their soil, attacked the resting British army. It looked like the Americans would win, but after 3 hours of fighting in the dark, it became impossible to tell one side from the other, and the Americans were having problems with friendly fire. The Americans retreated to a canal 5 miles away. Through this retreat, the Americans were able to spend time building up their defenses while they waited for the British army to advance. They turned the canal they had retreated to into a heavily fortified earthwork that would be far more difficult for the British to breach, and even though they retreated, they had proven themselves strong enough that the British army was hesitant to cross them again.

Technically, in this fight, the British won. But when one looks across all that happened, the Battle of December 23^rd saved New Orleans. It helped to win the Battle of New Orleans, which was the last major battle of the War of 1812. And the thing is, if Major General Jackson had refused to retreat when he saw that it was the necessary move, the American force could have been decimated, both by enemy bullets and friendly fire, and could have left the way open for the British army to take New Orleans.

In the same way, we need retreats. Now, I am not saying that we should just run from the battle and sit and do nothing. That is definitely not what the American soldiers did. And that’s also not what Jesus did when he went into the mountain. He didn’t just go up there and build a campfire and start making s’mores. He went to the mountain, and he prayed. When you retreat in a spiritual battle, whether by going on a youth retreat, or just stepping back on your own to spend time with God away from the people and things that occupy your time, it is not a passive retreat. It isn’t just time to chill with your friends or take a break from life; it is a chance to passionately pursue God in a place that isn’t so full of distractions. And when you step back from the battle and give God a chance, he will build you up.

Many of the ways that we benefit from retreating are similar to the ways that the American army benefitted from retreating. In the same way that the soldiers were able to regain their strength after the initial fighting, and strengthen their barricades, Isaiah 40:30-31 says Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

It doesn’t say, “Those who go out and fight without ceasing.” It says, “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.” It is when you are waiting on him, trusting in him, that you will truly grow strong.

You also gain a different kind of strength when you go on a retreat with others. Retreating by yourself is a good thing, but when a whole group takes time from their lives to throw themselves on God, you get a chance to get to know people who are fighting alongside of you. Imagine if you were a soldier, and you had no friends going into battle with you. No one to watch your back, no one to help you out if you’re wounded. You would be very vulnerable. You need to know the other soldiers fighting alongside of you. And a retreat is a great way to do that. It’s a perfect venue to begin to talk about what God is doing in your lives, and to encourage one another. And hopefully, that will carry over into your real life, and you will continue to encourage each other when you’re back in the battle.

A retreat, like the name sort of hints at, provides perspective and rest. You are able to look at your situation from a different point, one where you aren’t being fired upon. Imagine how things would look different to a soldier running through the swamps and fields, trying to shoot enemies that he could scarcely see, and trying to avoid being shot himself; as opposed to a soldier in the relative safety of a fortified barricade that was not under attack at all. You will be able to look at your life in a different way, when you’re out of the situations that seem to be bearing down on you.

One of the biggest ways a retreat can impact you though, is to deepen our love for God, and show us the depth of his love for us.

Sometimes, even as Christians, we can feel alone; like I am the only soldier still fighting. And it is easy in these times to get discouraged, and want to give up. But ultimately, our task is not to win the battle, our task is to do what God tells us to do.

2 Chronicles 20:15 He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

Psalm 91:14-16 The Lord say, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

When we retreat and we rest in God, we can feel the depth of his love for us. Have you ever spent time with someone that you love (a friend, or a parent), and instead of going out and doing something spectacular, you just spend time together? Maybe you watch a movie, or just sit and chat, something low key, that most people would think of as dull. But it was a great time, because the time you spent together reminded you how much you love each other?

This past summer, at camp, during worship one day, I was suddenly overwhelmed by how much God loved me, and rejoiced over me. It was something that I knew, but in the muddle of everyday life, I forgot it. When I stepped back and took the time to focus on God, and rest in his presence, he reminded me how much he cared for me, and how special I was to him.

I know that there can be days where you say, “Does God even actually care about me?” and when you’re swamped with life, it can be tough to remember all that God has done for you, and all that he wants to do for you. When you see how he feels about you, you can know that he truly does want what is best for you. You can look back and see what he has already done in your life, such as sending Jesus to die for you, welcoming you into his family, saving your soul. And then there are more personal things that he has done just for you.

When I take the time to retreat and look at what God has done in my life, I am amazed. There have been so many things in my life that, while I was going through them, I never thought they could turn out good. Times that I have said, “No, I give up. I don’t care what the lesson is that I am supposed to learn, I don’t want to go through this anymore.” But all of these things have come together to put my life where it is, and now I can see God’s hand guiding every bit of it. And that knowledge gives me strength to hold on and get back out there to fight again, knowing that it is well worth it.

One very important thing about retreats is this. Don’t live for retreats. Don’t just float through life, doing the bare minimum, saying, “Oh man, I can’t wait for camp. I need that experience with God again.” If a soldier went through a battle, not really paying attention to what was happening, and kept saying, “Man, I hope the general calls a retreat soon, I want to go sit down.” He’d most likely get shot in the head. You have to be focused on where you are. When you are going through life, know what you’re fighting for, and what God has for you to do. Then pursue it. A retreat isn’t a time to get fired up about God, you should be on fire for him in everything you do. A retreat is a time to get filled up and hear from him more in order to get out and do the next step that he has for you.