Sermon Title: "Into the Wilderness "
Date: February 21, 2010
Minister:  Rev. Susan Bjork

Lesson:  Luke 4:1-13

Wilderness, the word brings to my mind the following: nature uninterrupted – air, water, earth, flora, fauna – alive, self-sustaining, cyclical; sometimes remote and unknown; sometimes raw, even harsh and dangerous; sometimes nurturing, providing, and nourishing; sometimes a place of mystery that may contain both light and dark; it can be a place of physical challenge as well as a place of respite.  Wilderness is the place to where the Spirit leads; a place in which we may discover our path.

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” 

Friends, welcome to the season of Lent.  Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is the forty day period (not counting Sundays) that leads us liturgically, scripturally, and spiritually into Easter.

The forty days of Lent are highly symbolic, of course.  In the number forty, we recall the forty days of the great flood, the forty years during which the Israelites wandered in the desert in exodus from Egypt in search of the Promised Land, and of course, the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, praying, encountering temptation, and discerning his path before he began his public ministry. 

In recollection of these journeys into the wild and unknown, the forty days of Lent invite us to take a journey as well into the wild and unknown places of our own lives and our own souls.  Traditionally, we are invited in this season of Lent to take a journey inward and to allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit, just as Jesus was, into our own metaphorical “wilderness” or places of unpredictability, unknown paths, and unforeseen exploration. 

People approach this Lenten journey in many different ways and have for a long time.  Some feel led to fast from something for the Lenten season, maybe chocolate, or caffeine, or television, or something else that they have an attachment to.  I keep telling people I’m giving up my Senior Minister for Lent (but that’s just the cheeky answer to the question). 

Others feel led to add on something for Lent, like a new prayer practice, or spiritual discipline, or a study of the Bible or another theological work.  And some people do some combination of these things or use the season of Lent to recommit to ongoing practices that are already important parts of their lives. 

No matter how we particularly choose to go about pursuing this Lenten journey into the wilderness; I think the important thing is that we take the journey in the first place and that we listen for the Spirit’s guidance to us as we do so.  And I think that Jesus’ wilderness experience has something to teach us as we embark on our own Lenten journeys.

For Jesus, the wilderness was a place of transition.  And in the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus’ forty day fast and temptation in the wilderness serves as a threshold that departs from the stories of Jesus’ birth, boyhood, and baptism and provides and entrance into the beginning of his ministry.

Now I will be the first to admit that at times this story has seemed a little distant and unreal to me with its tale of a personified evil tempter who whisks Jesus away in an attempt to get him to abandon his mission and perform theatrical magic to assuage his own desires.

But when I thought about it a little more, I came to the conclusion that not only is this story about Christ’s divine mission and identity (though it is that) but it is also a potent story about Jesus’ humanity.  This story illustrates powerfully that Jesus himself faced the same temptations that humanity has dealt with since the dawn of time.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he fasted and felt the human feelings of hunger and fatigue.  Luke’s gospel says when his fast was over; he was “famished.”  No doubt!  And just at that point of feeling famished, is when the first temptation arises.  Surely God’s Son can turn a rock into bread; why not satisfy his own physical desire for food?  Why not?…because, Jesus replied, quoted scripture, “one does not live by bread alone.” 

Our physical nourishment is important certainly, but sometimes there are more important things than our own immediate desires and needs.  The meaning of life is deeper than just the pursuit of our physical needs.  Discipleship is deeper than just seeking to satisfy our own needs.

Next Jesus is given a glimpse of worldly kingdoms and along comes the temptation to grasp for (and even worship) power, fame, authority, attention, influence, and wealth.  Tempting yes, but it would require Jesus (and us) to compromise everything and abandon God’s vision.  So Jesus responds (again quoting scripture) that we should worship and serve only God. 

And if there is one message we can learn over and over from Jesus’ life and ministry it is that service to God most often takes shape through service for others and love for others and true power is not attained by forceful taking, but by merciful giving.

Finally, the temptation arises to put God to the test in a dramatic showy display.  Leap off the pinnacle of the temple and see if your God will catch you.  In other words, perhaps this is the temptation to see if you can manipulate circumstances to bend to your own will instead of listening for God’s call to you.  Again, quoting scripture, Jesus responds that it is not for us to test God or perhaps to put it another way to try to manipulate and distort God’s love for all to suit our own desires.

You see, this story describes the ethical challenges we all face as human beings.  We may forget our baptismal identity as children of God.  We may be tempted to use religion simply for our own personal gain and forget to look outside ourselves at the needs of others.  Perhaps we get caught up in our own desire for success that we forget the higher and more important goal of living in faith.  Maybe we get dazzled and distracted by the riches of the world and are tempted to compromise our ethics to attain the things we want.  And perhaps we wish we could avoid all sacrifice and suffering in life and when we find that we can’t, we are tempted to abandon God all together.

These are not small things Jesus encountered in the wilderness.  These are some of the big issues we humans deal with.  And perhaps that is why the Spirit led him there. 

You see, sometimes it is not clear where we are being led or why we are being led there.  But, as in the case of Jesus’ wilderness journey, sometimes we have to encounter the hard stuff, the tricky temptations, and the challenges head on, just as Jesus did.

Perhaps the metaphorical “wilderness wandering” we are invited to do at Lent is one entry point into the deepest parts of ourselves where we might face life’s challenges, temptations, and the tricky stuff head on.  That is what discernment is all about. 

Now, this isn’t always very easy to do.  After all, both literal and metaphorical wilderness can be uncomfortable.  We may forget it, living in Southern California, but sometimes it’s too hot or too cold in the wilderness.  And the ground is hard and boulders don’t make good pillows.  And there are no creature comforts to distract us. 

But perhaps the wilderness journey of Lent invites us to avoid our inclination to simply suppress our temptations and the discomfort we feel and instead to sit with that discomfort, pay attention to it, face it like Jesus did, grow from it, and learn from it. 

That’s why people give things up for Lent or add on a spiritual discipline during Lent.  We have to intentionally take the Lenten wilderness journey and that may require us to stop scurrying around so much and take the time to stop, look around, and perceive our lives with new eyes.  We are invited in the season of Lent into a process of discernment and deepening of our discipleship.

The Lenten wilderness journey can heighten our awareness and allow us to see the important things in life anew.  After all, Jesus affirmed for himself what was important in his own wilderness journey and did not succumb to the temptations he faced.  Instead, he prepared himself (body, mind, and soul) for the next phase of his life and ministry.

So, as you begin this season of Lenten wandering in the wilderness, I want to leave you this morning with a poem by Jan Richardson, called Warning:

Before you enter this terrain there are a few things you should know.

There is no entry fee, but it will cost you plenty to make this journey.

Pack a lunch.  Lose your map.  Travel lightly.  The weather is unpredictable.

I am prone to sudden washouts, to the startling crumbling of earth.  It’s good to watch your step, but what is underneath is strong and you are welcome to settle there to rest for the night or to stay for a season.

Be careful at dusk.  It’s when the beasts come to the water, and it’s not that they would devour you, but they are protective of their terrain and will not easily yield.  I can tell you they will never be utterly tamed,

but with choice morsels and soothing words, you may have them eating from your hands.

If these warnings sound harsh, good; this terrain is not for the faint of heart

or for those who would travel its contours crudely, littering its landscape and stripping its soil.

But I think you are made of stronger stuff and more tender, that you already know the lay of this land: how its treasures will yield to your searching fingers, how its wellsprings will ease your traveler’s thirst, how its brambles and thorns will give way to the waiting hidden garden where grows the sweetest,

most exquisite fruit waiting to be consumed.

I pray that you may meet Christ on the pathway of your wilderness journey this Lenten season.  Amen.