Into the Wilderness with Jesus
Now, here we are – on the first Sunday of Lent. We are in the first week of the 40 day season of Lent, this journey we take each year with Jesus; this journey of preparing our hearts and minds and bodies as we walk with Jesus toward Jerusalem with our faces set like flint (Luke 9:51). We walk with Jesus during these days, in obedience, knowing we are heading toward suffering and death on the cross and awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise of resurrection and new life.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Now, in this long and holy season of Lent, we are given 40 days – more or less – to keep our attention on deepening our relationship with God and to practice living as followers of Jesus – out loud and in public. This is the season when we are called to practice the spiritual disciplines of praying more; consuming less (fasting); and giving generously to those in need.
Many of us have had a lifetime of this practice of following Jesus and still, today, now, we continue to practice, longing to be in right relationship with God, seeking to be renewed and transformed by the Holy Spirit into people who put their trust in God, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
The gospel reading on the first Sunday of Lent always tells the story of the time Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights alone in the wilderness, fasting and famished and tested by the devil.
For those of you who have been practicing the disciplines of Lent for awhile and have heard this story told many times, you may be surprised to hear that Jesus was “tested” by the devil (Satan) in the wilderness; you may have expected to hear that he was “tempted”, instead. Our readings now come from the most current translation of the Bible – the NRSV Updated Edition – which has made the change from temptation to testing.
Makes you wonder – what’s the difference between temptation and testing?
In the biblical sense, temptations are stumbling blocks; situations that arise that are meant to entice us, to lead us away from God; that cause us to sin. Usually temptations come from any of the 3 sources we renounce in our (affirmation of) baptism – the devil and all the forces that defy God; the powers of this world that rebel against God; and the ways of sin that draw us away from God
Testing, on the other hand, are the trials and tribulations of life that build our faith and strengthen our relationship with God, as we come to rely on the faithfulness of God even during the hardest times of our lives. These are the wilderness times; the times of grief or disappointment or betrayal or illness or unexpected change or deep sadness; those times when we feel we are all alone in the world.
These are the times in which our faith can grow, as we sit in the stillness of God’s presence and listen for the still small voice of God calling us; as we discern what the voice is saying to us and where the Spirit is leading us now.
Perhaps this is what Jesus was experiencing when he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.
Jesus had time – 40 days and 40 nights – to sit in the wilderness where the Spirit had led him; to sit and pray and contemplate and ponder; to consider what it meant that he had been baptized by John in the Jordan River and he had seen the Spirit of God descending like dove alighting on him and heard a voice from heaven say to him This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
Jesus had time in those 40 days and 40 nights to remember who he was and to whom he belonged; to remember his true identity as God’s beloved son.
Jesus had time to discern that his life had changed.
When the devil came to test him at the end of those 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus had no need to take what Satan offered. He did not need the loaves of bread; he did not need protection from falling; he did not need power over all the kingdoms of the world. He did not need what the empire had to offer.
Jesus had all that he needed – he had his place in God’s kin-dom firmly established by love and grace. Jesus had all he needed to follow the Spirit back into the world to do the work God had prepared for him to do.
As people who follow the example of Jesus, we too can find ourselves – suddenly and unexpectedly – led by the Spirit into the wilderness; we too can find ourselves sitting and praying; contemplating and pondering; considering what it means that we have been baptized in the name of the Triune God and that we are beloved by God. We too have been given time to remember who we are and to whom we belong; to remember that our true identity is hidden in Christ; no matter what else happens in our life, we are never alone.
We too have been given time to discern that our life has been changed through Jesus Christ.
Then, when its time for us to leave the wilderness (and thanks be to God that time always come), we can be led out by the Spirit, knowing that we no longer need what the world – the empire – has to offer. We don’t need more money or goods; we don’t need false security; we don’t need power over other human beings and over creation.
Jesus gives us all that we need. Jesus offers us bread and protection and power –
- the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation, as our Episcopal siblings say when distributing communion, givenfor us, as we Lutheran like to emphasize;
- the protection of knowing we are beloved by God, created in God’s image, marked with the cross of Christ on our forehead in baptism;
- the power of the Holy Spirit, by which we are sealed and held forever.
We have all we need to make our way through the wilderness of this world; all we need to stand firm in the love of God and the love of our neighbors; all we need to speak truth to power; all we need to witness to the kin-dom of heaven that has come near now.
We have all we need – the Word of God embodied in Jesus Christ; the Spirit of God enlivening our hearts and souls; the Love of God surrounding us with joy and peace.
The good news for today is that we are justified – made right with God – through the free gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ, who offers us the example of obedience to the word of God even in difficult and trying times.
The good news for today is that God is with us – even in the wilderness – giving us bread and protection and power to be God’s people; to do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with God; in this world full of sin and temptation and trial and evil.
God is always with us. Even in the wilderness. Even in the time of trials. Even in the chaos and uncertainty and confusion and unknown of what is to come. God is with us.