The Wilderness (Pastor Andy)
This season of Lent, we come to that famous and powerful story that really is at the heart of Lent, why we take 40 days to go through this journey leading up to Easter—40 days to walk, to sit, to be in the uncertainty, to be in the Wilderness. These 40 days commemorate Jesus’ time and His journey in the desert and in the Wilderness. And so I invite us to once again hear this story, which comes from Matthew 4.
Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the Wilderness to be tested by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights and afterward, he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of a temple, saying to him, “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, He will command His angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.” Then the devil left and suddenly the angels came and waited upon him.
This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
When I was a teenager and I first started going to church with my family, we went to First United Methodist Church in Great Bend, Kansas, and it wasn’t long after that that the senior pastor of that church, who had been there for many, many years, unfortunately passed away after a hard battle with cancer.
During that time, before we got a new permanent senior pastor, we had a series of interims—pastors who were only there for a few months, or so. No one really explained this to me, and so as a 14 or 15-year-old, I just kind of thought, “Oh, we just get a new pastor every three months.”
And these pastors that came in looked kind of like I do, now. They came in with a suit, until one pastor: Reverend Oris Kelly. Oris Kelly was a chaplain, a Major General in the United States Army. He was retired, having served as the 14th Chief of Chaplains in the United States Army from 1975 to 1979.
When I met him, he showed up as the very first pastor I ever saw in a robe. He had a robe and a stole, but he also had this big bristling rope as a belt, so to me he kind of looked like a friar.
But what I remember most about Reverend Kelly was something he did every single Sunday. He would walk down from the pulpit. In our sanctuary, the outside steps were right near the altar, so it was easy for him to come down to us.
My family liked sitting in the front row, so not only could I not do anything but sit there, he came directly toward me. You know that feeling when someone seems like they’re coming straight at you….He would just have this great smile on his face. It was totally easy, totally natural, but also totally holy and joyful.
Years later, when I became a pastor and was serving at First United Methodist Church of Topeka, Kansas, he was there for worship, one Sunday. I immediately recognized him and went up to give him a huge hug. I said, “I know you don’t know me. You probably don’t remember me. But thank you for those times when you walked down to the floor, when you came down to us.”
I think about that often—not just in terms of preaching, but in terms of pastoring—that idea of coming down to the people.
And I thought about that as I prepared this message about Jesus going out into the Wilderness. Jesus not just coming down on Christmas Day, but coming down into the Wilderness to be in the elements. This is the pinnacle of what we do in Lent. We remember that story of Jesus being out in the Wilderness for those 40 days and what he went through. It is also a massive mythological part of our human story. Nearly every culture has a story of the hero going into the Wilderness. An initiation. A testing.
For us today, it may be college, a new job, a new relationship. It is that moment of wondering: Can I really do this? Am I the type of person who can really do this?
Last week we heard about Abraham being told to pack everything and go. Here, when it’s Jesus’ turn, it’s the opposite. Jesus takes nothing. He goes into the Wilderness, stripped of everything. Whatever Wilderness we enter tends to strip away parts of us until only the truth remains.
And Jesus experiences that.
When we say Wilderness, we don’t just mean sand dunes. There are rocks, dead trees, predators, hard ground. And there are mountains. And as Jesus ascends those rocks and mountains, the levels get bigger. The temptations intensify.
And I found myself wondering: Was Jesus’ mission to win? Or was it simply to go? To take the next step?
Like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings who says, “I will take the Ring.” He never says, “I will win.” He says, “I will go.” That’s it.
But there is so much in that It.
This past week I joined others in Washington, D.C., in a public witness regarding immigration policies. The goal was not to win. The goal was simply to go. Lent is not “I will go and I will win.” Lent is “I will go.”
Because Jesus never calls us to go anywhere he has not already been.
Sometimes we only see a small glimmer of light. And that is enough. We go as far as the light shines.
Some of us feel famished. Jesus was famished. Yet he remembered: One lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And after the Wilderness, the angels waited upon him.
I wonder if there was a table there. A table like the one we come to again and again. A table that feeds us in the midst of barrenness. A table that empowers us to go back into the Wilderness knowing we are not alone.
Let us pray.
Oh God, we pray for the peace you desire for your children. As we hear news of conflict in the Middle East, we feel the reverberations. You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Help us not to fear. We pray for safety and consolation for those in harm’s way. For civilians and military alike. Guide the leaders of our nation and military. Give them wisdom as they steward power. May they see the lives impacted by their decisions. Enable those who seek diplomacy and just resolution. We long for the day when war will be no more. Keep us faithful to the longing that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen