"What Is God Teaching Me in This?"

"He was in the wilderness forty days..."

Lent 1, Year B – 22 February 2015

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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It’s déjà vu all over again. If the story of the Baptism of Jesus seems familiar, that’s because we just heard it six weeks ago, on the Sunday of Epiphany set aside to remember the Baptism of Our Lord. That day, the lesson ended with Jesus’ baptism. Today, his baptism begins our lesson, and so we see that Jesus’ baptism sets him off into what will be the beginnings of his earthly ministry.

The gospel writer Mark doesn’t give us much about either the baptism, or of the forty days that Jesus then spends in the wilderness, but we do find a few important details. For one, the same Spirit who descends on Jesus like a dove at his baptism then drives him out into the wilderness. This is not a gentle prodding or quiet leading – the word is actually quite strong. Jesus is driven out to the wilderness, almost in the sense of being pushed.

The forty days of Jesus’ time in the wilderness is reminiscent of Moses’ forty days on the mountain, receiving the law from God. It’s also reminiscent of the forty years the people of Israel spend wandering in the desert. In fact, throughout the history of God’s people, forty days or forty years have marked off significant events. And so, there is significance to Jesus spending forty days on his holy camping trip.

Again, Mark gives us very little: “He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him,” Mark says. Suffice to say, Jesus spends his forty days in the wilderness fighting against the very powers that are out to destroy him.

Time in the wilderness can be quite fulfilling. It is in the wilderness, far from the comfort of city lights, that we see the blanket of stars overhead. It is in the wilderness, far from the sounds of traffic and lawn mowers, that we can hear the birds sing and the waters flow. Time in the wilderness awakens us to beauty that surrounds us, and strength within us.

But time in the wilderness can be terrifying, too. In the wilderness, the darkness is overpowering – it hides that which is trying to kill us, and every shadow is a threat. In the wilderness, the sun beats down on us – it overheats our tired bodies. Time in the wilderness makes us curse the hardness of the ground, and it makes us very aware of just how fragile we are.

Even if we don’t spend much time in actual, physical wilderness, we encounter other kinds of wilderness, too: times in which we feel alone, times when we are in pain, times in which we feel stripped of everything that is familiar to us, or overwhelmed by everything that we are facing.

When we find ourselves in these times of wilderness, a helpful question to ask ourselves can be: “What is God teaching me in this?” What can I learn from loneliness, or pain, or feeling overwhelmed? These can be difficult questions to ask, however, the answers can show us every little way that God is caring for us, even in times when that care can be hard to see.

Have you ever heard the statement, “God never gives us more than we can handle”? Well, respectfully, I disagree. I think that – in the wilderness, especially – we do have more than we can handle. And that thought absolutely terrifies me.

Until I remember Jesus’ time in the wilderness. He has as his companions the wild beasts and the devil – and…who else? The angels. God’s angels are there, too, Mark says, waiting on Jesus – or ministering to him, other translations say.

And so, what does that mean for me? It means that when I have more than I can handle, that is the point where I have to let God in. That is the point where I have reached the very end of my own strength, or the very end of my own wisdom – that is the point where God enters in, granting me strength within myself, or care from others.

Jesus is baptized, and then he spends forty days in the desert. He emerges from his time in the wilderness, and he begins preaching about the Kingdom of God. He begins calling his disciples, and then they are off, doing the work of God among the people of God.

So it is with us.

On my ordination day, Bishop Kevin asked me when I was called to ministry. There in front of everyone, I gave the wrong answer. “When I was nineteen,” I answered. Then, I realized what he was asking, and I changed my answer to, “When I was baptized.” I was called to ministry forty-two years ago this Wednesday, at my baptism.

And, at my baptism, I was joined to Christ, but I was also joined to Christ’s people, and called to do the work of God among the people of God. That doesn’t only mean serving as a pastor in the Church. I am called to do the work of God everywhere I go – remembering that God has made all things and all people.

And all of us who are baptized are called in the same way – we are called to do the work of God among the people whom God loves.

Even as baptized and beloved children of God, there will be times of wilderness in our lives. But what can those times teach us? And, in those times, how can God be our strength and be our very life? And, emerging from the wilderness, how can God use me? How can God use you?

Amen.

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