Newsletter Article - March 2010

The Wilderness

There is a funny story a pastor tells, describing her son sitting in Sunday school and hearing this story about Jesus tempted in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13), which was our gospel lesson for the First Sunday in Lent. Her son came out of Sunday school saying, “The devil is a very, very bad thing, mommy. He tempted Jesus to do things that he shouldn’t. And you know what? When we’re in the grocery store and you’re in one aisle and I’m in the other, sometimes I think the devil tempts me, too. Sometimes I think the devil tempts me to eat some candy off the shelf without paying for it.” The mother isn’t sure what to say to her son. I mean, she’s happy that her son was paying attention to the story. But, the story is more complex than that, and she wants to express it, but doesn’t know how. So she just says, “And what do we say to the devil when the devil tempts us like that?” The child thinks for a moment and then says, “Do we say ‘thank you’?”
This story about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days is the basis for the liturgical season of Lent, which we are now in. Lent is the 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter (not including Sundays). Lent is a time where we go through our own spiritual disciple; fast, give something up, simplify our lives, do some introspection, meditate, repent, and turn back to God.
In Lent, we too walk through the wilderness. Especially in these tough economic times, it can be like walking through the wilderness. In the wilderness there are thorn bushes, darkness, uncertainty and desperation. It’s in the wilderness that we are vulnerable, maybe we start to wonder if God has forgotten about us. Like the little boy going through the grocery store, these are the moments the tempter comes bringing candy. Just as we are fasting and trying to empty our lives of all the junk, the tempter tries to fill us with something else. The tempter offers to fill us with self-satisfaction, power and spectacle (see Luke 4:3, 5-7, 9-11). The tempter tries to exploit us when we are uncertain and vulnerable.
In this moments, as we walk through the wilderness, vulnerable and desperate, coming face to face with the tempter, that we must do what Jesus did: keep our minds set on Jerusalem. We must remember that we are not just wandering without purpose, but we are journeying to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, there will be persecution, suffering, and death; and out of this there will come freedom, joy, hope, and eternal life. It is in the passion of Jesus Christ where our faith and hope resides, and it is what sustains us through the wilderness. So when the tempter comes offering bread, we can rely instead on the bread from heaven. When the tempter comes offering power, we can rely on the One whom true power comes. When the tempter comes offering spectacle, we can rely on the One who is the real deal.
We know that we do not walk through the wilderness alone, but we Jesus walks with us. So as we walk through the wilderness of our lives, and we go our way on this Lenten journey, let us sing the words of the gospel hymn: “I want Jesus to walk with me; all along my pilgrim journey, I want Jesus to walk with me. In my trials, Lord, walk with me; when my heart is almost breaking, Lord I want Jesus to walk with me. When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me; when my head is bowed in sorrow, Lord I want Jesus to walk with me.” May Jesus continue to walk with all of you and guide you through the wilderness and your Lenten journey. Amen.

Pastor Josh Ebener