February 29, 2004
The Rev. John H. Emerson
First Sunday of Lent
Scripture
Scripture text: Luke
4:1-13
"AH WILDERNESS" *
What was going on inside of Jesus and what was happening in
his life that caused him to be led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness
for forty days? He had just come up out of the cool water of the Jordan
river at his baptism and he heard a voice from the heavenly realm saying
to him, "You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
(Lk 3: 21,22). What a startling announcement for him to absorb!
So, what would go on inside of you if you heard a heavenly
voice say to you, "You are my beloved son...you are my beloved
daughter in whom I am well pleased"? Would that be enough to
get you thinking, "Hmm, what is that all about?!"
Well, for starters it would be an irresistible revelation because of the
message that God delights in you. That is a powerful message.
But the more you think about it, you may find that message an
unsettling revelation because deep down you have a hunch you’ve got to
do something with it. You know you have to respond. Where do you go to
wrestle with the meaning of such an announcement and determine what your
answer will be?
It appears that Jesus had to get away from his everyday routine, the
cacophony of voices around him, the familiar sights and sounds of the
Galilean countryside, the expectations placed upon him by hometown folks
of Nazareth, his personal aspirations whatever they may have been. He
had to distance himself from all of that and more. So far as we know
from the written record, Jesus had never before heard those words coming
from God: "You are my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased." I think Jesus instinctively knew that he needed a
place of solitude and silence in which to sort things out. I believe
Jesus understood that it is out of the silence of God that the Word of
God emerges. Surely Jesus realized that silence was not a matter of
simply not talking but rather listening to God and discerning God’s
intent for him. To borrow a title from a song Simon and Garfunkle made
popular three decades ago - "The Sounds of Silence."
Jesus modeled how to disconnect from daily activity in order to be
self-reflective and self-contained -- a vitally important step toward
the kind of maturation that makes it possible for a person to be alone
and silent, and to give love without expecting anything in return.
This is a reality we, in our sense-bombarded, noisy culture, have
difficulty comprehending and appreciating.
So Jesus spent a long time in the desert to be silent and listen. If
you have ever spent any quality time alone in the desert, you have
discovered what Jesus experienced: the desert is a place of revelation
and response, a place of solitude, waiting, and temptation, a place
where we learn more about who we are and what we are about because there
is no hiding place in the desert. "Ah wilderness" -- a place
for transformation because the wilderness has no pretense. It is alive
and beautiful, to be sure, but it is also unyielding. It demands
respect.
During his forty-day fast in the desert, Jesus grew hungry. He became
vulnerable. A voice other than that of God addressed him. Jesus was
discerning God’s call to a remarkable vocation. And a voice from the
shadows offered quite a package deal for this young recruit: food,
power, fame. But God’s invitation was for Jesus to become a humble
servant-leader, one of suffering love who would receive much criticism
and rejection, one whose spiritual journey would eventually lead to
Calvary.
Yet that voice from the shadows offered a very attractive alternative
that would make Jesus a sure crowd-pleaser. Especially after the grand
finale, the temple pinnacle sky-walking trick, the endorsements would
surely roll in. Think of it: bread from stone to feed himself and hungry
people everywhere; power to deliver Palestine from its Roman invaders
and occupiers; and dazzling magic that would give him top billing
wherever he went. Think of the perks. Think of the proceeds from
ancillary rights and residuals. Who could resist?! How persuasive that
voice from the shadows can be, especially when it can quote Scripture
(in this case Psalm 91, but taken out of context -- why am I not
surprise!).
What may make some of us uneasy about that event is not so much that
Jesus was being tempted under harsh circumstances, but that we might
well have signed the shadowy deal.
By the grace of God Jesus kept his wits about him. He kept focused on
what God had said to Moses and the Hebrew tribes in their wilderness
experience centuries earlier. It had been forty years of testing
to determine who they were and what they were about. God had humbled
them in their attempts at do-it-yourself righteousness. They had gone
hungry and then God led them to the presence of manna. Jesus remembered
his Sabbath school lessons well: one does not live by bread alone, but
by the Word of God; one shall serve only God and no other; and do not
put God to the test. By the grace of God, Jesus did not give in to the
shadow side of his experience. Having lost the first round of the fight,
however, the voice of the shadowy evil and cunning would wait, as Luke
puts it, "until an opportune time."
What about our times of vulnerability when we are tired or
discouraged or depressed or empty or deeply hurting? We too may be
tempted to compromise the best that is in us that prompts God to say, "in
you I am well pleased." What’s scary is that I may mistake
what is in the package invitingly wrapped in colorful paper, ribbons,
and bows. It’s not simply a matter of giving in to the allurements of
money, power, and popularity. Those are the obvious temptations, though
some of us may well bow at their altars. What’s frightening is that
any of us can so easily cross over the line from substance to style,
from basics to fluff, from faithfulness to phoniness in our relationship
to God, to others, and to ourselves. From our own shadow side, we
forfeit the principles of Christ, saying "Jesus, don’t
repudiate the idea of an eye-for-an-eye because revenge is so sweet; don’t
tell me not to judge others because there are those with whom I disagree
so intensely that I want to judge them, ridicule them, banish them even
if they are of my faith and faith community; oh never mind that the
Bible warns that the tongue is a "whole wicked world in
itself" and silence is putting a bit into a horse’s mouth (James
2:3,6); stop saying that I should love my enemies and pray for those who
persecute me because it is so much more comfortable to love people who
act and think just like me; Jesus....just stop!" That’s what
is scary -- that I or any of us could say or just think such things!
"Ah wilderness!" A place of solitude and silence to listen
to God. The 40-day season of Lent is a real gift that enables us to
follow the example of Jesus in his wilderness experience. By God’s
grace we can, if we will, take the time to disconnect from our daily
routines for a while and discern God’s intent for our lives - who we
really are, Whose we are, and what we are really about. Do you hear the
voice speaking to your heart, your mind, your soul: "You are my
beloved son....you are my beloved daughter...in whom I am well
pleased"?
___________________
* Sermon title is taken from the title of a play
by Eugene O’Neill
