Title: Into the Wild (with Jesus)
Text: Mark 1:9-15
Thesis: A spiritual wilderness may be a place we fight with Satan and face-off with our inner demons.
Introduction
You may be wondering why this particular story is pertinent to us today.
The story is pertinent because it does at least two things:
1. The story provides us an occasion to identify with the experience of Christ.
2. The story also lets us see how completely Jesus has identified with our human experience.
In 1996 John Krakauer published Into the Wild, a bestselling non-fiction book about a young man named Christopher McCandles. In 2007 Sean Penn adapted and directed a film version of the McCandles story. The essence of the story is that one day Christopher McCandles abandoned all that he had and eventually made his way to Alaska where he caught a ride to the Stampede Trail in April of 1992. They say he headed down the snow-covered trail with ten pounds of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, a camera, several boxes of ammunition, and a small selection of reading materials, including a field guide to the regions edible plants. He died sometime in August, and his body was found in early September by a group of moose hunters.
Over the years a great deal has been written about Christopher McCandles. The story certainly gives one sufficient fuel for pondering who he was and why he just walked always into the wild…
There is something in me that calls me to the wild… to solitude. I like the story of Dick Proenneke who, upon turning 50 in 1967, retired and was flown into the Twin Lakes area in Alaska by a bush pilot. He remained there for the next 30 years. The Alone in the Wilderness web site states, “Thousands have had such dreams but Dick Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country.”
Jesus also had an, into the wild story. It is featured more prominently in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. But in our more abridged text, it is sandwiched between the story of his baptism and the beginning of his public ministry wherein he announces the coming of God’s Kingdom and calls upon those who hear to turn from their sins and believe the Good News.
I found it interesting that the Matthew and Luke texts say that Jesus was “led” by the Spirit into the wilderness. And the Mark text says that Jesus was “compelled” to go into the wilderness. The word “led” is a gentle word… it suggests that the going of Jesus into the wilderness was little more than a prompting or inner inclination to go off into the wild. But the word translated “compelled” is not so gentle. It is translated from the word that means to be “driven” or “thrust forth” or “forced” into the wild.
The wild into which Jesus was being led or thrust or driven or compelled to go was a place of isolation, privation, and temptation or testing. In that it was the Holy Spirit doing the compelling, we need to understand that his going into the wild was a spiritual experience. God was doing something and we would be wise to understand that God is at work in our wilderness experiences as well.
The first aspect of Jesus’ wilderness experience is that he was isolated and alone.
I. Wilderness experiences are characterized by Isolation
The Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness. He was there forty days… Mark 1:12-13
• Jesus was alone.
• Jesus was alone in a wilderness.
My Sunday afternoon ritual is to get comfortable in my recliner and read the Sunday paper. I begin by separating each section of the paper from the other so I have a nice stack of sections to work through in an orderly and systematic way. I also sift through the ads to separate the two funny pages and the Parade and US Magazines, which I add to the top of my stack of sections. When I get to the Travel section I always check out the latest Denver Post Travel photos in which people take a the Travel section with them when they go on vacation. The objective is to have someone photograph them in a setting like sitting on a camel in front of a Great Pyramid holding the Travel section of the paper. The destinations are almost always exotic and beautiful.
Commentator William Barclay says the place to which Jesus was compelled to go was anything but exotic and beautiful. The area was known as “The Devastation.” It was an area of land approximately 35 miles long and 15 miles wide. It was an area of yellow sand, crumbling limestone, rocks, pebbled gravel, and scree, which we know as talus or jagged broken rock fragments. The rocky ridges of “The Devastation” run in all directions. And the ground shimmers with heat like a vast furnace. (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, P. 63)
It was not an hospitable place. No one lived there and it was easy to imagine that it was thought of as a place devoid of the presence of God. The sense of loneliness is accentuated by the reference to his being “out among the wild animals.”
Adding to his being isolated is the length of time he spent in the wilderness.
• Jesus was alone in a wilderness for a long time. He was there for forty days.
Illustration: Some time ago, The American Journal of Psychiatry published an article on the psychological effects of people in isolation. They found that the psychological problems the developed in people kept in isolation included anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, withdrawal, regression, and even hallucinations. (J. Kellerman, D. Rigler, and SE Siegel, The Psychological Effects of Isolation in Protected Environments, The American Journal of Psychiatry, 1977)
Being isolated for an extended period of times is not psychologically healthy and can even be torturous. Isolation and its effects were part of Christ’s wilderness experience.
In addition to isolation, there was privation.
II. Wilderness experiences are characterized by privation
For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. Matthew 4:2
The National Academy of Sciences conducted a study and their findings included that reduced caloric intake resulted in: increased insulin sensitivity, reduced morbidity (less sickness and disease), and increased life span. However, the major side effect they reported was that participants in the study were cranky. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting)
The religious fast is not a practice unique to Christianity. Buddhists fast to deny themselves the pleasures of the flesh that were denied their gods. Hindus fast as a sacrifice to god. Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset during the month of Ramadan as a way of preventing sin and developing good behavior.
We are also aware that fasting is not exclusive to religion. We typically fast for medical purposes as in preparation for a surgical procedure or in anticipation of the dreaded colonoscopy. Some fast to purify the body of toxins. Some fast to accomplish a political end as did Mohandas Ghandi in his fast to break the back of British Imperialism over India. The detainees at Guantanamo Bay went on a hunger strike to protest their imprisonment. And some people unintentionally fast during times of crisis when they simply lose their appetites and cannot eat.
The idea of observing a fast always raises some questions… so, why do Christians fast?
• Why do Christians fast?
John Piper wrote of the early church fathers and mothers citing their fasting as a demonstration of their hunger for God. “They were hungry enough for God’s leading that they wanted to say it with the hunger of their bodies and not just the hunger of their hearts.” (John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer, Crossway, 1997, P. 104)
Fasting is also a way of aligning our body and our spirit. A prayer in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer expresses that desire.
Almighty God,
You know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep me both outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault the soul.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scot McKnight in his latest book Fasting, says “Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life.” His definition of a fast would include numerous reasons to fast and pray, among them: remorse and repentance for personal, corporate, and national sin; sadness, grief or distress over a loss; deep desire for the intervention of God; fasting and prayer in conjunction with seeking wisdom or guidance from God; fasting as an act of self-sacrifice and devotion; fasting in preparation for a challenge before us; and so on. (Scot McKnight, Fasting, Introduction P. XX)
People fast and pray in order to bring their entire self, body and spirit, together in order to focus themselves in devotion to God and attention to the thing for which you are praying and fasting.
• Why did Jesus fast?
Throughout the gospels and the New Testament there are sparse references to prayer and fasting and sometimes the occasion of the fast explains why there was prayer and fasting. But there is no explanation in our text. It does not explicitly say why Jesus fasted and speculations on any implicit reasons are that… speculation.
My sense is that Jesus was aware that his wilderness experience was to be a time of testing and preparation for the ministry that was before him. I think he knew that challenge of his wilderness experience would be second only to his crucifixion and death. I think he knew that he would have to bring every fiber of his being into subjection to God in order to be sustained during his testing.
Wilderness experiences are characterized by privation and need.
In addition to loneliness and privation, Jesus experienced temptation from Satan as testing from God.
III. Wilderness experiences are characterized by temptation and testing.
He was there for forty days being tempted by Satan. Mark 1:13
Earlier I said that Jesus was alone in the wilderness for a long time, which served to exacerbate the effects of his loneliness, privation, and temptation.
• Temptation and testing in a real or metaphoric wilderness is often extended over a period of time.
In Matthew the story says that Jesus ate nothing for forty days and forty nights and became very hungry. Then the Devil came… The Luke account says that Jesus went into the wilderness where the Devil tempted him for forty days. Mark says he was there for forty days being tempted. So it is important that we understand that the tempting was not something tacked onto the end of his wilderness journey. Testing and temptation were the rule for every day.
Most people are afraid of the unknown. Most of us are concerned about what lies before us in a wilderness experience. The things real and imagined can be frightening.
On the old maps that were drawn before the world was understood in modern terms, map makers perceived the earth as flat. They put down what they knew, but at the edges of the map, beyond which they had no knowledge or understanding, they would often write, “Beyond here, there be dragons.” (Ed Rowell, “Mary – A Song of Trust,” PreachingToday.com)
We can readily identify with the tempting of Jesus as we at times find ourselves facing extended periods of relentless testing… and when we cannot see beyond the edges of our map and have nothing but fears about what may be out there in our future, we too imagine, “beyond here, there be dragons.”
• Temptation and testing in a real or metaphoric wilderness must be understood as different in the minds of God and Satan.
So it is important to understand that God’s intent and Satan’s intent were not the same for Jesus and neither are they the same for us.
• God places us in places of testing to prove our faith and develop our character. God’s intent is to encourage us to succeed.
• Satan attacks us in places of testing in order to tempt us to sin. Satan’s intent is to cause us to fail.
It was important that Jesus emerge from his wilderness experience having successfully faced the testing of God and the temptation of Satan. It was necessary that he be a sinless Savior when he faced his crucifixion. God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. II Corinthians 5:21
And it was necessary that Jesus successfully endure testing in order that he might sustain us in ours. Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted. Hebrews 2:18
However, going into the wild is not only about isolation, privation, temptation, and testing. It is important that we face the wildernesses of life assured that God will take care of us.
IV. Wilderness experiences are also characterized by consolation.
He was there among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. Mark 1:13
• God sent angels to care for Jesus during and after his time of tempting.
My intent this morning is not to delve into a doctrinal study of angelology… but it is apparent that God sent messengers to care for and refresh Jesus following his time of testing before he began his public ministry. That said:
• We believe God sends angels or messengers to care for us during our times of testing as well.
The bible says that angels are servants. They are spirits sent from God to care for those who will receive salvation. Hebrews 1:14
Psalm 34:7 says, The angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.
In the Old Testament bible story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Daniel told the king, “My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me…” Daniel 6:22
And we are reminded in Hebrews 13, Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done so have entertained angels without realizing it. Hebrews 13:2
A study conducted in 2007 suggests that Americans are very much attuned to the idea of God being actively engaged in our lives.
• 55 % of U.S. adults say they have felt called by God to do something.
• 45% of U.S. adults have witnessed or experienced miraculous, physical healing.
• 20% of U.S. adults have heard the voice of God speaking to them.
• 55% of U.S. adults say they have been protected from harm by a guardian angel. (“Angels and God,” USA Today, 9/18/08 – based on a survey conducted by The Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University)
One day, probably 30 some years ago, I was helping Wolfred Marcuson, along with several farmer neighbors, tear down an old house on a lot where he was planning to build his retirement home. Wolford’s brother Albert was well beyond ladder climbing and hard labor but he was there to help as he could, cleaning up around the sight.
At lunch we sat down to eat our sack lunches and Albert tried to remove his shoes but one shoe would not come off. After some wiggling and tugging the shoe finally came free, along with his sock. Upon closer examination we found that he had stepped on five nails, all of which had gone between his toes. (I don’t know if it was the work of an angel, but it is a good story.)
On several occasions Albert told me of the death of his first wife. He said that in the moments just before she died, he was sitting at her bedside there in their farmhouse. He said a look of wonderment came over her face and she pointed to the ceiling and said, “Albert look! The angels have come for me.”
I believe God’s comfort and care are real in the wild places of life and death.
Conclusion:
How many of you, when playing hide and seek with your children or grandchildren, exaggerate the hunting process? Skye Jethani tells of how his two year old daughter and he play hide and seek. In her version of the game she hides his cell phone and she always hides it in the same place… in plain sight, on the stairs. But he searches far and wide, under cushions, behind doors, under chairs, and behind the sofa until she squeals in delight, “Daddy, it’s on the stairs!” And then he with great animation finds the phone and they both dance about with the excitement of his discovery. (Skye Jethani, Preparing Our Garden for Growth, PreachingToday.com)
I don’t know what Jesus was looking for when he went into the wilderness but I know he discovered God and God’s faithfulness in loneliness, privation, temptation and testing.
In the next forty days of the Lenten Season we may consider that we are entering a wilderness as well, as we prepare to mark the suffering and death of our Christ and to celebrate his resurrection. We may use the time to hear the voice of Jesus saying to us, just as he spoke to his listeners when he emerged from the wilderness, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power and said, “At last the time has come!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Turn from your sins and believe this Good News!”
Some may wish to make this Lenten Season a time for increased solitude, fasting and prayer, facing Satan or our own inner demons, turning from sin and seeking the overcoming power of God’s Spirit, and finding God’s sufficiency for living in the wild places of life.
Some of our wildernesses are not of our own choosing. Wildernesses are thrust upon us or it may seem we are thrust into them. However we may choose to place ourselves in a wild place of sorts for a season of spiritual renewal.
Some may wish to make this Lenten Season a time for increased solitude, fasting and prayer, facing Satan or our own inner demons, turning from sin and seeking the overcoming power of God’s Spirit, and finding God’s sufficiency for living in the wild places of life.
