Walkin’ with Jesus:
Wilderness, Wild Beasts & Waiters
Scripture Text: Mark 1.9-15
BODY
Today, we’re not following Jesus up another mountain. To-be-honest with-ya, …I wish we were! Climbing a mountain is a test of strength and will and determination. Climbing a mountain is something I can get-into. Although it can-be-excruciating ~ …there’s this-unbelievable-reward, once you make it to the top. Climbing a mountain is an adventure!
But, we’re not following Jesus up another mountain. Today, we watch as Jesus goes into the wilderness… Mark says He was sent there. Matthew and Luke say-that He was led into the wilderness. I’ve read one Bible-commentator who-has-said that the Greek word here is actually closer to-meaning “driven” ~ …as-in, Jesus was “driven” ~ …driven like a shepherd might drive sheep, …or-like a rancher might drive cattle. Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit!
In-case-ya-didn’t-know, …the wilderness was not a top-ten vacation-destination! It wasn’t in the Palestinian version of Travel-Magazine, as one of the best-kept-secrets! It’s the wilderness. Code-word for desert. Wasteland. Hot. Dry. Empty. Lifeless. Who would want-to-go to the wilderness!?!
Whether Jesus wanted to-go, …or, whether He simply, was-being obedient to the Spirit of God, …the-fact-is, He went. For 40 days, He hung-out. Got-away from it all.
Now, while I can appreciate the mountain-hike ~ as-hard as-it-is ~ …it’s harder to appreciate the wilderness-experience. What’s the goal? What’s the point of spending-time in a wasteland? Where’s the view? Is there anything enjoyable about hot-sand, dusty-air, and scorching-heat?
But, I guess that’s the answer!... There’s nothing enjoyable about it ~ …because, “enjoyment” isn’t the point of the wilderness!... Take-a-look at what Jesus goes-through, while in the desert: …He fasts ~ nothing-to-eat; …He’s tempted ~ Satan is taking-advantage of the opportunity to throw Jesus a bone, or-two; …He is alone ~ no friend to keep Him company, …no shoulder to cry on.
The wilderness. Some people would say that the wilderness is a God-forsaken place. They say-that, when you’re in the wilderness and you’re suffering and you’re needy, …they say that God has abandoned you, …left you, …deserted you.
But, I think that’s-not-what the wilderness is all about. Scripture wants to teaches us that just-the-opposite is true! The wilderness is not a God-forsaken-place; ..but it’s the experience of having pretense and possession and resource stripped-away, …so-that we’re reminded that all we truly need in life is God!
Oh-how we need to remember this! As desperate and barren and hopeless as the desert seems to be, …our deepest need and our greatest Resource is available, …and revealed in the wilderness! Whenever we find ourselves in the wilderness, all-we-need is God. We need the Lord, more-than-anything! We need the Lord, more-than-anyone!
How often do we get our attention focused on stuff and people? How often do we fall into the trap of thinking that our lives will be happy, satisfied, fulfilled, good ~ …if-and-when we have “X” in our possession?... A new house, …a new job, …a new spouse, …a new child, …a new car, …a new situation, ..a new t.v., …a new pair of shoes, …a new look, …new health, …a new friend… These-things may be good, …they may-even-be blessings ~ …but they are not what makes life happy and they won’t make you fulfilled.
When we expect these-things to meet the deep need that-only-God can satisfy, …then these-things have become idols! Isn’t it-startling, …how the blessings of God can become idols!?!
The wilderness has a way of showing us our idols! The wilderness has a way of stripping-away all those things that we’ve been trusting in, …or relying-on, …instead of God! The wilderness may not be a happy-place ~ …but it’s a good-place because it can bring our attention back-to our Lord-God.
The ‘wilderness’ places of life are those areas of our journey that often seem barren and empty ~ …void of meaning; stark-scenery; hard-living. When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we are dry-and-thirsty. When we’re going through the wilderness, …we may feel on-the-verge of hopelessness ~ …unsure of how we’re gonna-survive. When we’re going through the wilderness, …we may look for options, …any option that will get-us-out! But, it’s in the wilderness that we find God is much closer than we ever imagined… In-the-wilderness, Jacob-wrestled with an angel all through the night; …eventually receiving a limp and a blessing. In-the-wilderness, Moses stumbled on the burning-bush, …heard God’s Voice, …and received a commission. In-the-wilderness, the children of Israel wandered for forty years ~ …but while there, …they received the Covenant, daily manna, and plenty of water.
In-the-wilderness, Elijah despaired; …but God ministered to him through ravens. The wilderness isn’t always what it appears to be! Quite-often, …when we’re following the Spirit of God, …we find the wilderness to be a place of ministry and renewal ~ …there’s no-fluff; …no feather-pillows and cashmere-sweaters, …no bon-bons and honey-buns. But, even-tough it’s a stark, barren place, …if our heart is open to Him, we find the Lord meets us there and He attends-to-us with gentle-compassion and tender-encouragement!
Jesus wasn’t the first, …and He wasn’t the last to endure-a-season in the wilderness. My-guess-is that you’ve been-there-too! Maybe even right-now! My prayer for you is that you’ll discover that all you really need is the Lord. He is life to you. He is your hope. He is your everything!
It’s no-fun having things stripped-away. It’s no-fun realizing that there’s things you’ve come to trust-in and rely-on, …more-than the Lord. It’s no-fun realizing that somewhere-along-the-way, …you’ve flirted with some-idols. But, the wilderness is a place, …a time, …a season in-which our hearts can be drawn-back, …our hearts can be refined, …our hearts can be purified.
If the Spirit of God has led you into the wilderness, …don’t despair ~ …for God is so-much-closer than you ever-dreamed He was! If the Spirit has taken you out into the desert, …don’t lose-hope ~ …for the Lord will provide, …just-as-He-did for Elijah, …and for Moses, …and for the people of Israel, …and for Jacob. You may come out of the experience a different-person ~ …but that’s-o.k., …so-long-as we grow in our trust and reliance upon the Lord!
[NOTE: this was first preached on the first Sunday of Lent.]
Today is the first Sunday of the Christian-season of Lent. I don’t know if you’ve made a big-deal about Lent in the past ~ …but traditionally, many Christians “give-up” something during Lent. In our family, …we’ve done different-things down through the years. Sometimes it’s something like chocolate, …or, all sweets, …or television, …or weekday lunches. You’ve probably heard different-people talk-about giving-up different-things… But, if you’ve never-done-it, …you may be wondering, why? Why give-up anything-at-all, during Lent? What’s the big-deal?
Well, …it’s a way-to-voluntarily go into the wilderness. Stripping-away those things that you’ve looked-to for enjoyment and pleasure and happiness. And-instead, …looking to God.
The Lenten-practice of giving-something-up – …or, denying-yourself something that’s important to you – …it’s a way to draw your heart closer to God.
Think of all-that-Jesus gave-up, …in-order-to step-onto the stage-of-human-history! It’s amazing and stunning to-think of what He did.
In Philippians, chapter 2, …we find one of the earliest Christian hymns. The music has long-been-lost ~ …but the words beautifully-summarize what Jesus did and what He gave-up in-order-to come to earth.
Philippians says this:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
But made himself nothing,
Taking the very nature of a servant,
Being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled himself
And became obedience to death – even death on a cross! (Philip. 2.5-8)
Isn’t that beautiful!?! And it’s good-news! Because, since Jesus left the splendor of heaven and gave up all the heavenly adoration and comfort and peace and love that fills that-place ~ …if He gave all-that-up, for a season, …the “season” that we call the Incarnation, …if He gave all-that-up, surely we can do without something for 40-days!
If you decide to give something up for Lent, …whatever-it-is, that you’ve given-up ~ …whenever you miss-it, and you find-yourself wanting-it, …craving it, …desiring it ~ …that’s-when you pray ~ “Lord Jesus, you know how much I want ___X___, …but I’m giving it up to show that I want You, even more!” “You are more important to me than a daily chocolate-fix”; …or, “You’re more important than that-t.v.-show that makes me laugh and gives me a little-bit-o-joy”; …or, “You are more necessary to me than eating meat”; …or, “I need You, Lord God, more-than I need that old habit or practice of comfort-food, or whatever!”
Practicing self-denial, …during the Lenten-season, …is a way to step into the wilderness ~ …where something that’s important to us is stripped away so-that we grow in our awareness-and-appreciation of the fact that what we really need is God! The wilderness is not a God-forsaken-place; ..but it’s the experience of having pretenses and possessions and resources, stripped-away, …so-that we’re reminded that all we truly need-in-life, is God! We don’t need all-those-things that we’ve-come-to-cling-to so-tightly. We don’t need all those things that would-love to become private-idols to us. What we really-need is the loving-presence of our Lord God!
Even-though Lent is an opportunity for us to voluntarily practice self-denial ~ …a time to voluntarily give-something-up ~ …and to try-to-connect with Jesus in a tangible-way; ...the truth-is, that this is a voluntary and willing choice that we make ~ …the choice to surrender something, …to deny ourselves something, …to strip-ourselves of some precious-thing, …so that we can step-into-the-wilderness, along with Jesus.
But… there are those-among-us who find themselves in-the-wilderness, …not of their-own-choosing! They didn’t volunteer to live in that barren, awful-land. They didn’t wake-up one-morning and decide to leave a nice-comfortable-existence, …and to spend some time out in the desert, where their soul is scorched, …and their belly-aches, …and their head-hurts from all-the-anxiety. They didn’t choose this place. They’d rather not be there! They’d give anything to get-out of the wilderness!
Parents with wayward-children ~ …whether they are teen-agers or grown adults ~ …parents with wayward-children know what life is like in the wilderness. The homeless who wander the streets and sleep in cardboard boxes under bridges ~ …the homeless know what life is like in the wilderness. The person who struggles with some addiction ~ …and they want to be free, ...but that-thing seems to have an ungodly hold over-them ~ …the person who struggles with addiction knows what it’s like to live in the wilderness. The person who’s lost-his-job ~ …and the job-market is-what-it-is ~ …the person who’s lost-his-job knows what it’s-like to live in the wilderness. People whose health is failing ~ …unexplained aches and pains, …cancer, …back problems ~ …those whose health is failing know what it’s-like to live in the wilderness…
It’s a scorched-earth. It’s a barren-place. There’s little-to-no comfort. The wilderness is a hard-place.
For those who find-themselves in a wilderness, today ~ …not-of-their own-choosing, …not-even of-their-own-making ~ …I hope you hear that Jesus experienced the wilderness! Jesus entered the untamed, chaotic, harsh-landscape for a reasons ~ Do you know why He went in-to the wilderness?
He went into the wilderness ~ …and you-understand, don’t you, that I’m talking about more-than a physical-place; …Jesus endured the experience of wilderness-living so-that we would know, that He-knows what we-are-going-through whenever we-find-ourselves in those terrible places!
I know that when we’re in the midst-of-it, …I know that it seems like a God-forsaken place. I know that we cry-out, and wonder why God doesn’t answer-our-prayers. I know that we wonder why-in-the-world we have to go-through so-much-junk. I know that when we’re in the wilderness ~ exposed, seemingly-without-shelter, with no-place-to-turn ~ …I know that we’re sorely-tempted to give-up, …to be discouraged, …to despair, …to come-to-the-conclusion that God doesn’t-care.
But, when we hear that Jesus-himself spent time in the wilderness ~ …without food, …without shelter, …being tempted, …being assaulted by the Enemy ~ …when we hear that Jesus-himself spent time in the wilderness ~ …whether He was ‘sent’ there, or ‘driven’ there ~ …because Jesus has been-there, we can be assured that He knows what you’re going-through!
God is not sitting up-in-heaven, …on a pile of poofy-cushions, …with no-earthly-idea of how hard life on earth can-be. God is not frolicking on the playgrounds of paradise, …oblivious to what it’s like to suffer. God is not a disinterested or uncompassionate, …observing of our trials and hardships through a long-range telescope! He’s been to the wilderness; …and He’s overcome the hardships! The wilderness is not stronger than our Lord!
Whatever we’re feeling, …whatever the Enemy tempts us to believe in those-hard-times ~ …this is true: The wilderness is not stronger than our Lord! He meets us in the wilderness ~ …and He is all we need! If you’re in the wilderness, …be encouraged by this. God is bigger than your circumstances. God is bigger than your feelings. God is with you on this hard-stretch-of-road.
