Desert Spirituality

 We often think of Lent as a special time for deepening our spiritual practice 

         and being more self disciplined about what we know 

                                    is spiritually beneficial for us.

 

The first Sunday of Lent we always get the same Gospel story:

                  Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness, 

                  Jesus facing temptations, or perhaps better translated testing.

 

Let’s look at the Gospel for today.

 

In Mark’s Gospel we get the short version: 

         it only mentions being in the wilderness 40 days

         and being tempted, but Mark does not list the temptations

But this account adds a new bit of information not found in Matthew or Luke:

         “he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”

 

Immediately after his baptism, immediately after the heavens part 

and the Spirit as a dove descends and the voice comes from heaven, 

         immediately after that Jesus then is impelled 

                  with great force by the Spirit 

out into the desert, out into the wilderness.

 

The desert is the place where you might see wildlife, 

                                                      the undomesticated critters,

         and you are away from the tamed environment, the cultivated fields, 

subjugated by the force of human culture.

 

The desert has always been seen as 

                  the place where the environment is outside our control,

but also the place of encounter with God

                  where one could do a clean reset of perspective.

 

The Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the desert

         for retreat time to consolidate his ministry         

                  that is about to commence.

In this location, then, the temptations are significant 

         because of their relationship to ministry.

                  These are not personal temptations 

                           like being tempted to eat chocolates during Lent

                           or the temptation to engage in convenient moral shortcuts.

The temptations Jesus faced in the desert had to do with 

         testing how he would minister.

Temptations, trials, testing

they were a part of the desert experience for Jesus, 

and for us too.

 

Lent provides us with a more stripped down environment at church

         to facilitate a clean reset in our outlook on life,

                                             our perspective.

 

There are always some temptations that come up for any congregation 

         and, I would speculate, St. Andrew’s is no exception.

You might contemplate what the temptations are here for St. Andrew’s.

 

Temptation, defined biblically, means being put to the test.

         What puts you to the test here?

                           … individually and as a faith community?

I give you that question to ponder.

 

The temptations were a test for Jesus in the wilderness,

         and so are the temptations we face – tests.

They are our teachers there to test us regarding our humility,

                  to test if we get it about our dependence on God’s grace,

         and also a reminder that we are to love one another as we love ourselves,

or to put it another way, 

         to have love for ourselves, warts and all,

                  so that we can more faithfully love one another, 

                                    with their warts and all.

 

So Mark’s Gospel, 

the shortest and most concise and efficient in wording of the gospels,

         simply comments that Jesus was tested,

but adds that he was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him.

“…with the wild beasts…”

         He was not in the cultural setting of the city or the nation 

                  or even his religion.

         He was in the primary environment of creation, nature, untamed,

                  as God created it.

         This was the setting for the Gospel, the good news, 

                the teaching he would bring,

         and that teaching would undercut the religious culture of his time.

This has profound implications,

         because the Gospel, the message and meaning of Jesus,

                  his life, his death, his resurrection

         would go beyond his own religious tradition,

and it will not be limited to the institutional structure of any denomination

         that tags itself as Christian.

  

Jesus, the Eternal Christ, was and is always way beyond that,

                  much more expansive and  universal,

and our worship is a pale reflection of his spiritual presence in the world.

 

Jesus was out in the desert with the wild beasts “…and with the angels…”

         This primary environment of creation included all things created,

                  seen and unseen, as we say in the creed, visible and invisible.

with angels attending, like in Luke’s Gospel at his birth,

         ministering to him with the same great interest and investment,

                  as Jesus, so to speak, gave birth to his ministry,

                  his time of preparation complete now.

And the angels returning as he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.

 

And Jesus would emerge from the desert walking in the will of the Father,

         in full union with the Father and in harmony with all the created order

         and all the created order would serve him.

                  Fish would swim into the net at his word, when he told 

                           the fishermen to cast the net over the other side of the boat.

                  Water would support his walking on it.

                  Bread would expand to feed thousands.

                  Bodies would heal.

                  Eyes that had never seen would be completed in their creation

                           so that they could fulfill their function of vision.

 

Mark is saying (one could read between the lines),

         “Look out, world.  Here comes Jesus, 

                  and he’s going to blow you away.”

 

The desert is the place away from the domesticated environment; 

                  it is the place where the environment is outside our control,

it is the place of encounter with God.

 

And so, the desert is often the place where the best spiritual work is done.

Lent is a form of spiritual desert, 

a season of time provided for us 

to set things up for encounter with God.

It is good to be driven by the Spirit into such a conducive environment 

for awakening to God at work within us.

 

This is the most important point to note:

         it is the Spirit of Jesus who is at work within us.

Take courage, disciples here at St. Andrew’s. 

Your Lord, your Savior is with you.

         Make good use of this season of Lent.

Quickly I will highlight:

         the Lent series after the service this morning,

         and there’s Morning Prayer Monday through Friday, for prayer,

         a Thursday evening book study,

         and a Wednesday morning Bible study, for life long learning,

and you could look at expanding almsgiving,

and what you might fast from – it doesn’t have to be food.

         You could fast from complaining or from beating up on yourself.

 

Go for it.  Let yourself be put to the test this Lent.

    That would be one of the best things 

            you could do for yourself spiritually.

 

So as the exhortation from  Ash Wednesday states, 

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, 

to the observance of a holy Lent.