Embracing the wilderness

Fourth Sunday in Lent ● March 17, 2024

Dwight Campbell, Guest Preacher © 2024

You can view the full worship video recording at:

https://youtu.be/6X48vahmHPA?feature=shared

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 43:18-19; Matthew 11:28-30  (New Revised Standard Version)

This is the last in our series on the wilderness, so I would like to start today by going back to the beginning – to the Book of Genesis: “In the beginning when God began to create [a] the heavens and the earth.” Everyone knows this chapter, so I won’t read more of it. Now, I want to jump to Genesis chapter two – the second creation narrative. When I say there is a second creation story in chapter 2, often people look at me as if I am speaking a foreign language. Chapter 2 is not only the beginning of the Bible narrative but also the beginning of the human relationship with God. In Chapter 1:26, “Then God said, Let us make humans[c] in our image” – a proclamation. Whereas, chapter 2:7 says, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground[c] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” That describes a birthing, if you will. God gave the man everything he needed to exist in the Garden, food, animals, and even a mate,“the woman". God only asked for one thing, the fruit of the tree of wisdom was not to be eaten. Well, we know the story; the snake conned the woman, the woman convinced the man, the man ate the fruit, and the Lord - the parent pretty much says since you can’t live by my rules in my house you and your girlfriend have to leave. 

The biblical verse says: 

17 And to the man[b] he said, 

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife 

and have eaten of the tree 

about which I commanded you, 

’You shall not eat of it,’ 

cursed is the ground because of you; 

in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; 

and you shall eat the plants of the field. 

19 By the sweat of your face 

you shall eat bread 

until you return to the ground, 

for out of it you were taken; 

you are dust, 

and to dust you shall return.” 

God’s removal of Adam and Eve from the idyllic Garden of Eden forced humankind to deal with reality and life in the wilderness. 

The Wilderness. Webster defines wilderness as a

(1): a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings 

(2): an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community 

There can be some visually beautiful wildernesses. Visualize a tundra, a desert, or a forest with its dome and fauna. I can see Polar bears, baby seals, penguins, walruses, cacti, camels, rodents, and insects, as part of the tundra and desert. The forest is pictured with Bambi, Thumper, and beautiful butterflies. Process theologian and founder of the Living Earth Movement. John Cobb stated in a treatise called Learning from Starlings 

"We need a world in which humans understand themselves as part of a living earth community. We call this an ecological civilization.” What a beautiful world this would be - almost an Eden. If this was the wilderness we were in I could say Amen, have a cup of coffee, and listen to the choir. 

The wilderness we find ourselves in is defined by Webster as a “bewildering situation” With a quote from Norman Mailer "those moral wildernesses of civilized life". 

How did we get there? 

Our wilderness, for the most part, differs from what the ancient Hebrews went through. We tend not to go through forty years in the wilderness but have certain realities we need to deal with as entry into a wilderness experience can start the same way. 

God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, protected them from the Egyptian army, and gave them laws and a covenant to bless them forever. But as soon as they saw the land God had promised them, they drew back in fear. In response, God disciplined them by having them wander for an entire generation (forty years) in the wilderness before allowing them to move into that land (Exodus). The Israelites did not accept the reality that was in front of them. Sound familiar? The second most noticeable wilderness experience in the Bible is Jesus’s experience after his baptism by John. 

(NRSV Matthew 4:1) 

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward, he was famished.” 

The fact that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted creates an interesting contrast with Adam. Adam, the first man, was in a lush and fruitful garden when he was tempted. He failed the test, plunging all of humanity into sin and death. In contrast, Jesus, as some have named the Second Adam, was tempted in a dry and barren wilderness. Jesus passes his test. After fasting for forty days he is tempted to eat by turning stones into loaves of bread ending with being given riches if he worships the devil. Jesus’s wilderness experience strengthened him for his ministry. 

How can our wilderness experience strengthen us? 

First, how do you know you’re in the wilderness? 

Some signs you’re in the wilderness season. 

You’re not sure you believe what you used to. 

What’s happening around you doesn’t align with what you believe about God and yourself. The wilderness is disorienting at first as certain held beliefs become open for conversation or are revealed to not be as solid as you thought. This isn’t by accident. 

Why does God call us to the wilderness? 

We, too, must be tested to prove that we will serve the Lord like we were created to do. This wilderness is the proving ground. 

EMBRACING THE WILDERNESS 

“The Remix” 

The wilderness is a place where we can shed the trappings of material life and find true community, connection, and reliance on God. It’s also a place where jealousy, envy, and coveting can fade away. Jesus practiced going into the wilderness for prayer, for strength, and to refine his call if you remember Jesus would retreat to a small part of the wilderness to pray. The wilderness has been a destination and refuge for many looking to lay bare all the baggage of life and sit before the presence of God. 

The desert is a must if we are pursuing all that God wants for us. But why? The wilderness strips us of all that is not of God. It is a time when the Holy Spirit puts Her finger on the comforts and distractions that take precedence over godly priorities. It is when our security on anything, other than Jesus, is taken away and we realize that there is false thinking in areas of our life. This stripping is required to release us from the stain of the world so we can be renewed in what God has for us. 

The wilderness prepares us for what is next in life. Whether you like it or not, the desert is God’s training ground. The stripping of the flesh allows us to grow deeper in the Spirit transforming our character to look more like Christ. The journey of the wilderness is a return to our true selves. As we wander the depths of the wilderness, this place of authenticity, we shed the emotional and spiritual layers of ourselves that are no longer needed and focus on reconnecting with God and each other. 

Scripture depicts the wilderness as a place of harshness and deprevation we can use it as a place of renewal by embracing it because “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

Amen.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (New Revised Standard Version)

 Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing; it springs forth; 

do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Matthew 11:28-30  (New Revised Standard Version)

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 

and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”