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Have
you ever been out in the wilderness? You may have had a topographical map and a
compass. But there were no trails? No signposts? My only experience like this
was when I was in Boy Scouts. We were learning how to use a compass. We didn’t
have a map so much as a set of directions that said, “Go NNE 50 paces. Go SW 100
paces.” If our paces were correct as well as our compass skills we would make
it back to camp. If not, well, you were in the woods blaming each other for the
predicament you found yourselves in.
Other
than that, perhaps the closest I’ve experienced of wilderness is being lost out
in the country and not having a map to direct me. Yes, there once was a time
when a phone was just for calling people. You didn’t carry one with you and it
did not have things like maps that you could pull up or some computer voice
that would tell you where to go.
At
first, it’s a little frustrating. Where is that turn? Did I miss it? And then
you start to get a bit worried, especially if you look at your gas gage and you
wished you had a little bit more in there. But eventually you surrender to the
reality that you are lost. You are just going to have to keep going until you
hit some road you know or find a town with a gas station. And when you finally
find that familiar road you breathe a big sigh of relief. You know your
wandering in the wilderness is over. Home is right around the bend.
There
is another kind of wilderness. In a way our lives are like wandering in a
wilderness. We may have a rough map in our heads, a course through life that we
have in mind: graduate from college, start a career, get married, buy a house,
maybe have kids, earn enough for retirement, purchase a summer home in the
mountains. Perhaps we have a compass, a moral guide that helps us make ethical
decisions. But other than that, we set out on our life journey and it is a
unique one. Nobody has ever lived your life before. Your journey through life
truly is your own. You make your own path through the wilderness. Or is it a
jungle?
Jesus
got sent out on his journey in the wilderness. In the Scriptures we read that
after Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit propelled him into the wilderness.
That’s right, like a cannon ball. The word there in Greek is the same one we
get the word “ballistic” from. There is a sense of urgency. That moment of
affirmation from his Heavenly Father, “You are my son, the beloved, with whom I
am well pleased,” is ended abruptly. Just like that, Jesus is shot into the
wilderness to wander around for a long time.
In
that wilderness, we read that Jesus was with the wild beasts. What were those
beasts? Hyenas? Lions? Whatever they were, wilderness plus wild beasts equals
threat. That first night, as Jesus was trying to go to sleep, he hears the
rustling of the grass, the passing of a shadow. What was that? Wild beasts in
the wilderness at night can be a little frightening.
If
life is like being in a wilderness, what are the wild beasts that are with us?
Perhaps it is the threat of illness. Maybe it is that secret sin, or your
temper that is under the surface just waiting to pounce. Maybe it’s that
negative talk or self-doubt that locks you up with indecisiveness, fear of
failure, of making a fool of yourself, of not measuring up. Maybe it’s the wild
beast of decay and death, that beast that stalks all of us. There are all kinds
of wild beasts in the shadows of our lives that journey with us through the wilderness.
But
Jesus didn’t have only wild beasts for company. He also had angels waiting on
him. If angels are anything, they are messengers. An angel is a messenger of
God. I know often when we talk about angels, or call someone an angel, it is
because of something they did. The nurse that was so good and kind the days
following your surgery was an angel. I have a friend who had a bad car wreck
but somehow escaped relatively unharmed and she swears she saw an angel that
pushed the car that t-boned her further back so that it didn’t impact the front
of the car. But in the Scriptures angels are messengers. So Jesus had
messengers with him waiting on him. I wonder what messages they delivered?
Perhaps they were messages of encouragement or comfort. When Jesus heard the
rustling in the grass and became concerned about what might be creeping up on
him, an angel was there to assure him that he was safe, that he would make it
through this wilderness experience.
Who
are the angels in your life? Who are those messengers that have come along to
share with you a word that was comforting, or that gave you courage in the face
of a frightful situation? Perhaps it was a pastor or a friend. Maybe it was
that one thing your grandmother used to always say. Maybe it’s an inspirational
quote you have framed somewhere. I’ve got one near my desk at home. It is a
white framed card with a large black circle. On the circle, written in white is
“I am a child of God.” A colleague gave that to me when I left Cincinnati
several years ago. Who are those messengers that have come along in your
wilderness journey? What messages have they left for you?
After
John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee to proclaim his message. The time had
come. The big moment had arrived. A new day had dawned. The reign of God is at
hand. Now is the time to repent, to change your way of thinking about things,
and to trust in this good news that God’s reign has come. That’s the message
that Jesus came to deliver. All the rulers of this world, political, economic,
social, religious, and otherwise, are passing away. But God’s rule is steadfast
and sure. So put your ultimate trust in God, for God is with us with the power
to save. But save us from what? Sin? Death?
There’s
nothing like walking through a grave yard to remind you of what really matters
in life. You will see stones marking the graves of all kinds of people. Maybe
it is of an infant who died of small pox. Or it is a man who spent his working
life toiling in a coal mine. A few spaces over you see the grave of the man who
owned that mine. You see the grave of a scientist, a banker, a president of the
United States, a brigadier general. You see the grave of a teacher, a preacher,
a pastry chef. In their lives they all made their contribution. Some made
greater contributions than others. Some had more money, power and influence.
But in the cemetery, the voices are silent, wealth and prestige are irrelevant.
All that is left is the marker with the person’s name, date of birth and of
death, and maybe an epitaph. “Gone but not forgotten.” “In Loving Memory.”
“Loving father and husband.” “Her heart was large enough for all her family.”
But even the passing of time slowly wears away the engravings on those stones.
Nothing of this world is permanent. Everything passes away, changed back into
its elements and shaped into something else. All that we chase after is not
lasting. As the preacher of Ecclesiastes put it, “Vanity, all is vanity.” But
life in God is not vanity. The steadfast love of God endures forever. Far from
being meaningless, life in God does have meaning. Our lives do matter. Our
journey through the wilderness of life is not only known by God, but God is
invested in how our journey turns out. Our journey in the wilderness with God
becomes a guided adventure with a glorious destination. Life under the reign of
God makes all the difference.
Jesus’
time in the wilderness may have come to an end. But we are still in the
wilderness. We are still in uncharted territory, making our own way through
this wilderness, living lives no one else has lived. We are still making our
own path. The good news is that the reign of God is in the wilderness. Here, in
the wilderness, where we confront our wild beasts and receive help from the
messages angels give us, God is with us. God can be trusted all along the
journey through the wilderness of life. So we continue our journey, making our
way with confidence that this journey has a destination. Eventually we will
make it home, where Jesus and the others who have finished their journey
through the wilderness will be waiting.
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