Embrace Your Wilderness - First Midweek Worship in Lent
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
March 12, 2025
Friends, this
past Sunday we accompanied Jesus into the wilderness, where he was tempted by
the devil right after his baptism. It’s
a fitting way for us to begin Lent, because that story is like a summary of our
own lives. Even before the baptismal
water is dry on our heads, we are thrust into a wilderness of temptations and
trials that seem to last our whole lifetime.
And so it’s
fair to ask whether this time in the wilderness is something to be avoided at
all costs, or something we can and should embrace. I think most of us naturally resist the idea
of heading into the wilderness, whether literal or metaphorical. The devotional
book we are all reading and studying this Lent accurately captures this
antagonism we hold against the wilderness. I encourage you to review pages 18 through 25, where some of those
feelings of dread are expressed in words like bleak… spiritually dry… barren…
difficult… a place of discouragement… empty.
But contrast
that with the way Jesus approached the wilderness. In the Gospel lesson we heard Sunday, from
Luke 4, Jesus is described as “full of the Holy Spirit” after his baptism. Luke says Jesus “was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness.” Jesus wasn’t forced
there, or tricked into going there. He
willingly entered into that wilderness space under the Spirit’s guidance and
direction. It was a holy journey, not a
punishment.
And what
happened there? Well, we only know a
small portion of that story, the portion that involved the devil’s
temptations. That doesn’t sound very
appealing, does it? And yet Jesus
embraced this wilderness time as his preparation for ministry. The wilderness was like his seminary. In overcoming those three temptations, he
demonstrated perfect discipleship. In
avoiding the temptation to turn a stone into bread, Jesus refused to make an
idol of comfort and pleasure. In his
refusal to exchange worship of the devil for worldly authority, he refused to
make an idol of power. And in his
refusal to jump from the temple, Jesus taught us the First Commandment; our
goal is not to try to bend God to our will; our calling is to conform our lives
to God’s will.
It was in the
wilderness that Jesus came to a full and complete understanding of his
identity, his ministry, and his mission. It was a time of refining and of clarity. Was it difficult for him? We don’t know. But we can confidently conclude that Jesus
embraced that experience because, just one chapter later, in the Gospel text we
heard today, where did Jesus go when the demanding crowds overwhelmed him and
the work of healing exhausted him? To
deserted places… to the wilderness… where he could pray, recharge, recalibrate,
reset, replenish, and then reenter the world with renewed vigor and strength.
But before we
go any further, I want to reiterate something I said in the podcast this
week. Let’s not think of the wilderness
as just a physical location, like an untamed forest or a barren
desert. Think of the wilderness as a mindset,
a place where you can escape the world’s distractions, recollect your scattered
self, and be put back in proper order.
During Holy
Week each year we hear a well-known example of this in Jesus’s story. Where did he go in the hour or so before he
was arrested and eventually marched to his execution on the cross? The Garden of Gethsemane. It wasn’t a wilderness in the classic sense
of a desert or rural place off the grid; it was a well-used and publicly
accessible grove of olive trees just across the valley from the big city of
Jerusalem. But there, Jesus was able to
find the solitude and focus he needed in order to pray and come to grips with
everything that was about to unfold.
Friends, we
too can embrace a wilderness experience in a wide variety of ways. Some of us need the geographic and physical
isolation of a place devoid of distractions and people. When I was growing up in Kane, that place for
me was in the woods behind the Kane Manor. I would walk for miles and miles back there, in every season, all by
myself. I’d go in not knowing who I was
or what I was going to do next and come out with a sense of renewal, peace, and
clarity. But some of us can get that
same experience on a comfy couch or quiet room, or a sacred space perhaps
decorated sparsely with a painting of Christ and a solitary candle. I’ve had blessed, rejuvenating wilderness
times in places like that too.
And so this
Lent I encourage you to ask God for a wilderness experience. Ask the Spirit to lead you to the right place
so you can shed the barnacles of life and sin and become truly human again,
unburdened by things like ambition, pride, jealousy, anger, and fear. Seek your wilderness, knowing that it’s not a
place of punishment but of holy preparation. Seek your wilderness knowing that if it empties you, it’s only so you
can be refilled with something even better. Seek your wilderness, not as an unfortunate wrong turn but as your heart’s
desire and intent, trusting that God will use it for your benefit.
Now, I’ve
given you a lot to think about, so I want to leave you with a simple and
familiar way to keep pondering this notion of wilderness. We’ll apply it to one of the most familiar
and beloved poems of the 20th century, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening,” written by Robert Frost in 1922. The poem is about a transformational wilderness experience. It’s just four brief paragraphs. Let me get you started on your contemplation
of it.
“Whose woods
these are I think I know. His house is
in the village though; He will not see me stopping here/ To watch his woods
fill up with snow.” Do you get a sense
of the isolation? The noise and
distractions of the world are being stripped away from the narrator as he
prepares, with a sense of wonder and expectation, not fear, to enter the
wilderness.
“My little
horse must think it queer/ To stop without a farmhouse near/ Between the woods
and frozen lake/ The darkest evening of the year.” This is a reminder that not everyone will
understand your embrace of a wilderness experience. Who cares? Don’t enter the wilderness because it’s popular or even comprehensible. Do it because you trust Jesus.
Third
paragraph: “He gives his harness bells a shake/ To ask if there is some
mistake. The only other sound’s the
sweep/ Of easy wind and downy flake.” Here’s
the heart of a blessed wilderness experience. The silence has sharpened the narrator’s senses. He’s not doing, just being. God invites us to enter the wilderness like
this, by letting go of our agendas and our need for control so we can discover
God’s whisper in the stillness.
Here’s the final
paragraph of Frost’s masterpiece: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I
have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I
sleep.” You see, the wilderness is not
an end in itself. It is preparation for the next mission. Jesus exemplified
this. His wilderness temptations
prepared him for his public ministry. Just
like his wilderness prayer in the Garden of Gethsemani prepared him for the
cross and his ultimate victory over sin and death.
So where is your wilderness this Lent? God has one in
mind for you, because God is preparing you to be the answer to someone’s
prayer. God is preparing you for greater
glory. Seek that Lenten wilderness. Embrace it. Be renewed, refreshed, transformed, and prepared for the joyful work of
discipleship: loving God and loving your neighbor. After all, we have many miles to go before we
sleep. Many miles to go. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2025 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
GOSPEL
LESSON: Luke 5:12-16
12 Once,
when Jesus was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When
he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord,
if you choose, you can make me clean." 13 Then Jesus stretched
out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do choose. Be made clean."
Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he ordered him to tell no
one. "Go," he said, "and show yourself to the priest, and, as
Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to
them." 15 But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread
abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. 16 But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
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