Wilderness: Immersed in Grace
A Sermon by Andrew Colman based on Luke 4:1-13
Tonight we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness from Luke's perspective. "It opens like this, "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil." It is a much less dramatic version of the story than Mark's where everything happens immediately. No, this telling almost feels slow. Listen to Mark's, "The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him." It's blistering, you can almost feel the heat of the sun - driving into the desert, in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted, wild animals, and in need of ministry from angels... all in one breath.
Luke's telling is different. Luke's telling is almost comforting... like he knows that he's about to walk his readers through the very trial of the temptations, rocks to bread, all power and authority, leaping off buildings, and blazing right into that, without preparation is not the way of going about it. Listen to Luke prepare, for Jesus ‘ three-fold temptation by the devil in the wilderness.
Full of the Holy Spirit is how this description begins. Not full of confidence, not full of ideas, not even full of the knowledge of scripture, though that comes later, but full of the Holy Spirit. Full of all of the power, grace, compassion, comfort, and love that God has to offer. And not even something like, with the Holy Spirit within him, but full! Full, no room for anything else, only the Holy Spirit within Him. Only the power, grace, and conviction, as well as compassion, comfort, and love of God, are within him.
And Jesus, Full of the Holy Spirit Returned from the Jordan - Now even though the Jordan is exactly where the action left from chapter three - one of the reasons that Luke might want to remind us that Jesus was returning from the Jordan was because between the baptism and the temtpations Luke took what amounts to 15 whole verses to recount the lineage of Jesus going all the back to Adam, the Son of God, where we are reminded the Jesus is of the line of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob the ones through whom the life of the world was promised. Before plunging into the Wilderness, we are reminded of the stories, by way of the names of the Children of Israel, that no matter how far we stray from God and succumb to all manner of temptations, God will never forsake us and will always come looking for us and bring us home.
But then Jesus was indeed returning from Jordan - the place of his baptism, which was not simply seen as a ritual for cleansing oneself but also a ritual of preparing oneself to draw closer to God. Which is what being in the wilderness is all about. And even as he prayed the bodily form of the Holy Spirit descended on him as a dove and he heard the very voice of the Creator tell him that Jesus is God's beloved with whom God is well pleased.
And then finally, after all of that is recounted, Jesus, in Luke's telling, is not driven into the Wilderness, but led. When we're being driven, the force is coming from behind - not necessarily bad, but it is forceful. As opposed to being led, usually, which comes from the front, and can only happen if you choose to follow.
Otherwise you're being dragged. All of this, and then was he tempted by the devil. Temptations are easy to visualize because we live them every single day. They come at us at a relentless pace that is only getting faster. We live in an age where advertising is no longer just billboards and commercials, when we turn on the radio or the television, or spots in the newspaper, but everywhere. The advertising industry has essentially figured out every single place that we cast our attention for even a split second and put a message there telling us we need something else. That’s what we already have, which is not enough.
For some I know full well that that is true, but I am not talking about food water shelter clothing, the things that keep us alive I am talking about another video game or a newer fancier car when the one you have does the job perfectly well or a million different things that we might feel that we need that could fill that gap in our lives.
If we broke down each one of those things that we felt tempted by there is a good chance that they would take the shape of one of the temptations that Jesus faced in the Wilderness: Rocks in to bread is Food - Sustenance never having to be hungry again, Bowing to the devil for all of the Power - the capacity to do more without any resistance, Being caught by the angels Saftey - to live with out fear of ever being hurt. All of that sounds pretty good - what harm could possibly come? Well, with all of that power there would seem to be no reason to turn to God. No reason for God to provide the sustaining mana in the wilderness, no reason to ask for the humility of caring for the leper yourself when you could just bid someone else do it, no reason to turn find that God not only protects you from the assults of the enemy but everyone who calls for protection. While temptations are easy to visualize precisely because the World mercilessly bombards us with them.
The Grace of God that empowers us to live in the wilderness is much more difficult to find, especially in today's world. When was the last time we saw a billboard - that we were not skeptical of - that said something like "You can live through the difficulties of life gracefully by the power of the Holy Spirit" Or a sponsored advertisement that said, "Remember you are grafted on to the tree of Jesse, into the family that was chosen to be God's blessing in the world." Or a one minute long YouTube commercial that you can't skip that said "In your baptism you were washed clean of all of your sins - you are righteous in the eyes of God because of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross." Or some other spot that told you that God would lead you not only in the good times but especially in the bad. That as you face the onslaught of the temptations of the world, God is not but a single step ahead with one hand reaching to hold yours and the other pointing in the direction of life and love.
It's hard to visualize these things because we are not all surrounded by these images - these images that are infinitely more true than the promises of those who just want your money and attention. But these are the things that are true as we live our lives both in the land of milk and honey and the barren landscape of the wilderness. We are filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us the capacity to take the next step. We are part of a family that has been called to be a blessing to each and every person on this planet. We have been made righteous before God and given every opportunity to grow into the Likeness of Christ without barrier. And God is ever before us - God is always in the place that we find ourselves - and is always holding out his hand and pointing us the way through - no matter how bad the wilderness becomes. God is always there - always here. Here, especially at the beginning of Lent.
As we begin our Lenten journey here on Sunday evenings, in our various small groups, in our Lenten series, and our own Lenten disciplines, or find ourselves in a Wilderness not of our own discipline or making but one that we’ve been living for a while... This is the time of year where we turn our attention towards what God provides for us. Instead of bread made of rocks, Mana in the wilderness, food from the food baskets for the EIFP, or lunch with a friend, Instead of power and authority over the whole world, we need the gift of humility and trust that God can do more than we can ask or imagine. Instead of a guarantee of safety from the wounds of falling from the temple roof - a promise that the inevitable wounds of this world can and will be healed by the Grace of God.
This Lent let us enter into the wilderness as Jesus did, Full of the Holy Spirit, reminded of the family from which we come, knowing we have been made right with God, and always always being led by the one who trod the path of life, death and resurrection before us. Amen
Amen