Some years ago, I had a meeting at
a mountain resort in Wyoming.
The first morning I was up at
dawn, still running on Eastern Time.
With some early-morning free time,
I decided to take a little walk.
All I had were my regular
business-casual clothes and shoes.
So I started out from the lodge
along a well-worn path.
But soon the path faded, and I
was in some rougher terrain.
Crossing narrow creeks on fallen
tree trunks.
Now and then I could hear some
rustling in the tall brush.
After a half hour or so, I came
upon a little clearing
Where circles of tall grass had
been matted down.
I figured some recently-roused large
animals had been sleeping there.
And it occurred to me that this
was probably not a good place to be.
Out alone, wandering in an
unknown wilderness.
Maybe surrounded by bears and
cougars, and who knows what else.
I turned and retraced my route
back to the lodge with an urgent haste.
I’d spent about forty minutes
alone in the wilderness.
It could have been a much better
experience
If I’d been better prepared and
equipped.
There’s a lot you can learn in
the wilderness.
In some Bible translations, Jesus
goes out into the wilderness.
The NAB version that we use for
our Scripture readings says desert.
And actually begins this verse with
the words At once.
At once, the Spirit drove
Jesus out into the desert.
There was a sense of urgency.
This rush to the desert comes
immediately after Jesus’ baptism.
And immediately before his public
ministry.
John baptizes him, the Spirit
descends upon him,
The Father is well pleased.
And at once the Spirit
drives him out into the desert.
A place of solitude, a place of
preparation.
Away from the day-to-day distractions
of the world.
A place where Jesus stays for 40
days, fasting and praying,
Surrounded by wild beasts, and tempted
by the Devil.
Mark’s Gospel today doesn’t give
us much detail on that temptation.
But Matthew and Luke tell us that
Satan tried to get him to
Go against the Father and against
the Spirit who drove him out there.
Satan told Jesus to break his
fast,
Turn the stones into bread and
relieve his hunger.
He told Jesus to throw himself
off the parapet of the temple
So everyone would see how
marvelous he was
When God sends angels to catch
him.
He claimed that he would give
Jesus all the kingdoms of the world
If Jesus would give him just one
act of worship.
But Jesus resisted all the
temptations, and sent Satan away in defeat.
And Jesus went off to Galilee to
begin his public ministry.
Fully prepared now, to proclaim
the Good News.
This passage from Mark was the
end of the prologue to his Gospel.
His introduction to who Jesus is—the
Messiah, the Son of God.
And to the message Jesus brought
to us:
The Kingdom of God is at
hand,
Repent and believe in the
Gospel.
We’re now four days into Lent; we
have 36 days left
To step back and assess where we
are in our repentance and belief.
We could use some quiet time with
God to explore that.
Maybe we can’t go out for 40 days
in the wilderness like Jesus did.
Or even a short stay in a Wyoming
or local wilderness.
But we should hear and respond to
the Spirit’s urgent call.
Driving us to set aside a time
and space for some quiet solitude.
Create a little early-morning
free time, or a little time at night.
Maybe in our bedroom or den, or
mid-day in the empty church.
Our private wilderness, away from
the distractions of the world.
Where we can build upon
continuing conversations with God.
Actively thinking and praying,
actively listening.
Preparing to enter his kingdom
more and more deeply.
Some good topics to start our
conversations might be:
How am I doing with that message
from Jesus?
How am I doing with repentance?
What things are still not right
in my life?
How firmly do I believe the Good
News?
How fully have I entered into
this kingdom of God?
This kingdom right here, right
now, at hand.
1st Sunday of Lent
