God's Loving Paths -- A Message for February 21, 2021

 

For the next six weeks, we will be in the contemplative season of Lent.  Lent began on Wednesday, the day we commemorate each year as Ash Wednesday.  This season is an annual opportunity for us to reflect on our mortality….we were made from dust and to dust we will return.  We also spend time in this season as we reflect on our actions and words over the past year and ask God to forgive us our transgressions. 

This is particularly poignant as we have been living in the time of Covid-19.  Almost a year ago, everything changed in our lives.  We shut down.  We went into a time of isolation. As we journey into the season of Lent, we are also (we hope) journeying towards the end of our pandemic.  So, we spend the next few weeks repenting and preparing for what we will do when we exit the wilderness, when we exit the wilderness of Covid-time. 

We spend 40 days in Lent because Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness.  We model our “wilderness” time on Jesus’ wilderness time. The book of Mark doesn’t give us a lot of details about Jesus’ 40 days of isolation, but as we listen to our scripture let us consider what it would be like to be tempted by Satan, surrounded by wild animals, and attended by angels. Hear the story as it is recorded by Mark chapter one verses nine through fifteen:

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 

And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 

and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Here ends the reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Prayer for Understanding

Holy God, send us your Spirit to calm our thoughts and prepare our hearts and minds to hear your Word. Through your Word, teach us to see you more clearly and love you more deeply day by day. Amen.

            We don’t spend a lot of time in physical places we consider “the wilderness.”  Most of us are more comfortable sitting on our couch and watching Alaskan homesteaders on TV than we are becoming the homesteaders ourselves.  I certainly don’t feel the urge to go off totally on my own and live out in the woods or the desert or on an island.  In fact, I saw a commercial for the show “Naked and Afraid” the other day and I am still afraid for the people I saw on the screen.

            Before Jesus got down to the business of his work as the Messiah, he spent 40 days alone in the wilderness.  He spent 40 days preparing for his life’s calling.  He spent 40 days completely by himself, away from other people, living alongside wild animals.  Jesus must have had a lot on his mind.  To make things even more complicated for Jesus, he had to contend with temptation.  Satan tempted him.  Evil tempted him.  Jesus could have chosen not to do his work – he could have taken the easy way out.  He had the capability to live life surrounded by luxury.  Instead, he chose to become a nomadic prophet.  Jesus could have taken the easy way out. Instead, he chose to sacrifice himself so that humanity could be redeemed.

            Jesus went to the wilderness after his baptism. At the occasion of his baptism, Jesus was fully immersed by his cousin John in the waters of the Jordan River.  Jesus walked out into the river, John grabbed him, and drew him down into the water.  It covered his body. It covered his head.  It cleansed the dirt from his body. 

            When Jesus came up from being immersed in the water, he saw the sky open up and the Holy Spirit descended on him live a dove.  A dove is a gentle bird, so the Spirit ascended gently upon Jesus.  It poured into Jesus.  And, Jesus heard an affirmation from God: God said to him “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

            The combination of God’s affirmation and the presence of the Holy Spirit enabled Jesus to survive his wilderness journey.  They enabled Jesus to resist temptation – the external temptation of Satan and the internal temptation Jesus must have felt knowing he was capable of choosing a different life for himself. God’s affirmation and the presence of the Holy Spirit were a tremendous comfort for Jesus during his ordeal. And, when Jesus returned to his regular life, God’s affirmation and the presence of the Holy Spirit helped Jesus to do the work he was called to do as the Messiah.

            Like Jesus, God has made many affirmations of us.  We are God’s children and God’s beloved.  In the First Letter to John, we are reminded of God’s love:

“This is how God showed God’s love among us: God sent God’s one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent God’s Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Through the prophet Isaiah, God says to us:

“”Through the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

Psalm 86 reminds us:

“But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

God’s affirmations guide us and support us as we journey through the wilderness.

            At the beginning of the pandemic, I started posting little reminders of God’s love for us on the Trinity facebook page.  God has made the beauty of the earth and the glory of the skies for us to enjoy.  We are reminded by God’s word that is recorded in the Bible that we can endure much because of the ways God strengthens us.  I have been including a photo and a scriptural affirmation on each post to remind us that we are not alone, God is always with us to love us, encourage us, and guide us.

            Likewise, the Holy Spirit is poured out onto us just as it was poured out onto Jesus at his baptism. We believe the Holy Spirit is the part of God that is present with us all of the time….the Spirit is the living presence of God that is nurturing us, comforting us, and abiding with each of us.  We believe the Holy Spirit is poured into us when we are baptized – a part God is poured into our souls. The presence of the Holy Spirit has been guiding us as we have endured this time of pandemic.  We have been scared, lonely, and isolated, but the presence of God as the Holy Spirit has been with us during this time of trial.  The Holy Spirit accompanied Jesus as he journeyed in the wilderness, and the Holy Spirit accompanies and guides us as we journey to the end of our journey through the season of Covid-19.

            We will remember this time of Covid as the longest and perhaps strangest wildness journey of our lives. Let us take comfort in knowing that we have not done this journey alone, God is with us.  God’s presence in the Holy Spirit guides and sustains us.  The journey will be over soon.  The next 40 days we spend in the season of Lent is actually the end of the journey.  Easter is coming.

            Thanks be to God. Amen.