Sermon for February 18th 2018 - Being in wilderness before Good News

Sermon for Sunday 18^th February 2018                                            First Sunday in Lent

May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my lord, my God and redeemer. Amen

Have you ever been in the wilderness?

If you have, what was it like? I’d suggest it probably wasn’t what you expected.

When I was growing up, the word wilderness would have evoked a place of adventure, perhaps like Lawrence of Arabia, riding into the sunset, or to me, I would picture Luke Skywalker from Star Wars watching two suns setting on a desert planet, waiting to escape the place he grew up and begin a life he couldn’t yet imagine.

That moment for Luke was the beginning, he was being tested.

The wilderness is almost always a challenge, a beginning, the start of something new.

Wilderness is defined as an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region.

On that basis, we do have wilderness in the UK, it may not be a baking hot desert or cover an area the size of the Sahara, but one wild place I’ve been to, is the far north of Scotland, a wilderness, called Sutherland, which some of you may know.

Ironically called Sutherland because it was south of Denmark where the Vikings lived, although when Louise and I went there the year after we were married, I’m pleased to say the Vikings were long gone.

It’s an upland area of mountains, wild beaches, Golden eagles and hundreds of lochs and a lot of bog. In 2000 square miles live 14000 people, which is fewer than Cam and Dursley.

While we were there, we stayed in an old school house, where the key had been left in the door and we saw no one. It was forty miles west from John O’Groats, past Dungeness, and another forty miles west to Durness, the most north westerly village on the mainland.

It was a wild place and while there, we also climbed the most northerly Munro in Scotland, from where we could see only mountains, hills, water and moors. I’ll tell you the name of this mountain later, so no spoilers if you already know…

Amid all that space, we were quite safe, we had a car, so long as you filled up when you saw a petrol station, every eighty miles or so, it was fine. But if you broke down, we had no mobiles then – yes, we’ve been married that long… then you could be in trouble.

But you also knew you weren’t alone, at every passing place, you got a smile and a wave, from everyone, we knew someone would stop and help if we needed them to.

Today, our physical, geographic wildernesses can seem smaller and can usually be managed with the right equipment and preparation, but there are other wild places which are more difficult to manage. The times when we face personal trials and difficulties.

The wilderness Jesus entered was a beginning as well. Mark’s Gospel doesn’t go into details, we must go to the other Gospels for that, but Mark knows what’s important for his telling of the events.

Let’s imagine being there, to fill this out a bit. Before Jesus enters the wilderness a life changing event happens. John the Baptist is surrounded by his disciples, he’s also surrounded by crowds who are waiting to be immersed and baptised in the river.

Throngs of people surround them as Jesus eventually gets his turn to be baptised, John has known Jesus since before birth, so he knows this is the man he had been waiting for.

Amid all the noise and crowds and emotion, time must have stood still, Jesus descends then emerges from the water, showers of water droplets arcing and sparkling above them, he’s still gasping for air and immediately, the sky is torn apart, the spirit descends as a dove and God speaks.

I mean, wow, once again, cinematically, this would look absolutely amazing. The people would have been looking up, hearing the voice of God, this must have been astounding for everyone who was there.

This moment when the Holy Spirit descended is something we remember at every baptism ever since. Symbolically, when a baby, child or adult are baptised in the name of the father, the son and holy spirit, the heavens open wide, the spirit descends, the waters crash over us and we remember how God rejoices in this new creation being made fresh and saying, with you I am well pleased, just as he was in Genesis at the beginning of the world.

 

 (in remembrance of this the font has been filled today, if you would like to remember your baptism and sign yourself with a cross during the peace, during communion or at the end of the service please feel welcome.)

The heavens opening also symbolically proclaimed that a new covenant was being made between the trinity of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God and also the human race. All were present, in harmony in this moment. Jesus was the crux, the pivot upon which God’s plan would be made whole.

For Jesus as well, the wilderness was the beginning, not the end, of his ministry. The spirit sent him out after this public appointing, to be purged of all his temptations, to face the trials and hardships he would be saving us from, for the rest of time.

After his divine baptism experience, Jesus became vulnerable. Wilderness, whether real or personal can make us vulnerable, scared.

We lose control, it can seem like there is almost no hope. Whatever uncertainty we face, we know that Jesus has been vulnerable and alone before us.

 

And Jesus wasn’t the first person in the Bible, to face a trial of 40 days, it reoccurs regularly in the Bible and to the Old Testament writers, 40 days symbolised an epoch, a period of renewal and spiritual cleansing and we can see this happening with Jesus at his baptism and then in the desert.

It also happened to Noah, at the end of 40 days of being sustained on the ark, Noah was given the rainbow as a sign of covenant.

After 40 days, Moses came out of the cloud from the mountaintop, with a new covenant from God, the commandments, to sustain the people.

Elijah, who we heard about meeting Jesus at the transfiguration last week, was sustained by bread from God and spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness, only then hearing God, not in the earthquake, but in sheer silence.

Jesus saw the heavens torn apart, then entered the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan, but he wasn’t alone either, he was sustained by the angels who waited on him. Jesus didn’t face the wilderness alone.

 

This is so important, as we begin our forty days of Lent. Picking something up or laying something aside, we must remember that God will sustain through this time of spiritual renewal.  God is with us, Emmanuel, Lent is not meant to be a punishment or trial which is unbearable. It’s a time to reflect and to restore our relationship with God.

Lent is a certainty every year, we know it always ends after forty days and that it is the beginning of something wonderful on Easter Day. I know from experience though, that sometimes we enter a wilderness without knowing how we got there, without knowing where we are going or how and when we may get out.

These times are challenging, and with hindsight, looking back they may be a time of growth and renewal, but when we are there, dealing with whatever it maybe we’re facing, whether it’s a long-term illness, a change in circumstances or something very personal, it’s important to know that we’re not alone.

Jesus was held by angels in the desert, God is with us, always, sustaining us. The wilderness always comes before resurrection, whether it’s healing, an improved situation or the promise of eternal life Jesus delivers on Easter morning.

Amid all this is hope, the mountain Louise and I climbed above the wilderness was Ben Hope, the subtitle for Star Wars, was A New Hope and in Jesus, we have the greatest hope of all, we know that he will emerge from the desert proclaiming, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ Then, he begins…

Let us pray;

Almighty God

As Jesus faced a wilderness before his ministry, proclaiming the Good News,

Guide, protect and sustain us through all the wildernesses we face,

So that we too may proclaim a message of hope, life and joy,

Through the power of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Preached at St George, Cam and St Cyr, Stinchcombe

Readings: Genesis 9.8-17, 1 Peter 3.18-end and Mark 1.9-15
 

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

¹² And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³ He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’