One doesn’t have to go far to find wilderness. In fact, desert wilderness is literally in my backyard in the mountain preserve around Piestewa Peak. And that’s true for so many of us in Phoenix with its great natural surroundings. But that’s not the kind of wilderness I’m talking about.
I have in mind wilderness more metaphorically speaking. The biblical language which we translate as wilderness suggests a place of desolation. Yes, that can literally be the desert under the open skies with little protection from the sun and scorching heat.
But desolate places can also be conditions of our mind or features of our circumstances. In that regard, it may be that anxiously waking at 3:00 in the morning with lots of worries on our mind can be a state of psychological or spiritual wilderness desolation. Desolation may be any time when we, like Adam and Eve in today’s first reading, become aware of our nakedness, having eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil which makes us feel vulnerable and exposed to the harsh realities of life.
Indeed, there are any number of circumstances that make for a sense of desolation, which includes feelings emptiness, fear of impending destruction, anguished misery, a sense of loneliness or abandonment. Social isolation that persists after the pandemic. Feeling abandoned by the government when services meant to help us are cut. The threat of deportation. A sense of hopelessness and maybe even meaninglessness given the crazy things happening in the world. Trusted and venerable organizations and institutions being ruined by mismanagement and budget cuts. You can come up with your own lists of that which makes for the experience of wilderness desolation….
It’s in our times and circumstances of desolation when demonic forces are most active and we’re most prone to succumbing to temptations. Devilish voices in our heads may tempt us to give up hope for ourselves and for society. We may be tempted to disengage in civic life and give up on the quest for justice and peace. We may be tempted to look for quick fix gimmick solutions to our problems, like the bright, shiny apple the serpent offered Eve and Adam. We may be tempted to seek consolation in drugs and alcohol to take away the pain of desolation. And even forms of religion can be a source of temptation. Think of all the charlatan preachers who use scripture to seduce us into ideologies that deviate from faithful Christian norms. Even the devil quoted scripture in his efforts to tempt Jesus as we heard in today’s gospel story.
The bad news is that these wild, desolate circumstances and states of mind are all too common these days. And so many people find themselves sorely tempted to lose hope and faith in other people and resources that help us cope. Look at the increasing number of so-called deaths of despair – overdoses and suicides because people have lost hope. Indeed, we may feel completely naked and alone in our desolations.
The good news is that we are not in fact alone even in our bleakest circumstances and states of mind. Jesus has been there before. That’s what today’s gospel reading is all about. Jesus, as the Son of the Father, was driven into the desolate places by the Holy Spirit of the Trinitarian living God. Because the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, this means that this was a divine mandate and mission to reveal that there was no place the Word of God made flesh in Jesus would not go.
Again, because Jesus has been there, this means that in our places of desolation, Jesus got there first. We are not alone. In Christ is Emmanuel, God is with us, even in our places of wilderness desolation.
So, how is that we can have a sense of Jesus’ presence with us in our times of desolation, our times of trial when we may be tempted to give up and lose faith?
In short, and to cut to the chase, we know the presence of Christ when we hear the echoes of his very words in our ears, words for us which leap off the pages of scripture.
For our encouragement and sense of accompaniment, we draw on the very same words Jesus used during his own time of wilderness temptation. These words for us convey Jesus’ voice on the breath of the Spirit echoing and blowing through the centuries. Jesus’ words help us to cope with our current struggles.
Listen again…. Jesus said, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” And listen to this…. Jesus said to the tempter, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” And hear this one more time…. Jesus said, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
These words of Jesus put things in perspective and help us to focus on that which is most important and ultimate and transcendent. Jesus’ words, thus, help us render what we think of as mountains into molehills.
In short, these words which we heard in today’s gospel reading and, which, by the way, are themselves quotes from other scriptures, enabled Jesus to withstand temptation. These very same scriptural words also assist us in our times of temptation and trial.
And there’s more good news about the availability of Jesus, the very Word of God made flesh, in our times of trial and temptation. We feel Jesus’ accompaniment of us in our desolate wilderness journeys in our own devotional bible reading, and when we gather for bible study and our Lenten Wednesday evening teaching series, where we engage in fresh ways Jesus’ words. We feel Jesus’ presence in his holy word when we pray with the scriptures during such rites as daily morning and evening prayer which are full of the scriptures from beginning to end. Sometimes you may hear Jesus’ words of encouragement even in sermons! We feel Jesus’ presence and reassuring word in our holy conversations with one another in Christian community in the church. And then there’s the word of Jesus which we eat and drink in the sacrament of the altar, when we incorporate into ourselves Jesus’ very presence for our consolation.
These experiences with God’s word in Christ renew and enliven our faith to withstand temptation. Then we discover the kind of faith that sustained Paul and allowed him to boast of his confidence in Christ and what God accomplished in Christ when Paul wrote: “Much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many…. Much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:15b, 17b)
Indeed, Jesus’ death on the cross was an ultimate occasion of wild desolation. But God made good on that by raising Jesus from the dead.
Which is to say, in other words, when we experience the crucified and risen Christ present in the word variously conveyed to us, we have a palpable sense of the abundance of the gift of God’s grace which makes us righteous in Christ. And we are re-assured that the one who victoriously reigns and rules our lives even amidst times and circumstances of desolate wilderness is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus restored in faith, we can assist and walk with others in their times of desolation and temptation offering the same gift of God’s word to confront the lies and temptations we struggle with in our own age. This is our loving service to our neighbors amidst the world’s desolate wildernesses in which so many suffer and succumb to temptations.
In the end, dear people of God, hear this, be assured of this: God in Christ journeys with us in the power of the Spirit working in the word. God’s word who is Christ goes with us throughout this our Lenten wilderness pilgrimage. God in Christ sojourns and tabernacles with us every day of our lives. May this be for your encouragement during these trying times of temptation. Thanks be to God. Amen.
