First Sunday of Lent: Into the Wilderness

Sermon Transcript

In the name of god, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen. My family and i love to go hiking and have just started with uh, The camping, we well. Uh, we had our first two successful camping trips this last summer. Uh, we we've taken a lot of hikes together.

Um but one thing that we don't and we love to get outdoors, it's fun to be out in the, in the mountains, in the wilderness. Um i never really have been into hiking when there's not like a really clear trail though, right? Um, and there's two reasons for this first, i have the lousiest sense of direction of anyone.

I know. Like, i, i don't know someone with a worse sense of direction than i do. So i was made for, like, cell phones, to tell you every time you have to turn, i'll tell you. Um, All right, so i have almost zero faith in my ability to find my way.

To where i need to be. If i got turned around and i got lost Um, but second and i think maybe more importantly, I believe if you i i have like an axiom. I live my life. By if you don't do what people are doing in the first part of the horror movie, You never have to do what people are doing in the second part of the horror movie.

And so i live my life that way, like if i i look around and i say, if this looks like what people were doing at the first part of the scary movie, i'm not going to do that. Then i never have to do the second part of the scary movie.

Getting lost in the wilderness. Would be really scary, wouldn't it? Uh, the wilderness is Beautiful, and it's wonderful. But a huge part even if it's beauty is that it's untamed and it's unpredictable. The wilderness comes up a lot in biblical imagery. When israel fails to go into the promised land, because they're not ready to slay the giants.

They wander in the wilderness for 40 years. David writes, several psalms during his several trips into the wilderness both before, and after being made king, right? What we find in the wilderness is frau with fear. But it's also a place where there's just enough tranquility that We can meet with god in a special way there.

Part of what makes the wilderness uniquely scary. Is that in the wilderness? Our identity is stripped right? We're reduced to like the relationship of predator and prey and i and some of the Some of the Creatures in the wilderness would be prey to us and others would be predators to us.

And we have the relationship is predator and prey and a lot of what makes us unique is humans. And different from animals is stripped from us. There's another scary beautiful place, discussed in the scriptures a lot. The deep. Right? We talked about water a bit. When we talked about the baptism when we actually read this passage, just about a month ago when we read, when we celebrated the baptism of jesus, right?

We we actually read this passage just about a month ago. Minus the last two verses. That we read. And the deep is also beautiful, but it's untamed and it's scary. Jesus baptism, we learned help tame the water. And it makes it redemptive for us the scriptures today, actually lead us to reflect on the power of water.

With water being the means of Redemption. And salvation. But maybe most importantly, the water is the place where christians find their identity. The water is the place where christians know who they are. Peter tells us baptism, saves you. He tells the sat in this passage. How does baptism save us?

We might wonder peter tells us it saves us through the resurrection of jesus. As we go into the water with jesus, we identify with the one who came the water. We unite with the water tamer and we become children of god. And just, as jesus. As god's child went into the wilderness with his identity fully confirmed.

He went and tame the wilderness. Just like he tame the water. As we enter the wilderness of lent, we intentionally embrace Our weakness and we ask god to make us new But just like jesus did it with his identity. Ringing his ears. We're called to do it with our identity.

Ringing in our ears. See, jesus took his identity with him into the wilderness, didn't he? And he, he took his identity of being a child of god and he was a child of god. And is a child of god by nature. We talked last month about jesus baptism. And we talked about how jesus needed to hear his identity.

Didn't we? Before going out into the wilderness. How he needed to hear his identity even more. Before going to the cross. The repeated refrain in both those events in the wilderness and in the cross, in the more expanded forms, mark the short. Is, are you really the son of god?

If you're really the son of god? This this And so he goes into the wilderness and to the cross with identity. Last week, deacon Andy preached on the transfiguration. Where we again have jesus identity. Being dealt with before he goes to the cross. And we learn that, we're to be a people that listen to him.

Right, that we need to be a people that listen to god. And now we see these two verses tagged on the the back end of this passage in mark, right?

And it's kind of interesting because the spirit Sent him out into the wilderness. She's notice that. The spirit, the holy spirit of god, the one that descended on him. In his baptism is the one that sent him out into the wilderness, the greek word there is qbalo. Akbala, it's the same word that's that's used in the gospels to talk about.

Jesus casting demons out, so think of like like it's not just like a gentle leading of the spirit into the wilderness. He was cast into the wilderness by the holy spirit, jesus is cast into the wilderness, by the holy spirit. He's the this like it's the second nearly violent verb in the short passage because as we talked about, we'd been praying through advent.

Oh, that you would run the heavens and come down the, the scriptures, talk about the spirit and marcus kind of unique in this tearing. Open the heavens and descending on jesus. So you have the spirit tearing, open the heavens to sending on jesus, and then casting him into the wilderness shortly after descending on him.

So jesus is in the wilderness being tempted by satan, he's led by the spirit there. So that he might be tested. Improve in victorious. And here and kind of unique to mark two, the angels attending is concurrent to the temptation. So here he doesn't like, get through the test and then the angels, Show up and they hadn't been in the narrative.

It seems to be at the same time while he's going through the testing. The angels are ministering to him, present tense verbs, right?

Make no mistake. The second person words that we talked about when we talked about, jesus baptism. You are my son. Are just the words, he needed. To go out and be victorious. In the wilderness. Jesus goes into the wilderness as the eternal son of god. Eternally begotten of the father god from god, light from light true god, right?

We say we we say that every week, right? He goes out to the wilderness. As the as the eternal son of god. He was a son of god by nature and he takes his identity who he was this eternal. Son of God by nature out into the wilderness. And jesus took the identity spoken over to him when he came the water.

With him out into battle. And then he went out and he came the wilderness too. Tame the wilderness for us. And just like jesus took his identity out into the wilderness. His he was a child of god by nature. We also take our identity out with us into the wilderness.

We're children of god, too. We're children of god. Through adoption. Been adopted into his family. So this lent, we also head into the wilderness, we enter a season of fasting. But it points to a season, this season points to an aspect that's true throughout our entire lives. I think it's really important to point this out.

So, when we get to Easter, which we will soon enough, It's going to feel like forever, but once we get there and, and we will soon enough, The things that were reflecting on during Lent don't like cease to be true about us, right? So like the the liturgical season isn't saying like you're a sinner during lent and then you're like victorious during Easter, you know.

Like, uh, it's a like what's true about us during Lent. Is still true about us during Easter and so we don't like stop being sinners. Once Easter comes, we don't stop being mortal. We don't stop being weak. Like when Easter comes, it's not like all that stuff isn't true.

About us anymore. What happens is we we're in eat and lent. We're intentionally focusing on these truths. In a specific way. And bringing them to the forefront of our lives by by heading into the wilderness. Right. So a season of fasting is meant to highlight truce about us that remain true even after the fasting.

Is over. So, As we prayed in our college, we live our mortal lives. Assaulted by many temptations.

Isn't that true of us? The college using violent language. About our relationship to temptation. Or assaulted by many temptations. And we live our mortal lies, as people who are weak people of weakness, as you know, the weaknesses of each of us, right? And we are in desperate, need to find god mighty to save.

This is always true about us guys. We are always assaulted by many temptations. And we are always weak and in need of god to prove himself to be mighty to save these truths just don't quit They don't quit at Easter vigil when we ring the bells. These are these are what we walk in all the time.

And we know we will find God mighty to say because we prayed our Ash Wednesday, collect again. Which will in the 19th. I'm a rubrics nerd. But in the 1928, i was alerted that the 1928 rubrics say, go ahead and pray that That colic for Ash Wednesday all the way through lent.

So we will, we'll, we'll pray, uh, we'll pray the sunday, collect and then the Ash Wednesday call it all the way through. So that we can continue to remind ourselves that we can find God, mighty to save because he hates nothing that he has made. God loves us. And because god loves us.

We can find him mighty to save. So we go into the wilderness for a season. In order to point out how our entire mortal lives are spent in the wilderness, They're spent assaulted by temptation. Week and vulnerable. And they need to find god mighty to save. But what Easter tells us and what these passages that we read today about all the water tell us Is that that's not all that's true about us.

We go into the wilderness but we we go into the wilderness with our identity. Just like jesus did. And saint peter uses really clear language to describe baptism. He says, we are in baptism. We are saved through water just as noah was saved through water in the ark. This is the comparison.

He makes the water in the ark. To contrast with the water of baptism the water and the ark was a means of death and death alone. But yet there was a promise. Right. That's what we read today. I'm gonna put the rainbow in the clouds, a lot of the church fathers will point to like The bow.

Weapon of war that got got god's laying down. His weapon. He's laying down his weapon when he puts the bow in the sky. And i'm not going to weaponize water against you anymore, right? And so now baptism, still, the water is still a means of death, but it's a means of death and rebirth.

We die to ourselves in the water. We die to our sin in the water and then we rest, we we rise with jesus. We rise to new life. That's why peter says at the end of that reading, that baptism saves you through the resurrection of jesus christ because we identify with jesus and his death and in baptism.

We also identify with jesus, In resurrection. So yes, we're mortals. Yes, we're sinners. But we have been buried with christ in our baptism. And we have been raised to new life.

Jesus heard that he was the son of god by nature at his baptism it. Our baptism, we become sons and daughters of god by adoption. And our baptism saint paul tells us that we receive the spirit of adoption by whom. We can cry, abba, father, God is our father not by nature, in other words.

We're not naturally sons and daughters of god. Were sons and daughters of god by grace. Right, we're made scents and daughters of god by grace. By nature. Paul tells us we are children of wrath in Ephesians chapter 2. But by grace, we are adopted into god's family and we are children of god And even during Lent, These statements are all true about you, and i just as it's true that during Easter tide, you're still a sinner and you're still weak and you're still vulnerable and you're needy.

These things that we just reflect on about, baptism about how god saves us through water. They're also true. Of us during Lent. So in this season and i think it's maybe a unique mercy. Uh, in the three-year. I mean, part of it is just like so our three electionary cycle the temptation of jesus in Mark is just so stink and short that they have.

You read the baptism again, you know. That's, that's why they have you read. The baptism again is because like two verses just isn't enough and so they so we read the baptism again, but maybe it's a mercy. Did you settle in and say? Maybe maybe in a special way this lint?

We can be intentional about saying, hey, i i'm going into the wilderness with my identity. With my baptism, this is the only year. We read the baptism narrative again. During Lent. So, maybe this is a unique year for us to say, okay, i'm going in the wilderness. Yes, i'm going.

I'm recognizing my weakness, my vulnerability. My sinfulness my mortality, but i'm also recognizing that i am god's child.

So, as you fail, And you will in your Latin devotion. As you as you. Fulfill everything. And as you send during lent, like guess what you're going to send during life somewhat, you might send more during lent. Because you're going to be grumpy and hungry and uh it's like you might send more during lent and like and as these things, as these things come up for you.

Remember these words, remember That you are a perfectly loved child of god.

And while you're in the wilderness, you're a perfectly loved child of god. So, just as the father didn't love jesus, any less in the wilderness, God doesn't love you in ounce less in the wilderness. And when you fall into weakness because you're assaulted by temptations, God doesn't love you and ounce less.

Because you're just you're his son. Here's daughter. So there's good work to be done in the wilderness. There is there was good work for jesus as he was able to go toe to toe with his greatest adversary and prove that he was real. There's good work for us too.

As our wrongly turned affections, and our desires are exposed for what they are. It's uncomfortable. Work for us just as it was for jesus but it's good work too. And as we go into the wilderness, we go with our identity just as jesus went into the wilderness and he was a son of god by nature.

We we get to go into the wilderness hearing that. We are children of god. By grace through adoption. So dear ones you are perfectly loved this one. Whatever weakness you're walking into and dealing with your perfectly loved. Let us go into the wilderness as children of god. And let us know that the god who leads us into the wilderness will safely lead us through the death and resurrection.

Which we'll celebrate at Easter, vigil. Amen.