WATCHWORD:
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:1-11
Meditation:
Into the Wilderness
Into the wilderness? Did you wonder why the spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness? David Guzik reminds us that Jesus was in his early 30’s, had grown up around sinners during those early years, and now was identifying with their sins and their temptations. “This was a necessary part of His ministry, so He truly was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
Thomas Merton, in his book, Thoughts in Solitude, shares what we might consider to be a slightly contrary view of wilderness then you and I may hold. There are times in our lives where we find ourselves spiritually dry, in a wilderness of our own making, where we struggle to find a way out.
Merton tells us that the Desert Fathers believe that the wilderness had been created as supremely valuable in the eyes of God, precisely because it had no value to men. He tells us that the wasteland was land that could never be wasted by men because it offered them nothing. There was nothing to exploit. The wilderness, or the desert, was the region in which the chosen people had wandered for 40 years cared for by God, alone.
In reality, the Israelites could have reached the promised land in a few months if they had traveled directly. God’s plan was that they should learn to love him in the wilderness and that they should always look back upon the time in the desert as the idyllic time of their life, alone with Him. However, those sinners had other plans.
I think too often we view wilderness as a euphemism for mental illness, or depression, or sadness. I’m beginning to believe that, as we age, there are intermittent times when we feel like we are in a period of dryness, a desert, and we have a sense of confusion, that may last for just brief moments, but it does tend to disorient us. Thomas Merton recognized that very sense. He speaks of the man who wanders into the desert of his own choosing and must take care that he doesn’t go mad and become literally a servant of the emptiness and the anger that too often follows.
During a recent Sunday worship service in Denver, the guest pastor spoke about the circumstances of our lives that too often lead us away from being joyful, into self-made suffering. His message went in a slightly different direction but it made me realize that, if we are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then our Joy, the spiritual grace from God, has nothing to do with our circumstances. We are children of God, you and me, and our spiritual health comes through obedience to him. I believe that being spiritually healthy is the foundation for mental health.
Merton finished his essay with this statement: “To live facing despair, but not to consent. To trample it down under hope in the cross. To wage war against despair unceasingly. That war against our despair Is our wilderness. If we wage it courageously, we will find Christ at our side. If we cannot face it, we will never find Him.”
Amen.
Bulletin Board:
Carpe Diem — Seize that day, and do something your future self will thank you for.
Never Lose Hope. Hope is what keeps us running.
Prayer from Thomas a’ Kempis:
Ah, Lord God, Holy Lover of my soul, when you come into my soul, all that is within me will rejoice. You are my glory and the exultation of my heart. You are my hope and refuge in the day of my trouble. Set me free from all evil passions, and heal my heart of all inordinate affections, cure and cleanse me within, that I may be made fit to love, courageous to suffer, steady to persevere. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more courageous, nothing fuller nor better in heaven and earth; because love is born of God, and cannot rest but in God, above all created things. Let me love you more than myself, and love myself except for you, and in you all that truly love you, as the law of love commands, shining out from yourself. Amen.
