Text: Mark 1:9-15

When I was in college, I took an interim class one January for 3 hours credit called, "Outdoor Christian Education". The trip included three weeks of hiking, camping, biking, and canoeing in central Florida with 15 other college students and one professor. Participating in this trip was a strange choice for me to make. I was 19 years old and had never in my life been on a trip that included ANY of these activities. I had never put up or slept in a tent. I had never gathered wood or started a fire. I had never carried a 40 lb. backpack or cooked in the outdoors. I had never ridden a bike on a highway with cars driving by at 70 mph. I had never been in a canoe and I would never have chosen to canoe upstream for 25 miles in the pouring rain. I had never been in a situation where bathrooms were behind trees and showers were available every four days.

I HAD been to Florida before, to the southeastern coast with sunny beaches in the spring and Walt Disney World in the summer.

I had NOT been to this part of Florida, to the wilderness area of the central part of the state in January when the average temperature was between 30-50 degrees and it rained more days than not.

You get the picture … it wasn’t pretty and I was not (so to speak) a "happy camper" upon arrival.

The purpose of the trip was for Christian education majors to have the outdoor experience of finding God in nature and community and to learn how to take church groups on this kind of trip.

I went because my friends were going (and that is good enough reason when you are 19 years old) and because it sounded like a "fun" way to get 3 hours of credit.

After the first night in the tent when I huddled with four other young women, wearing every item of clothing I had brought, and waking up with frost on my nose, I was convinced that the next three weeks were going to be hell on earth.

But an interesting thing happened in those three weeks in the wilderness of central Florida. I was transformed in that time and place. And I DO believe I know why I was there. I was led by the Spirit to that place and experience because I needed what that wilderness had to offer.

If I had known what awaited me, I never would have chosen to go, but God knew that I needed those people and that experience and I was led there for my life to be enriched and transformed in ways I never could have anticipated.

By the end of the three weeks I had met the objectives. I had learned much more than I ever thought I wanted to know about living in the woods, about living in Christian community, a lot about myself, and a lot more about my relationship with God.

It didn’t take us very long into the trip to discover that everyone had a role and a purpose and it took ALL of us to make it work. It took someone to know what kind of wood would burn and to gather it up at each camp site. It took someone to help carry goods from someone else’s backpack when the blisters on their feet prevented them from carrying their share of the load. It took several people to go up ahead and scout the area for a camp site. It took someone who could sing to keep us moving when the trail seemed endless. Many of these tasks could not be accomplished alone. We all had a role and we all had a part in the community. I think it was the first time in my life I actually had to work physically hard for survival and it was the first time I truly experienced the body of Christ working together to meet our basic needs.

And then, there was the wilderness itself … the time alone in the quiet tending to the camp fire, seeing the beauty all around us in the animals and the forest. Being surrounded by God’s presence out on the still water and in the midst of a raging thunderstorm. Hearing the voices of those in the group who affirmed my part in the group and shared with me how I was a gift to their survival in that place.

Although I didn’t realize it fully until years later, I think that experience of wilderness was a turning point in my responding to God’s call to go into the ministry. As I faced my fears, my limits, and my need for others in those three weeks, I saw myself as a gifted child of God called to some purpose on this earth. That time in the wilderness was a transformational experience in my life and faith.

In the scripture passage from Mark’s gospel, Jesus has a wilderness experience that is transformational for his life and understanding of his call to ministry. As Mark tells it, there are basically three movements for Jesus. He is first baptized, claimed by God as God’s own son full of love and grace.

And then, just as Jesus is coming up out this moment of accepting God’s claim on his life, an interesting thing happens to him. We might expect that Jesus would come up out of the water of his baptism and move right on into his earthly ministry, but Mark tells us something different: "And, the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him."

It seems to me that the Scripture is telling us that Jesus needed something from the wilderness BEFORE he could claim his ministry and thus he is "driven" into the wilderness by the Spirit—that same Spirit that has claimed him and called him "beloved."

If we read the Gospel through the eyes of God having an earthly experience, it is possible to think of the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness as not so much just a time of tempting, but rather as a time of preparation for his ministry to come. He found it necessary to withdraw and reflect on just how he should go about his ministry. The Spirit KNEW it was necessary for him to be in the wilderness to prepare for this deepening of his faith.

What was in the wilderness time that Jesus needed? We are told that he was there for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

If Jesus was truly human, we know he experienced the same feelings and experiences we do. Maybe it was a place where he rebelled against God and questioned God’s claim on his life. Maybe it was a hostile place where he had to face fears and uncertainties, doubts and questions. Maybe the wilderness was a place where Jesus felt closer to God.

Jesus made a choice to trust that he had been led to this place by the Spirit and to face his humanity. He was given strength from the Spirit and was able to "turn towards" his questions, doubts, and fears head-on before moving on in ministry.

Jesus had experienced the touch of God on his life in an overwhelming, awesome, new way. He had experienced the cleansing, renewing power of the water and the Holy Spirit descending on him, and in his desire to live into God’s claim on his life, he RESPONDED when the Spirit cast him into a time of wilderness to contemplate God’s call on his life and to prepare for ministry.

I think in my wilderness experience, God knew that I needed to be in a place where I had to face my fears, ask questions of myself and come face to face with my capabilities and my limits. I think the Spirit knew I had to be "driven" into a place where I had to rely on others and experience true Christian community with others encouraging and pushing me beyond my comfort zone, others loving and accepting me with all my humanness.

And somewhere in that Florida wilderness, I must have made a choice to respond. Because God’s Spirit was with me in that place of wilderness, I was given strength and thus able to make the choice to "turn towards" my fears and to face what waited for me. My faith was tested (and it often feels that way in the wilderness), but the Spirit was with me.

We tend to read this story from Mark’s gospel and get an image that Jesus was led literally into a place of physical wilderness; maybe like the place of physical wilderness I shared with you in my story.

However, the passage doesn’t tell us where Jesus was during those 40 days, whether the wilderness was literally a place apart from the everydayness of his life, or whether the wilderness was a place in his heart and soul while he struggled with what to do with God’s claim on his life.

Whether it is defined as an "external" or "internal" place, it seems to me we all have occasions when we are led into the "wilderness" and most of the time is doesn’t involve leaving our homes, families, or everyday activities. In fact, it seems to me it is much more common for our wilderness times to be going on in the midst of our regular life when it is much harder to be aware and see it as an opportunity for growth. Whether God actually leads us into those times of wilderness, or whether they just come to us because we are human and live in an imperfect world, we can choose to use our wilderness times and places for coming closer to God. In these times, we can be assured that the Spirit goes with us offering us the courage and strength to face what must be faced and the power to move on in the hope that new life will come.

This Sunday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of 40 days, a season of preparation for the celebration of Easter. Lent is an invitation to respond as we are "cast" into the wilderness by the Spirit of God.

It is an invitation to deepen our prayer relationship with God, to wrestle with the questions of our faith, to look at our fears and our hopes, to be in prayer and study and other spiritual disciplines that will move us closer to God, closer to accepting and understanding God’s call on our life, so that like Jesus we can emerge from the wilderness, strengthened for the journey, proclaiming the good news that will come with Easter.

Let’s not move too fast and miss this opportunity in the wilderness. Let’s not jump from Baptism to Easter without the experience offered to us during Lent to be in the wilderness with the Spirit.

What is the opportunity facing you this Lenten season? Maybe you would like to deepen your relationship with God and consider your discipleship in new ways. One way to do this would be to visit the chapel on Wednesday mornings between 7-10 a.m. for a time of silent prayer, making space to listen to that still small voice of God speaking in your life.

You might consider making a special effort to attend the Wednesday noon worship services to hear other’s stories of wilderness and new life. Lunch is provided following those services, giving us a chance to be in fellowship with others on the journey.

Consider attending the Wednesday Evening services to be in prayer for yourself and others seeking God’s healing and wholeness. Participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion and receive the sustenance that is offered.

Maybe in this Lenten season you are wrestling with something in your life and as you "turn towards" the wilderness, you can use the strength of the Spirit to rely on others in this church family for support, encouragement, and discernment.

I don’t want to move to Easter today, but I also don’t want to leave this passage without briefly looking at the last verses because they give us a clue what we can expect on the other side of the wilderness and it is in that hope that we can face the wilderness times in our lives.

Mark tells us that Jesus comes out of the wilderness proclaiming the good news of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe the good news."

The word "repent" literally means to "turn towards something". It is as if Jesus is saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near … turn towards the wilderness in your life and believe the good news."

God’s kingdom has come again in the person of Jesus who lived on this earth as a human, was crucified, died and resurrected. May we not miss the opportunity to "turn towards" our own time of wilderness as we prepare for the great celebration of new life to come in Easter.

Let us pray:

God, for this season of Lent and the invitation we have to move closer to you, we are grateful. May the strength of your Spirit sustain and nurture us as we face a time of wilderness in preparation for the new life that will come in Easter. Amen.