A journey in the Wilderness

Lent 1 C: A journey in the Wilderness.

I am coming to the conclusion that Lent is by far the most problematic season in the church calendar. For people both inside and outside the church it seems to be a time that is deeply misunderstood. In the last week I’ve read lots of jokes about what one might ‘give up’ for Lent, along with holier-than-thou comments from atheists that giving up chocolate won’t make you a better person. (Oh Really?)

For many Christians, Lent and the setting before God of the burdens they carry, is a deeply significant part of their spiritual practice. It is a time of strengthening faith and abiding in God that provides nourishment for their journey. Those of us who engaged in the Ashen SPACE on Thursday night, certainly felt that way.

We begin the Sunday readings for Lent with the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. This story, coming at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, just following his baptism, tells us something very important about who Jesus is, and the nature of his mission. It also gives us a useful template for our own spiritual practice: it shows us the need to step back from the hustle and bustle of life, to avoid the temptations put before us, and to focus on God in order to prepare for what lies ahead just as Jesus does at the start of his ministry.

What happens in the wilderness?

At the start of Luke’s version of the temptation story we are reminded of the context – Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. Although interrupted in the text by Luke’s genealogy, the preceding event was Jesus’ baptism. Jesus and the others who were baptized are praying and the heaven is opened, the Holy Spirit descends on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice is heard from heaven: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Then, in a precursor to what would develop as one of the great prayer traditions of the early church, Jesus goes out into the wilderness to pray. We are not told anything of the difficulties and trials of being in the wilderness – but simply that he is “famished.” And while he is famished, Jesus is visited by the devil who has come to tempt him.

Here’s an image that I think helps us to unpack the themes inherent in this passage:

Stanley Spencer – Christ in the Wilderness – Driven by the Spirit into the wilderness (1942)

I have found Spencer’s work profoundly moving since I discovered him when I was at Theological College. This painting comes from a series painted by Spencer between 1939 and 1954. This was a period of great strife and turmoil in the artist’s life. Spencer spent 2 ½ years on the front line in Macedonia in the First World War. The experience had a profound effect on Spencer; the memories infiltrated his spirit. He painted these images when he was living in a single room in deep poverty, estranged from his wife and well into the 2^nd World War which was for many a time of bleakness, of uncertainty, of destruction and loss of hope. Spencer originally intended to paint 40 images – one to be displayed each day during Lent. Only 18 sketches were made and 8 paintings finished.

In this painting we see a massive figure of Jesus striding through a bleak and desolate land, with the ground giving way beneath him, providing no sure footing. (When Sophia and I were discussing this very painting at the Ash Wednesday service we attended together on Wednesday night, she said she though Jesus was doing Karate. He does look a bit that way, doesn’t he!) He is doing battle with the temptations in the wilderness and finding something to cling to.

A wilderness is a wild place, a waiting place, a place of preparation. Life is not comfortable in the desert. When he arrives there, Jesus fasts for 40 days: the text states simply that as a result he was: “famished.” In reality it’s almost impossible to go this long without food, we know from people who go on hunger strikes in prison. It’s a one word description that belies the depth of suffering and struggle that lies beneath.

There is no coincidence that the 3 ways in which the Satan tempts Jesus are ways to end his current suffering. Firstly he suggests that “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” For Jesus, Famished as he is, the suggestion of bread to help his earthly body survive the torture of starvation might make some sort of worldy sense.

Secondly the devil shows him in an instant all of the kingdoms of the world. “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

And Thirdly he took Jesus to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ¹¹and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Bodily sustenance. Worldly glory and authority. Power over death. It’s the ultimate set of temptations, don’t you agree?

After each temptation Jesus answers the devil. And each of his answers shows one thing. Jesus has his gaze set firmly on the Father. On the task he was sent to do. Even at the beginning of his earthly journey he has his eye set on the cross. And on resurrection. Even when offered all the worldly temptation there possibly could be, Jesus has his eye on God. And that is what gives the sign of hope: the tiny signs that at the end of the story things will be different.

The temptations that the Satan throws at Jesus are things that call into question his deepest motivations. They strike at the heart of his humanity. It’s far, far more than just giving up chocolate, or resisting the temptation to have a second helping of cake. It’s about making choices – clinging to the things which bring life and hope – and turning away from the temptations which can ultimately only lead to death.

We see something of this struggle in Spencer’s painting. Jesus clings to the trees about him for support – and although they appear dead, they are nevertheless firmly rooted to the earth. They give Jesus something to cling to – as if they are a direct connection to the Father – the creator who brought the very branch he clings to into life. When Spencer looked back on the painting of the wilderness series, created at a time when he was walking in his own personal wilderness, he wrote: “I loved it all because it was God and me, all the time.”[1] For Spencer as for Jesus, his connection to God in the wilderness is what enables him to survive – and indeed to hold hope that there may be life beyond. In the background of his image we see groves of green trees on the hillsides – signs of the resurrection that is to come at the end of the Lenten walk in the wilderness.

 

So what is this wilderness journey of Lent about for us?

I suspect that for all of us there are dark places – deep seated motivations and shadow sides to our personalities that we’d rather not take out and examine. If we accept the invitation to enter into the metaphorical wilderness for a time of stillness and quiet reflection with God, we will hear a call to explore the dark places of our soul.

To think about the things which motivate us. Which tempt us. These are the things that prevent us from living the fullest. Selfishness. Greed. Addictions. Illness. Desire for wealth. Lust for power. Each one of us will have our own list of things which not only damage or destroy our human relationships, but which ultimately have the potential to separate us from our God.

We are called to put down the temptations the things that bind us. This is actually what happens every Sunday when we say a prayer of confession: one of my teachers at college used to say that the prayer of confession is an opportunity for us to: “Put our shit down.” We all need somewhere to put our shit. Because we are human beings who struggle with life, we need to be offered that opportunity every week. We do it at the start of a service so that once we’ve laid our “shit” at the foot of the cross, and have been reminded that God’s forgiveness is for us all, then we are freed to focus on God.

In this way, Lent is like a prolonged opportunity to unpack the things that tempt us, that bind us, to examine them, and then to choose to leave them behind at the foot of the cross.

So Lent, like a journey to the wilderness is a wild time, a waiting time, a time of preparation. To observe Lent is to actively spend the 40 days in the lead up to Easter waiting on God. Listening to God. Being open to where the Spirit of God might lead you. Far from being a time to give up chocolate to let the world see what a spiritual giant you are, Lent ought to be a time of growth and deepening faith. It is a journey that for some of us is deeply private. For others, a study group or opportunity to share with one another is really helpful. Choose the method that helps you most – it doesn’t matter which it is – merely that you take the first step.

So I invite you to travel the journey of Lent. To open yourselves up to the voice of God and see how God might be challenging you. Inviting you to lay down your burdens. Encouraging you to grow. Inviting you forward to follow him. Come.

[1] Schama, Simon, Hang Ups: Essays on Painting (mostly). BBC Books, London 2004. (p132 on iPad)