Sermon Tone Analysis

The Call of the Wilderness

1. Wilderness Refuge

a. John the Baptist lives in the wilderness

i.

The wilderness is not something to be avoided, but entered into

ii.

The wilderness is not a place of barrenness; it is a place of promise

b.

The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness

Luke 4:1

i. Jesus does not enter wilderness alone, but in the company of the Trinity

ii.

Jesus fasts for 40 days in preparation of God’s direction

The fasting in the Old Testament

The fasting of Moses and Jesus parallel each other indicating that this was a preparation for divine revelation

Scripture:

INTRODUCTION:

There seem to be two types of people in the world: those who love the wilderness, who camp, hike, hunt, and fish; and those who don’t, who prefer a Hilton with an indoor pool over a tent by a mountain stream.

Some view the untamed wild as an opportunity for adventure, challenge, and exploration.

Others view it as a beautiful sight to be viewed from the window of a chalet, where you don’t need to wear bug spray or worry about bears.

When we approach this text about wilderness, we tend to bring along our preconceived notions and preferences about wilderness too: either it’s a vast and beautiful wonder, or it’s a challenging and desolate landscape to be viewed from afar.

Wilderness for the Jews, however, would conjure up a very different image.

The image wouldn’t be of camping, as much as one of journeying.

It wouldn’t be of picture windows in mountain lodges, but of years looking out of tent flaps.

For them, the idea of wilderness would bring up images of Moses and the exodus.

Moses was led into the wilderness after killing the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.

The wilderness for Moses became a place of refuge, until the day he saw a burning bush.

Suddenly the wilderness became a place of calling, a place where God spoke, and he had the choice to answer.

Out of the place of calling, the wilderness became once again a place of refuge, not just for Moses this time but also for the Hebrew people, who fled the oppression of the Egyptians.

In that same wilderness that God spoke again, through the Ten Commandments, calling his people to be a people of covenant relationship with him and with one another.

The wilderness also became a place of provision, where the children of Israel were fed manna and quail, where water poured from rocks.

This wild and untamed wilderness, however, was not just a place of refuge, of calling, and of provision.

It was also a place of great temptation.

wild and untamed wilderness, however, was not just a place of refuge, of calling, and of provision.

It was also a place of great temptation.

Around every corner the children of Israel were tempted to forsake the God who was performing miracles before them.

They erected statues to worship, they grumbled about the food, they complained about the water.

Ultimately, when they were told to take the promised land, they fell into the temptation of not trusting God, and they were forced to wander the wilderness for forty years.

These forty years of temptation and trial, of hope and promise, are what we see reflected in these forty days of Jesus’s wilderness journey.

It is a time when he too finds refuge, calling, temptation, and provision in the midst of the wild.

To begin, let us look at the ...

1. Wilderness Refuge

It is interesting that most would feel the wilderness a place to be avoided and yet it is the wilderness where we find Jesus predecessor John the Baptist.

a. John the Baptist, a wild man who lives in the wilderness prepares the way

Chapter 3 talks of John the Baptist, who is described as a wild man who lives in the wilderness and talks about being the one coming to prepare the way.

He quotes Isaiah giving us the image of crooked paths being made straight.

Luke 3:

We talked of this at Christmas.

Our lives can be crazy winding this way and that way, making it difficult to know the right path to navigate.

However, in Jesus we see the straight path to salvation.

He makes our paths straight if only we will listen.

So we find that...

i. Wilderness, then, is not something to be avoided but, rather, is something that Christ enters into.

He demonstrates the way for us the path we all need to take.

We all make our beginning in the wilderness.

I cannot remember a single person who has followed Christ who does not share their beginning in a wilderness experience.

The wilderness is not a place to fear because the...

ii.

Wilderness is not just a place of barrenness; it is also a place of promise.

If we look back at all the various adventures through the wilderness; Abraham, Moses, the Children of Israel, King David and Jesus, we find that it is always in the wilderness where God’s promises are shared.

That is why it is the Holy Spirit who leads Jesus into the wilderness.

(Do not read b.)

b.

The Holy Spirit is the one who leads Jesus into the wilderness.

God always has a plan and God has something He wishes to accomplish in Jesus life before He sends Him into ministry.

Yet Jesus does not enter the wilderness alone.

i. Jesus enters into the wilderness in the company of the Trinity.

God sent his Spirit upon Jesus when Jesus was baptized and the Spirit leads Jesus in the ways God would have Him to travel.

The first place He takes Jesus is into the wilderness.

Jesus is following in the path of those who have gone before him.

Abraham who was called to leave Ur and travel to Canaan.

Moses who fled Egypt and later returned for the Israelites who then journeyed through the wilderness.

King David as he alluded Saul’s murderous rampage and even John the Baptist who seemed to dwell there.

The wilderness is a place of beginning.

Once in the wilderness we see...

ii.

Jesus fasts for forty days while in the wilderness.

Moses fasted for forty days and nights () as he prepared for the revelation of God on the stone tablets.

1. Fasting in the Old Testament was often preparation for divine revelation.

Forty appears to have some importance as it is used 146 times in the scriptures.

While others fasted for 40 days...

1. Fasting in the Old Testament was often preparation for divine revelation.

Forty is literally used 146 times in scripture.

We are in a time if Lent which consists of 40 days

2. The fasting of Moses and Jesus parallel each other in such a way that it is clear that this is a time of preparation for a divine revelation.

Like Moses, Jesus is specifically seeking to hear from God.

Of course, this was not the only time Jesus pulled away from people to hear from God, but this one is particularly significant since it was at the beginning and for a full 40-days.

Like Moses and Jesus...

c.

We too can find refuge in the wilderness.

i.

We are led into wild places of our lives.

While we often resist these places, they can be times of refuge and formation.

Such times consist of job losses, illness, family difficulties, any time that something happens to upset the equilibrium of our lives can be considered wilderness experiences.

My first real experience with the wilderness of this sort was a tough job assignment.

I worked in a corporate office that was demanding both of time and interpersonal relationships.

The overtime required was atrocious and the conflict within the office untenable.

Yet as I prayed to be released from this assignment I felt God calling me to stay.

I did not understand and it was not uncommon for me to go home in tears.

Little did I know then that it was a place of training for me to enter the ministry.