A Simple Journey
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we started to explore the idea of journeying through the wilderness with Jesus for Lent. We looked at how wilderness worship might be different from other kinds of worship we may have experienced. Some worship involves singing songs or hymns, using guitars or choirs or organs. Some worship includes prayers that have many words, using a formal liturgy. Some worship requires a lot of technology, or props, or people to make it happen. But wilderness worship is differs from all of that.
Today we are going to look at aspects of wilderness worship that Jesus engaged in.
Solitude
Solitude
The first thing we notice about Jesus is that He walked away from the crowds and often spent time alone. In the passage in Luke, which we have read, He spends 40 days and nights in this lonely place. Luke also tells of another time when,
“the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16)
We might have different responses to the idea of solitude. Some of us will be very scared of spending time alone – we know that we are extroverts who enjoy people’s company and need the affirmation of our friends, families and co-workers. Others of us will think that this sounds like a great idea – finally, a bit of privacy; a bit of peace!
The Dutch pastor and theologian Henri Nouwen (1932-96) wrote a book about the Desert Fathers and Mothers – a group of Christians from the 4th and 5th Century who revived the idea of desert spirituality at a time when the church was becoming increasingly institutionalised. In it, Nouwen warns us against seeing solitude as simply as a quiet place to recharge our batteries, and then go on with life as usual. He writes:
“solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, a place where the old self dies and the new self is born… In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding: no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract… We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with Him and Him alone.” (Henri Nouwen, The Way of The Heart, p. 27, 30.)
The main reason Jesus sought solitude was to be with His heavenly Father. How can we, today, choose to cut into our busy schedules and demanding relationships? Is it possible to spend some moments each week with no agenda but to be with God? How can we see time alone as a place of transformation, where we are changed to relate to the world in a new and more godly way?
Simplicity
Simplicity
The second thing we notice about Jesus is how He rejects unnecessary baggage.
“The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.’” (Luke 4:5-6)
Jesus knows it is so easy to “gain the world” yet “lose your soul” (Luke 9:25), so He rebukes the devil. How many of the advertisements that surround us every day are about “gaining the world”, or achieving more “authority and splendour”? How often are we tempted to buy yet more clothes, or upgrade to a better gadget, or invest in a bigger car?
Jesus was a homeless man (Luke 9:58). His only possessions seems to have been one set of clothes (John 19:23). When He sends out the 72 in Luke 10:1-4, He tells them: “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals” (Luke 10:4). It is not wrong for us to have homes, clothes and other possessions, but Jesus’ example should cause us to question whether we need quite as many things as the adverts tell us we do.
Wilderness worship might ask us to consider whether we rely too much on things - even good things - instead of trusting in God. Maybe walking away from our warm homes and taking a prayer hike through the woods might help you see God afresh. Perhaps putting your smartphone away for a day might give you a new perspective on life and faith. Maybe turning off the music and the radio, sitting silently in God’s presence, might be a form of simple, wilderness worship that restores your soul more than you realise.
Fasting
Fasting
This leads us on to one of the most obvious things about Jesus’ time in the wilderness - the fact that He fasted from food. The first temptation attacks this directly:
“The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’” (Luke 4:3)
Notice that the devil doesn’t say “You must be hungry”, even though we know Jesus is feeling the effects of His forty day fast. He goes to the real heart of the matter - “if you are the Son of God…” Fasting is not about showing people how spiritual we are, or cajoling God into answering our prayers. It comes down to the basis of our identity. Who are we, or perhaps more importantly whose are we? It reminds us that, more than food, our lives are sustained by the word of God, by Jesus the Word spoken to create us and in whom ”all things hold together.” (Col. 1:17). So Jesus responds using the words from Deuteronomy 8:3 that we read last week:
“‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Luke 4.4)
Now, literal fasting from food continued through the time of Jesus and into the early church (Matt. 9:15).
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Many Christians today still fast regularly. It may be that during this Lent season you may choose to give up some meal times, and to spend the time you would have been eating in prayer with God. If you have never tried it, I would encourage you to start small and gradually build up. However, I would say, only do it for the right reasons – to focus on God. In Acts 13:2-3 the whole point was to draw near to God in order to discern His will.
But there are also other types of fast we can do. Isaiah 58:6 talks about a fast where people choose to put injustice right. 1 Corinthians 7:5 describes a fast where married couples refrain from physical intimacy for a time in order to focus on praying. These two things should show us that we can fast in other ways than from food. Could you “fast” in a positive way like in Isaiah 58, by helping a homeless person on the street, befriending a lonely person at school, or standing up for a mistreated person at work?
Conclusion
Conclusion
Perhaps the larger question in all this is: what would be the thing that you most rely on? Are you in danger of getting your identity from that, instead of God? Is it your lifestyle that defines who you are?
As Jesus Himself said:
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
The whole point of our Lenten journey is to worship God and learn His will for our lives.
As Paul says:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Amen.