3-4-19 - From River to Desert

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

On the first Sunday in Lent, we skip back to where we were the first Sunday in Epiphany, back to that Jordan River where Jesus is baptized, anointed by the Holy Spirit and affirmed by the voice of God proclaiming, “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit in that moment, but he doesn’t get to dwell for long in the water or the delight of his heavenly father. No, the Spirit who fills him hurries him on to the next step in his mission: a period of trial.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

It often seems that really fruitful, beautiful times in our lives are followed by dry periods, times of trial and testing. Is this a pattern of God’s design? Are there things we can only learn in the wilderness times? Certainly the dry spells aren’t as joy-filled as those seasons when we feel ourselves alive in the current of Living Water flowing from the throne of God. But maybe they’re as important.

Later this week we will enter the season of Lent, when we might voluntarily choose desert over river, seeking to strip away some of the clutter and chatter that fill our lives and can keep us from learning to depend wholly on God. Do you feel led to give something up (social media, dessert), or take something on (a ministry of giving, a spiritual discipline)? 

My congregations have been learning and taking on spiritual practices during our Way of Love journey this Epiphany season, and there may be some you’ve been wanting to try out or incorporate. Ask the Holy Spirit, “Where are you leading me this Lent? What comfort zones or avoidance activities are you leading me away from? What practices and patterns are you leading me into?” Listen before deciding.

Of course, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness (or drove him, as Mark has it…) for a specific purpose, to be tested and tried and tempted and toughened for the mission ahead. I can’t be sure where the Spirit will have us go, but I do believe she wants us ready for action. So let’s be open to how the Spirit will prepare us for our part in God’s great mission of wholeness and reconciliation.

The river is lovely, and we'll get to come back. Now it just might be desert time.

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