The Shaping Wilderness
Growing up I was involved in Boys
Scouts which meant I spent quite a few perfectly good weekends out in the
wilderness. I would also spend a week out of every summer going to Boy Scout
camp. As we got older a few of my fellow troop mates and I began exploring High
Adventure options that offered an even more challenging camping experience than
the normal “working on merit badges in the safety and comfort of the camp”
experience that everyone else had. I remember one experience in particular that
shaped me out in West Texas at Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch.
We had
spent the first portion of our week on a fairly easy trail backpacking through
the beautiful Davis Mountains seeing the sights and enjoying the fresh air.
After about three days, we hiked back into base camp to restock on supplies and
then prepare ourselves for the next challenge: the black trail. The black trail
wound out of the back of camp and went up to the scenic overlook known as
Whiskey Bottle Flat. Now you might be wondering: why such an ominous name for a
trail? In the span of only 1.5 miles the black trail takes hikers up an
elevation of 1,100 ft! Imagine doing that with a 50lb backpack on your
back…you’re essentially crawling up the hill. This trail is not for the faint
of heart. It took our group about 5 hours to make it up to the top and onto the
flat. Then before we had a chance to set up camp it began to pour down rain on
us. We had just enough time to set up some tarps and get ourselves and our gear
underneath.
As it
continued to rain we quickly realized that our gear was still going to get
drenched because of the water flowing across the ground. As we were desperately
tried to block the water from coming underneath the tarp one of our adult
leaders, who was an engineer by trade, quickly said “Boys! BOYS! Do not fight
the water…you must guide the water.” He began digging a trench that we joined
in constructing that moved the water away from our gear so it wouldn’t get
completely soaked. As the rain continued and eventually subsided we checked on
the trench, added to it and monitored it so that our group and our gear stayed
as dry as possible. Don’t fight the water…guide the water.
When it
comes to the wilderness we tend to think of it in our terms. The wilderness is
a nice place to visit, but I’d rather not stay there. The wilderness is all
those pretty pictures of Yellowstone or some other national park. The wilderness
is at camp! The wilderness is okay as long as it has a working bathroom and
shower attached to it. I really like the wilderness especially when it includes
four wheels, a bed and has my satellite dish attached to it. We have this
uncanny ability to really take all of the power and punch out of the
wilderness. We don’t fight the wilderness… we crush it utterly with our highly
developed brains and technology. Are we really experiencing the wilderness in
these times? How often do we let the wilderness guide us?
So maybe that just pertains to the
physical wilderness…but what about the mental, emotional or spiritual
wilderness? Is it really different? Do we really want to go there either? It’s
painful to go there. It hurts. It’s scary. It’s uncomfortable. There’s a chance
we might not find our way out or just like the black trail it can escalate
quickly. Unlike the physical wilderness we have a harder time shaping these
frontiers but they certainly shape us. Maybe you’re stuck in one of these
wilderness areas right now wondering when you might get out of it. One course
of action might be to simply to ignore it, push it down, act like it’s not
happening, work hard to move on but what if you can’t? We’ve all wandered these
wilderness areas at some point, how do we find our way out?
In our Gospel for today Jesus
travels into the wilderness after receiving his identity in the baptism by John
in the Jordan. We’re reminded of the familiar words “You are my Son, the one
whom I love. With you I am very pleased.” Then it’s off to the wilderness. Just so we are clear on this it’s not his
love of camping that moves Jesus to go into the wilderness. Actually the text
says that the Spirit drives him into
the wilderness. The Greek word the Marken writer uses is ἐκβάλλω or literally “to throw”. The spirit
picked up Jesus and threw him out into the wilderness. In the wilderness Jesus
endures temptation or testing by Satan and even confronts the wild beasts. He’s
not alone; we are told that angels waited on him. Jesus then emerges from his
wilderness experience shaped and changed. He comes proclaiming a new message,
the good news. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;
repent, and believe in the good news.” The kingdom of God is here, close to us,
right here and right now! Turn around! Believe in this good news!
The
story doesn’t end with the wilderness, but with a proclamation of the good news
of God’s reign. The powers of the wilderness and the powers of the world do not
have the final say. The same is true of our story. Though we may wander in a
wilderness that is either physical, mental, emotional or spiritual the good
news is that Jesus has wandered there first. We don’t have to fight the
wilderness, Jesus has already done that. We are called to venture into the
wilderness during this season of Lent. Not to crush it with our highly
developed brain, but to sit in ashes and really experience the wilderness. To
let the wilderness experience shape and change us so that we can look at and
follow the one who is our guide. That’s how we get out of the wilderness. Jesus
has been there before and will guide us through. Believe in this good news!
How is the Spirit
throwing you into the wilderness during this Lenten season? How will you
respond? Will you fight it or guide it? May we turn around and believe in the
good news. May we wander in the wilderness and let it shape us. And may we
always remember that Jesus has gone before us into every wilderness place so
that he can guide us through it. Amen
