Worship - 9 March 2025

Summary of this week's theme

One of the things I admire about the Jewish approach to scripture is its expectation that each generation will engage with sacred texts—questioning, debating, and wondering. Wondering engages our imaginations and often leads to new insights.

So, I’ve been wondering about Jesus in the wilderness. The term ‘wilderness’ can evoke different images: a deserted place, a place of solitude, or even a place of struggle. A famous painting, Christ in the Desert by Ivan Kramskoi, captures Jesus in deep contemplation, portraying his struggle with temptation as a pivotal moment for humanity.

But the temptations described by Luke come at the end of his time in the wilderness. So what was Jesus doing during those forty days? Did he simply sit in stillness all the time? Unlikely. Some of us engage in contemplation through movement, so I imagine Jesus walking, wondering, and being captivated by the created world around him - and perhaps feeling a connection with his ancestors, the people of Israel, as they wandered through the wilderness.

Jesus was led into the wilderness, to learn about himself and his ministry. He wrestled with his purpose and resisted the temptations of quick fixes, spectacle, and control. These temptations - being useful, relevant, and noticeable - mirror our own struggles. They can stem from an internal accuser, pushing us toward impatience and even bargaining with God. We see this throughout scripture, including the Israelites’ forty-year wilderness journey.

At the heart of this is our desire for God’s nearness, a longing that is both sustaining and strengthening. A puppy trainer once told a couple to tie their dog to a door and ignore it until it calmed down, then reward it with affection. The puppy's deepest desire was simply to be near them. How much simpler faith would be if we could embrace God’s nearness as easily!

This is what Jesus realised in the wilderness: that despite all that had happened and would happen, God’s nearness would sustain him. The Apostle Paul echoes this truth, writing that the saving word is ‘near you, on your lips and in your heart,’ without distinction or discrimination. This is the essence of Christian community: setting aside differences to recognise that Jesus, the Living Word, draws near to all. .

Lent calls us to stand - or wander - in solidarity with Jesus in the wilderness, allowing it to reveal truths about ourselves and our place in God’s world. Through wondering, we may discover something new - not only about God but about ourselves.