February 10, 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n Aldred Neufeldt<\/strong><\/p>\n Text:<\/strong><\/p>\n Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7<\/strong><\/p>\n Psalm 32<\/strong><\/p>\n Romans 5:12-19<\/strong><\/p>\n Matthew 4:1-11<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n Through much of my life I have had some discomfort with Lent.\u00a0 In this, I\u2019ve discovered, I\u2019m not alone.\u00a0 It seems this phenomenon is not peculiarly Mennonite, nor recent. It probably dates back to post-reformation times when newly emerging churches were anxious to get away from \u2018high church\u2019 liturgical worship.\u00a0 More recently, such antipathy no doubt has been reinforced by the association of Lent with Mardi Gras and Carnival.<\/p>\n That said, in recent years there has been an upswing of interest in Lent as a season of preparation \u2013 as is reflected in the series of Sunday services we are about to embark on.\u00a0 In this, we\u2019re part of a larger movement seeking to recover some aspects of Christian tradition to refocus on spirituality in a culture that is increasingly secular.<\/p>\n In this message I want to concentrate on the wilderness experience as it relates to the Lenten season.\u00a0 But before that, let\u2019s think a little more about the nature and sources of our \u2013 or, at least \u2018my\u2019 \u2013 discomfort with Lent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Discomfort with Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n The truth of the matter is I didn\u2019t pay much attention to the Lenten season until some time in the past 15 years or so.\u00a0 In fact, for many years I didn\u2019t know the answer to such a simple question as: if Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the Thursday before Good Friday (Maundy Thursday), and there are 6 Sundays in Lent, how come we talk about Lent as being 40 days?\u00a0\u00a0 Had someone asked me, I probably could have figured it out, but the answer wasn\u2019t on the tip of my tongue.\u00a0 In other words, Lent didn\u2019t mean much to me.<\/p>\n This absence of meaning has its roots in my childhood. Our tiny country church at Horse Lake where we first lived didn\u2019t make much of Lent.\u00a0 Nor did our church in Rosthern, where we moved when I was in Grade 6. Compared to Horse Lake, Rosthern was a big town.\u00a0 Even so, most everyone kind of knew what everyone else did, or at least had an opinion about it.\u00a0 And, I heard it said that Lent was something the Catholics did \u2013 maybe Anglicans \u2013 and, while I don\u2019t recall it ever being said, my sense was that it wasn\u2019t something we did as Mennonites.<\/p>\n To back up a bit, Rosthern had a population of about 1000, and 10 or 11 churches. About 300 or 400 attended our Mennonite Church. The others either didn\u2019t go to church or belonged to one of the other 10 or so.\u00a0 Two (2) were Catholic.\u00a0 And, we knew that those two Catholic churches didn\u2019t like each other very much \u2013 the Roman and the Orthodox, as we called them.\u00a0 But, when it came to Lent, our understanding was that they both did it \u2013 what ever it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n I had the vague sense that we Mennonites didn\u2019t do that sort of thing because Lent came out of the same tradition as the indulgences. If one were to believe what some people said, the whole idea of Lent was an excuse for a good party before Lent began \u2013 a party that might last several days.\u00a0 There was no television, and people didn\u2019t travel all that much, so we didn\u2019t know about Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or Carnival in Rio.\u00a0 But, some of us heard tell of folk in Rosthern who ate and drank to excess just before Lent, and then went to confession, and fasted during Lent.\u00a0 A few of the older kids I knew were secretly envious of the idea of having a 3-day party; but, the idea that one should then go to confession and fast, well that was a bit too much.<\/p>\n Of course, what I discovered some years later was a very different picture – that most practicing Catholics didn\u2019t party excessively in the days leading up to Lent, and they took the fasting and prayer as a welcome spiritual discipline.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ash Wednesday \u2013 now, that was different.\u00a0 We would be reminded in church that Ash Wednesday marked when Jesus went out into the wilderness, just like it says in Matt. 4:1 – \u201cJesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness\u2026\u201d\u00a0 And everyone my age knew that going out to the wilderness meant some wild and desolate place \u2013 a place where one could die of thirst or starvation.\u00a0 Stories of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years came to mind \u2013 and of Moses striking a rock so they wouldn\u2019t die of thirst, or of the manna from heaven so people wouldn\u2019t starve.\u00a0 Much of that had been desert, hadn\u2019t it? \u2013 Or, maybe it was rocky wasteland \u2013 whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, the wilderness was not a place where anyone would choose to go \u2013 at least that was my impression.\u00a0 But, if the Spirit says \u2018go\u2019, well then, I guessed, you just had to go \u2013 just like Moses or John the Baptist \u2013 you\u2019d go there to fast, probably because there was no other option, and you\u2019d wait for a revelation from God leading to a deeper truth.\u00a0 At age 10 or 11, that seemed to me something akin to what my father told me about the life of our Aboriginal neighbors \u2013 how boys when they were adolescents would fast until they had a vision, and see some animal or bird come to them with a message, and that would be their guide.\u00a0 My father wasn\u2019t too sure whether that was a good thing or not, but I was impressed.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t totally sure why Jesus went into the wilderness.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t make much sense to me that he went to have a vision about a deeper truth.\u00a0 He already had that, I thought.\u00a0 What I did know is that the Spirit led him there to be tested by the devil \u2013 tested not with awful experiences, but with good stuff \u2013 like the power to turn stones into bread, or the possibility of having lots of earthly power, or to avoid losing his life \u2013 and He turned that down \u2013 He resisted temptation to have the good life, something I thought few mortal men would be able to do.\u00a0 Instead, he came out of the wilderness, knowing he was going to be crucified.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, that WAS impressive. So, Ash Wednesday was a fitting day to remember this super human willingness to be tested, and to be prepared to die a horrible death for us \u2013 and to rise again on Easter.\u00a0<\/p>\n Preparation begins in the Wilderness.<\/strong><\/p>\n So, in remembrance of this, Lent is a time of preparation.\u00a0 And, it begins in the wilderness: \u201cJesus w The notion of wilderness is a powerful one.\u00a0 It is dominant theme throughout the Old Testament, beginning with the Garden of Eden, and continues in the Gospel accounts of the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 It continues to have a powerful influence on human beings in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n My childhood notion of the wilderness as a place of danger<\/strong> is, I suspect, relatively common.\u00a0 The image<\/strong> of wilderness as a place of danger fits with the words etymology – derived from the notion of wildness<\/em> or that which is not controllable by humans, and before that from an Old English word (wildeornes) <\/em>meaning \u2018wild beast\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet, that is by no means the only image one might have.\u00a0 In fact, had I thought about it as a youth, my conclusion about the wilderness Jesus entered didn\u2019t square very well with my own experience.\u00a0 During the earliest years we lived right beside a large forest reserve \u2013\u00a0 one that my town and city cousins found quite intimidating. To them, this was a vast wilderness.\u00a0 But, for me it was a place of\u00a0 adventure \u2013 a place to look for wild berries, or go in search of wild deer.\u00a0 Yes, there were coyotes and wolves out there, and one wouldn\u2019t want to go very far into the forest without some preparation \u2013 especially in winter \u2013 but, it wasn\u2019t a scary place.\u00a0 It was a place of beauty, where one could be alone with nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n This fits the dictionary definition<\/strong> of wilderness as \u201ca wild and uninhabited area\u2019.\u00a0 That is, it is uninhabited by human beings.\u00a0 It could be a forest or a wide barren plain, a desert or a mountain range.\u00a0 And, it fits with a second image<\/strong> of the wilderness \u2013 as an aspect of God\u2019s creation, to be treated with awe and respect.\u00a0 <\/strong>How else to describe our fondness for excursions to Algonquin park, or the lake country, or the Bruce trail.\u00a0 Indeed, wilderness is something with which Canada is richly blessed \u2013 something one gets reminded of by visitors from densely populated countries in Europe or Asia.<\/p>\n But, as any number of writers have observed, this definition of “wilderness” would not exist if it were not for human beings. The wilderness concept only exists in the minds of humans.\u00a0 As such, it is a human construction \u2013 something that we give meaning to.\u00a0<\/p>\n Think of how you respond when you are out alone in what we think of as a wilderness, perhaps with a few family or friend, and then you encounter unanticipated others.\u00a0 As I have observed others in this situation, some seem to be overjoyed, talking excitedly, making plans to meet again. My impression is that such folk really are strangers to the wilderness, much more comfortable in towns or cities.\u00a0 While I\u2019m much too civil to say it, my inside response tends to be, \u2018what are you doing here\u2019?\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019d like to enjoy this unique space only with those I choose to be with\u2019.<\/p>\n One of my passions in Calgary has been to hike in the mountains.\u00a0 A few years ago a friend and I scrambled to the top of a mountain near Canmore. We wheezed up a steep, backcountry trail that gradually left the forest and then over a windswept barren of shale to the top we looked over a cliff\u2019s edge towards the Bow River valley. There is nothing quite like getting to the top of a mountain.\u00a0 The sense of accomplishment is the smallest part.\u00a0 Much more importantly, one is struck by the awesomeness of God\u2019s creation, and how small one is in contrast. Not infrequently, one starts to reflect on the meaning of life.<\/p>\n So, my friend and I sat there, eating our lunch, lost in thought, and enjoying the scenery.\u00a0 Some minutes later we thought we heard some voices.\u00a0 Looking back at the barren slope we had traversed, there was no one to be seen.\u00a0 Perhaps, we thought, it had been the wind.\u00a0 All of a sudden, up popped a head, peeking over the cliff\u2019s edge just in front of us; and, after a few moments, one, two, three people clambered over.\u00a0 They had climbed the 1000 foot cliff face.\u00a0 What a surprise \u2013 but, it also was an intrusion into the reverie we had been experiencing<\/strong> \u2013 a disappointment of the first order.<\/p>\n This sense of \u2018intrusion into our space\u2019 suggests a third image<\/strong> of wilderness \u2013 wilderness as a place of encounter<\/strong> \u2013 a place where we encounter our inner self<\/strong>.\u00a0 The wilderness<\/strong>, in this sense, is defined by our experience as human beings<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its original sense, wilderness was a physical place where humans were at the mercy of wild beasts, or the elements.\u00a0 Today, that notion has been turned on its head \u2013 just watch tourists scrambling out of their cars at the side of roads to take pictures of or feed wild bears \u2013 with little respect for the animals, and no thought there might be danger.\u00a0 Or the millions of people who travel into wilderness areas with little more than the clothes on their back, assuming they will be safe from the elements. In short, the natural wilderness no longer is a place where humans feel at the mercy of beasts or the elements.\u00a0 Indeed, a vast portion of humankind has become quite arrogant about its relationship to the natural wilderness.<\/p>\n But, as external threats have dissipated in our minds, we have become more aware of the elemental forces of our own inner selves.\u00a0 In other words, the wilderness can be found in our own inner being<\/strong>.\u00a0 We recognize it in phrases such as emotional or psychological wilderness, or someone is in a political wilderness, a spiritual wilderness and so on.\u00a0\u00a0 These kinds of thoughts come to mind at times of personal crisis \u2013 a job loss, a failed relationship, facing death in oneself or a loved one.\u00a0 I am having something of a wilderness experience at present as I contemplate retirement. A congregation in crisis can have a wilderness experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n This kind of wilderness is one where all the familiar markers associated with being in control are gone. It\u2019s a time when we discover our nakedness \u2013 a nakedness that is not so dissimilar from that recognized by Adam and Eve when they ate the forbidden fruit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The account of Jesus\u2019 experience in the wilderness in many ways is a metaphor for this third image. The wilderness was not only the physical place he went, although it was that.\u00a0 It also was where he faced the temptations to take control of his personal destiny<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is a temptation all of us can identify with.\u00a0 A common fear is that \u2018I won\u2019t be able to be in control\u2019 \u2013 to make my own decisions, to be in control of my career, my life, my whatever.\u00a0 Yet, as Jesus knew, control is an illusion \u2013 a lesson most everyone is confronted with out at one time or another in their lives.<\/p>\n Embracing the Wilderness<\/strong><\/p>\n This brings me to a final point about Lent.\u00a0 Lent is a time when we not only follow Jesus into the wilderness, but a time when we seek to embrace what the wilderness ha Forty days is a long time to be alone in the wilderness.\u00a0 One has the sense that Jesus was in some anguish as he wrestled with the temptations placed before him.\u00a0 Finally, he came to a point where he resolutely rejected the tempter, rejected the torment of the possibility of doing this or doing that, and embraced the insight that he (as all of us) was called to \u201cWorship the Lord your God, and serve only him\u201d (Matt. 4:10).\u00a0 It was then that he experienced God\u2019s grace, and was ministered to by the angels, giving him strength for the trials he was about to face.<\/p>\n One of the most difficult things to come to terms with when we have a wilderness experience is that it takes time to see our way through it.\u00a0 Forty days is not so long.\u00a0 Yet, most of us are impatient.\u00a0 We are so used to being on a schedule, to plan for this or that \u2013 to be in control of our lives.\u00a0 This is the social expectation.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, significant life experiences can\u2019t be scheduled.\u00a0 Our spiritual awakenings don\u2019t occur on schedule.\u00a0 And so, when a wilderness experience engulfs us, it is important to embrace the wilderness and give it time \u2013 one has to wait.<\/p>\n Henri Nouwen observes that waiting is essential to the spiritual life.\u00a0 \u201cBut,\u201d he continues, \u201cwaiting as a disciple of Christ is not an empty waiting.\u00a0 It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for.\u201d [1] Lent is about awaiting the death and resurrection of Christ, and of his ascension.\u00a0 And, after the Ascension, we wait for his coming again.\u00a0 Nouwen observes that without waiting for the second coming, our spiritual lives will stagnate.\u00a0 That is at one level.<\/p>\n At a more immediate level, we wait for God to, in his grace, help us embrace the wilderness issues in our lives.\u00a0 Again, Nouwen asks: \u201cHow do we wait for God? We wait with patience.\u00a0 But, patience does not mean passivity.\u00a0 Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise.\u00a0 It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n And, one more thought from Nouwen \u2013 about the role of prayer in our lives.\u00a0 Prayer requires that we stand in God\u2019s presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and others that without God we can do nothing.\u00a0 This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is: \u201cDo your best, and God will do the rest.\u201d\u00a0 When life is divided into \u201cour best\u201d and \u201cGod\u2019s rest\u201d, we have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted.\u00a0 Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience.\u00a0 Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves.\u00a0 On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us.\u00a0 As disciples, we find not only some but all of our strength, hope, courage and confidence in God.<\/p>\n Lent, in this sense, is a time for us to rediscover that we are God\u2019s beloved, \u201cThough the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, sys the Lord<\/em>\u201d (Isaiah 54:10). It\u2019s a time to renew our spiritual energies, and be reminded that we are intimately loved long before family, or friends or work colleagues or schoolmates wounded us.\u00a0 Its also a time to remind ourselves that life is a God-given opportunity to affirm our own spiritual nature, and to say \u2018yes\u2019 to the One who calls us the Beloved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Embracing the Wilderness February 10, 2008 Aldred Neufeldt Text: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Psalm 32 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11 \u00a0 Introduction Through much of my life I have had some discomfort with Lent.\u00a0 In this, I\u2019ve discovered, I\u2019m not alone.\u00a0 It seems this phenomenon is not peculiarly Mennonite, nor recent. It probably dates back to post-reformation times when newly emerging churches were anxious to get away from \u2018high church\u2019 liturgical worship.\u00a0 More recently, such antipathy no doubt has been reinforced by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons-a-worship-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nas led by the Spirit into the wilderness\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ns to teach us so that, if we are patient, we can experience God\u2019s grace \u2013 and when that happens, we have had a deep spiritual experience.<\/p>\n