OF TIDES AND RHYTHMS

Hebrew Scripture: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

Psalm: Psalm 119: 1-8

Life is a gift from our God who is the author of all, the source from whom all things come and the Lord to whom all the world and its resources belong. Life is a gift and all that we have is a gift from our Creator God.

Life is about receiving and giving … receiving and giving ... receiving and giving in endless succession. It is about blessing and being blessed, being blessed and blessing others- being filled up and emptying out ... being filled up and emptying out over and over again. It is about loving and being loved, being loved and loving others. Serving and being served, being served and serving It is about the rhythm of life that must be honored or life itself ceases.

The farmers turn the soil folding in last season’s growth to be this year‘s nutrients. That which has received gives; that which has given receives. Being blessed and blessing others. Receiving and giving ... :filling up and emptying out ... life’s

rhythms: nature and life are full of examples. The tide flows and brings life-giving nutrients from the deepest part of the ocean to the marshes and rivers, the coves and the streams ... the tide ebbs and carries the gifts of the mountains and the orchards, the fields and the forests to refresh the depths.

The new-born child responds to the cool air and the doctor~ slap by lifting the shoulders and filling the lungs with oxygen, the gift of every green plant on earth. So begins the transaction that will continue as long as the child lives. The child receives oxygen, the gifts of the plants and trees, in order to be able to drop the shoulders and empty the lungs and give forth the carbon dioxide which will give breath to God’s green children.

Receiving and giving – Blessed and blessing, filling up and emptying out ... life‘s rhythms: such are basic to the way in which God has put this world together. Receiving and giving …:filling up and emptying out ... life’s rhythms: the law is unalterable, the rhythms must be honored or life itself ceases.

Nature is replete with examples of this receiving and giving rhythm, but also has examples of receiving without giving. Without exception these examples are ominous.

The Dead Sea: from the Jordan River receives fresh, clear, mineral rich waters – waters which are filled with life. Yet the Dead Sea, because it has no outlet, poisons itself with those very riches. Located in the depths of the rift, the heat of the sun evaporates the water, and leaves the richness of minerals in such profusion that the lake is capable of supporting no life. To receive without giving is death… to receive and give is to live.

Black holes: these celestial attractors are so powerful that they draw to themselves all that is in their sway – planets, stars, even light itself — but they are lifeless consumers, imploding within themselves and rendering themselves perpetually unsatisfied, because the volume of that which they swallow makes them ever more incapable of giving forth anything.

* * * * *

To receive without giving is death ... to receive and give is to live.

Our scripture lesson from the Hebrew book of law , Deuteronomy, carries this idea of receiving and giving and its rhythms into the realm of all life. “ See I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity… I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him and holding fast to him, for that means life to you …”

It is about following the ways of God, seeking love and justice and giving receiving. It is true that we are blessed by God, guided by God’s commands and by walking in love that we fulfill the commands and ordinances and in that way we have life. We are blessed to be a blessing.

Receiving to give, and giving to receive ... these are the life rhythms of creation. Having emptiness filled, and sharing the fullness which one receives: these are the rhythms of our faith.

Equally could we say, It is about giving and receiving ... blessing and being blessed … giving and receiving ... in endless succession. It is about being emptied out to be filled up again ... blessing to be blessed again ... being emptied out to be filled up over and over again. It is about the rhythm of life that must be honored if life is to be enjoyed by all creation.

There is a story that tells of the way. The writer states

Ballad of o Desert Pete ¹

I was travelin’ West of Buckskin on my way to a cattle run, ‘cross a little cactus desert under a hard bargaining sun. Thirsty down to my toenails, I stopped to rest me on a stump, but I tell you I just couldn’t believe it when I saw that water pump.

I took it to be a mirage at first. It’ll fool a thirsty man. Then I saw a note stuck in a bakin’ powder can. This pump is old, the note began, but she works. So give’erⁱ a try. I put a new sucker washer in ‘er. You may find the leather dry.

Chorus:

You’ve got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive.

Drink all the water you can hold. Wash your face to your feet. Leave the bottle full for others.Thank you kindly, Desert Pete.

Yeah, you‘ll have to prime the pump, work that handle like there’s a fire. Under the

rock you’ll find some water left there in a bitter’s jar. Now there’s just enough to prime it with, so don’t you go drinkin’ first. Just pour it in and pump like mad and, buddy, you‘ll quench your thirst.

(Chorus)

Well, I found the jar, and I tell you, nothin’ was ever prettier to my eye and I was tempted strong to drink it because that pump looked mighty dry, but the note went on, Have faith, my friend,there’s water down below. You’ve got to give to really get. I’m the one who ought to know.

So I poured in the jar and started pumpin’ and I heard a beautiful sound of water bubblin’ ‘n’ splashin’ up out of that hole in the ground. Then I took off my shoes and drunk my fill of that cold refreshin’ treat. Then I thanked the Lord, and I thanked the pump, and I thanked old Desert Pete.

(Chorus)

For almost 2000 years people of faith have gathered to worship of God, trusting

God, believing God and you and I have been fed and watered and nurtured by their faith,

their sacrifice, their commitment- their gifts of time, treasure and talents. For several hundred years , people have gathered here for worship. We have drawn from the well and in fact sometimes we have even taken more out than we have given in- We have been blessed so that we might be a blessing! But often we have held tight to the blessings and in so doing missed a greater blessing yet to come.

Life is about giving and receiving, receiving and giving, giving and receiving, ebbing and flowing, flowing and ebbing, being blessed and blessing others... blessing and being blessed. Loving and being loved. Being loved and loving. Serving and being served, being served and serving again.

Everything is of God. All belongs to God yet we have often acted as if it was ours to take, to do, and not replenish. For us who seek to follow Jesus the way is clear. All that occurred before the resurrection was Jesus‘ time of giving to the disciples, to others and to you and to me.. All that comes after the resurrection is to be for us to give to him, to others, to seek peace and justice and for us to live life Jesus’ way.

In the true spiritual life, it is true, we rise by sinking, we live by dying, we conquer by surrendering, we learn by becoming a fool, we get filled by being emptied, we become strong by perfect helplessness, we save by losing, we are made rich by our poverty, we rule over others by being servants to them, we make others rich by having nothing, we shine by giving up our brilliancy, we fight by keeping still, we triumph by being subdued, we promote ourselves by by blessing others, we win a crown by bearing a cross. We are blessed as we bless others. As we choose life and hold fast to God’s commands, life is ours now and for all time.

0 God help us always to be ones who give in your name, trusting your ways. Amen

A sermon shared at Chilmark Community Church, Chilmark, November 13, 2011 by the Rev. David Christensen

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See Poem and talk below:

Sonnet #14 by John Donne (1572-1631)

Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.

I, like an unsurp’d town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captive’d, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be love’d fain,
But am betroth’d unto  your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again.

Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Welcome to 12th grade English. We’re going to talk about Holy Sonnet 14 by John Donne, usually titled by it’s first three words: Batter My Heart. There’s a copy in your bulletin.

I have never been (so far anyway) a religious person in the ordinary sense of the word. In all the 38 years I taught, often in schools with religious affiliations, I never went to church or chapel if I didn’t have to (I often had to). I was never anti-religious or scornful of religious persons, but it just wasn’t my thing. If pressed, I would described myself as an agnostic — someone who reserves judgment on most religious topics: maybe there’s a God who takes an interest in humans, and maybe there isn’t; I just don’t know.

However, I could quite honestly tell my students that this poem (along with a couple by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and maybe a few others) helped me to get inside the head of someone who is religious. I don’t mean to say that all religious persons think or feel alike, only that John Donne is one I think I understand. I hope that some of my students came to understand this point of view too.

John Donne wasn’t always a religious person. Au contraire. In fact, in the canon of English literature, there are two John Donnes. The young John Donne was one of the cavalier poets. These were young intellectuals who hung out in coffee houses and taverns, drinking, gambling, and wenching. Donne inherited a considerable fortune and spent it all in a few years of this kind of life. Some of his pals you might recognize: Robert Herrick, Sir John Suckling, Richard Lovelace, Edward Herbert. They wrote very clever, often very racy poems about, mostly, love. Donne wrote some excellent poems in this genre some of which I could even assign my students.

One of the trademarks of the cavalier poets was what is called a “metaphysical conceit.” These were paradoxes comparing things that no would ever think could be compared. For example, imagine a bunch of guys sitting around a tavern and somebody says, “Bet you can’t write a love poem about a flea.” Donne wrote a poem called “The Flea” in which he imagines a flea biting both himself and his mistress, combining in its body both of their bloods, and he says there’s no shame in that union, so . . . .. In another poem, “The Sun Rising,” Donne makes lovers’ bed the whole world. The sun disturbs their lovemaking, and Donne tells the sun to go away and continue on around the world. Come back tomorrow. The poem ends:

Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;

This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

I think that’s enough for church, but remember the idea of a “conceit” when we look at Batter My Heart.

The older John Donne was an Anglican minister, ordained in the Church of England and Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Later in his life he wrote a series of Meditations. You probably know the one that goes:

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as a manor of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man’s death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Read Batter My Heart

The main idea is in the first four lines. Donne is not satisfied with his religious conversion — and remember he was pretty bad as a young man. So far, God has only tried to mend him. Donne wants a more complete makeover. Look at the metaphor in the second line: “For you / as yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend.” The image is someone just cleaning up and making minor repairs, perhaps to a piece of jewelry. Not good enough. Look at the metaphor in the fourth line: break, blow, burn, and make me new. This is a blacksmith breaking up an old iron tool, heating it in a forge, and hammering out a new tool. Knock (tap) is compared to break; breathe to a blacksmith’s bellows; shine is compared to burn; and of course mend is compared to “make me new.”

The third line is a lot like the metaphysical conceits I mentioned before. “That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me.” I can’t stand up unless you first knock me down. The point is that Donne feels himself helpless to “fix” himself. God has to do that, even if it’s against Donne’s own (weak) human will.

The next stanza is a complicated metaphor in which Donne compare’s himself to a town captured by a foreign invader (the Devil). Donne wants to let the rightful ruler (God) into himself, but he can’t. Reason (logic) which should support God, is weak and working for the Devil. Not to belabor the point, but that’s just the kind of complicated construction the cavalier poets would love (if not the subject).

Next three lines are a new twist on the same kind of idea: Donne loves God, but finds himself married to the Devil. He can’t free himself, and wants God to get him a divorce from the Devil — perhaps rid him of the sinful impulses (not necessarily actions) over which he himself has insufficient control.

The last three lines have three more “conceits.” Donne can’t really be free unless God (1) “imprisons” him, or (2) makes him God’s slave. The last line is pretty harsh. “Ravish” means “rape.” Donne can’t be pure unless God forces his love upon him. A perfect paradox. The cavalier poets would love it.

The common thread in all of this is that the makeover Donne wishes for can’t be done without God’s help. Donne, no matter how much he might wish to be a better person (a better Christian), is powerless to be what he thinks he should be. Remember that this is spoken by an Anglican minister and the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The poem means much more when you understand that young John Donne spent a lot of his life giving in to temptations, and perhaps is still tempted.

We pray, “Lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from evil.” Donne takes the idea step further: “Break, blow, burn, and make me new.” Make me a temptation-proof me.

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Below is the sermon that Rev. Christiansen delivered at Chilmark Community Church on Dec. 5.  To contact him re. his work or how you can contribute email DGCatBCC@aol.com or phone at 860-751-0791.  Also posted below is a list of the work Carol and David did in 2010.

December 5, 2010 – Endi – Good morning in the language of the Ewe people. Good Morning -

It is a privilege to be here on this Second Sunday in Advent as we prepare for the celebration once again of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In the lesson read today from Matthew’s gospel we have the familiar story of John the Baptist proclaiming the word, calling for the people to change repent and be ready for the coming of one who is to the Messiah- the Savior of the world. God has a plan which is going to fulfill and John is urging them to change their ways and turn from self toward the ways of God.

Today, I bring you greetings from the people of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana West Africa and from my friends in the villages of Takla and Kpenoe and the city of Ho and other communities in the Volta Region of Ghana . I want to thank you for your continuing support, as we set up annually at the Chilmark Flea Market with goods and crafts from Ghana . Thanks for the leadership of Phyllis Conway, Pat Lynch , Anne Dietrich and others throughout the years for making this venue a possibility for local crafts, merchants, artists, and all. Thank you for allowing me to share the ongoing story of a wonderful and mutually beneficial mission partnership which Carol and I and those who have traveled with us have been blessed by and been a blessing to..

“ Unless God builds the house , its builders labor in vain. In Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”

In Ghana , the people truly know the truth of these words from the Psalmist.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good! The Psalmist writes as was read this morning, “ When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed – our mouths were filled with laughter- our tongues with songs of joy . Moving from a time of slavery through colonialism and now into a period of nation building . the people of Ghana feel God is building them into a nation, In worship , as a communal society, they strongly identify with the Hebrew people as God forged them into a nation through the centuries.

Each congregation has an Israel group remembering the Exodus and the national government encourages unity, and while recognizing diversity seeks to discourage ethnic identity.. Joyful songs fill the air and they praise God for they believe “God will make a way where there seems to be no way.” They recognize that is by God’s grace that they live and move and have their being. Carol and I truly believe that God working out Hs plan for and there are no coincidences. God has gone ahead and prepare the way to this very day for indeed God knows our every need and through payer God in God’s time fulfills them and afterward we often see the evidence. As we travel and share our work in Ghana, we see this so often. We have come to call them God winks- like an approving grandfather watching the grandchildren and protecting and guiding them. For example,

We were traveling between Ho in the Volta Region and the Capital, Accra. The road is long and there is very little on the road but walking paths to small villages. There is no AAA road service, no tow trucks, and very little places to stop for mechanical services. Our 25 year old vehicle came to an abrupt stop and the driver determined the clutch had failed. AS we looked around just 200 yards away was the only repair place for miles around. The driver went to get aid and the man at the repair place came with a wrench. Together they worked under the van diagnosed the problem, went to a shed nearby and came back with clutch fluild and an O-ring, the only they had. It fit and we were on our way in less than half an hour. God will make a way.

In Ghana , we ask what can we do to help and have ended up basically teaching and preaching, among other things. Generally we call our time, “ a ministry of presence, asking what we can do to help the folk already working there.. Most recently, we seem to more involved as bridge-builders between United States and world resources and Ghana needs We work with the leaders of the villages, the church elders, the District chiefs and ministers of Parliament of the country `to help facilitate the process of getting safe drinking water to our partner villages which are now supplied only by several major hand-pumped wells and lack sanitation. We continue to work in collaboration with Rotary International and the Ho Municipal Water and Sanitation Commission to come up with a comprehensive plan to enhance the water delivery system to these remote villages. This project has been in the works since July of 2002. Recently work has begun to bring water and sanitation programs to life into as many as 20 rural villages including Takla, through Rotary International and USAID to Africa.

We also were able to find a licensed pharmacist at the Volta Regional Hospital willing to do the necessary paperwork to receive pharmaceuticals from a major drug company in Florida.

Education and agricultural development also are projects of the church and we have helped to help the teachers in the church sponsored schools. Funds have been used to pay the school fees and keep schools open, in feeding people at the Leprosarium. We support programs at the Women’s Activity Center and mixed with other mission partners, including Church World Service help sustain the work of Ho Farms and encourage micro- loan businesses.

We bring school books and tee-shirts, eye glasses, and medical supplies. They are looking for classics. Exams are based on reading certain classics- and other important information. Suitable to age, We had been given some works by Shakespeare to give to the only Girls High School In Ghana they uses the British system. We had many books and so decided to share with Mawuli Junior High. We invited an English teacher tp come and choose some books. We laid them out for her choose a few. She looked them over and began to cry as she picked up “Much Ado About Nothing” . Marian said she had been looking for the book for two years since there were questions on the grade eight exam and there were none to be had in Ho. We asked her how she would use it and she said they would copy it and distribute to groups of eight students to read and share. Now when they take the exam they will have a better chance of passing. God knew the need and by His grace, we were able to deliver a gift from the United States.

This year in addition to helping out and doing follow-up in all the previous places and projects, we are expanding our work We were able 100 pairs of eyeglasses to needy people through the EP Church. We distributed funds, educational material and clothes as well. Our bulletin insert gives a more detailed listing our 2010 group activities, projects, and gifts.

Alfalit International, based in Miami Florida, with a grant from USAID to Africa, has asked us to find someone or group willing to oversee and initiate their program in Ghana. To that end, the EP Church leadership is currently considering this new venture as we seek to continue to build bridges across the world Our 2010 team included 2 nurses from Christ Congregational Church, UCC, Miami Florida who shared their gifts and skills.

The people of Ghana praise God, trust God and are doing all that they can to help

themselves. They trust God, believe God’s word – and are honestly and with great integrity pressing on knowing it by His grace, that we all live and move and have our being. For this reason Carol and I believe so heartily in what we are

doing. Their faith, honesty and integrity bless us so much.

God sent John to prepare the way and each time we return to Ghana, we see evidence that God is making a way where there seems to be no way. By His grace. God has allowed us to be part of it. Pray for us and our partners in the EP Church

-Together let us prepare the way of the Lord, and make straight paths for Him as each and everyone of us discovers his or her mission in life for indeed we are blessed to be a blessings.

Shared at Chilmark Community Church, December 5, 2010 by the Rev. David Christensen, Ministries in Ghana West Africa.

2010- Ghana Up-date

Dear Friends:

We greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Carol and I want to thank you for your prayers and continuing concern for our mission and ministry in Ghana. This summer we were able to return to Ghana for three weeks and were joined by a group of nurses from South Florida. In addition to sharing in a pastor’s funeral at Kpalime –Duga EP Church, we lead worship and preached 6 times in Takla, Kpenoe, Dzogbefeme, Alavanyo Wudidi, and at Mawuko Girls School and administered Holy Communion at Kpenoe. Thank you!

By God’s grace and your support, we were able to accomplish the following:

1. Share in teaching in primary schools in Takla, Kpenoe, Akoefe, Ho Heve, Ho Dome, and Elmina Itura and left educational materials at these schools .

2. Our nurses from Florida spent 5 days at Volta Regional Hospital, some time in schools as well. Met with Regional Director to initiate process of receiving donated pharmaceuticals from the United States through Americares.

3. We delivered funds and /or materials to Ho Farms, the Leprosarium, the Evangelical Church Headquarters, the Women’s Activity Center, the EP Church. Men’s Spiritual Center, the Clinic at Alvanyo, and rural clinics through EP Church headquarters as well funds to build-up the secondary and primary scholarship funds in Takla and funds to Ho Heve Primary School for all orphan attending that school.

4. We delivered clothes to the rural clinics through EP Church Head office and through the pastor to the widows and orphans in Takla.

5. In addition we were able fund cataract surgery for a needy Kpenoe village member. We gave partial funds toward a future hernia operation for an infant.

.

1. We funded two scholarships for secondary school students through the office of the Executive Presbyter of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

2. Funded the salaries of the Executive and support staff of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church for one month.

3. Paid for a term of university education for a Kindergarten teacher continuing her education.

4. Bought slates for Kindergarten at Takla

5. Purchased 130 mathematical kits for Mawuli Junior High and 140 mathematical kits for Ho Kpodzi Junior High. And 46 mathematical instrument kits and 20 t-squares for Takla Junior High School.

6. Met with the Executive Leadership of 800 member churches of EP Church to assist them as they do ministry and to initiate work on Alfalit..

7. Visit two crèches in Klefe and Alavanyo to assess need.

8. Followed up on water projects with local chief s and water committees, in continued partnerships with Rotary Clubs in Ghana and the states in conjunction with US AID /Africa..

9. Delivered additional funds and met with building committee for the Dr. Robert Everson Memorial Library at Mawuko Girls School where he visited and taught in 2006. A one year scholarship was also granted to a brilliant but needy girl at Mawuko. Another girl’s studies were covered to save her from selling herself for school fees.

10. Visited and distributed eye glasses to the Shepherd’s Center for the Ageing, Ghana, an inter-faith based coordinating center for Ageing and EP Seminary at Peki-Blengo.

Peace and Blessings – David and Carol Christensen

The Ghana Mission Project

All profits from the sale of this item and any donations are to be used in Ghana to support projects operating in con- junction with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana or existing government programs. Continuing and recently initiated projects receiving support in the Ho, Volta Region:

Educational grants for Primary and Secondary School students

Grants to the Women’s Activity Training Centre for unwed mothers

Micro-loans helping initiate small businesses by village women

Grants to primary and junior secondary schools

Well and water distribution system projects, including bore hole, solar pump, storage tank, and plumbing through villages in conjunction with Rotary International and USA Aid Africa

Scholarship grants to students pursuing Associates Teaching Degree

Medical supplies and grants for rural medical clinics

Food and clothing for members of the Volta Region leper colony

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Commentary on Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

This text reminds us all that being shaped into a faithful life is not about immediate gratification or even for our own benefit, but instead, living a faithful life is about leaning forward into the vision of God for the world even when the horizon extends far beyond our own lives. Such a life is comprised of a deep sense of expectation coupled with a patient belief in the faithfulness of the God we serve.

Philippians
What is the basis for Paul’s exhortations? The answer is found in verses 20 and 21. Paul is telling the Philippians they do not, ultimately, belong to the environment in which they live. They live ‘elsewhere,’ which is to say “our citizenship is in heaven.” What Paul is underscoring here is that the Philippians need to know which citizens of which realm they are – this answer will determine their choice of behaviors. Susan Hendahl

God has called on Abram to leave Ur (now in Iraq) and to “Go … to the land I will show you” (12:1). God has blessed him, and he, his wife Sarah and his brother Lot have migrated to Canaan. Famine has struck the land, causing Abram and his family to seek food in Egypt. Pharaoh has been attracted to Sarah, thinking that she is Abram’s sister, taking her into the royal household. When he has discovered that she is Abram’s wife, he has ordered them to leave the country.

Our reading is two stories of gifts from God: in vv. 1-6, a son and many descendants; in vv. 7ff, the Land. The formula “the word of the LORD came to …” (vv. 1, 4) is later used of prophets; Abram is called a prophet in 20:7. God makes Abram his favourite; he will protect (“shield”, v. 1) him. Abram’s “reward” is really a free gift. Custom was that if a man’s wife did not bear him a son, his chief servant (“slave”, v. 3), here “Eliezer” (v. 2), might inherit. God promises Abram a son (“your very own issue”, v. 4) and he will have countless descendants (“stars”, v. 5). Abram puts his trust in God’s promise; in this way, he establishes a right relationship (“righteousness”, v. 6) with God.

God’s words in v. 7 are like those he speaks later at Mount Sinai. But this time, Abram is not so trusting: he asks for a sign or sworn oath (v. 8). From Jeremiah we know that the ceremony in vv. 9-10 and 17 is of ancient origin. Going between the two halves (“pieces”, v. 17) of sacrificial victims signified that if a party broke the agreement, he could expect to be dismembered. As in v. 1, Abram has a vision (v. 12): the descent of the sun, “deep sleep”, terror and great “darkness” express the awesomeness of supernatural intervention. God’s presence is symbolized by fire (v. 17). Only he has obligations under the pact, so only he passes between the “pieces”. The deal is cut (thus the Hebrew), as are the victims: David’s empire later stretched almost from the Nile to near the upper reaches of the “Euphrates” (v. 18). (In the other version of this story, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham to signify his new relationship to God.)

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The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor
The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest and well-known author. She is currently on the faculty of Piedmont College in northeast Georgia and Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA.

Member of:

The Episcopal Church

Representative of:

Piedmont College and Columbia Theological Seminary

The Wilderness Exam

Luke 4:1-13

1st Sunday of Lent – Year C

February 21, 2010

Only two of the four gospels give the long version of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.  John leaves it out altogether and Mark’s gospel covers the whole thing in two sentences: the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, he was there forty days, Satan tempted him, wild beasts kept him company, and angels waited on him.  That’s it; that’s all Mark knew–or that’s all he thought we needed to know–about what happened between Jesus and Satan in the wilderness.

Anyone who remembers more than that is remembering Matthew or Luke, because those are the only two who go into any detail about what the devil said and what Jesus said back.  What this dialog proves among other things is that the devil is biblically literate.  He knows exactly where to find the Bible verses he needs to put Jesus to the test, but Jesus knows more than what the Bible says.  Jesus knows how to do what the Bible says, which is how he passes his wilderness exam.

Every time the devil offered him more–more bread, more power, more protection–Jesus turned him down.  No to the bread, Jesus says, no to the kingdoms, no to the angelic bodyguards.  He is full up, he says, on worshipping God and serving only him.  So by the end of the story, the devil still has all his bribes in his bag and Jesus is free to go.

Since you’ve already heard about a million sermons on what Jesus and the devil said to each other, I thought I’d skip that part today, especially since neither of us is likely to be put to the exact same test.  When it’s our turn, none of us is going to get the Son of God test.  We’re going to get the regular old Adam and Eve test, which means that the devil won’t need much more than an all-you-can-eat buffet and a tax refund to turn our heads.

What I want to focus on instead is where the test took place–the wilderness–because I have an idea that every one of us has already been there.  Maybe it just looked like a hospital waiting room to you, or the sheets on a cheap motel bed after you got kicked out of your house, or maybe it looked like the parking lot where you couldn’t find your car on the day you lost your job.  It may even have been a kind of desert in the middle of your own chest, where you begged for a word from God and heard nothing but the wheezing bellows of your own breath.

Wildernesses come in so many shapes and sizes that the only way you can really tell you are in one is to look around for what you normally count on to save your life and come up empty.  No food.  No earthly power.  No special protection–just a Bible-quoting devil and a whole bunch of sand.

Needless to say, this is not a situation many of us seek.  Most of us, in fact, spend a lot of time and money trying to stay out of it; but I don’t know anyone who succeeds at that entirely or forever.  Sooner or later, every one of us will get to take our own wilderness exam, our own trip to the desert to discover who we really are and what our lives are really about.

I guess that could sound like bad news, but I don’t think it is.  I think it is good news–because even if no one ever wants to go there, and even if those of us who end up there want out again as soon as possible, the wilderness is still one of the most reality-based, spirit-filled, life-changing places a person can be.  Take Jesus, for instance.

• How did he end up there?  The Spirit led him.
• What was he full of?  He was full of The Holy Spirit.
• What else did he live on?  Nothing.
• How long was he there?  Weeks and weeks.
• How did he feel at the end?  He was famished.

What did that long, famishing stretch in the wilderness do to him?  It freed him–from all devilish attempts to distract him from his true purpose, from hungry craving for things with no power to give him life, from any illusion he might have had that God would make his choices for him.  After forty days in the wilderness, Jesus had not only learned to manage his appetites; he had also learned to trust the Spirit that had led him there to lead him out again, with the kind of clarity and grit he could not have found anywhere else.

This wisdom about the value of the wilderness is just about lost, I think–lost to popular American culture for sure and lost even to the Christian tradition that is charged with preserving it.  Those of you who still belong to churches that still observe Lent may get a dose of it every year around this time, even if it is reduced to cutting down on how much you drink or putting a dollar in a box for every dessert you skip.  The kernel of the wisdom is still there: that anyone who wants to follow Jesus all the way to the cross needs the kind of clarity and grit that is found only in the wilderness.

From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, Christians are invited to do without some things they are perfectly capable of having–such as rich food or loud parties with their friends–and to take on some things that they are just as capable of avoiding–such as a moral inventory or a lunch date with someone they are mad at.

“Lent,” it is called, from an English word meaning “spring”–not just a reference to the crocuses pushing their ways out of the ground in the season before Easter, but also to the greening of the human soul–pruned with repentance, fertilized with fasting, spritzed with self-appraisal, mulched with prayer.  I was at least twenty-five years old before I learned that Lent wasn’t about punishing myself for being human–and it took me five more years to figure out that it wasn’t about giving up Hershey’s or taking on Pilates–so I don’t blame anyone who has decided to give Lent a pass.

But if you have spent a lot of time and/or money trying to acquire whatever it takes to grow your soul without seeing any new buds, then maybe a little spell in the wilderness is worth a try–a few weeks of choosing to live on less, not more–of practicing subtraction instead addition–not because your regular life is bad but because you want to make sure it is your real life–the one you long to be living–which can be hard to do when you’re living on fast food and busyness.  Remember when red lights gave you a minute just to sit and think?  Not any more–not with your cell phone right there in your lap begging you to reach out and touch someone.

I know people who give up using their cell phones for Lent.  Can you imagine?  I know other people who give up watching television or shopping or eating while they are standing up.  Of course, none of these things would impress people who have spent their whole lives trying to figure out where the next meal is coming from, but in a culture of plenty I am impressed with anyone who decides to make it without anesthesia for a while–to give up whatever appliances or habits or substances they use to keep themselves from feeling what it really feels like to live the kind of lives they are living.

I mean, almost everyone uses something–if not anesthesia, then at least a favorite pacifier: murder mysteries, Facebook, reruns of Boston Legal, Pottery Barn catalogs, Bombay Sapphire gin martinis.  I’m not saying those are awful things.  I’m just saying they are distractions–things to reach for when a person is too tired, too sad, or too afraid to enter the wilderness of the present moment–to wonder what it’s really about or who else is in it or maybe just to make a little bed in the sand.

The problem for most of us is that we cannot go straight from setting down the cell phone to hearing the still, small voice of God in the wilderness.  If it worked like that, churches would be full and Verizon would be out of business.  If it worked like that, Lent would only be about twenty minutes long.

What we have instead are forty whole days for finding out what life is like without the usual painkillers, which is how most of us learn what led us to use them in the first place.  Once you take the headphones off, silence can be really loud.  Once you turn off the television, a night can get really long.  After a while you can start thinking that all of this quiet emptiness or, worst case, all this howling wilderness, is a sign of things gone badly wrong: devil on the loose, huge temptations, no help from the audience, God gone AWOL–not to mention your own spiritual insufficiency to deal with any of these things.

But if you remember to breathe–and say your prayers–then nine times out of ten you can make it through your first night with no extra bread, power, or protection.  You can get used to the sound of your own heart beating and whatever it is that is yipping out there.  You may even be able to sleep a little while and wake up gladder to be alive than you can ever remember being.  So there are thirty-nine days to go.  So don’t count.  Take it one day at a time.

After you have reached for your pacifier a few times and remembered it is not there–not because someone stole it from you but because you made a conscious decision to give it up–then you may discover a whole new level of conversation with yourself.

Are you hungry?
I am famished.

Well, what’s wrong with that?  Are you dying?
No.

Can you stand being hungry for a while longer?
Maybe.  I guess so.

Okay, so what else?  Are you lonely?
Yes, I am!  I am terribly lonely!

What’s wrong with being alone?  Will it kill you?
I don’t like it.

That’s not what I asked.  Can you live through it?
Probably not, but I’ll try.

Our minds are geniuses at telling us that losing our pacifiers is going to kill us, but it’s almost never true.  All that’s going to happen is that we’re going to suck air for a while, then we’re going to hiccup, then we’re going to look around and see things without that pink plastic circle under our noses, which is going to turn out to be a good thing both for us and for everyone else in our lives.

But it would be a mistake for me to try to describe your wilderness exam.  Only you can do that, because only you know what devils have your number, and what kinds of bribes they use to get you to pick up.  All I know for sure is that a voluntary trip to the desert this Lent is a great way to practice getting free of those devils for life–not only because it is where you lose your appetite for things that cannot save you, but also because it is where you learn to trust the Spirit that led you there to lead you out again, ready to worship the Lord your God and serve no other all the days of your life.  Amen.

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