The Pastor's Sermon - First Sunday in Lent, 26 February, 2012

the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

• My intention for Lent has been to preach a series of sermons focusing on the “Call to Spiritual Renewal” set by our National Bishop, the Rev. Susan Johnson. I felt her direction is a good one and the “seven words of spiritual renewal” are an excellent place to start. Those seven words are:
• Pray
• Read
• Worship
• Study
• Serve
• Give
• Tell
• Today our point is “pray” and the Gospel reading does say something about prayer.
• Jesus was baptized by John, which was followed by a definitive confirmation of Jesus' identity and mission. However, his mission did not start right them. Mark says “the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Mark likes to have things happen “immediately” and some scholars have noted that as one of Mark's favourite words.
• So what goes on in the wilderness? It is possibly more important to ask what the wilderness means in the Scriptures and to the people of Israel.
• The wilderness or the desert, if you prefer, is a frightening and uncontrolled place. It is the place of “the wild beasts” and devils. It is not an easy place to live in.
• Yet it holds a special place in the history and spirituality of the Hebrew people... and because of that, Christians. The Hebrew people wandered for 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai and eventually looked back on that time as one of pristine faith, for there was no one and nothing to depend on but God. It was God who took care of them and all their needs. To this day, Jewish people the world over celebrate this memory in the festival of Sukkot, which is know as the “Feast of Booths.”
• For Christians, the wilderness holds the example of Jesus going out into the desert after his baptism. Many, many Christians have followed his example since then, going into whatever passes for wilderness near them to be with God and God alone. Even if a person goes into a private space and prays, the experience is similar. The distractions are fewer and the temptations are laid bare.
• No matter what we might think, the wilderness is a place of prayer. It is dangerous since it is the place of the wild beasts, wild thoughts, and the simplest of concerns, like food and safety. Even the tamest of wilderness makes us depend on God for whatever we need, whether want is needed is found or carried.
• We can find quite a number of times in the Gospels where Jesus goes off to “a deserted place” to spend time in solitude and prayer. It is his example we follow when we pray.
• Now prayers at meals or at bedtime or at rising are very good things. There are other times to pray as well. Some folks pray while they drive, others while they walk. Some like to be in nature, while others prefer a comfortable chair. It makes no difference to anyone but the one praying. God is present no matter where we are.
• There are a few simple guidelines for prayer. (I almost wrote 'rules', but there are no rules since everyone prays differently.)
• First, the best prayer is the one that expresses what is in your heart. Sincerity is important, because God can see through all pretense, even if we can't. If all our prayer does is open our eyes to the truth about ourselves, we will have encountered God and come quite a long way.
• Second, use your own words. Memorized prayers are good when we all pray together and are very worthwhile as models of praying. Still, nothing beats our own words for expressing our own selves. Sometime we won't even use words! (That's something we'll look at another time.)
• Third, pray as you can and not as you can't. If you're sick, it's really hard to pray. If you're sad or angry, it will be difficult and even false to try to pray in a happy way. So pray as you are – happy, sad, disappointed, whatever – and don't try to fake a mood for prayer. God wants to be in communication with YOU, not with who you think you want to be.
• Fourth, pray for others and yourself and then keep quiet. Or do it the other way around, but in any event, be sure to listen. This takes practice and nobody gets it right the first time.
• Fifth, pray. Just pray... any way you can. Do it your own way. Listen to God and speak the words that make sense to you. If you want to know if you are praying, use this simple test: if you want to pray, you're praying.
• There are so many Scripture passages on prayer that I wouldn't know where to begin. It might be simpler to call on well-known people who have prayed for some wisdom to close this sermon. If we've spent in the wilderness, whether that wilderness is the wild places in the world or the hidden places in our heart, and that wilderness has taught us that we need God, these words will make sense. Abraham Lincoln said ‘I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.’