I grew up in Queens, New York. My father owned an Italian deli in Queens, and in my early years, we lived in the small apartment right above the deli.
When we kids would go outside to play, our playground was just a slab of concrete. That was our backyard. No grass. No trees. No flowers.
I was a kid who never around nature very much, so imagine my surprise when my mother signed me up for the Cub Scouts, and I had to go camping for the first time.
I was totally out of my comfort zone.
And on that first camping trip with the Cub Scouts, I got lost. Lost in the woods. Somehow, on our hike, I got separated from the group, and I found myself alone, and I was completely terrified.
Now, I was probably only missing for about 5 minutes, but it felt like an eternity before my Scoutmaster came and found me.
During those few minutes, I wasn’t just physically lost, but I was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually lost, too, because I was so panicked! Nothing was familiar. I felt so fearful and alone.
That was my first very wilderness experience…but it wouldn’t be my last.
Life (as we know) is full of wilderness experiences, isn’t it? Moments in our lives when we feel so lost and abandoned and alone.
And, I’ve come to learn that we shouldn’t be afraid of these wilderness experiences, for it is often in the wilderness where we encounter God.
I share that with you today, because today’s gospel reading for the 1st Sunday in Lent is the story of Jesus alone in the wilderness.
The ‘wilderness’ comes up a lot in the Bible. In fact, there are nearly 300 references in the Bible to the word “Wilderness.”
The “wilderness” played a vital role in the spiritual journeys of Biblical figures from Moses to John the Baptist to Jesus. The Spirit led all of them into the wilderness to experience more fully the presence and power of God.
Now, if you look up the word “wilderness” in the dictionary, it means “an area essentially undisturbed by human activity.”
Symbolically and spiritually, the wilderness represents a place undisturbed where we “lose ourselves” in order to “find ourselves.”
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear that “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,” where he spends 40 days and 40 nights.
Now, I’ve told you before, the number “40” in the Bible is highly symbolic. It signifies a time of spiritual testing and preparation.
For example, in the book of Genesis, we hear that it rained for 40 days/nights in the Noah’s Ark story.
We know that Moses spent 40 days/nights on top of Mount Sinai before receiving God’s commandments.
And, as we just heard, Jesus spent 40 days/nights in the wilderness before beginning his ministry of teaching and healing.
And, so, the Season of Lent is 40 days long. It is a time of spiritual preparation for us, so that we may get ready to experience God’s presence more fully in our lives.
This preparation requires our going into the wilderness…going into the darkness and silence of prayer and meditation, to “face our demons,” just as Jesus does in today’s Gospel reading.
Now, I want to talk for a moment about what I mean by “facing our demons,” because I’m not talking about wrestling with a red guy with horns and pitch fork.
Most of us have grown in our concept of God. Most of us no longer see God as an “old man up in the clouds with a long grey beard” who punishes us.
We’ve come to understand God is not as a person, but that God is Love. God is the Power and Presence of Love.
And, so “the devil” is that which is keeping us from experiencing that Love more fully.
The devil is not a red guy with horns and a pitchfork. He was never described this way in the Bible.
That description was developed by the early Christian Church. They modeled the devil on a Greek god, Pan (who had hoofs and horns), because Pan represented the god of the Wilderness.
Today’s Gospel story tells us that Jesus – during his 40 days in the wilderness, during his time of spiritual preparation – encountered Satan.
So, if it wasn’t the red guy with the horns and pitchfork, then who or what was tempting Jesus?
Well, the Hebrew for Satan doesn’t mean “red guy with horns.” It means “adversary” or “stumbling block,” something getting in the way (something keeping us) from experiencing God’s Love more fully.
In his 40 days/nights in the desert, Jesus has to face the adversary…to wrestle with his demons…to confront the voice of the opponent seeking to keep him from his fulfilling his divine purpose.
And, that voice: Is it coming from outside of him…or from within him?
Well, some Christians believe that Jesus as a baby in the manger already knew he was God. But, if that was so – if he was already perfect – then he would have no temptations to overcome, right?
During his time in the wilderness, Jesus – at the age of 30 – is awakening to his Divine Consciousness…and, in the process of doing so, he must overcome the voice of the ego.
That is what the spiritual journey is all about: overcoming the voice of ego, so that we can more fully attune ourselves with the voice of the Divine.
Many contemporary spiritual teachers have referred to the word “EGO” as an acronym standing for “Edging. God. Out.”
That’s what the adversary, the opponent, the ego does….edges God out…keeps us from experiencing God’s love more fully.
Our spiritual practice helps us to deny the commands of the ego, and attune ourselves more fully to the voice of the Spirit. The spiritual path is about crucifying the “I” and resurrecting the “I AM.”
And, so, my question for you, my friends, on this first Sunday of Lent, is what stumbling blocks are getting in the way of your experiencing God’s Love more fully in your life?
What do you need to let go of…to “give up” this Lenten season?
Maybe anger is getting in the way of your experiencing God’s Love more fully? Maybe it’s worry, fear, lack, limitation, resentment, or jealousy?
Those are the things to “give up” (to “let go of”) this Lenten season.
And, you can confront these opponents by venturing into the wilderness.
Meditation is the process of entering into the Wilderness of the Soul. In prayer and meditation, we go to that undisturbed place within us where God dwells and where God speaks.
In Hosea 2:14, God says: “The Wilderness will lead you to your heart where I will speak.”
So do not be afraid of getting lost in the Wilderness, my friends, for it there that we encounter God.
It is in “losing ourselves” that we truly “find ourselves.”
Therefore, I’d like to encourage you to find time each and every day this Lenten season to enter into the Silence and Darkness of the Wilderness, so that you may prepare yourself to experience God’s Presence and Love more fully in your life.
For God is about to do something new, in you and through you.
May it be so. Amen.