A sermon I never preached at the Cathedral of St. Philip
February 18, 2024: Lent 1, Year B
(Evensong—not preached because my dad entered hospice this day.)
This is one of my favorite Gospel texts—but not for the reason you might expect.
You might expect its God’s voice boldly declaring to Jesus: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you am well pleased.” We all need words of affirmation from people we love, and Jesus is no exception.
But it’s what comes next that I like most: “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”
Yes, that’s my favorite part.
It’s not that I especially love the wilderness. Trust me. I’m in a bit of a wilderness moment right now while my dad is in the hospital. It’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s scary. Sometimes it’s lonely. The wilderness is not at the top of my list of places to be.
And yet, the wilderness is there. And we are often there, too. In the wilderness.
That’s why I love this Gospel text. Knowing that the Spirit of God drove Jesus, God’s Beloved, the one God is so pleased with, out into the wilderness—that is a comfort to me.
It means that the wilderness is not the absence of God. It means that temptation is not the absence of God. It means that wild beasts and other things that might attack us like cancer, addiction, war, poverty, heartache—none of those things point to the absence of God.
God goes ahead of us and waits for us so that even in the wilderness, we are never alone. Even in the wilderness—perhaps especially in the wilderness—we are never separated from God’s love.
God is in the wilderness. God is in the temptation. God is with the wild beasts. God is always there.
I know this is true, not just because the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the wilderness and not just because the angels wait on Jesus there… but also because of what Jesus does right after he departs the wilderness. Look at what he does: he preaches the Good News! And what is the good news? That God is near!
He doesn’t run to Galilee and brag about outsmarting the devil, withstanding temptation, or successfully completing a 40-day fast. No, he runs to Galilee to proclaim loud and proud the good news of God: “The kingdom of God is near! Repent! Believe in the good news!”
Jesus can proclaim the good news of God’s nearness in Galilee because Jesus experienced the good news of God’s nearness in the wilderness. Jesus experienced the good news of God’s nearness in the midst of temptation. Jesus experienced the good news of God’s nearness while surviving the wild beasts.
This is not rose-colored-glasses good news. This is real-life good news.
This is not idealistic good news. This is hell-and-back good news.
It’s not too good to be true news—it’s just good and true news.
It’s good news you can sink your teeth into—good news you can trust.
If you are in the wilderness right now, or struggling with temptation, or battling the various beasts of this day and age, take heart. You are not alone. If anything, you are beloved. Because even the beloved and blessed are lead into temptation and driven into the wilderness.
Take the words of Psalm 25 to heart, a Psalm Jesus would have grown up praying, and pray it with him: To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you… show me your ways… lead me in your truth… remember your compassion and love…
If you are not in the wilderness right now, you know someone who is. Tell them they are not alone. Tell them that God is in the wilderness with them. And then show them that they are not alone. Sit with them in their wilderness—not trying to talk them out of it or diminish it—but blessing them right where they are.
The wilderness is part of life. It is a place we must all visit from time to time. It is hard. It is uncomfortable. It is scary. It can be lonely. And it is still a place where we can encounter God and the profound love of God.
Jesus went to the wilderness and—despite everything—discovered the good news.
May you know that you are God’s beloved in the wilderness. May you experience God’s nearness in the wilderness. And may you, too, discover kind of good news that sticks to your bones on the very hardest of days. May you know, to the very core of your being, that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Amen.
lauren laughs 