Wilderness

 Luke 3:1-6

In this Advent we will get to be in many a wilderness. It makes me wonder a little because usually the wilderness is in Lent. So why do we have so many scriptures which take us through wilderness and what wilderness will we be traversing? Intention is to set a plan as to what you are doing. So we set our intention on exploring the wilderness, spiritually. So often we read the story and only look at the surface, the words themselves and we do not set an intention of exploring a setting or a theme which presents itself. Today I want to look at this.

This morning we have the wilderness and the prophet or prophet like person of John. He is set in the wilderness because people have to set an intention to travel there and see what all the commotion is about. We know people do, the Romans, the Pharisees, and regular people travel to the wilderness to see John. First to see how he lives because we are always told about his looks and what he eats. Camel hair skin and locusts and wild honey, things readily available where he is. This wilderness setting helps us to look at how rough it is in the world. With Rome oppressing a conquered people, the Jews and how they wish for a hope. This is John's message, a hope that things will be made easier and different. You have to come out to the rough wilderness to find this message.

We have had a season of wilderness ourselves. Do we need to go out to the wilderness to be taken out of our comfort zone? Are we here because we need to see what meaning can be made? Are we here to plant hope? Tough times call us to be planters of hope. We see this continually with the prophets whether its Elijah who hides from a king and queen in the wilderness or the early judges who you have to come out to the only shelter of shade, a tree, you most travel. What road have you traveled into the wilderness?

So far we seem to have only avoided the wilderness. Get things back to normal. Go back to the way things were. We have not taken the time to explore this wilderness. Why are we longing for what has been taken away? When we couldn't meet in person what did we long for most and why? Walking into the wilderness takes us away from comfort. Walking into the wilderness asks us to face our fears. Walking into the wilderness helps us find hope and right judgement. The thing is will we dare to walk into it? Will we set our intention, right now this morning and find where we are being led to. 

See there were many who stayed home. We can do this. We can stay comfortable, avoid what meaning and hope can come from this. Wilderness people have done this before, the thing is they didn't make it for the other end of the journey. Moses and the Hebrew people were sent into the wilderness. Those who complained, who wished they could go back to Egypt, many of them died instead of making it to the promised land. We are not much different than they. We want the normal things, we want things a certain way and exploring the wilderness isn't for us. But it is so important to our walk of faith. 

Exploring the wilderness leads us to water, it brings us daily bread, and it gives us the hope of a God of relationship who never leaves us alone in this wilderness. God only wants us to realize God is making the journey with us. In a cloud, fitting isn't it, a cloud of unknowing what we want and demand and understanding what God may want of us. This is the wilderness journey. 

So before we come to the baby and the night and the hope born there we must tread this wilderness. It is not welcoming, it is hostile and we need to explore our fears, our longings, and see where God is in all the mess. So come out to the wilderness and find God's hope once again after the long journey of waiting.