Sermon preached by Rev. Bernadette Hartsough
February 21, 2021
Today’s psalm and the gospel reading today refer to times in the wilderness. The psalmist is recalling the 40 years that the people of God spent in the desert after Moses led them out of Egypt-the Exodus event. Those of us who live in the Midwest and the North may not be familiar with the desert. In the Godly Play curriculum many of the Old Testament stories take place in the desert. We would tell these stories using a desert bag or a desert box filled with sand. The words we used to describe a desert are helpful for us to understand today’s psalm and today’s gospel reading. Picture a desert as you listen to the opening lines when using a desert box in Godly Play.
“The desert is a dangerous place. There is not much water in the desert. It is hard for plants and animals to survive. People need water and food. During the day it can be very hot but at night it can be quite cold. You often see people wear special clothes in the desert. When the wind blows, the sand can sting your skin. The wind blows and changes the shape of the desert, so it is easy to lose your way. People don’t like to go into the desert unless they have to.”
We say these words to paint a picture of life in the desert. The people of God had to cross through the desert to get to the promised land. While in the desert, God taught the people and remade them into a community. Psalm 25 names four learnings for the people of God. These four learnings are helpful for us on our Lenten journey. Please take out your readings today and turn to the psalm.
The first learning in verses two and three was that the desert showed them that they had enemies and that there would be forces that tempted them to turn away from God. There were bandits in the desert, but the most powerful enemies were the enemies from within. There are few outside distractions in the desert. Most of the distractions come from within. There are voices that replay past mistakes or hurts or that question our confidence. There may be memories that evoke feelings; feelings like sadness or anger that we don’t want to feel. The voices tempted them and caused them to question Moses and to doubt. These inner enemies tried to lead the people of God away from God. Remember God desires unity and peace not division.
As today’s people of God, we rarely turn off all the distractions. A few months ago, Father John preached about the importance of silence. A few minutes of silence a day or every other day, allows the voices, memories, and feelings to come out so that slowly we can deal with them. If we do not deal with them, they will come out in other ways through our actions and through health problems. So, our first learning this Lenten season is to live into the desert. Create a desert space with no distractions. Listen to your inner voices and ask for God’s guidance and healing.
The second learning was that they needed instruction from God. Several verses describe allowing God to instruct them so that they could walk in God’s ways. The people of God had lived submissively under Egyptian rule. They were told what to do. Now God needed to prepare them to own their own land and to live together as a community.
This Lenten season allow God to lead you to learn something new. I suggest as a starting point, the church’s mission statement. Take some time to reflect on it. Our mission statement reads, “To share the Wisdom of God in all its rich variety, through our common life in the body of Christ, so that the place where we live may be renewed and transfigured in God.”What does this mean for you as a part of this church community? How do you share the Wisdom of God? How do we renew the place where we live?
The third learning from the psalmist was to be humble. Survival in the desert required relying on God and others. Only through humility could they survive.
I recently read some books on how to live together and how to build relationships with those from other races and cultures. I learned from my friends in Malawi and Burundi that we can live in community with others who are different, but we must be willing to humbly speak honest words and to hear honest words. It is like any of our close personal relations. The only way that we can know that our words and actions are hurting others close to us, is to talk it through. It is hard. It takes humility. It takes a willingness to feel sadness if you hurt someone. It takes courage to say that you feel hurt. When we are honest and we hear the other, the relationship strengthens, and we learn a bit more about ourselves. These types of interactions teach humility. Interestingly, the people of God were given rules like this to follow to resolve relationship and property disputes.
The fourth learning was to remember that God always loved the people. Even when it looked like the desert journey would never end, God was there. God taught them because God loved them and was steadfast. We have stories in Exodus about the people grumbling. The people thinking God had left them when Moses went up the mountain. If they couldn’t see or hear God, they felt abandoned. Their inner voices and doubts took over and put up an imagery wall between themselves and God. They couldn’t see or hear God because their own stuff prevented it. It has been my experience that the times we are least likely to sense God is during moments of extreme grief, pain, guilt, or doubt. Our faith and God’s promise to ALWAYS be with us, carries us.
Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days after his baptism according to the Gospel of Mark. It was not really a desert but a harsh environment. He was retracing the steps of God’s people in the Exodus. He struggled with his human inner self. He was given instruction by God the Father on his mission on earth. He humbled himself through fasting and he felt separated from God the Father. We know Jesus was never separated from the Father, but His human self felt vulnerable. He needed to experience the wilderness, the desert. Only by that experience was he able to turn off distractions and get clarity and strength for his mission.
So, there are some Lenten learnings for us. Go find your desert, wrestle with yourself, learn from God, be humble, and know that God is with you.