Wilderness

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

December 8, 2019

2 Advent A

          At Christ Church, we work hard at connecting with the community around us.  Much of this work happens out in the community, where people gather, whether at the Memorial Day Parade, or the Hudson Ice Cream Social, Merchant Trick or Treat, the Farmers’ Market, the Open Door Coffee Shop or Restrooms for Runners, coming right up on Christmas Eve.  We also connect with the community through the many groups that meet at Christ Church such as SAGE, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, Brownie and Daisy scouts, AA and Al Anon, Music from the Western Reserve, and the list goes on.  When we go out into the community, we take chocolate bars and pencils with our name on them, or a large banner, or prizes for games at the ice cream social.  When groups meet here, we try to make sure they feel welcome and comfortable.  Our goal is to connect with the community in ways that allow the community to experience something of our hospitality and the hospitality of God, whether in our building or out on the Green.

          John the Baptist seems to have missed the memo on how to effectively connect with the community.  John the Baptist neither goes out into the community nor does he invite the people into a nice comfortable space.  Instead, he goes to the wilderness.  Instead of a sign that says “God loves you, no exceptions,” John the Baptist calls the people to repent, calls some of them a brood of vipers, and in the not-so-fine print, mentions the unquenchable fire.  And instead of taking chocolate bars and pencils to give to the people, the menu is locusts and wild honey.  This enterprise is doomed to fail.

          But John the Baptist does not fail!  We are told that the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to see him, and all the region along the Jordan.  People were lining up to go to the wilderness and be told to repent or else by a strange looking guy eating locusts and wild honey.  How does that work?

          Scripture is full of references to the wilderness.  The two most notable wilderness stories are about the 40 years the Hebrew people spent in the wilderness as Moses led them to the Promised Land, and the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness following his baptism.  In the wilderness, the Hebrew people learned what it means to belong to God and what it means to depend on God and God alone.  The people relied on God for food, water, safety, shelter from the sun and light during the nighttime.  In the wilderness, there was precious little else to rely on and the people came to understand the reliability of God.  Jesus was led into the wilderness after his baptism, after he heard the voice of God proclaim “This is my son, my chosen one, with whom I am well pleased.” In the wilderness, in the company of God and the devil, with nothing to eat and no human to rely on, Jesus came to understand his identity as God’s chosen son. 

          I believe people followed John the Baptist into the wilderness because John proclaimed the truth about the people and their relationship with God.  John demanded that the people repent in order to prepare for the one who was coming.  Repent means to turn, to turn from all that separates them from the love of God.  Perhaps in the wilderness, separated from all that lures them into a false sense of security, and where there was nothing but the people, John, and the water of the Jordan, the people could more deeply experience their relationship with God and understand where real security lies.  John told them that repentance is not just a mental or even spiritual act.  The mark of repentance is the fruit that is born by that action, and without that fruit, the repentance is nothing.  The purpose of this repentance, or turning, was preparation for the One who was to come.  In the wilderness, the people encountered the God who claimed them as God’s own and were challenged to live like people who put their trust in God. 

          Most of us will not venture into the wilderness and encounter a John the Baptist type who will call us to turn from all that provides false security and put our trust in God.  However, most of us will, at some point in our lives, find ourselves in the wilderness of grief, or change, or illness, or challenge of some sort or another.  We will find ourselves in a place where all false securities are brought to light and we will recognize our utter dependence on God, the source of deep and lasting security and peace.  In Advent, John the Baptist calls us to practice that turning, turning from all that we think gives us security-education, possessions, food, wealth, friendships-so that we will be ready for the One who is coming.  John reminds us that repentance, or turning, demands something of us, so that our actions are in sync with our hearts and minds.  If our actions do not match what we say with our lips, John tells us that we have not really turned at all.  In Advent, John calls us to turn, as John called the people of Jerusalem and all Judea to turn, so that we are prepared to welcome the One who is to come.

          The good news of Advent is the promise that whatever wilderness we find ourselves in, whether we have gone into the wilderness intentionally, or we wind up in a wilderness not of our choosing, we will find God there.  When we let go of all that we hold onto for security, when we turn to the One who claims us as God’s own, the promise of the wilderness is that the One we await this season, is actually waiting for us. 

                                                                                      Amen.