In the Wilderness of Sin

In the Wilderness of Sin the Israelites complained to Moses.

"We're running out of food. We don't seem to be getting anywhere. We miss Egypt. Even captivity that is known is better than this freedom that is
frighteningly foreign, unknown, untrustworthy. It seems like we've passed that
rock before. I'm sure we walked by that dried up wadi last week. What's the plan
Moses? Where are you taking us? God is the leader you say? Well, then, where is
God leading us? We just want to know."

The wilderness area named "Sin" has nothing to do with the spiritual acts or inclinations that we call sin. Scholars don't even know where it is exactly. It is supposed to be near Mt. Sinai. The problem is that there is no definitive certainty about which mountain in the Sinai delta is the one where God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. It could be the one at the southern tip of the delta (Jebel Musa), or it could be in the Arabah (the above photo) near the ruins of Petra in Jordan. Jebel Musa, the traditional location of Sinai, is still the front runner. But who knows?

For many it's important that we know where such places are located. I must admit that I have tended to be one of these. I love studying maps. I like to see relationships between this place and that. How many miles apart are they? How does one get from there to here? How long will it take? I'm kind of like that with people, too. How tall are they? How old are they?

I need to know such things generally. But I tend to care less about such things spiritually. When I toured the Holy Land in 1979 I found it inspiring to see the same landscape, walk through some of the same terrain as those about whom we read in the Bible. Yet, I also realized that it didn't really matter to me if one of the caves we visited outside of Bethlehem was the actual one in which Jesus was born. It didn't matter whether the ruins of the house that the tour books said what that of the apostle Peter in Capernaum was actually his house. And, even if the Church of the Holy Sepulchre probably was built over the location of the tomb where Jesus was laid after the Crucifixion, the so-called Garden Tomb seemed so much more authentic.

And so, to me the Wilderness of Sin is more than a place on a map (whereever it is). The wilderness of sin is a spiritual place where increasing numbers of people wander, looking for sustenance, meaning, direction and life. So many of the people with whom I meet in our churches are there.

• There's the minister that wonders why life in the pastorate is so difficult. Why is it that she is doing all the right things, all the things they taught her in seminary, yet the people aren't responding.


• There's the church leader that is trying to deal with congregational conflict between the pastor an another church leader. And, he wonders about the ramifications for the entire congregation if this conflict is resolved.


• There's the ministerial candidate in another denomination that has been turned down by the denominations committee on ministry in the last stages of her preparation and came to talk about her options in the UCC. If they didn't want her why didn't they tell her earlier in the process?


• And there's the congregation that is trying to survive. How many more bake sales can we do? Maybe we should try to develop a mission statement and set goals. But, do we have enough people with the energy to follow through.

In the Wilderness of Sin there are many people that are conflicted, that don't know where to turn. The old ways should work, but they just aren't anymore. The new ways are foreign to us and we don't know if we want to try them. We'd rather sink in the familiar old dingy than venture out in the new, state of the art kayak.

Today the lectionary calls for reading the story of Jesus' own wilderness wanderings. His were in the Wilderness of Judea rather than the Wilderness of Sin. We know the story of how he fasted and prayed for 40 days and how he was tempted by the devil.

Sometimes I wonder if his temptations were real. After all, if he were truly human, wouldn't he have given in, even a little? Ah, but I project...

Jesus' temptations were real enough, I suppose. He had to work to confront and overcome his spiritual pride, his great knowledge of the scriptures and faith, his assurance that he was God's anointed Messiah. This was truly heady business.

He had to confront and overcome his ambition. There is always the tendency to put oneself ahead of others, especially when one is so talented, wise and smart. And so, he was tempted to give into his ambition to have everyone come over to his way of thinking and believing, by powerful preaching or by miracles or by the force of god's angelic legions, if necessary. This was a great deal to overcome.

And he had to confront and overcome his fear. For in humbling himself and in giving himself obediently over to God's purpose, he would have to undergo the pain of loneliness, rejection, torture and death. Scary stuff, indeed!

How did he do it? Well, I think he never lost sight of the landmarks. In the wilderness our eyes play tricks on us. One way looks just like another. It's easy to get lost. It's easy to give in and give up. But if we can somehow keep hold of certain landmarks -- praying constantly; reading, seeking to rightly understand and recall the scriptures; worshipping regularly (individually and corporately); growing in fellowship with other people of faith (the worst thing is to try to "go it alone") -- the way home becomes clearer.

In today's Lenten Devotional from the Still Speaking Initiative of the national UCC local church pastor Lillian Daniel wrote about the difference between perplexity and temptation. "

There are two situations that lead to doing the wrong thing. The first is
perplexity, when we truly do not know which is the right course to take. The
second situation is temptation. We're simply tempted by something we want so
much that we are willing to do the wrong thing to get it. We human beings
don't want to admit that we are in that second category of mere temptation. So
what do we do? We mistake temptation for perplexity. We say we had no idea what to do, or what we were doing, when really we were just tempted."

God can help us with our confusion in the midst of complexity whenever we are sincerely willing to give our hearts and minds over to God's Spirit in prayer. God can also help us to work through our temptation especially as we can honestly look at our own motives, needs, fears and goals. We can pray to God, "lead us not into temptation," but Lillian Daniel is right in saying that we need to recognize when we are saying it's God's will when it's really our own will that we are doing.

In the wilderness the best thing to do is pray. Today's Centering Prayer from the UCC Calendar of Prayer helps me. Maybe it'll help you, too.

"God of mercy, your word was the sure defense of Jesus in his time of
testing. Minister to us in the wilderness of our temptation, that we who
have been set free from sin by Christ may serve you well into life
everlasting. Amen."

Blessings,

Rick Cowles

P.S. You can subscribe for the Stillspeaking Daily Lenten Devotional (delivered via email) by clicking on this link: http://www.uccvitality.org/devotional/subscribe-to-a-stillspeaking-lenten-devotional-for-2008.html