"Communal Wilderness" by Rev. Jillian Hankamer, 1/19/2025

A sermon for Northminster Church

Matthew 4:1-17

There’s been an effort in the past few years by Christian authors and curriculum companies to own those trite expressions church folk are especially guilty of using. Phrases like “God will never give you more than you can handle,” or “God helps those who help themselves,” “Everything happens for a reason,” “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”

           These are the mindless phrases we say without thinking. When we don’t know what else to say. When we’re uncomfortable, when we panic, or are at a loss for words. But other than being excellent fodder for inspirational posters, none of these old chestnuts are true, and they certainly aren’t biblical. Tell Job, scraping at the sores that cover his body while sitting amid the ashes of his family and the entirety of his life, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Or Naomi, who changes her name from pleasant to bitter after the death of her husband and sons, that, “Everything happens for a reason.”

           Yes, these things Christian people say are silly. They’re meaningless. They’re not in the Bible, and worst of all, they rarely make anyone feel better. And this morning I would like to add another phrase or idea to the list – that of “being on a personal wilderness journey.”

            Now, I need to make a couple of things clear. First, I’ve used wilderness language to describe my own life on more than one occasion, so be assured my goal isn’t to discount any wildness experiences you’ve had or desolate times you’ve survived. What I’m talking about when I add a “personal wilderness journey” to that trite phrase list is the idea that these dark times are trials God sets up to test our loyalty or commitment. What I want to challenge is the idea that we’re somehow alone during these times. What I want to explore with you instead is that “wilderness is not an individual affair.”^[1]

  Following directly on the heels of Jesus' baptism with “the wings of the Spirit-dove still beating the air, and the words of the Almighty still hanging”^[2] in the ether, Jesus [is] lead up by the Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted.” Fresh from the baptismal waters it takes only, as Rev. Pat Raube points out, “four prepositional phrases…”^[3] for Jesus to be face-to-face with the devil.

           Often this story is depicted as the ultimate struggle between good and evil with “divine willpower overcoming diabolical temptation,”^[4] and because of the darkness vs. light, good guy vs. the ultimate bad guy persona this story presents on its surface, artists have depicted Jesus being tempted by Satan in every imaginable medium for centuries.  But the reality of these verses is far less someone, against all odds, beating evil incarnate,^[5] and much more the Evangelist Matthew using these verses to make a comparison between Jesus and Israel and the wilderness temptations they share, and highlighting Jesus as the “unique son of God.”^[6]

           The connection to Israel, by which I mean the Israelites as one body of people post-Egypt, comes with Jesus’ responses to each of the devil’s temptations.  “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Again, it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” With these words, Jesus is directly quoting from chapters six through eight of Deuteronomy, which are words “God puts before Israel in the wilderness.”^[7] But unlike Israel, which is consistent only in its challenge to YHWH's guidance, Jesus’ use of these scriptures shows “that he understands both the means and the meaning of obedience in a way that Israel did not.” It’s also a fun, Bible nerd detail to note that Jesus likely meets his temptation “in the same region Israel did when they were preparing to enter the promised land.”^[8]

           We must be careful at this point in the story not to give in to the assumption that Jesus overcomes these temptations through the power of his divinity. That's because he’s the Son of God and therefore not completely human he isn’t as sensitive to temptation. As Dr. Jeannine K. Brown notes in her commentary,

“Matthew’s emphasis in this passage on Israel’s Christology – Jesus as faithful representative of Israel and so as the true and loyal expression of the people of          God – suggests otherwise.  In his humanity and through his faithfulness to       God through the Spirit’s empowerment, Jesus overcomes temptation.”^[9]

            Said another way, “For one described so far in the gospels as ‘Messiah,’ ‘Emmanuel,’ and ‘Son of God,’ Jesus' power seems (ironically? paradoxically?) to rest in his absolute tenacity in clinging to his humanity.”^[10]

           We must also keep in mind that Jesus is not alone through his time in the wilderness or his encounter with the devil. Verse one of this chapter specifically says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” From the moment he sets foot out of the Jordan, the Spirit is with him. He hasn’t been banished to a desolate place to be isolated. He hasn’t been forgotten, so Satan takes advantage of him at his weakest and most vulnerable. As I said before Jesus' time in the wilderness and his encounter with the devil is not a loyalty test, or a way to determine God’s commitment to him. This is not Jesus’ chance to turn on the Spirit for leading him to this barren place to be alone for so long. None of that is biblical.^[11]

           What is biblical is the notion that “baptism assumes wilderness.”^[12] That being part of the people of God is not a safeguard against times of temptation and struggle.

            Wilderness is inescapable, even when you choose a life of faith. What is escapable is assuming that “our desert stages in life [are] all about our own abilities to negotiate our trials, endure our burdens, push our way through hardships as if surviving [alone] is somehow the same as salvation.”^[13] If we take Jesus’ baptism seriously, it becomes clear that our wilderness times are less about our own selves being on the line and having to prove our worth and wherewithal to get through life’s challenges alone. Like Christ, our baptisms mean that no matter the challenges or struggles, we have already been claimed and named by the Almighty. Therefore, our wilderness is not ours alone, but one we share with our community of faith.

           My friends, the Good News this morning is that “ending up in the wilderness in not always about the self but about the other. About God’s other.”  The Israelites' time in the desert isn’t a story of individuals trying to survive on their own, but a community of people struggling to figure out how to be God’s people. Jesus' 40 days in that same desert isn’t the story of a man condemned to suffer alone and forgotten in a barren place, but a man fine-tuning his identity as both wholly human and fully divine. God was with the Israelites. The Spirit and promise of God walked side-by-side with Christ. So why do we assume that we enter the wilderness alone?

           The promise and claiming of our baptism is stronger than any barren place. Through those waters, we’re not only named God’s beloved, but we are also made part of a faith community that is bigger than ourselves. A community that is present with us in the wilderness, that stands with us in the moments of greatest temptation, that keeps us from forgetting that the life of faith is lived out together.

           So this morning, look around you. Who among us is in the wilderness waiting for us to stand beside them? Who among us needs the comfort of a loving hand in theirs to know that they do not struggle alone? Who among us needs to be reminded who they are and whose they are? One day that person will be me, one day it will be you. “Baptism assumes wilderness.”^[14] But thanks be to God that wilderness is not one we enter alone.

^[1] Karoline Lewis, “You Are All My Beloved,” from Craft of Preaching Dear Working Preacher. January 1, 2017.

^[2] Rev. Pat Raube, “Narrative Lectionary: The First Temptation(s) of Christ Edition,” from RevGalBlogPals.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Jeannine K. Brown, “Commentary on Matthew 4:1-17,” from Working Preacher – Preaching This Week.

^[5] Brown, ibid.

^[6] Ben Witherington III, “Matthew” Smyth and Helwys Bible Commentary, pg. 91.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Brown, ibid.

^[10] Raube, ibid.

^[11] Lewis, ibid.

^[12] Ibid.

^[13] Ibid.

^[14] Ibid.