Series: “Wandering Pilgrims” "Expect Wilderness Times"





















Sunday June 3, 20012 Sermon                                                                                              

Exodus 16:1-4

Prayer:

We begin a new transition period. It’s what I call an in-between time in the transition process, and I consider the in-between time a wandering time. Thus… the series title, “Wandering Pilgrims.”

This is a new phase in the interim period as a couple of things begin to take place. One, we’re approaching the 6 month time of your long term pastor being retired. Some may still be grieving this, and two,  we’re heading into a time when some may be feeling that the process as slowed or is slowing.

This is easy to understand because we are entering the long hot days of summer and as the image on the screen suggests, it may feel like you’re walking in the desert. Desert times aren’t always the places we would want to visit, but we can look at the time Jesus spent in the wilderness as a model of how we should approach our wilderness times.

Jesus didn’t bite on the temptations from the devil. Jesus didn’t try to cut short his time in the wilderness though the devil tried to help him out on the endeavor. So… the temptation for us may be to cut the process short, but I caution you… this in-between time is important and there is still much to learn. We… like Jesus must stay the course.

As we begin this next step in the transition as pilgrims on a journey our 4 part “Wandering Pilgrims” series will focus on these themes, “God has a Plan,” “We Need Each Other,” “Our Need to Get Out of the Boat,” and today as we begin this next chapter; we should, “Expect Wilderness Times.”

Wilderness journeys can be very invigorating if you’re like me…. an adventurist type. However, many associate the wilderness with the image on the screen… that of a desert. And this kind of wilderness journey isn’t always too adventurous nor appreciated, and often times can be long and painful. Many times the wilderness journey of losing a spouse or close friend, or a job, or that of losing a home is long and arduous. These aren’t fun times in our lives. For many, these wilderness journeys can be long, dry, and painful times in our lives.

The great temptation for us is to cut short the hurt.

To find a fast way to get through it all… and to compromise values.
To do anything that might lessen the time, the hurt, and pain.

The wilderness can be good… the wilderness can be a great teacher… if we’re open to learning.

The wilderness can deepen our faith.
The wilderness can help us become the people God desires.
And the wilderness can help us define who we are more distinctly.

Our OT reading the Israelites have been in the wilderness for 15 days since escaping from Egypt. That’s right… just 15 days and their already complaining and wish they were back in Egypt. How long does it take for you to start complaining? They want God to do something… or at the very least, Moses to do something. They accuse Moses of taking them out on a wild goose chase and a fruitless joy-ride. They are hungry… tired… dirty… in fact, they say to Moses, “You brought us out into the desert to starve.”

Our gospel story has Jesus returning to his home town. These are the people who knew Jesus pretty well and they weren’t all that happy about him coming home. You would have thought of any place, these people would have welcomed Jesus. You would have thought that Jesus would have received a heroes welcome. But they were not happy to see Jesus. They had heard of what Jesus was doing and they didn’t like all the attention they were getting because of Jesus.

Nazareth you see… was an unsophisticated and blue-collar town and they weren’t happy with all the attention they were getting because of Jesus. The Romans and the religious leaders were watching and waiting for Jesus to return. After-all… people always go home to see mom… right? They thought they could trap Jesus so they were promoting what Jesus was doing. But the town didn’t like all the attention, so they weren’t all that happy Jesus was there. And, for all practical purposes… they kicked Jesus out of town.

How would you feel about that?? You have to understand that in Jesus’ day community and family relationships were much more important than the way we think of them today. When I left Saginaw, Mi. a number of years ago no one was sad. I don’t believe anyone even noticed I was gone. Nobody really cared.

But, in Jesus’ day your social standing in the community sustained you during tough times… you would have at least had someplace to live and food to eat. I’m not sure we can say the same in our day.

The truth was, people aren’t happy.
Jesus says, “Prophets aren’t honored in their hometowns.”
The Israelites are complaining because they’re not comfortable.

It seems the dream of Jesus making a difference in the world and the Israelites of the promised land is all but dead. The big dream of God for his people was dead.

Read excerpts from the Book “The Dream Giver”…. “Ordinary Enters the Wasteland”

below is a summary,
“Ordinary has a longing to leave his homeland and is discouraged by family and friends. However, he risks the security of his life and embraces the adventurous life of living his dream. Not only does he meet Bullies as he leaves the Comfort Zone of Familiar but he meets Champion, a person who encourages him to pursue his dream. Immediately leaving the Land of Familiar, Ordinary enters the wasteland. The hope of finding his dream fades to a small flame of desire. As he keeps walking, he receives no direction or guidance and is alone. Then a character called Faith appears, sent by the Dream Giver, to show him the path to follow to get through the Wasteland to the Land of Promise. After the Wasteland, Ordinary finds Sanctuary, a land where the Dream Giver restores the hope of Ordinary’s dream and washes away the disappointments, fears and doubts accumulated in the Wasteland. At the end of each chapter of Ordinary’s progress, he writes notes to himself about what he learned in each land he traveled through.”

Closing:

Every person experiences wilderness times or seasons in life. Everyone’s journey experiences wilderness of dusty dry times. Most of the time we emerge stronger and more fulfilled than we were when we started.

Our 1 John 3:2 reading, John states,

“My dear friends, we are already God’s children, though what we will be hasn’t yet been seen.

My friends… the Dream Giver has given you a dream for ministry at Cross Lutheran. Yes, you will experience wilderness times, but you must walk through the wilderness to experience the dream God has given. God has given you faith to guide you through.

See You Out on the Road