“What Do You See in the Wilderness?”

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-15

In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a problem with our faith. It’s not that it is too diverse, not that it is too dilute, not that it is too late in coming - the problem with our faith is that we don’t trust it enough! Whether it is out of fear, or uncertainty, or peer pressure, or some other human frailty, most people have a faith that is more limiting than it is emergent. Faith may seem too radical for our lives, and we decide to avoid it. It may seem too difficult to live, and we give it up with a shrug. All too often, we ask for a sign from heaven to answer our doubts, and when it comes, we dismiss it with another doubt. How much does God have to give so that the people of this world will believe without hesitation?

Read Matthew 11:2-6

Last week we read that John the Baptist was loudly proclaiming that One was coming who he was unworthy to even tie the thongs of his sandals. He had leapt in his mother’s womb at the very presence of the unborn Christ! He would baptize Christ, but with the caveat that Christ should be baptizing him! And now, as he was languishing in prison, very possibly fearing for his life, he was expressing his uncertainty that Jesus just might not be all that he had proclaimed Him to be. “Are you the one who we have been waiting for?” Could there be someone else just around the corner?” Even John, in his “wilderness” experience in a Hebrew jail, was having doubts.

What could have brought about this change in the certain faith of such a committed prophet? He had been bold in his proclamation of the Messiah’s arrival. He had never hesitated in his call to repentance, regardless of the audience. He was austere in every aspect of his life. And yet, he had enough uncertainty in him that he sent his followers to bluntly ask Jesus if He was truly who he said He was.

And Jesus, true to form, doesn’t give them a straight answer. He tells them to believe the miracles that they have seen, to understand the message they have heard, and not to fear the truth of His presence. “Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me.” Don’t doubt who I am, simply because I don’t conform to conventional wisdom regarding what the Messiah should be like. Believe the signs that have been placed before you, and don’t worry about that “brood of vipers” that John attacked so decisively.

J. Walter Cross, in his book “Under No Delusions” tells this story:
A man by the name of Jay Rathman was hiking in one of the wilderness areas near his northern California home. Passing along a rocky ledge, he sensed a movement beside his face. A timber rattlesnake struck, just missing his right ear. Its fangs got snagged in the wool of Rathman's turtleneck sweater, pulling the snake onto his shoulders. He grabbed it just behind the head with his left hand, as they both tumbled down the slope through the brush and rocks. In this eyeball-to-eyeball encounter, he discovered that snakes don't blink. In about 20 minutes, he was able to throttle the reptile. Later, passing through the checkout gate, Rathman said to the warden, “I'd like to register a complaint about the wildlife here.”

Cross continues: “Reading that hair-raising account reminds us how closely it resembles life on a daily basis. At the most unsuspecting moment, something strikes at us. We are knocked off balance by the assault .... Who hasn't been tumbled head over heels by demands and deadlines? Who hasn't done battle with poisonous irritations on the slopes of overcommitment, underachievement and burnout? Who hasn't had to fend off surprise attacks from criticism that strike at us like hungry predators and rip into us like needle-sharp claws? They are frequent and varied: physical pain, emotional trauma, relational stress, spiritual doubts, marital conflicts, occupational disappointments, financial reversals ... demonic assaults.”_
- J. Walter Cross, “Under No Delusions”, Bradenton, Florida.

“Blessed is the one who does not yield to the attacks that come as we journey along our wilderness path.”

Read Matthew 11:7-10

What do we look for in a prophet? Some want the sage of today to simply reaffirm and reinforce the beliefs that they already hold. Some want to be instantly and surely changed into the perfect Christian, without too much bother, of course. But that’s not the purpose of a prophet! Prophets are sent to present the right way for our lives, and it is our job to make the decision to accept the change.
And prophets are never what we would expect from a Godly person. They are unconventional and they carry an unconventional message. They walk a fine line that leads them between the false goodness of society and the all-too-rigid uprightness of the institutional church. And they are generally despised by both.
Most of us want to follow a much more conventional and charismatic sage than the John the Baptist type, but unfortunately, God seldom sends his message wrapped up in $1,000 suits or riding in Lincoln Towncars.

Why does God not intervene more directly today and save us (and him) from abuse and hurt? The author Philip Yancey has an answer: “Some Christians long for a world well-stocked with miracles and spectacular signs of God's presence. I hear wistful sermons on the parting of the Red Sea and the 10 plagues and the daily manna in the wilderness, as if the speakers yearn for God to unleash his power like that today.
But the follow-the-dots journey of the Israelites should give us pause. Would a burst of miracles nourish faith? Not the kind of faith God seems interested in, evidently. The Israelites give ample proof that signs may only addict us to signs, not to God.”
--Philip Yancey, “Disappointment With God” (Grand Rapids, Mich.:Zondervan, 1988), 48.

And, I might add, the appearance of prosperity only addicts us to prosperity. If we truly want to hear of God’s will for our lives, we can’t be concerned with what the messenger looks like – even if he dresses in camel hair shirts and eats bugs.

Read Matthew 11:11-15

So why do we go out into the strangest places to hear God’s Word? Why do we go to the strangest places to share God’s Word? After all, can’t we just as easily hear and proclaim the word in glorious venues, like the National Cathedral, or Rick Warren’s Saddleback church, or on some evangelist’s television show? Sure we can! But there are very few opportunities for most folks to visit those places. Most folks need to hear the Word of God right where they are – whether in a small country church, or in a rescue mission, or in a poverty ridden section of town, or even under a bridge where the homeless gather.

Our wilderness is not so much a place as it is a state of mind. When the people journeyed out to hear John, they went to hear a life changing challenge, to begin to understand that this existence has nothing to do with the next one, to experience the Lord Jesus before they actually met Him, and to know His call on their life.
Sometimes I think that the church building is the last place we should go to experience Christ - that the best places are in a nursing home, or a prison, or with a shut-in, or with family at home, or with a stranger at the mall, with a harried waitress at our favorite restaurant, or a friend who is struggling with the adversities of life.
“Wilderness” is where the God-in-us is revealed. “Wilderness” is where the world comes to meet Jesus, without the distraction of all the trappings and formalities of “religion”. “Wilderness” is where the need is the greatest and where the potential harvest awaits supreme.
“Wilderness” is not some place where there is only harshness and hardship and nothing of interest to see. Wilderness is the very place where our vision can become the most acute, where our hearts can be “strangely warmed”, where the world can see God clearly, where His Word takes on the greatest meaning.

Whether it is in the Israelites’ Exodus, or Jonah’s 3 day journey inside of that huge fish, or in Elijah’s headlong flight from his queen, or
- John’s home away from home, or even at the foot of Calvary,if we truly want to experience and to know and to be changed by Jesus’ presence, we need to set the world aside, if only for the moment. That’s what the season of Advent is all about – journeying to the beginning of Hope and Joy and the Way of Salvation, without the distractions of earthliness.

May your preparations for the Birth and rebirth be blessed in rich and marvelous and unobstructed ways. May we all have the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the hearts to know.