All Who Wander Are Not Lost, with Rev. Sharon Edwards.

All Who Wilderness Wander Are Not Lost, with Rev. Sharon Edwards. Series: Standalone Services A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon.

Curious about faith, doubt, and finding God in life’s “wilderness”? Join us this Sunday (online or in-person) as Sharon Edwards shares a hopeful message about being held in the very palm of God’s hand. Come as you are, ask your questions, and breathe in some grace with us.

Join us each Sunday, 10AM at bendfp.org, or 11AM KTVZ-CW Channel 612/12 in Bend.  Subscribe/Follow, and click the bell for alerts.

At First Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God.

We call this kind of faith “Spacious Christianity.” We don’t ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. The life of faith is about a way of being in the world and a faith that shows itself in love.

Thank you for your support of the mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Bend. Visit https://bendfp.org/giving/ for more information.

Keywords:

Death Valley, Lent, wilderness, Jesus, temptation, faith, spiritual desert, angels, breath prayer, solace, fierce landscapes, God’s love, spiritual growth, desert journey, divine presence., presbyterian, church, online worship, bend, oregon

Featuring:

Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Rev. Sharon Edwards, Becca Ellis, Brave of Heart, Guests

Transcript

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Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian. We, at First Presbyterian, practice a spacious Christianity, which means, no matter where you are in your faith journey, you belong, and there is space for you at the table, there is space for your doubts and questions. We believe doubts and questions are a gift that invite us into deeper conversations and a more authentic faith. We believe diversity is a strength. Every story is sacred and everybody matters. We do our best to live the spacious and radical love of Jesus so that all might have a chance to flourish in this world. We are so glad to connect with you in this way. We would also love to worship with you in person, if you're ever in the neighborhood on Sunday mornings at 830 or 10am and never hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about us or how we might support You. I hope you enjoy this worship service. Welcome you. In the fall of 1849, 27 wagons started into that long desert Valley. East of the Sierra Nevada, only one came out. A survivor of that misguided party spoke of the dreadful sameness of the terrain, remembering only hunger and thirst and an awful silence when the only surviving wagon topped the Last Mountain. One of the settlers looked back at the place that almost claimed them and said, Goodbye, Death Valley. It has been called that ever since. But there is another name the Spanish used to describe this God forsaken land. They called it La Palma de le mano de Dios, the very palm of God's hand. Every year about this time, Christians around the world gear up for an event that is shorter than traveling by wagon train, but longer than the Olympics every year lent comes around less like a birthday and more like a flu shot. It's not so much about fun as it is an opportunity to not get sick or more sick like a flu shot. Lent is where we're not too sure how it works or whether it will work, but it's worth a try. Lent is the six weeks that lead up to Easter, and some of us are just tempted to recycle our failed New Year resolutions during this period, it has traditionally been a time of giving things up or taking things on. However, for many of us, this time is viewed as space to commit to deepening or growing our faith and the usual scripture to kick it off is about Jesus, of course, but about Jesus wandering in the wilderness? Three out of the four gospels tell the same story with their own perspectives and what they choose to accent. However, there are a few things held in common in Matthew Mark and Luke. Jesus first is baptized in the River Jordan. He is told he is the beloved son with whom God is well pleased, then still dripping from his baptism, Jesus goes not directly to brunch or a party celebrating his new found blessedness. Instead of basking in that kind of light, he bakes in the heat of an arid desert, both Matthew and Luke write about length about his time there, where out among the rocks and sand with little to sustain him, he is given an exam. The exam giver is described as the devil. However, the Greek original word is tempter. This is not necessarily the one with a pitchfork, horns and a pointy tail, or long red long johns. Some scholars suggest it may have been a seductive voice telling him who he should be rather than who he is. Perhaps the tests come from deep within Jesus Himself, hungry and alone and wondering, who am I again? What is my life about? What am I supposed to do? Do any of these questions sound at all familiar, but Mark's version of Jesus in the wilderness ends up being very different. Mark is considered to be the first gospel written down, and this is how he tells the story, and the spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness 40 days, tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him. That's it, this spirit who descends peacefully like a dove now drives him into the desert. The verb used here is the same one later used of Jesus casting out demons, suggesting there is quite a bit of force behind it. Mark does not describe the temptations. Rather, he. Focuses on the wilderness setting. There are wild beasts, and there are also angels, angels who diakonoun in the Greek, angels who serve or minister to him. This wilderness experience Mark sets the stage. Jesus's life and ministry will not be smooth and all heavenly voices walking in the park. Danger lurks. Wild beasts hover. This beloved will suffer, but angels will feed and he will triumph. Perhaps you too have wandered in the wilderness. There are geographical deserts outside and there are spiritual deserts within. There are times when we are catapulted, launched, shoved into the desert. Something happens with such a blow that we are forced into a landscape full of hazards and exams that test our faith and even our sanity, we are stripped of what we thought was real, or at least Sure, and forced head first into a place where we hunger For more than physical food, the wild beasts of despair and hopelessness howl the fanged ones of anger and rage eat away at our soul, the claws that dig into our hearts to convince us we are not beloved and honored creatures God has proclaimed, we are the wide eyed Memory Keepers that replay all the ways we have failed and do not belong. Sometimes our wilderness is the loss of faith itself, or at least the faith we thought we had, the sand shifts and the faith that raised us no longer rings true, and we wander in The tension filled desert of what is next, but what if the wild beasts transform into invitations to wake up, to come back home to what is real and true, To surrender to the goodness and the grace of God. But what if the wilderness is also a place that we choose to wander? Perhaps this story in Mark is an invitation to deliberately walk out amongst the rock and the cacti and risk not knowing and go on a walk of wonder. Who am I now? What is my life? What am I to be about? The Wilderness would not always be a place of peril. For Jesus, we read that he would return to it intentionally. Between his various tasks and offerings of diaconom, service and ministry, the wilderness would be a sacred space to renew and probably refocus him, a place of discovering a deeper knowing of who he was and what He was about, also the wilderness a place to experience the profound mystery of God. Belden Lane writes in his book the solace of fierce landscapes, there is an unaccountable solace that fierce landscapes offer to the soul they hear as well as mirror the brokenness we find within. Moving apprehensively into the desert's emptiness, you discover a wall. Wild terrain, a metaphor of our deepest fears. If the danger is sufficient, you experience a loss of competence, a crisis of knowing that brings you to the end of yourself, to the only true place where God is met, beyond language, beyond human control, beyond all that is safe, one encounters a great beast prowling about the edges of uncertainty. Lesser fears in the presence of this beast give way to a still greater fear whose other name is love. It turns out the wilderness is where broken and hurting people are free to groan, to grow to stumble, get back up and learn to trust the God who fiercely loves at All times, but who also provides what we need now, what we think we need. So friends, whether you have been forced into a desert, deserted desert place, or choose to walk there yourself, lace up those hiking boots, take some deep breaths, look for the angels, or be one yourself. Trust you are La Palma de la mana de DEOs, you are in the very palm of God's hand. The ancient ones have left us tools and practices for the wilderness, wilderness, wandering, and one of those is called a breath prayer. It is a short phrase that is repeated over and over with the first half of the phrase being placed on the inhale and the second part of the phrase being placed on the exhale. Some examples are Jesus Christ as you breathe in. Have mercy on me as you breathe out. I remember who I am as you breathe in, beloved and free as you breathe out. So today I invite you to close your eyes, to first take a deep breath in, and then a breath out as you breathe in. Hear these words, lost in the wilderness as you breathe out, I am held by your love. Breathing in, lost in the wilderness, breathing out, I am held by your love. Breathing in, lost in the wilderness, breathing out, I am held by your love. Breathing in, lost in the wilderness, breathing out, I am held by your love. One we wander loving God, we pray for all who are in the wilderness, may they be tended by angels, and may we be courageous angels, empowered by your love Amen I invite you to echo my words and even my my movements with my hands, with God before us and God behind us, Christ above us and Christ beneath us, spirit beside US and Spirit within us. thank you so much for joining us, And we hope you enjoyed this worship service. If you would like to make a donation helping make these broadcasts possible or support the many ways, first, Presbyterian seeks to serve our community, you can make a financial gift online@bendfp.org every week, we hear from someone thanking us for the gift of these broadcasts and what a difference they make. Your support makes that possible. Our church is committed to reach beyond our walls, bringing hope where there is despair and love where it is needed the most. Your generous support helps us to be generous in love. Go to our website, bend fp.org, and click on the link. Give online. Your support is really appreciated and makes a difference in people's lives. Thanks again. I hope to see you next week. You