February 18 Worship

SJLC Sermons

In this sermon, we embark on a journey through the wilderness, understanding a period majorly characterized as a time of emptiness, which can relate to our feelings of isolation. Reflecting on the scripture from Mark's Gospel, we hear how Jesus Himself spent 40 days in the wilderness, challenged by Satan, yet never alone as attended by angels and His eternal faith in God.

We draw parallels to the Greek definitions of wilderness, 'eremos' and 'topos', connoting an empty place; a place empty of life, water, food, and people. The vacuum-like feel that conveys an eerie sense of being alone, something corroborated by Aristotle's philosophy that nature abhors a vacuum. His belief is that an empty space, inevitably, gets filled with something. It applies to our personal lives, experiences in ministry, and spiritual journey through Lent as well.

Historical and modern human experiences bear testament to our many encounters with empty-place moments and our instinctive quest to fill the void with something. Devil offers temptations to fill our emptiness with ungodly distractions, mirroring the legend of Robert Johnson, the Mississippi blues musician's alleged trade of his soul for unparalleled talent at the crossroads in the wilderness.

We often find ourselves confronted by fears, fears that make us feel alone, fears that drive us to give in to temptation, fears that make us doubt our faith. But the ironic part is there's no space truly empty, because we are never alone - a lesson directly from Jesus's journey in the wilderness. Our shared faith, collective worship, and the sacrament of Holy Communion all affirm this. Ultimately, it's understanding that Jesus's presence fills every empty place in our lives with His divine love, grace, forgiveness, and peace that allow us to journey faithfully through the wilderness of Lent and life.

Together in faith, we overcome fears, filling our emptiness not with worldly power or self-importance but with Jesus. That's the true power of belief - the answer to our existential questions, enabling us to journey through this world faithfully. Hence, we must always bear in mind - we are never alone. To this truth, we thank God. Amen.