Dear Partner in Preaching, Somewhere along the line – whether in a college English course or seminary preaching class I can’t quite remember – I was taught to craft a tight, clear theme sentence to guide the whole of the essay or sermon. I’ll confess that I don’t do that every week, but I will this time around. And keeping with the brevity of Mark’s Gospel – and, indeed, his somewhat truncated version of the temptation – I’m going to keep it short: the same Spirit that descends upon Jesus at his baptism now drives him into the wilderness. Did you ever notice that, by the way? That immediately after his Baptism Jesus is...
Matthew 4:1
posted by DJL
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Okay, so I was all ready to write about how Jesus is led into the wilderness for temptation only after his baptism. And that matters. And I was prepared to describe the character of the devil’s temptation....
Matthew 3:1-3
posted by DJL
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his...
Desert Places –...
posted by DJL
What I appreciate about Robert Frost’s poetry is the “rhythmic logic” that always seems to yield a kind of desperately honest beauty. Here is comes especially in two places. “And lonely as it is that loneliness / Will be more lonely ere it will be less” and...
First Sunday of Lent
posted by DJL
We give you thanks, O God, for all things: For the Spirit that names and affirms, the Spirit that leads and drives, we give you thanks. May we ever heed its call. For the wilderness periods of our lives that help us grow strong while teaching us not to rely on our strength but on your mercy,...