And then…..
The Spirit drives Jesus into the desert for 40 days where he is tempted. It seems like as soon as Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is declared, his identity is challenged.
How is my baptismal identity challenged, or tempted? How is it challenged as an individual Christian, and how is my faith community challenged corporately, as a Christian community?
Are the hungry fed? Are the naked clothed? Are the oppressed free?
Jesus spent 40 days in the desert: lonely, hungry, thirsty, and vulnerable. I see Jesus in the desert today, in children and others who are starving, whose only meal today will be bread made of grass. Children who are lonely, hungry, thirsty, and vulnerable. These children know of things that I have never had to know. Has my time come to spend 40 days in the desert? Can my 40 days in the desert be the birth of true compassion, and reconnect me with Jesus and all the children of Jesus, especially those who know loneliness, hunger, thirst, or vulnerability? Does my identity as a Christian demand such radical transformation?
Maybe, for these 40 days, I don't have to give up anything at all, maybe I just have to give of myself. Maybe I am called to be an angel ministering to a child of Jesus in the desert.
Prayer
Holy and vulnerable God,
I’ve gone to the desert. The Spirit called my name, and I answered.
In Isaiah 55:13, you promise, O my Beloved, joy and strength, even in the desert.
If this is an invitation to grace, am I ready to RSVP?
Am I committed to ministering to Jesus, and living the Gospel?
Will I let Spirit lead me through Her Wisdom?
Oh God, of parched waters………
Help me say, “YES!”
Help me live, “YES!”
Abide in me, as I abide in you,
And guide me through the desert ministering in the promise of Resurrection.
Amen.
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lent
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