The second Lenten devotion I wrote that appears in the Hollywood United Methodist Church booklet:
Mark 1:9-15
Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan;
and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
There’s a comment in my Student Bible that says Jesus preferred rural and small-town areas and spent amost two-thirds of his working
life in the remote northern regions. I really like the picture of Jesus this
paints in my mind. He loved small towns and he loved spending time with people,
one-on-one and in small groups. Yes, he spoke to larger groups as well but most
of the stories we know of Him tell of Him with just a handful of people.
I love small towns. I grew up in one. I moved to an even
smaller town for college. Then I moved to a relatively small town in Arizona.
And yet, here I am in Los Angeles, the second largest city in America. And yes,
at some point every day, I ask myself why.
The answer? Because there is the potential here to affect
change, to be bigger than oneself, to make a mark not just on my small corner
of life but on the world. And I sense Jesus knew that as well. And yet…I find
myself wondering what it would be like to be in the wilderness with Jesus. Not
necessarily to be tempted or spend time with the wild beasts but to spend time
with my Lord, one-on-one, in quietness.
So can we do both? Spend quiet time “in the wilderness” with
God and yet live in the big city? Yes, I believe so. And often times, it’s
after coming home from that wilderness that we are able to see things so much
more clearly. After Jesus left the desert he proclaimed the news: “The kingdom
of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” And hopefully, after
spending time in the wilderness, whether it be while being tempted or just
quietly contemplating life with our Savior, we all will come out proclaiming
the good news of Lent and the Resurrection.
Prayer:
God, please help us to realize that the wilderness can be a
place of growth and rejuvination no matter the trials we may face before or
during. Amen.
1 comment:
I spent six months working in Chicago, and I lived downtown on Michigan Avenue across the street from Millenium Park. A friend of mine asked me about living in the "thick" of a major city, and whether I felt more connected to humanity. He was right...I did. When you take public transit, walk the streets, you are closer to others than living in an exurb where you are forced to drive from place to place. This can be good and bad, but I started to appreciate why New Yorkers were so willing to help strangers out during 9/11...because you actually do have a strong sense of community and connectedness by sharing that city with each other, even if it is larger than life.
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