¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. -Mark 1:12-13

On a normal day like any other day, Jesus stepped into the Jordan River with John the Baptizer. John offered baptism to Jesus like John did for everyone else and then immediately, according to Mark’s Gospel, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for forty days. And in a way, I confess I am jealous. There are days when the wilderness sounds lovely. In the middle of Advent when I start getting mailings and messages to plan for Lent, in the middle of balancing all of the things ministry asks us to do and life with friends and family…there are days when wilderness sounds lovely.

And I wonder how “sounds lovely” can shift to “is lovely.” I wonder how we learn and practice wilderness space in ways that see Sabbath as a gift rather than something we think we “should be doing.” I’m not saying I want to step into a wilderness space and be tempted by the devil for forty days. I trust the devil is there, though, tempting us to get back to work. Tempting us to get back out of the wilderness and change the world because isn’t that, after all, our jobs? Didn’t we take an ordination vow to change the world?

(Spoiler: we actually didn’t. Having a Savior means Jesus saves. Let Jesus be Jesus.)

As we step with both feet into the deep end of Lent, it’s tempting to rush onto the next season. Even those of us who plan months ahead and already know what we’re preaching in September and what hymns we’ll sing for World Communion Sunday – even we need to experience the holy pause of the wilderness and learn how to let the devil tempt while the angels wait on us. The angels do come, as they did in Mark 1:13. The Spirit leads us into the wilderness and doesn’t abandon us. We have moments when we need the temptation to get back to work so we can learn to practice Sabbath with intention. I would argue if we’re never tempted, we never learn how to be mindful in our decision to hold fast to Sabbath. We never learn to say “Not today, Satan.”

Being in the wilderness is lovely. Jesus doesn’t rush from baptism to do all the things. We are not to rush from ordination vows (us nor our church officers and commissioners) to do all the things. We are to continue to find wilderness space to reflect and let the Spirit drive us to a place of reflection and Holy Pause. May the Spirit drive you there in this holy season. Leave your set of keys at home; you won’t need them when the Spirit takes the wheel. Pause. Breathe. Be tempted and trust the Spirit’s fellowship to sustain you. Be lovely and let us pray with the Psalmist from Psalm 25:4-5: “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”