WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 Thank you guys for having me. Yeah, so I'm going 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:11.720 to start a timer so I don't talk too much. That's 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:13.859 the thing. So a while back, Greg had asked me, 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:15.320 this has been even a couple months ago, about 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.140 what we were going to be talking about and about 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:21.039 the journey in the wilderness. And so he said, 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.519 you know, we're going to focus on the different 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:24.500 people spending time in the wilderness and that 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:26.839 I would be talking about John the Baptist. So 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:30.839 I was excited about that. I think during this 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:32.619 time of me preparing the message, God's given 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:37.320 me some fun experiences. I didn't have to eat 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:39.880 any locusts, but I have eaten wild honey before. 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.479 And I thought, since last week Africa was wearing 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.399 a sweatshirt like this, I said, this is so appropriate 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:46.979 for John the Baptist, I have to have this for 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:48.719 today. So thank you, Africa, for hooking me up. 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:53.259 So I wanted to touch base with some of the messages 00:00:53.259 --> 00:00:55.219 that we had in the previous weeks, because a 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:58.420 lot of that inspired me in my message. And so 00:00:58.420 --> 00:01:01.259 we talked a little bit about Ishmael in Genesis 00:01:01.259 --> 00:01:05.540 16. Greg had asked us to think about how we would 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:08.640 name God because of what happened in there. And 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.879 so I wrote down in my notes that day that you 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:14.500 are the God who uses my hands for your work. 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:17.500 So I don't know if anybody else remembers what 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:20.060 they thought about that day, but that was mine. 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:22.420 And then Jen talked a little bit about David 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:24.400 hiding in the wilderness, crying out to God in 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.640 his dark night of the soul. Another nugget I 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.180 got out of some other messages were that God 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:32.760 invites us to be part of the solution. He doesn't 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:35.519 just fix everything for us, but he wants to bring 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.379 us alongside of him to do the work with him. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.219 I think that's really cool. Another thought that 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:43.900 stuck with me and was really prevalent in my 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:45.400 brain when I was writing this message is that 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:47.340 it's not always a straight line from oppression 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:51.560 to the promised land. There's usually a wilderness 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:56.739 in between. So I can really relate to this. I 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:58.280 want to pray real quick, though, before I get 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:00.280 into my message, just to make sure I don't screw 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:03.620 this up. Heavenly Father, just thank you so much 00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:05.359 for this opportunity to share my experiences 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:07.739 today. I just ask that you use these words to 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:09.539 bless the minds and hearts of all those gathered 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.979 here and those who are watching online. God, 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:14.819 just teach us something. As you're teaching me, 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:16.520 I want to share the message with others to teach 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:20.199 them as well. Thank you. Amen. So let me tell 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:22.060 you a little bit about my story. So many years 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:26.879 ago. A month after our child Cal was born, I 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:30.759 lost my job. The timing was terrible. We all 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:32.800 had Isaac, our oldest, two and a half at the 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:38.360 time, and then Cal, a month old. Well, God gave 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.360 me a dream the night before I lost my job, so 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:42.080 he kind of prepared me a little bit because I 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:44.439 don't do the whole shock thing really well, so 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:46.879 I need time to prepare. God knows that. So literally 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:48.919 the night before I lost my job, which I got fired. 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.300 God gave me a dream. And in the dream, I recognized 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:54.639 that's what was going to happen. And so I was 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.919 kind of prepared. And so the guy that I carpooled 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:58.360 with in the morning, I would pick up one of, 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:00.900 I worked in automotive and repair before. And 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:02.439 I was a service manager. And I picked up one 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:03.979 of the salesmen on the carpool in. And I said, 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.479 you know, I had a dream last night that I'm going 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:08.460 to get fired today. So maybe you might need to 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:10.819 find another way home. And about 10 o 'clock 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:12.659 that morning, my boss called me into the office 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.719 and said, yep, I'm letting you go. I went and 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:17.060 told the salesman, I'm like, well, you're going 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:19.090 to find another right home. He was like. You're 00:03:19.090 --> 00:03:22.169 serious? So anyway, so I have dreams like that. 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:24.069 And so I pay attention when God gives me dreams. 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:28.490 So yeah. So the loss of the job was a push that 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:30.229 I needed, though, because I was kind of stuck 00:03:30.229 --> 00:03:33.250 in a rut. Unfortunately for my impatient self, 00:03:33.509 --> 00:03:36.189 it was a push into the wilderness as well. But 00:03:36.189 --> 00:03:38.310 this wilderness was a finding my career and my 00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:41.310 purpose. The first thing I remember when I got 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:44.449 home was I just kind of wandered around outside. 00:03:44.569 --> 00:03:47.069 Like literally, like I remember vividly being 00:03:47.069 --> 00:03:49.319 in my backyard. And just kind of wandering. It's 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.939 cold. It was end of October, beginning of November, 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.199 because Cal was born October 1st. And so just 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:58.199 kind of wandering around outside, just like in 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:02.719 shock. It was the beginning of a long time of 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.819 reflection and hard work on myself. It began 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:09.159 a journey into this wilderness. The good news 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:13.520 was, though, I was not alone. Besides God being 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.459 ever present with me, he gifted me with a wonderful 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:20.170 life partner in Bree. Bree prayed for me, encouraged 00:04:20.170 --> 00:04:23.910 me. She at that time kind of urged me to take 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:25.509 that time and opportunity that presented itself 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:27.470 to go back to college and get my degree. I'd 00:04:27.470 --> 00:04:33.930 never finished my degree. But that was the message 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:35.829 that she gave to me, and I was pondering on that. 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:38.410 But then God's irony and gift of metaphor is 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:40.769 infinite. So while I was applying for every job 00:04:40.769 --> 00:04:42.990 I could get my hands on, looking for a way to 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:45.870 get money to get by, he had another plan. He 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:47.629 started this phase of my life with a mission 00:04:47.629 --> 00:04:50.600 trip. So my friend Matt, who went to my old church, 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:52.860 called me up and said, hey, I heard you have 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:55.899 a lot of free time on your hands right now. And 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:57.819 he said, we're putting together a team of guys 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:00.500 to go down to New Orleans and help rebuild houses 00:05:00.500 --> 00:05:03.100 after Hurricane Katrina. So would you like to 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:05.420 go? I was like, well, that's crazy. So then I 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:07.899 asked Bree. Now, mind you, she has a two and 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:10.420 a half year old and a one month old baby. And 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:14.079 she said, go. So I think she was tired of watching 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:19.089 me mope around in my wilderness. So after I got 00:05:19.089 --> 00:05:21.870 back from the trip, which was life -altering, 00:05:22.050 --> 00:05:24.129 I started working on completing my education 00:05:24.129 --> 00:05:25.689 and getting into the career of law enforcement, 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:27.769 which I had thought about many, many years before. 00:05:28.910 --> 00:05:31.089 After several years of college classes, I was 00:05:31.089 --> 00:05:32.709 taking care of the kids at home during the day 00:05:32.709 --> 00:05:34.509 when Bree was at work, moonlighting as a mechanic 00:05:34.509 --> 00:05:38.050 and a landlord for income at night. I did finally 00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:40.470 reluctantly accept a job working at the county 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:43.970 jail. Now, I wanted to use this job as a stepping 00:05:43.970 --> 00:05:45.769 stone to become a police officer. That was my 00:05:45.769 --> 00:05:48.040 whole goal all along. Well, that didn't happen. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.300 The four years plus I spent working in the jail 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.360 was the longest four years of my life. It seemed 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.939 like an eternity. I thought I would never escape. 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:00.540 I was grasping at straws. Any kind of opportunity 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:02.019 to present itself to get out of there, I was 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:04.319 looking at. Don't get me wrong. The pay was good. 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:07.319 The benefits were great. I also learned a lot 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.720 of life lessons that I could not learn any other 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:12.420 way. But it was most definitely a wilderness. 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:15.819 During this time, I questioned whether or not 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:18.000 I was on the right track or if I'd gotten off. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:20.779 And then I had wasted years of my life going 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:22.899 and pursuing this education for something that 00:06:22.899 --> 00:06:24.839 wasn't going to happen or this career at the 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.339 jail that was going to make me miserable. What 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:29.220 am I doing? This has got to be a huge mistake. 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:32.620 I constantly prayed for an instant fix. During 00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:35.819 this time, God gave me another dream. In this 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:38.300 dream... I was being the hero. Now, mind you, 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.939 God has a crazy imagination, and this is what 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:42.819 my dream was. I'm carrying Bree, and I'm running 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:46.699 through downtown Rock Island to save. I'm going 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:50.800 to be the hero. So I stop at a place called Mellow 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:52.399 Blue Planet. It's a comic book shop downtown 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:55.819 Rock Island that I had spent a lot of time. Here's 00:06:55.819 --> 00:06:58.560 the irony and the dream. A shop full of hero's 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.480 journeys. All the stories of Superman, Batman, 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:04.560 all that stuff, right? The owner of the place, 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.970 his name is Tim. He was the wise sage in my dream, 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:12.410 kind of like a Yoda or a Mr. Miyagi figure. And 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:16.029 so I get there, and I'm like, how do I get to 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:18.430 this path of being the hero and being a policeman 00:07:18.430 --> 00:07:19.889 and doing what I'm supposed to be doing? And 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:22.930 he said, there's no shortcut to this destination. 00:07:23.029 --> 00:07:25.810 You have to take the long way, but you will get 00:07:25.810 --> 00:07:30.689 there. Now, get this. Last night, Brie and I 00:07:30.689 --> 00:07:32.769 stopped at Aldi to get groceries for the elote 00:07:32.769 --> 00:07:35.759 dip that she made. And who did I bump into but 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:40.120 Tim? God incidents. I have not seen Tim in forever. 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:42.379 So I told him, and he's like, well, I have a 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:44.040 wise thing to say once in a while. And I was 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:49.019 like, no, like. So many years later, now I'm 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:52.240 in my current career. I'm a probation officer. 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:54.779 More specifically, I work with people who deal 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:57.180 with addiction and mental health issues. I was 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.220 at a training event we do once a year. We were 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:00.939 at dinner afterwards, and the judge leans over 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:02.939 to me, and he says, Andy, I think you have found 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:08.060 your calling. In many ways, I feel like I am 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:10.079 in the promised land, at least with my career. 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:13.279 But what happened when I was in the wilderness? 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:16.079 I asked for a lot of prayer during that time. 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:18.540 I did a lot of research on career paths. I explored 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:21.899 a few options. I still continue to look for escapes 00:08:21.899 --> 00:08:25.500 out. But God didn't put me there to simply escape 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:29.779 unchanged. Remember, this is a quote, not mine, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.639 the wilderness is the place we are meant to meet 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.710 God. We learn to follow and reject our cultural 00:08:35.710 --> 00:08:40.070 conditioning. We are all alone with God. It had 00:08:40.070 --> 00:08:43.610 definitely been me. The way I looked at everything 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:45.690 had been influenced by toxic cultural conditioning 00:08:45.690 --> 00:08:48.230 in my previous career. I'd battled some depression 00:08:48.230 --> 00:08:50.649 at that time as well, and I'd only recently realized 00:08:50.649 --> 00:08:53.049 that I was working on that when this job loss 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:55.830 happened. I knew I wanted out of that career, 00:08:55.889 --> 00:08:58.730 but I had felt trapped. God had a bunch of different 00:08:58.730 --> 00:09:00.990 things for me, though. I could not even imagine 00:09:00.990 --> 00:09:06.350 what I would be doing today. Something else that 00:09:06.350 --> 00:09:09.610 I stole from Greg's message before. We undervalue 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:12.590 just how much of finding ourselves is found in 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:16.669 learning how to stay where Jesus stays. Now, 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:18.529 many of you know that I'm a big reader. I've 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:20.330 been fascinated with storytelling for as long 00:09:20.330 --> 00:09:22.730 as I've been able to read. In my early years 00:09:22.730 --> 00:09:24.629 at community college, I was introduced to an 00:09:24.629 --> 00:09:27.110 author named Joseph Campbell. This author is 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:29.129 known for his description of the hero's journey, 00:09:29.330 --> 00:09:32.289 and he wrote a book called The Hero with a Thousand 00:09:32.289 --> 00:09:36.419 Faces. Campbell has mapped this frequently reoccurring 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:39.879 theme in literature all out. He wrote a whole 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:41.840 book. He broke it all down. He has a circle with 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.840 a diagram and everything about the hero's journey. 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.500 It also seems to fit the scripture with God's 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:49.259 message over and over again about the journey 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:52.000 of his people. Now, most of you aren't familiar 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.179 with Joseph Campbell. I was really hoping Eric 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:55.860 was going to be here, but Eric, listen, if you 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:58.419 watch, listen to this later. Joseph Campbell 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:01.879 inspired this really nerdy guy who wrote a story. 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.710 His name is George Lucas. So many of you are 00:10:04.710 --> 00:10:07.250 now familiar with the original Star Wars trilogy. 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:10.330 Luke Skywalker's journey to face himself and 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:12.649 his father and become the hero is the epitome 00:10:12.649 --> 00:10:16.389 of Joseph Campbell's vision. I researched this 00:10:16.389 --> 00:10:19.169 after I was writing the sermon, and I found out 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:22.769 that Joseph Campbell had not met George Lucas, 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:24.710 but right when he was releasing The Return of 00:10:24.710 --> 00:10:27.330 the Jedi, their agents contacted each other. 00:10:27.669 --> 00:10:30.830 And Joseph Campbell and his wife had dinner with 00:10:30.830 --> 00:10:33.159 George Lucas and his wife, and they sat. And 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.860 he said, do you want to watch the movies? You 00:10:35.860 --> 00:10:37.559 want to do like one a week or one a night? And 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:39.480 Joseph Campbell said, no, let's watch them all 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.580 at once. So they had breakfast. They watched 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:43.019 the first one. They had lunch. They watched the 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:44.179 second one. They had dinner. They watched the 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:47.220 third one. And afterwards, he said something. 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:48.700 I didn't put this in my notes. He said something 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:51.580 like, of all the famous artists in the world, 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.159 then we think that the art is dead. And he's 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:56.740 like, but it is very much alive today. So I'll 00:10:56.740 --> 00:10:58.799 have to find that quote for you. But that's Joseph 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.740 Campbell in The Hero's Journey. And so we can 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:04.029 kind of relate to Star Wars. But Joseph Campbell 00:11:04.029 --> 00:11:06.590 was not the first one to recognize this journey 00:11:06.590 --> 00:11:09.309 in history over and over again told about the 00:11:09.309 --> 00:11:11.710 people I'm gonna go down the rabbit hole a little 00:11:11.710 --> 00:11:14.029 bit I know Jen likes this because I find something 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:16.570 and I dig down the rabbit hole So Campbell borrowed 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:18.669 his dark night of the soul and the hero's journey 00:11:18.669 --> 00:11:22.990 from a 16th century Catholic poet Saint John 00:11:22.990 --> 00:11:26.350 of the Cross He wrote this poem somewhere between 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:29.690 1577 and 1579. It's called the dark night of 00:11:29.690 --> 00:11:32.720 the soul He wrote a poem, and then he also wrote 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:37.179 the commentary to go along with it. This inner 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:39.480 journey into the wilderness concept has also 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:41.639 been studied all the way up until today, obviously 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:44.500 with Joseph Campbell and George Lucas. But a 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:48.100 psychiatrist named Roberto Assigioli, who was 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:50.799 a contemporary of Maslow, you know, the hierarchy 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.320 of needs guy, he remarks that the dark night 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:59.519 of the soul comes just before revelation. When 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:03.039 everything is lost and all seems darkness, then 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.000 comes the new life and all that is needed. I 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.100 paused while writing this sermon, literally, 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:11.679 because I thought I was maybe getting off track, 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:13.720 and then all of a sudden it slapped me in the 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.440 face as I pasted the rest of his quote in. The 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.000 darkest nights are followed by the most radiant 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.159 dawns, and the soul, perfect at last, enters 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:25.759 into complete, constant, and inseparable communion 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:29.100 with the Spirit. so that it seems to be God himself 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:34.059 and has the same characteristics as him. How 00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:36.960 does this tie into the scripture? God's chosen 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.440 people were in the dark. For 400 years, the prophets 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.720 were silent from the time of the Old Testament 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.200 to the time of the New Testament. This is also 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:48.919 like the 400 years God's people were in slavery 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.720 in Egypt. When everything is lost and all seems 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.840 darkness, then comes the new life and all that 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:00.080 is needed. Comfort, O comfort my people, says 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.440 your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.100 to her that she has served her term and her penalty 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:07.580 is paid, that she has received from the Lord's 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:10.919 hand a double for all her sins. The voice cries 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:13.080 out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.720 Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.340 our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:21.039 every mountain shall be made low. Uneven ground 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.360 shall become level and the rough places a plain. 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:26.500 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:28.740 and all flesh shall see it together, for the 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:32.700 mouth of the Lord has spoken. John the Baptist 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:38.279 introduces Jesus, God in the flesh. You don't 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:40.259 have to stand up, I'm just going to read, take 00:13:40.259 --> 00:13:43.539 right from Isaiah into Mark, Mark 1 through 8. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.600 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.899 is written in the prophet Isaiah. See, I am sending 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:49.799 a messenger ahead of you who will prepare your 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.240 way, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.720 Prepare the way of the Lord and make his path 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:57.669 straight. So John the baptizer appeared in the 00:13:57.669 --> 00:13:59.789 wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance 00:13:59.789 --> 00:14:02.389 for the forgiveness of sins, and the whole Judean 00:14:02.389 --> 00:14:04.230 region and all the people of Jerusalem were going 00:14:04.230 --> 00:14:06.070 out to him and were baptized by him in the river 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:09.649 Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:12.070 with camel's hair, he wore a leather belt around 00:14:12.070 --> 00:14:14.789 his waist, and he ate wild locusts and wild honey. 00:14:15.730 --> 00:14:18.110 He proclaimed, the one who is more powerful than 00:14:18.110 --> 00:14:20.350 I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop 00:14:20.350 --> 00:14:23.539 down and untie the straps of his sandals. I have 00:14:23.539 --> 00:14:25.620 baptized you with water, but he will baptize 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:31.600 you in the Holy Spirit. So who was this John 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.480 the Baptist guy, and why was he so weird? Hanging 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:37.320 out in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:39.639 honey, dressed in camel's hair. What was he doing? 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:43.039 Why the wilderness? It sure seems like each time 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.799 God calls his people, they have been in the wilderness, 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.259 wandering and wondering. God loves metaphors, 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:54.250 and I love alliteration. Remember how again that 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:57.269 John the Baptist baptizes Jesus and then the 00:14:57.269 --> 00:14:59.649 Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove? And 00:14:59.649 --> 00:15:02.429 then what happens after that? Jesus goes into 00:15:02.429 --> 00:15:05.850 the wilderness. What is this wilderness business? 00:15:06.970 --> 00:15:11.090 Man, God is in the quiet, in the stillness. You 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:13.309 know what's not in the wilderness, in the quiet? 00:15:14.590 --> 00:15:19.970 Distraction. Busyness. Facebook. Sensationalized 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:23.440 news. Clickbait. AI generated news, politics, 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.120 the Bears blowing the playoff game. Just for 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.940 fun, I asked the internet, AI, what is the wilderness 00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:33.720 in the story of Elijah? And this is what AI said. 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.879 Similar to other biblical deserts, this region 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.620 symbolizes a place of testing, preparation, and 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:44.759 profound encounter with God. Ooh, gospel from 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:48.940 a robot. God calls us into the wilderness because 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:53.580 he is there. He asks us to remove all worldly 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:56.179 distractions and spend time listening to him. 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.259 He will use that time to prepare us for our next 00:16:00.259 --> 00:16:03.500 chapter. Remember my friend Matt that I talked 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:06.379 about that took me on the mission trip? Matt 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.639 says the part of Route 84 that goes along the 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:12.080 river from East Moline and you drive up to Port 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.399 Byron, he calls that the place that God hangs 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.820 out. Eagles, deer, beautiful forest, it's just 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:22.840 quiet and peaceful. The word for that is bucolic. 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.580 We have our farmland. That's what I call bucolic. 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:28.879 We have acreage out in the country. We go and 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:30.860 spend time. We have a horse now. We have some 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:35.200 chickens. A lot of trees. The only thing you 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.120 hear out there is the sound of the wind. Occasionally 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:41.200 a rooster, but not usually. The only thing that 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.179 ruins it for me is if I happen to pull out my 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:45.480 phone and look at something. But usually, I just 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:46.980 pull out my phone and take pictures of something 00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:50.860 that I'm going to enjoy later. That's why I ask 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:52.639 about your peaceful place that you go to reach 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.940 out, unplug, get away. What wilderness is God 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:59.279 calling you to? What quiet place can you go to 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.679 spend time with him? Maybe it's the corner of 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.480 the coffee shop. Maybe it's on the couch with 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.799 a cat on your lap. There's so much busyness and 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.819 overstimulation around us all the time. Maybe 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:13.359 you can't hear God's voice because everything 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:17.890 around you is blasting at an 11. Maybe your wilderness 00:17:17.890 --> 00:17:21.329 is not a physical location to retreat to, but 00:17:21.329 --> 00:17:23.329 maybe it's a period of dryness in your spiritual 00:17:23.329 --> 00:17:26.130 life. Maybe you are impatient about a development 00:17:26.130 --> 00:17:29.230 in a health issue, a career change, a relationship 00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:33.029 that needs mending. Maybe we can't see the other 00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:34.609 side of the wilderness that we're in right now. 00:17:35.509 --> 00:17:39.349 But we today have something that the prophets 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:42.190 and the Old Testament people did not have. We 00:17:42.190 --> 00:17:44.230 have the knowledge that Jesus did come to earth 00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:46.940 and fulfilled what the prophets proclaimed. that 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:49.940 the people needed a sacrifice. We live in a time 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.359 after Jesus revealed his glory and fulfilled 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.140 at least some of his promises in history. We 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:59.059 know that our Redeemer lives. Abraham and Moses 00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:01.000 didn't get to see the fulfillment of the promised 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:06.220 land. Elijah passed his job on to Elisha. Even 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:08.740 John the Baptist was killed before Jesus came 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:11.019 into his glory and fulfilled the promises that 00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:13.940 John had been proclaiming about him. He never 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:16.420 got to see the fantastic reality of what he was 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:20.000 opening the door to. I'm not saying that this 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:21.980 means it's easy for us to be in our wilderness, 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:25.799 rather that we can have hope that God is in control. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.359 So why didn't these fathers of our faith see 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.079 the fulfillment in God's promises? Maybe because 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.180 they sought accountability through the law and 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:39.799 politics, pushing too hard on the system rather 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:43.490 than pushing into the spirit. This is something, 00:18:43.569 --> 00:18:46.009 as I was writing this, and immediately after 00:18:46.009 --> 00:18:48.150 Greg asked me, that I felt like God was teaching 00:18:48.150 --> 00:18:52.069 me right now in this very moment. I've been involved 00:18:52.069 --> 00:18:54.349 in pushing for some justice in the community 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:57.309 and finding out that sometimes the politics or 00:18:57.309 --> 00:18:59.470 the law isn't the way to go, and God's been telling 00:18:59.470 --> 00:19:01.609 me to pull back and recharge my batteries with 00:19:01.609 --> 00:19:05.130 him in the wilderness. Recently, over and over 00:19:05.130 --> 00:19:07.569 again, we have seen on the news and in our own 00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:10.369 city how when we seek restoration through politics, 00:19:10.450 --> 00:19:13.339 we are doomed to disappointment. The system is 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:17.059 flawed. People are flawed. God's kingdom, though, 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.579 is perfect, and we can bring it with us everywhere 00:19:19.579 --> 00:19:23.980 we go. We live in New Testament times. Jesus 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:27.400 said that the least of those who are baptized 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:29.319 into the kingdom of God are even greater than 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:35.019 John the Baptist. Maybe God is asking you to 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:37.339 not be looking for an escape from your current 00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:39.720 wilderness. Maybe you need to find out what he 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:42.599 wants you to learn while you're there. Don't 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:44.559 waste an opportunity to grow because you're impatient. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:48.460 After all, the caterpillar doesn't snap one of 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:52.339 his fingers and become a butterfly. There's always 00:19:52.339 --> 00:19:55.319 a slow transformative process that has to do 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:59.079 its work first. Maybe you need to listen for 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.440 the still small voice so you can hear how God 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:05.329 wants to transform you. I don't know where you 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:07.029 put that book, Greg. Here we go. So you guys 00:20:07.029 --> 00:20:08.809 can peek at this later if you want. But researchers 00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:10.750 had recently published this book about the anxious 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:13.849 generation talking about kids and society today. 00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:16.829 And you know what they said? Kids need to go 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:19.809 outside and play in nature, experiment with physics 00:20:19.809 --> 00:20:22.569 and take chances. The world around them needs 00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:25.390 to be discovered. They will learn how to adapt 00:20:25.390 --> 00:20:27.750 and change, not zone out on their phones and 00:20:27.750 --> 00:20:29.549 flood their brains with all the worries of the 00:20:29.549 --> 00:20:32.829 world. If that's what researchers say science 00:20:32.829 --> 00:20:35.460 is proving about kids, What does that do to us 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:39.140 as adults? Can't be great. I think there's a 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:41.519 name for that, right? Oh yeah, doom scrolling. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.819 When we are in stillness, we can read scripture, 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:51.519 we can pray, we can write, we can draw, talk, 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:56.000 fellowship, listen, experience, worship, meditate, 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.279 center. We simply need to be present with God 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.299 in the wilderness. It doesn't have to be a faraway 00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:06.390 place. John the Baptist was based right off the 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:08.950 main road to Jerusalem, where people could find 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:11.150 him if they were looking for him. It's kind of 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:12.849 like when Greg is hanging out at one of the local 00:21:12.849 --> 00:21:18.230 Starbucks. So I just ask that you would join 00:21:18.230 --> 00:21:20.750 me in embracing this time in your life if you're 00:21:20.750 --> 00:21:23.470 dwelling in the wilderness. Don't let the wilderness 00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:27.730 be wasted. Be present in the waiting, listening. 00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:31.150 Then sometime you can share your story with us.