So if we haven't met my name is Mandy, I'm on staff here at
reality Boston. So you may have noticed if you
were with us before I'm had anticipating based on the
envelopes and what we're going to be teaching on today that I'm
not going to be teaching on that, decide that I am going to
be teaching on Matthew chapter 4 which is a passage that I spent
a good amount of time in just during my personal devotion and
Bible Study last year. And so through that this passage
became personally significant to me and God No used it to
minister to me as this might be a little bit like reading my
diary today, but I feel like if there is a passage that I have
this Sunday talking about for 20 minutes straight, it would be.
This was a super going to do conveniently enough before we
get started. Now before also has really
Salient themes for the season of Lent, which is coming up and it
overlaps as well. But this month's spiritual
formation guy that we've been putting up monthly and this
month's guide focuses on silence and Stillness.
So, without a night out of the sermon today, where I'm gonna do
something a little bit different and we're going to set aside
some time where I will lead you through a guided a time of
reflection and prayer. Before we respond to God's word,
in musical worship, essential sets the agenda for today, that
kind of came together in the last 48 hours, so you definitely
need prayers. So, let me just open this
because I'm here to prepare and ask the Holy Spirit to meet with
us. We're God.
We just thank you for the ways in which you are present to us.
Lord, God, you are the one who speaks through your word, you
are the word incarnate or Jesus. And so we just have so much
faith that you can speak to us. When we come to, you just
Desiring to be taught by you, where we, thank you for what we
see in this passage or that. You are both Divine, but you're
also human, and we can look to your Humanity, we can look to
the ways in which you walk and think about things and pray
about things, Brussels of things and in approach, difficult
challenges and be inspired with how it is a call.
In us to live and we thank you for the gift of your.
Holy spirit that fills us in the powers us to live in the way
that you call us to. So let me just painting teaches
today, be present to us today, that help us to see more of who
you are. I was to have the confidence to
draw near to you with all of our need and all of our weakness and
over, Messina's God, we just pray that through our time
together today that we would see you more clearly and that we
would have more confidence during your daily workout.
So you bring all these things in Jesus name.
Amen. All right, go to Matthew.
The Book of Matthew is one of four beautiful tapestries that
illustrate the significance of who Jesus is.
So each of the gospels, he has its own nuanced, picture of what
it means, that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Savior who comes in fulfillment, of centuries of
Jewish prophecies that he came to enable forgiveness for all of
Humanity's sins to offer healing.
Our Brokenness and to bring about the restoration of the
world into a place where God's goodness and Grace completely
reshape our reality. So Matthew's gospel in
particular. Starts off with mystery and
momentum, there's a virgin birth or these Persian astrologer is
traveling from afar and come worship.
The newborn king of the Jews was a young Jesus and his family
fleeing from Egypt to escape danger.
And then finally returning to Israel, when an angel calls them
home, so the narrative is dramatic, And otherworldly and
leads you to believe that something extraordinary is
happening. And then chapter 3, we see this
beautifully symbolic moment when Jesus baptized with the Holy
Spirit descends on him and God the Father speaks favor and
blessing over the son, Jesus. So this point, the scene is
really set for Jesus to begin to live out his mission to reveal
to the world who this long-awaited Messiah is and what
it looks like for the Divine danis Act of humanity for God to
enact his plan. An salvation.
But instead of launching into the story of Jesus, doing like
Messiah, like things like hewing and Performing, Miracles,
Matthew Ford against with these words then Jesus was led by the
spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
So all this movement, emit, energy, and prophetic
fulfillment builds up to 40 days and Jesus alone in the desert
with nothing to eat and nothing to do the pray, some - leave
your may be expecting like a crescendo an impressive launched
Ministry. And what we get is over a month
isolation and fasting, this kind of feels like an interruption
like an unexpected detour like a burst of heavenly light followed
by a descent into Gray fog. So why is this here?
The text says that Jesus was led by the spirit Into the
Wilderness into a place of Temptation or testing as it
could also be translated. So this verse Jesus is
characterized as passive. He's being led, he is submitting
himself to the guiding force of the Holy Spirit, who is active,
and remember the spirit has just descended Upon Jesus after his
baptism. So the very first thing that the
spirit does Does. And he's like, the very first
thing he does is to lead him into the desert into a place of
emptiness of hunger of weakness, a challenge and stretching So
God the father has just anointed Jesus for Ministry and the next
step. According to the wisdom of the
holy spirit is to retreat to fast and pray.
So when I'm reading Matthew and I reach this chapter and your
little theoretical level that the Temptation narrative has to
be important because everything in scripture is incredibly
intentional. But emotionally I feel a sense
of resistance because I don't want the pause.
I don't want the retreat into an ascetic existence and I
definitely don't want to come face-to-face with my greatest
Temptations to sin and to abandon the path, God has called
me to walk down. This is the hard truth that we
Face In this passage sometimes following God seeking his well
being obedient to his guidance leads us to places of a parent
emptiness and weakness. It leaves us the hard places.
It draws us deeper into silence and Stillness were left alone
with just who we are and who we believe God to thee.
And yet somehow the season in the wilderness is an essential
part of God's plan, in this preparation for a life of action
and relationship and god-given purpose.
Jesus must first go deeper and human weakness.
So, have you ever been in a season of life?
That felt like Wilderness look at Desert, where you felt
spiritually dry, or you were acutely aware of your need of
what you're lacking, but there didn't seem to be any way to
save Earth. Thirst.
Maybe you simply found life to be exhausting but they didn't
seem to be any relief like walking a mile after mile
through the Wilderness in the scenery never seems to change in
the journey, never seems to end. If you've been through a time
that felt very much the testing your strength of your character
of your faith. Jesus had to do all the things
that God could prioritize in launching the messiah's ambition
to humanity. He chose to experience the
extremes of human hunger emptiness and weakness, 40 days,
40 days of solitude silence fasting.
And again, this seems like a disruption on the way to
Ministry, huge buildup, and only let's pull that down.
But in reality, this empty desert based Health Everything
Jesus needed to take the next step of living out his calling.
Because in this space, Jesus was not alone, the spirit was there
in a space, where Humanity encounter is the.
Holy spirit is a sanctuary, it's Holy Ground.
And if you face of emptying, pouring out your desires and
burdening, your fear is wrestling with your weaknesses,
but it's also a place of being filled.
So we don't expect to be tempted and tested when were in the
sanctuary to sometimes. That's what growth looks like.
That's what healing looks like. That's what transformation looks
like. The Wilderness is a place to be
about drawn deeper into the heart of God.
And so I was thinking about this and I have this image in my mind
of a seed being planted to plant the seed and Week's go by and
still no sprouting and there's no leaves and there's no
Greenery is know anything. So be tempting to think that
nothing's happening the below the surface, its roots are
growing and pushing through the soil, extending their region
becoming more deeply anchor and when that deep work is complete,
then the seed is ready to sprout to grow in ways of the world and
see to her fruit. That could be a blessing to
others and I think that's what we see happening in Jesus's.
Feet into the Wilderness because at the end, we see the fruit.
Do this triumph over Temptation, after 40 days of hunger, pains
and emerging in prayer. Jesus emerges with this
resiliency, a confidence in the kind of mission.
He's been given an astounding be Curative character and what we
see through his response to these Temptations, the depth of
Jesus surrender, the death of his humility, the death of his
trust in the father. These things are revealed
through that time in the world. Dennis from that testing.
This is true. I think for Humanity a large
going to that piece will be aware of our need for God to
sustain us where we are aware of our dependence on him is the
path to deeper Faith under 40 days of fasting.
We would assume that Jesus is at his weakest right?
And probably that's true physically.
But what if spiritually Jesus is at its strongest The each day
that he couldn't turn stones into bread and relieved his
hunger, but he didn't each day that he could have looked for a
shortcut to launch his ministry then evolved less waiting and
struggling. Like the big performative jump
off the roof of the roof of the mighty on the word stationary
and or like submitting to Satan to it, Glory over all the cities
of the earth instead of taking the shortcut each day, that he
committed to surrendering to the will of the father was a Jury
not just the final day where we see him overcoming, those final
three Temptations every day that we've passed in and seek God
even when we feel dry, even if the Temptation threatens to
become overwhelming, even for long for relief or for short cut
to the end of this difficult season.
Every day, our roots go deeper and we are one step closer to
seeing the growth and tasting the fruit.
Because growing in the faith requires us to experience.
Chi, especially in the hard places, we cannot merely
memorize throughs or recite. Good theology.
For understanding of God is only abstract, we cannot grow roots.
So 134 invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good.
We need to got to meet us in our places spiritual hunger, the
moments where we struggle. We discover that, we don't seem
to have what it takes. Move forward.
The pieces of weakness and emptiness are where we developed
an appetite. For the things of God.
So you like the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 going to be spending a
couple of months, just exploring these in our next sermon series.
But in the Beatitudes we see that those who are grieving and
longing for comfort with see that those who long to see
righteousness and Justice in this corrupted world are filled
those who lean into the way of meekness and mercy and Purity.
Despite living in cultures that promote the opposite.
Find the most drawing nearer to God.
Those who know they are. Empty for poor in spirit receive
the fullness and the rich. - of the kingdom of God, those who
come to God. Full of need are in the perfect
position to discover, that he is a provider.
He is generous and gracious, he is sufficient to read about the
Temptations of Jesus. We likely know, in theory that
we should seek strength in God's word.
As Jesus says, that we should walk the path of humility that
we need to wait on God, to lead us in reveals purposes in his
timing. This is often not until really
tested that we Leave. These things are true in a way,
that transforms us. So there'll be no scripture has
the ability to sustain and revive us, but until we
experience it until we see that shift, our perspective or renew,
our hope with a perfectly timed Bible passage or a Discerning
word from a friend or sermon, we don't yet fully know that the
word of God is life. And in theory, we know that
taking shortcuts or making excuses, the ends justify the
means developing this is trouble.
But until we actually wait on God until we've practiced
surrendering. Our will to his wisdom again.
And again, we can't get taste. The pure sweetness of
discovering that cost faceless has but there is joy in serving
in and that he can bring about more Goods to our surrender than
we could ever achieve trying to do things her own way.
In turn into a place of weakness, like Jesus did in the
desert feels vulnerable Humber hurts and it makes sense that
he'd rather just wrong way. But how will we know that God
can sustain us? Unless we let ourselves go
hungry, unless we stop filling ourselves with spiritual junk
food, things that distract us from loneliness and emptiness
and boredom opinion, but they really do nothing to truly
resolved. The deep ache inside of that.
Until we create space that only God in occupy will continue to
underestimate the sustaining and satisfying.
His presence can be so many of you have heard me, tell the
story of how I got to Boston back in 2013, I moved here from
Los Angeles to join this church plant, when it was just a year
old, and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.
But I was banking on God, doing, big, exciting things in my life,
I had hoped that surrendering to his calling lead to growth that
fruitfulness. But my first year here was
honestly more like a desert season was lonely.
I was undergoing a really hard deep healing process from
painful things. In my family, life experience.
A lot of inertia and trying to find a job, trying to discern a
vocational direction, to develop a new community and friendships.
And I often feel frustrated, like each movement forward and
up feeling like a false start. And on top of that, I went
through a several month period where a job and My relationships
at the time. Let me to ask really hard
questions about my faith and tempted me to compromise on what
I believed, even just for the sake of making life, a little
bit easier. So didn't exactly want to walk
away from God or church, or the face.
But I just wants tired. Like I might have to give up by
default because pressing on Justin Bieber, possible.
After a long stretch struggling through the day-to-day God
brought this passage into my life into my attention from John
chapter 6. So in John chapter 6, at this
point, in that narrative Jesus has a lot of followers has
become very popular but then he begins to teach things that are
difficult for people to receive that challenge people.
A lot of things truly looks like so some of them walk away
because what Jesus is Calling them to just feels too hard.
So there's this moment where Jesus turns to his 12 disciples,
his closest friends and he asked them, do you want to go away as
well and Peter replies? Lord to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life and we had believed and
have come to know that you are the Holy One.
That God that question struck a chord with me.
Lord to whom shall we go? The testing and the Temptation.
In my life had almost become overwhelming to me, but when it
came to that question, I knew I would walk away because yes
following God is hard and sometimes it feels that the
challenges are unrelenting. But I look around at the world
at my options for living without God.
And remember, what that was like the first 20 years of my life
before I knew Jesus, how I felt like and unanchored boat just
tossed about in a stormy thieves lost and Direction lesson in.
Hoping against hope that by some chance, I wouldn't capsize.
The way to for God is hard but there's life on that path.
There's the comfort of the Holy Spirit, there's reassurance and
being incurred in. What is true?
There's hope in a God who remains strong and steadfast a.
We are at our weakness. So, Jesus Jesus has the words of
eternal life. They believe that because I've
experienced it somehow that is strength in Grace.
I kept going through that first Season.
And eventually the fog lifted I began to slowly build deeper
Community to my surprise. I was has to be a community
group leader and season where my faith definitely still felt
shaky. But I felt called to Preston,
and I learned what it's like to lead from a place of weakness.
It's incredibly hard but it's better.
It's better to be human to be frail to be completely reliant
on God, to make it possible for you to show up to minister to
others. So, keep walking in the faith.
It's Hard to better. Because in our weakness, we can
actually experience that God's strength somehow enough in our
emptiness. In our hunger, we discover that
he can fill us. So you can do this passage from
Matthew for those last-minute pick.
It feels surprisingly timely because land is just around the
corner, let begins with Ash Wednesday, which is on fabric to
me, s coming up and it continues until Easter.
And this season in the church calendar is set aside for us to
identify with Jesus, 40 days of fasting, praying and enduring
Temptation for many of us who serve lent.
It may honestly feel labor, taking doses, With bitter
medicine. Know, we're getting a vegetable
that you dislike the, you know, it's good for you to eat it
anyway. In theory, we know that silence
Stillness fasting dedicated time for solitary prayer can
strengthen our relationship with God.
But in reality, those Wilderness faces are intimidating.
They challenged Parts investment.
May not feel ready to have challenged.
You can simply being alone with our thoughts.
Might make us aware of things. We've been working hard to
ignore. If I'm honest, I'm gonna avoid,
I want to avoid fasting. I don't like going to that place
of weakness. I'm worried.
It'll bring out the worst in me. I'm not sure what to do with the
hunger, pains. How am I supposed to just walk
around like a normal person? Well, I'm fighting you craving
that I can't fill, and this is something similar about silence
and Solitude the idea of this drawing, to a quiet place to
hear from God, sounds nice, but the reality can bring up
unexpected anxieties. What if I try to seek God and I
only found emptiness Listen for him, I don't do anything but the
a phobia of thoughts. What the time of solitude here
is down the fragile walls. I felt to hide things in my life
that you feel lonely. Practices.
Are these a literal or metaphorical Retreat Into the
Wilderness. Make me so aware of them,
because that's how easily I can go straight up Pickle.
I can be, it seems easier to just not these things about
myself to try to keep them hidden.
But the Holy Spirit calls us out into the open.
The spirit, invites us to go deeper into that place of hunger
and vacancy when we clear a space for God, he begins to work
in new ways. Stretching Us in ways that may
feel uncomfortable, shifting, things in ways that may be
invisible at first, ultimately, we discover that Our Roots have
grown deeper and more difficult Seasons come up in the future.
We can recall those times when God met us in our emptiness and
just like Jesus in the wilderness.
As we find, our faith has become a stronger and much more
difficult to shake. So as we reflect on the story of
Jesus Retreat Into the Wilderness and as we engage
with, Lenten practices, like silent Stillness fasting and
prayer. Remember that, these are not
empty spaces. The spirit has something for
you. Whether it feels like a
spiritual battle for feels like the warmth of an intimate
relationship or it feels like an antifreeze with usual where
every sound Echoes. You're not sure if you're
anything but your own voice no matter what that time a
Stillness and Retreat feels like trust God to take you deeper
believe that when you let yourself be led into desert
places, God can meet me there. Let's press in together and pray
that during the season. We will experience what we see.
See in Jesus, in Matthew chapter 4, that we would develop a
resilient faith upon confidence in the kind of mission, God
calls us to, in a purity of character.
That was shine, light into dark a dark and hungry world and draw
Others near to God. So before we begin our time of
reflection of Mayor, I'd like to end with three Confessor
stations based on our passage today, innovate to just notice
which one of these might stand out to you.
Now, these are kind of my prayers for us as a church.
So I'll beat them. Let the spirit leads you to
place a deeper hunger so that you can taste and see that God
himself is our greatest good. Let the spirit lead you to place
a silence and emptiness so that you can hear more.
Clearly the words of life. God wants to speak to you.
Let the spirit lead you to a place where you are aware of
your weakness. So that you will learn what it
looks like. Totally walking complete.
Reliance on got a string. Let the spirit lead you to place
a silence and emptiness so that you can hear more.
Clearly the words of life. God wants to speak to you.
Let the spirit lead you to a place where you are aware of
your weakness. So that you will learn what it
looks like. Totally walking complete.
Reliance on got a string.