Monday, December 2, 2002

When Jesus returned from the Jordan River, the power of the Holy Spirit was with him, and the Spirit led him into the desert . Luke 4:1

Who can know how Jesus felt when he came back from the river? But maybe it was like the feeling I had when I first learned to ride a bike. I remember how liberated I felt, peddling away from my coaching mother on my new three-quarter-size two-wheeler, going like crazy down the sidewalk! Total happiness! It seemed that I could do anything. See my friends, ride to school, down to the library, to Palmer Park, I had waited so-o-o-o long to do this, to be on my own at last!

Yes, we can imagine that Jesus felt a similar euphoria; a sense of well being after his baptism and a feeling of strength inside himself that had perhaps never been there before. Does he seek out his family or friends to celebrate this newly endowed vitality? He must know that he needs to get down to business and start his ministry very soon. Why not enjoy this "good feeling" for as long as it lasts? But no! Instead, he listens to that Spirit within himself, following that Voice into the desert for whatever awaited him there.

It seems such a far-away thing Jesus going to the desert to be tempted by the devil. Yet Rev. Cecil Williams followed the Voice to the Tenderloin in San Francisco where, some say the devil surely lives. Out of his ministry at Glide United Methodist Church, people's lives are uplifted and made whole. And Florence still follows the Voice to visit the people in the nursing home, even though she is now a resident there herself. "I have to make myself do it," she says, "But I feel much better when I do!" The Spirit leads so many others and in spite of anything else, they respond.

In following Jesus into the "desert" of difficult work to make a difference, we know when things get overwhelming we need to avoid the enticement of just "riding our bikes" or "just feeling good". We have a choice as Jesus did. Surely we have the Holy Spirit with us and knowing that, the impulse to ride away looses its seductiveness.

Claudia Stine


All contents copyright 2002 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.