Over the coming two weeks, we will be looking at the Season of Creation. This week we celebrate Outback Sunday while next week we celebrate River Sunday. I am especially delighted that Rev John Flaherty has been persuaded to bring us the message this week. John has significant experience of the Outback as he was a patrol minister in the Northern Territory for many years. He will be sharing with us his experiences and reflections on ministry in this particular setting. He even has some photographs to show us! I have the greatest of respect for our patrol ministers for the ministry they carry out. It can be no mean feat to head out into the wilderness for weeks at a time. It is a sign of their amazing faith and call that they are prepared to do this.
The wilderness had a significant role in shaping the nation of Israel. They were in the literal wilderness for years as they left slavery in Egypt. While there, they had God as a presence among them, leading them by day as a column of smoke and at night as a column of fire. They received the Law of Moses in the wilderness which would define them as a people. They were cared for by God through the miraculous provision of food and water. Later on, they were in the spiritual wilderness of Babylon when they were deported from the Promised Land. While there, they engaged in reflection of their past and looked forward to their restoration to come in the future. While in Babylon, some of the books of the Hebrew Bible were either written or edited into the form we have them today. Again, they had the promises and presence of God to shape and guide them.
We can find ourselves in the wilderness these days just as easily, either literally or figuratively. For some, the experience can be unsettling. They are lonely or isolated, feeling separated from loved ones by a great distance. They can despair at what they are missing as a result for where they are. They can feel very distant from God. Others find the experience a chance to reset and reflect. They can use the lack of distractions to focus on what matters and centre themselves, shedding those things that are not needed for their lives. Yet whatever the personal experience of the wilderness is, one thing is a constant. God journeys into the wilderness with us and is present to us. God’s promises remain wherever we are, and God leads us into our future. May we cling to that as we travel through our wildernesses.
(photo credit – Rev. John Flaherty)