Wilderness Wanderings

The Israelites wandering in the wilderness dreamed about returning to the certainty of Egypt, even if it meant slavery, rather than the uncertainty of the wilderness and the future Promised Land. We can identify with them. In the face of our reality of declining numbers, disappearing Sunday schools, and financial deficits, we too long for the past and the security we felt, for with uncertainty a culture of anxiety and fear arises, even for people of faith. This explains the anger, disillusionment and rebellion against Moses and God that we often see in the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings.

When King David gathered his forces to establish his kingdom we are told about the training, weaponry and fighting skills of the tribes that joined him, except for one tribe, Issachar. Of their 200 leaders it is simply said that they “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” Surely, this is our greatest challenge as Presbyterians today. To understand the times in which we live and to know what we should do.

Understanding the times in which we live is critical but, honestly, we are much better at denial than reality. The construct of home, church and government that worked together to support and instill “Christian values,” the Christendom culture, is in its death throes. Christendom was our Egypt, our place of refuge, where our faith quickly became established as a cultural force, as much as a spiritual one, and then that culture gradually enslaved us.

In time, God’s people were delivered from slavery and entered the wilderness willingly en route to their Promised Land. Today, the church has been forced unwillingly into the wilderness as our cultural dominance has been challenged and defeated. The reality for us is that wilderness demands radically new skills, new approaches, new ways of living, with very difficult choices and sacrifices as we learn the meaning of praising God, as the exiles did, in a “foreign land.” 

If understanding our times is vital, knowing what we are to do is critical. Could it be that God has led us into this wilderness place so that we may learn to listen more carefully to the Holy Spirit who Living Faith affirms “accompanies us on our journey of faith?” 

We Presbyterians are so good at meetings. We talk about the challenges of our day ad infinitum. We restructure, strategize, vision and re – vision. We write mission statements. All good things! But do we listen, really listen?

In the wilderness, the Israelites learned to listen to God and to be obedient to Him. They learned how to practice their faith in new ways. God did not restore them until they had. Radical times call for radical solutions. So when will the General Assembly call on us to lay aside our busyness, which is often invested in reinventing Christendom, to a year of extended prayer and discernment so we might understand our times and know what to do?