This wilderness-experience in the life of Jesus is powerful for all of us. His choosing to follow God, rather than merely take care of himself or celebrate the wonders of his own gifts and powers, is an invitation to us to examine the demons in our individual and corporate lives, and to ask ourselves what it would mean to choose not our own self-interest, but to choose God? I don’t know about you, but I find that first step is the hardest one to take —for it’s that first step that gives us permission to take all the others. It’s that first step that is the ‘turning around’ of repentance. In our spiritual journeys with God the hardest part can be simply taking the first step, which opens our hearts, which allows ourselves to be claimed by God. Repenting means turning back, towards God and towards life. The Lenten call to repentance is an invitation to choose to hear and believe that we’re God’s beloveds, that we’re chosen and we’re loved, that there is always a way back home.

The Good News of Lent is that when Jesus chooses to return to God’s ways, rather than being tempted off track into the pursuit of power and glory, relying on going it alone-- depending on his own gifts and skills, this path towards God leads him out of the desert and into the lakesides of community. His ministry in fact will now never be one that avoids pain or suffering, but one that’s willing to risk everything for the sake of those who need God’s love the most. The Good News of Lent is Jesus went into the desert alone, and comes out in community, living for the sake of others. The Good News of Lent is that Jesus lives on, now embodied in all of us who are the church, when in radical hospitality, we open our doors and put out the mat that says, “Welcome home—All are welcome here!”