I have always enjoyed that CBS News segment, "On The Road With Charles Kuralt." He takes us to out-of-the-way places like Bethlehem, Georgia; Farmington, Iowa; and Old Town, Maine. He shows us a piece of Americana, and helps us understand ourselves.

So, on the Sundays between now and Easter I want us to go on the road with Jesus of Nazareth be on the roads Jesus traveled in order that we would see him more clearly and understand more nearly what it is we are to do.

The first road I want us to travel is the road to the wilderness. William Barclay, that great Bible scholar, said that when John the Baptist summoned people to the Jordan river Jesus went there also because he "knew that for him the hour had struck." Something happened in the mind of Jesus that enabled him to know that now was the appointed time. Something stirred him in such a way that he knew it was time to begin. And so, one day - with no apparent warning he walked down that street in Nazareth that led out the south end of town. He took that road that headed down toward Jerusalem, and somewhere along that road he turned eastward toward the Jordan River.

When he arrived at the river he found cousin John the Baptist holding a revival meeting. And Jesus was baptized there, identifying himself with all the people as a sign of God's kingdom and its new age. And, a voice from heaven said, "Thou art my beloved son; with thee I am well pleased." Then Mark writes, "The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness." He stayed there for a period of 40 days. He took the road to the wilderness - because God led him to that place. He took the road to the wilderness - because he needed that time alone to think about what lay ahead. He took the road to the wilderness - because he needed to prepare for the mission upon which he was about to embark. He took the road to the wilderness - because he was on a journey from which there was no turning back. It was a time of personal struggle, trial and testing, not unlike that night he spent in the garden. Jesus spent 40 days in agonizing thought.

Have you ever had a time like that when you were faced with some great decision, and you found yourself torn in many directions? I suspect that many of us have wilderness times when we go down that road to the wilderness and find ourselves truly alone in the midst of some life-changing decision. Maybe as we look at Jesus in the wilderness we can come to better understand how we can face our own wilderness moments. Look at these things about Jesus on the road to the wilderness.

I

It was a time when Jesus sorted out what he would do. That was one thing he was struggling with. He knew who he was, and what he was all about. He knew what he had to do. But, during that time in the wilderness he clarified his mission, his message and his method. His mission was to usher in the new age of God's kingdom, to claim the world for God and to offer his own life as proof of God's love. His message was about the kingdom of God, and life in this kingdom - a radical upside down view of the world - entirely different from what people thought. His method was to gather about himself a small group of disciples, train them to spread the message about the mission and to become a redemptive fellowship, his church. Jesus thought about those matters in his wilderness time. He sorted out what he would do.

Do you know what it is you are going to do? I know a man who at the age of 45 was still trying to decide what he was going to do when he grew up. It is about time to get on with it. Have you decided? What is the direction of your life? And, if you were to arrive at the place where your life is headed now would you be glad to be there?What are you going to do with life? Is your life best described by the words "getting, grasping, hoarding" - or by the words "giving, loving, sharing?" And, have you decided to follow Jesus on that road he travels - to be a part of his mission - and believe his message - and enlist in his method?

One little boy said in Sunday school, "I want to follow Jesus and spend my entire life serving him. If I can't do that then I want a VCR and a color television."

I heard about a Baptist church which was going to build a new Sunday school building. In an attempt to help raise the money the preacher wired the seats. On the following Sunday at the end of the service he said, "Now, who will give $100 for the building?" He pushed a button and 20 people jumped up. Then he said, "Who will give $500?" He pushed another button and 16 people jumped up. He had a special wire going to where the deacons were seated. He said, "Who will give $1,000?" He pushed that button and 18 deacons were electrocuted. They just would not decide.

Have you sorted out what you are going to do with your life? Could you say in the words of that hymn, "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back." Then, look at something else about Jesus on the road to the wilderness.

II

It was a time when Jesus faced the temptation to be less than he was. That was another thing Jesus did. Mark does not give us all the details about the temptations of Jesus in the way Matthew and Luke have recorded them. He merely writes in his brief, swiftly moving style, "He was in the wilderness 40 days tempted by Satan."

It is from those other gospels that we learn what those temptations were. They tell us Satan tempted Jesus to use his power in the wrong way, for selfish reasons, to gain an easy victory, an easy following - "Turn these stones into bread - cast yourself off the temple - bow down before me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world." But, Jesus refused all of that. He had heard the voice of God at his baptism, "Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased." And Jesus remembered who he was.

Do you remember who you are? You see, what we do is determined by who we are. That is always the key to every moral and ethical question we face. The answer is determined not so much by what we ought to do, but by who we are. When we have heard the voice of God saying, "Thou art my beloved son or daughter, with thee I am well pleased" - then we know what to do. Then we turn away from the temptation to be less than we are and resolve to be true to all we are, children of God. Do you remember who you are? Someone else may not remember, but you must remember who you are.

I visited at the nursing home one afternoon. Always when I went I would speak to the ladies who were usually seated by the front door. Most of them knew me, but that day one of them did not remember me. I spoke to them as I walked by and this lady said, "Good Lord, who are they bringing in here now?" Even if those around you forget who you are you remember, and be true to all you are. If you remember you are a child of God then why not be true to that, to all you are?

Jimmy Carter in his book, Why Not The Best?, he told of being interviewed by Admiral Rickover who was in charge of the Navy's nuclear submarine program. The admiral asked him how he had done at the Naval Academy. Jimmy Carter was proud to say he was 59th in a class of 220. But then the admiral asked if he had done his best. And Jimmy Carter answered: "No sir, I didn't always do my best." And the admiral said, "Why not?"1

Why not be true to all you are - a child of God. Jesus made that decision and so can you. Then look at one other thing about Jesus on the road to the wilderness.

III

It was a time when Jesus made the commitment to see it through. That was the final thing Jesus did. He committed himself to seeing it through - to carrying out this mission God the Father had given him. No wonder then that later on he was able to pray in the garden, "Not my will but thine be done." Jesus did not make that decision in the garden that night. He made it way back over there in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. That is when he made the choice and the commitment to see it through.

You can tell all there is to know about a person's life by the kind of commitments that person has made. The thing that matters is never the size of a checking account - but the depth of our commitment. The thing that matters is never the way we dress - but how we live what we profess. The thing that matters is never the kind of reputation -but having a mind of consecration. The thing that matters is never our style of living - but cultivating the art of giving. The thing that matters is never our street location - but traveling the road of dedication. You can tell all there is to know about a person's life by the kind of commitments that person has made.

That great saint of our church Bishop John Owen Smith used to say, "Give the best you have to the highest you know." I wonder if you are willing to do that? Have you made that kind of commitment? Dr. William H. Henson, pastor at Houston First United Methodist Church, wrote a book several years ago called Solid Living In A Shattered World. In that book he told a story about Sam Jones, the great Methodist evangelist. One night he closed a service by asking, "If we could compare the kingdom of God to a locomotive, what part would you like to be?" One person said, "Brother Jones, I'd like to be the whistle and sound God's praises." Another said, "I'd like to be the wheel and just roll down the track." Sam Jones was not really impressed by any of that. But, then one man said, "Brother Jones, I'd like to be the black coal and burn for Christ's sake!" And Sam Jones replied, "Brothers and sisters, we have enough whistles and wheels in the church now. We need more coal."2

No church ever moves forward if it is made up of whistles and wheels. Somebody has to be willing to burn for Jesus. What about it? Have you been traveling in the wilderness lately? Have you been trying to figure life out and answer all the questions? Have you been trying to make some big decision about life? When you come to understand that all the answers are found in him who is the hope of the world then you will be ready to move on out of the wilderness. And you will forever hear the voice of God ringing in your ears, "Thou art my beloved son, my beloved daughter; with thee I am well pleased."

1. Carter, Jimmy, Why Not The Best?, Broadman Press, Nashville, 1975,p.8.

2. Henson, William H., Solid Living In A Shattered World, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1985, p. 96.

Pastoral Prayer: Our Father, greater than all our thoughts of thee, whose great hands have reached out beyond the limits of a limitless universe to become a part of our own experience through the coming of thy Son into the world, and who lives within us even now, so touch our hearts and minds in this moment that we would know thee and be able to worship thee.

In this season of Lent as we begin to think of our Lord Jesus turning his face toward Jerusalem, help us to prepare ourselves to journey with him along those roads which led him there. And as we think together of him on those roads may we come to realize that he travels with us on the roads we travel.

Accept our thanksgiving for all thy blessings upon us, for thou art truly the source of life and everything which makes life worthwhile.

Even as we thank thee Father for blessings already given we are bold to ask for other blessings. Give us the blessing of being led by thy Spirit. Give us the blessing of tasks which are greater than our ability. Give us crosses too heavy for us to bear on our own. And on the road too difficult to travel, the mountain too hard to climb, enable us to know our need of thee, so that we would depend upon thee.

Forgive our sins for they are many.

Bless those of our church family and community who need thy help in special ways - those who are sick, or in sorrow, or who have lost their way.

Bless suffering people the world over, for the world is filled with trouble. But thou art the answer to every need, for we have learned it in thy Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.