THE SOLO HIKER

A meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk

Harundale Presbyterian Church

Glen Burnie, Maryland

March 4, 2001

Text: "Led by the Spirit in the wilderness." (Luke 4:1)

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13

Next Sunday we’re going to observe Scout Sunday. Representatives from the Boy and Girl Scout programs we support will be here, just as they were here yesterday bringing food for our pantry. Last year, you’ll remember, they collected over four thousand pounds of food, which helped us to provide food for the hungry throughout the Easter season.

One of the Boy Scout programs that I remember is the Order of the Arrow. The troop I belonged to in California had as a part of its Order of the Arrow the solo hiker badge. Each summer, when we went to camp, we inducted the new boys into the Order of the Arrow and designated one of them to be the solo hiker. No one knew who would be chosen and whoever it was had to leave that moment for a designated location and return safely some fourteen hours later.

Our leaders would have gone out the day before, picked the spot, and then wrote directions, giving only compass headings, approximate distance, landmarks to guide the way, and the time it should take to get from point A to point B and so on. Those would be given to the hiker when his name was called and off he’d go, with no food, no tent, only his compass, hiking boots and, hopefully, experience he’d gained all the years he’d been in scouting. It was quite an honor to be chosen the "solo hiker," and the anticipation was always great.

Luke pictures Jesus as the "solo hiker." He’s come fresh from his baptism and immediately the Spirit sends him into the wilderness where he wanders for forty days. The tempter quickly catches up with him and knows what he’s going to go through and offers Jesus three things to make his trek a little more comfortable. Notice what the tempter offers. First, he offers food. One of the first things you’d think about with a solo hiker is what’s he going to eat. Why the "solo hiker" badge was so prestigious was it was meant to test the person’s ingenuity. He would have to know his habitat, what was edible and what wasn’t. The tempter’s offer itself is pretty innocuous. You would think a solo hiker would welcome a little repast along the way. That’s what makes the tempter so insidious! Imagine what would happen if all the hiker thought about was food. Imagine if he were to spend his whole time groveling for a bite to eat. He would never get from point A to point B, nor would he return in time, having met the goal. That’s what the tempter wants from Jesus. He wants Jesus to lose sight of why the Spirit has sent him into the wilderness.

Failing to do that, the tempter next offers Jesus fame. Again, by itself, the offer seems innocent enough. But what if fame was all the solo hiker thought about? He could take a short cut here and there, shave a few seconds or minutes off his time. Who would know? Those who have written a doctoral dissertation know that one of the greatest temptations a writer faces is that of plagiarism. You think no one is going to read it anyway and certainly they’re not going to check all the facts. It’ll do no harm to copy a paragraph or two and make it seem that it’s an original thought. A friend of mine happened to do just that. About two years later another doctoral candidate read his dissertation and knew he’d lifted about ten pages from an author without giving the proper credit. The student reported him and the school took his doctoral degree away from him. Fame is earned; it is never given without credit! Jesus was not about to take any short cuts.

Two down and one to go! The third offer the tempter makes is that of faith. "Throw yourself down from here…they will bear you up." Food, fame and now faith, again, it seems innocent enough. What’s wrong with having faith? We’re told time and again to have faith. Yet, what would happen to the solo hiker if all he had were faith? He could sit and meditate about finishing the hike for fourteen hours and never go from point A to point B. What the tempter didn’t take into consideration with Jesus was the fourth "F" in our story, and that’s "focus." Jesus had a focus. The solo hiker had a focus. Without their focus food, fame and faith would indeed be tempting. Or if they were to concentrate on food, concentrate on fame, or to concentrate on faith, neither Jesus nor the hiker would have reached their focus. Jesus’ focus was on God’s will and that’s why the Spirit had driven him into the wilderness. The hiker’s focus was on successfully reaching the goal and returning to camp within the fourteen hours he was allotted.

Notice the last line of our text: "When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time." The tempter will be back. In the meantime, what’s going to be your focus? Will food alone be enough? Will fame be all you seek? Will your faith be sufficient? What will give all of them the focus you need to complete the journey within the fourteen hours you’ve been given? Your answer to that question may not give the tempter the opportune time he seeks!

Thanks be to God,

Amen