Sermon: From the Garden to the Wilderness—A Lenten Journey Toward Grace

 Sermon preached 2/22/2026 - Lent 1a - EUMC & BCUMC by Alan Swartz

1. Introduction: The Call to the Wilderness

We begin our Lenten journey not in the dust of the desert, but in the lush abundance of a garden. It is a common misconception to view Lent merely as a season of arbitrary deprivation. In truth, Lent is a strategic “journey into the wilderness” designed for the restoration of the soul. To understand our need for this season, we must look back at the paradise of provision in the Garden of Eden. There, humanity was entrusted with the dignified vocation of serving and guarding that defined the first human work as priestly stewardship. Adam and Eve were not merely gardeners; they were the first liturgists, tending to the world as a sanctuary of God’s presence.

However, we must reckon with the gravity of the fracture that occurred in that original sanctuary. This Lenten journey is a rescue mission because the death warned of in Genesis was not merely the stopping of a heart. In our Wesleyan understanding, this death was the beginning of the soul’s wandering; it was a spiritual reality of separation from the Source of Life. We fast and pray during Lent to find our way back from that fracture, moving from the shattered ideal of the Garden into the intentionality of the wilderness to recover the vocation we lost.

2. The Anatomy of the Fall: Distrust and the Lure of Autonomy

Understanding the “anatomy of the fall” requires us to recognize the strategy of the Serpent, who utilized a methodology of subtle distortion rather than a manifestation of pure evil. Temptation is perpetually dangerous because it appeals to our legitimate desires—for wisdom and fulfillment—but invites us to satisfy them through illegitimate means. When the woman looked at the fruit, she was ensnared by a triple disordered desire that mirrors 1 John 2:16: the “lust of the flesh” (good for food), the “lust of the eyes” (delight to the eyes), and the “pride of life” (desirable to make one wise).

The Serpent’s methodology is built upon a two-fold lie:

• The Denial of Consequence: The brazen claim that “You will not die” suggests that God’s word is hollow, and his boundaries are negotiable limitations rather than loving safeguards.
• The Promise of Autonomous Godhood: The lure of “defining good and evil” for ourselves. This is the root of all sin: the desire for arrogate for ourselves mastery and self-determination apart from the Creator.

When we succumb to this lure, we find ourselves not enlightened but covered in shame. The “fig leaves” of the Garden represent the start of the human tradition of self-justification. They are the flimsy masks—religious or secular—that we wear to hide our brokenness. Yet, as we learn from the Garden’s aftermath, these self-made coverings fail to hide our nakedness, and our silence eventually becomes a physical and spiritual weight.

3. The Liturgical Response: The Pattern of Psalm 32

If the Garden is defined by “hiding,” Psalm 32 is our essential liturgical response, moving us from the “suffocation of pretense” to the rhythm of breathing again. It provides the visceral antidote to Adam’s silence through a three-step pattern of restoration:

1.      Confession: The Weight of Silence The Psalmist describes the physical and spiritual toll of unconfessed sin, noting that while he kept silent, his “body wasted away.” This is the physical manifestation of the spiritual hiding we saw in Eden. When we refuse to acknowledge our fracture, the weight of God’s hand becomes heavy upon us, drying up our strength like the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the guilt of my sin. [verse 5]

2.     Forgiveness: Stepping into Prevenient Grace In the Wesleyan tradition, we believe we do not confess to a reluctant God to earn mercy. Rather, “prevenient grace” is already at work, stirring our discomfort and giving us the “gracious ability” to tell the truth. Confession is simply the act of stepping into a light that has already provided the way home. We are met not with condemnation, but with God “singing glad cries of deliverance” over us.

You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. [verse 7]

3.     Discipleship: Instructions for the Journey. Relief is followed by instruction. God desires to “teach you the way you should go” through a relationship of understanding. The Psalmist warns: “Do not be like a horse or a mule,” which must be curbed with a bit and bridle. Do not make God drag you toward the freedom He is already offering; instead, stay near Him through the receptive humility of a transformed heart.

4. The Two Adams: The Triumph of Saving Grace

To understand why we can move from hiding to hope, we must look at the “Two Adams” of Romans 5. Paul diagnoses the “spiritual atmosphere” we are born breathing—a tragedy we still carry in our bones.

• The Curse of Adam (Original Sin): We define Original Sin not as personal guilt for an ancient act, but as a profound corruption of the heart—a “propensity toward self-will.” We are born into a current of rebellion that we cannot navigate on our own.
• The Gift of Christ (Gracious Ability): While sin is a dominion, grace is a sovereign gift that restores our capacity to respond. We hold to the collaborative truth of “Gracious Ability”: God will not save us without us, yet He provides the very gift that allows us to receive the “abundance of grace.”

This is the “much more” principle of Scripture. Christ’s remedy is not a mere repair of the status quo; it is a cosmic restoration where grace abounds all the more where sin once increased. Grace does not just match the trespass; it overflows it, replacing the rule of death with the reign of life.

5. The Second Adam in the Wilderness: Reversing the Curse

In Matthew 4, the Second Adam puts this theological claim to the ultimate test. Contrast the first Adam failing in a garden of plenty with Jesus triumphing in a desert of want. Where Israel failed during their forty years of wandering, Jesus—as the Faithful Israel—remains steadfast during His forty days of fasting.

• The Bread (The Power of Self-Service): The tempter invited Jesus to use his power for instant gratification, echoing the grumbling for manna. Jesus reversed this by choosing to trust in the Father’s providence over his own physical hunger.
• The Temple (The Power of Spectacle): Satan suggested a “spectacle” of status by misusing Scripture. Jesus rejected this abuse of the scriptures, choosing a steadfast faith that refuses to put the Lord to a test of performance.
• The Kingdoms (The Power of Glory): The devil offered a shortcut to glory through idolatry—the shadow of the golden calf. Jesus chose the “difficult path of redemption” through the sacrificial love of the Cross, refusing the devil’s bargain to maintain his identity as a Messiah of surrender.

Jesus’ victory provides the model for our Lenten practice: we resist the allure of power, glory, and self-sovereignty by leaning on the Word and the Spirit.

6. Conclusion: Examining the Heart and Turning to the Cross

Our journey has taken us from the “forbidden tree” of Eden, where relationship was broken through grasping, to the “tree of the Cross,” where relationship is restored through perfect obedience. As we move deeper into this season of Lent, I invite you into these active Lenten Actions:

1.      Examine: Look honestly at your heart to identify where you view God’s boundaries as limitations rather than the loving guidance intended to ensure your flourishing.

2.     Confess: Acknowledge your “fig leaves.” Identify the specific, inadequate ways you try to cover your own shame or spiritual poverty through self-justification and pretense.

3.     Turn: Embrace the grace that enables your repentance. Remember that grace precedes your turning; step willingly into the light of the One who is already seeking you out in your hiding place.

The “knowledge of good and evil” led us into a wilderness of separation, but the wilderness of Lent leads us back to the heart of God. We find our life not through our own stitching, but through the Savior who reverses the curse.

May God bless us as we seek to faithfully make this holy journey.

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.