"The Wilderness"
Sermon Presented March 5, 2006
Mark 1:9-15
During the past several months - as I have faced my own vulnerability to depression during a long dark winter, I have been amazed at how many people have shared their experiences of depression with me. I imagine people outside of this fellowship approach me because they expect a minister to be familiar with their pain and willing to listen. Unlike past generations, people today recognize that depression is something they can talk about and not something to be ashamed of. Because of the prevalence of depression, I decided that Jesus' time in the wilderness presents a perfect opportunity to address this topic in a sermon. I recognize that I can't adequately discuss such a complex subject in less than 20 minutes, but God may bring out a sentence or phrase that will be of help to you. That is my prayer.
Our text this morning, from Mark's gospel, presents the briefest account of the temptation of Jesus in all of the gospels - no frills or conversation, just a bare bones account of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. Mark says that during this desert time, Jesus is alone, tempted and in danger. The season of Lent is patterned after this experience - a 40 day period when we wrestle with the demons that assault us. I'm reading from Mark 1:9-15.
The text begins with Jesus' baptism - a spiritual high. Here, Jesus sees the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove. He hears a voice from heaven say: "You are my son, the beloved; I am most pleased with you." From that high point, Jesus is plunged into the depths - 40 days in the wilderness. There, in the face of danger, he is tempted. However, God is with him through ministering angels. From the depths of this desert time, Jesus emerges to begin his Galilean ministry. The message he preaches is the nearness of God's Kingdom and the need for repentance. This morning, we are going to focus on the middle segment of our text - the wilderness experience - the depths.
Depression abounds in the wilderness. Life seems hopeless there. No escape is visible, only withdrawal or struggle. It's a time to confront our personal demons.
Abraham Lincoln is in the limelight these days because of Doris Kearns Goodwin's best-selling biography Team of Rivals. Lincoln's bouts with depression are well documented. Brooke Shields was in town last month, and she has written and spoken about her post-partum depression. Because of best-selling biographies and autobiographies, struggles with depression by prominent personalities alert us to the pervasiveness of depression in all kinds of people.
In the opening words of her book Gift of the Dark Angel: A Woman's Journey through Depression toward Wholeness, Ann Keiffer states: "When I was thirty-eight, without warning, I plummeted into the deepest black abyss of depression - an abyss as desolate and final as a grave." She then goes on to tell of her struggle to rise from that abyss as she validated her pain, examined her deep-seated issues and moved toward good mental health. She is convinced that her depression was a gift because it forced her to face the issues that caused her plunge.
Depression is a broad term for experiences that range from a passing bad mood to a chronic withdrawal from reality. Depression affects people mentally, physically and spiritually. Headaches, sleeplessness, stomach problems and a lack of focus are often by-products of depression. People who are depressed sometimes turn to drugs, alcohol, food, or compulsive buying to ease the pain they are experiencing. Anything to diminish the pain looks good to someone who is depressed.
The causes of depression are as varied as those who experience it. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is caused by abuse, trauma or war. I know two professional women in Kansas City (an attorney and an engineer) who were raped and that experience shattered their lives. I know victims of incest who continue to struggle with the effects of their abuse decades after the abuse occurred. I know a man who witnessed the atrocities of the Viet Nam war and never recovered. All of these individuals experienced chronic depression and continue to receive treatment.
Some people are genetically prone to depression. Their family members experienced it - even though the condition may not have been recognized as a treatable illness at the time they lived. When a genetic predisposition exists, it is much easier to fall over the edge into severe depression than it is for someone without that genetic history.
Other reasons for depression are grief, guilt, illness, isolation, family problems, and the stress of an overextended lifestyle. Depression often co-occurs with serious illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, MS, and Parkinson's disease, making the seriously ill and the elderly more vulnerable to depression. In the United States, more than 12 percent of women and 7 percent of men are treated for depression each year and at least that number again have serious, untreated bouts with depression. (The difference in the treatment of depression in men and women may be because women are more likely to seek help than men.) Among the reasons people don't seek help are fear of losing their job, the appearance of weakness, or because of the high cost of treatment.
While chronic depression may require indefinite treatment, situational depression may need only short term attention. Depression as a result of divorce, the death of a loved one, an injury, financial crisis, loss of a job or insecurity in a relationship, is more easily treated than chronic depression. Even though this kind of depression is devastating, it can usually be worked through over a shorter period of time. Short-term psychotherapy and/or antidepressants may successfully treat situational depression.
Let me reiterate: Everyone has dark times! We all have crises, even though some people have more than others. Because everyone experiences times of depression, we need to examine the cause of our wilderness experience and learn how best to deal with it. We can't avoid the darkness, but we can learn to use it to bring personal growth and healing.
I wish I could offer a definitive solution to depressive illness, but I can't. (I would be a billionaire if I could.) Because each person is different and the reasons for depression are different, treatment will differ. However, when we find ourselves in depression, we have a choice to make. We can fight it or succumb to it. When we succumb to it, the light goes out. When we fight it, even though life seems hopeless, we will come out the winner. So, how do we fight it?
First, see your family physician for a complete physical. An undiagnosed illness can be at the root of your depression. Untreated medical conditions can hamper the treatment of depression. Physical and emotional problems go hand in hand.
Next find someone who will listen to your pain. That person can be a friend, family member or minister. Talking helps! Through careful listening, the listener can help ascertain if additional help is needed. Seeking competent professional help is difficult because someone in depression doesn't have the energy to extend themselves. When in need, keep asking for help until someone listens. When my friend was a teenager and told her mother that she wanted to end her life, she was met with this response: "Oh, you can't do that. Just think what it would do to your father and me." She received no help until she was hospitalized several years later. We need to listen!
A friend recently stated that depression holds you down until you examine what you need to examine. In most cases, there is a root cause for our depression that we need to face. Even though we can't avoid the darkness, we can learn how to use it by healing the root causes. I can vouch for the truth of that statement.
Joshua Wolf Shenk, in his book Lincoln's Melancholy, argues that Abraham Lincoln learned to articulate the significance of his suffering so that it was not merely an obstacle to overcome but a component of his goodness and integral to his leadership. "Lincoln saw the world as a deeply flawed, even tragic, place where imperfect people had to make the best of poor materials. At his worst, the burdens of this vision pressed him into ruts and troughs. At his best, it fueled passion for redemption." Lincoln learned to hold his burden and his gift in tension. He learned to survive through his suffering, not evading, denying or fleeing it.
Additional ways that have proven effective to help a person move out of depression are exercise, rest, journaling, and contemplation. Sometimes we need to eliminate activities from an over-stressed life because this can be a source of depression for a perfectionist. By exercising our bodies and getting in touch with our emotional and spiritual base, we can often find the root of our depression and begin to deal with it. Maintaining conversation with God and a connection to your church family is most helpful.
Because those in depression tend to retreat from contact with people and break off relationships, friends and family need to stick with the one who needs help. Our support can be the needed ingredient to help them find healing.
If you are experiencing depression, you may be thinking: "I've prayed, seen my doctor, exercised, talked to a friend, and still there is no relief." If you've given it time and don't see improvement, you may need to find a competent psychologist or psychiatrist. If you are in therapy then you need to express your pain and frustration to your therapist. A highly qualified and competent therapist can be the key to healing.
We can't avoid the darkness of depression, but we can use the darkness to become whole. God is with us in the wilderness as a ministering angel and will help us. When we are able to look at our depression as a gift - something that is present to expose the root cause of our dis-ease - then we can experience the transforming hope we seek. The journey through the wilderness is the beginning of newness. Amen!
