Menu
Lenten Lessons -- A desert experience and making a choice
McCOOK, Nebraska -- Miles of endless water, trapped on a stricken ocean liner, much as the passengers of the Carnival Triumph were over the past several days, can be a "desert" experience, according to the Rev. Gary Brethour, pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
Brethour addressed a community congregation of 150 Friday at Memorial United Methodist Church during the 2013 inaugural Community Lenten service.
Reading the account of the temptations of Christ from the Gospel of St. Luke 4:1-13, Brethour proposed that the deprivations experienced by the hapless seafarers could, for some, be just the desert experience they needed.
"Scripture tells us that Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness," Brethour said. This was God's will for him.
"During this season of Lent, let the Holy Spirit lead you into a desert place, where the distractions and diversions of this life are set aside," Brethour suggested.
According to Brethour, desert seasons, such as those experienced on board the stricken ocean liner, show us what is truly necessary, what is not, and clearly reveal whether our appetites control us, or we control them.
Introducing Capt. Guy Gruters, an Air Force officer who was shot down and captured by the Vietnamese in December 1967, spending the next 5+ years as a prisoner of war, Brethour revealed that sometimes we choose a desert experience and sometimes Father God selects them for us.
Gruters, who entered the service full of pride, was an accomplished pilot who flew more than 400 missions successfully. His early days in captivity were marked by rage fueled by the desire for revenge and retaliation. Paying his captors back consumed his thoughts and added to his misery.
As his captivity continued, Gruters came to the end of himself, even contemplating suicide, Brethour explained. He finally came to realize that hatred, even the seemingly justified hatred he had for his captors, who had killed his roommate during interrogation, is total rebellion against God. Following his conversion, Gruters understood that he wasn't the one in control of his situation, God was. In the retelling, Gruters reveals that during his captivity, he had more joy in his heart than at any other time, before or since.
In fact, Gruters' zeal for the Lord was such that he dared to engage in a loud, verbal debate with an interrogator one day, an act that earned him time in the "hot box." Gruters entered the hot box and began to pray. Within 30 minutes, storm clouds formed and a thunderstorm brought immediate cooling, effectively ending that day's torture.
"We are given an opportunity to choose," Brethour reiterated. "Or God will choose for us. Be clear on the basics. Know how to control the appetites common to all men, do not let them control you."
The annual Community Lenten services are presented by the Red Willow County Ministerial Association and continue Friday, Feb. 22, with the Rev. Clark Bates, senior pastor at McCook Christian Church. The theme is "Finding Hope in Dark Times" and Bates will present a lesson on comfort from Luke 13:31-35, at 12:05 p.m., at Memorial United Methodist Church. A free will offering is accepted at the entrance to the sanctuary for the ongoing work of the ministerial. The lesson is followed by a luncheon prepared by the preaching minister's congregation. A free will offering to offset the cost of the food is accepted in the Fellowship Hall.
(Gruters full story is available online at http://www.guygruters.net/index.php?supermode=gallery_view&previewm=1&a=GUY_MARC...)
