As the tour continued, it was an amazing sensation to learn about all that happened on and because of the river while the river itself carried us.  The importance of water in rivers and streams cannot be understated in the history and development of all life, with human life being no exception.  Water not only gives life to the body, it has been fundamental to our ability to travel, generate power, grow food, and create income.  For all our progress with technology and industry, the centrality of water is something we still hold in common with our ancestors.

We hear the imagery of water spoken throughout the ancient texts of scripture, in practical terms and often as signs of God’s hopeful work in the world. The very existence of water represented life and in areas of wilderness or desert, water was the immediate difference between life and death.

The prophet Isiah knew in real terms what water meant for the life of all of God’s creation. He also knew what scarcity of water felt like.  When he spoke God’s words to the people, he used everyday terms to help them understand the way God was at work among them, even when they couldn’t see it clearly, if at all.

At the time of today’s text, Isaiah’s people were in the midst of a devastating war, a war that had no signs of stopping.  Isaiah has been writing about the extreme conditions of the people living with the constant violence and destruction throughout this section of Isaiah.

Here’s a small portion of what comes before today’s reading, in Chapter 34:

For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of vindication for Zion’s cause.
⁹ And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch
and her soil into sulfur;
her land shall become burning pitch.
¹⁰ Night and day it shall not be quenched;
its smoke shall go up forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
no one shall pass through it forever and ever.
¹¹ But the desert owl and the screech owl shall possess it;
the great owl and the raven shall live in it.
He shall stretch the line of confusion
and the plummet of chaos over it.

Then, all of a sudden in reverse shift, Isaiah writes the words we read today – words of dramatic healing, complete restoration, and life-giving hope.  Not only the words, but the placement of these verses themselves are like their own streams of water in a desert of descriptions of desolation and despair.

From today’s reading:

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool
and the thirsty ground springs of water;

Isaiah is connecting their tangible understanding of water with the often intangible nature of faith.    Water was something they could touch, drink, hear; Faith required belief and, more importantly, trust.  When water is plentiful, you don’t have to worry about being thirsty, when you’re walking through a desert, thirst is a danger.  Faith can be the same – when all is as we want it to be, trusting God may not be difficult.  It’s the other times, when trust in God can be a challenge – like looking for streams of water in a desert land.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the seasons of human life alongside the seasons of the Church – regular times of challenge and change that are part of our natural cycles of life and as we practice our faith. As we all know, there are other times that come in addition to the familiar seasons of change, times that bring their own set of obstacles, questions, worry, even anger or fear.  Those feelings of anxiety are only magnified when we cannot see the way ahead and have no idea what the outcome will be.

I remember that kind of feeling 12 years ago when I answered the phone and it was my doctor telling me the biopsy can come back positive for cancer.  All of a sudden, everything felt like it was in slow motion, like time was literally standing still. Obviously, I survived and I am grateful beyond words to be standing here today.  But then, it was like being thrown into a desert wilderness, where all the sources of life I had so readily available before were nowhere to be found.

Looking back, I can see the streams of water, the sources of life and hope that were there for me, but I couldn’t see them at the time.  I could only get from one day to the next, or as I said then, from each half day to the next. I had started as interim associate pastor in Muncie, Indiana just a few months before and was worried, among other things, that I would let me new congregation down.  But I was supported by streams of faith and hope that I could not see, only feel – faith that came in dozens of cards and letters from my home Church in Cincinnati, and hundreds of acts of kindnesses from my brand new congregation in Muncie, including people bringing meals for me and treats for my cats, expressions of love and care, sharing of scripture, and active prayer.

Of course, the excellent medical care and my family’s support were crucial, but the acts of faith by the people of the church kept me lifted up in my spirit like streams of water in the desert.  Acts of faith that continue to be sources of hope and encouragement for me now that I can see them clearly.

That is just one personal example, but it has helped me to learn that the power of hope in God’s work in the world and in our lives is always there – whether we can see it or not, whether we know we need it or not.    We who believe, not only benefit from that powerful hope, we have the ability, the calling, to make it evident in the lives of our families and friends, our coworkers, our classmates, our communities, our congregation. Through the powerful hope of our faith – we can make a way for streams of water to break forth in this world’s deserts of challenge and change, uncertainty, anger and fear.

May the Lord our God give us all hope in believing, in whose name we worship and pray. Amen.