Message by Janice Good : April 13, 2008
“An Oasis in the Desert”
Texts – Isaiah 35; John 4:4-14
Janice Good, Preacher
Well, here we are, the nation of Israel living a life of exile. Exile! A desert experience ground into our skin. It wasn’t bad enough that we had to wander around this dry barren desert for 40 years, sand in our shoes, clinging to our clothes, pasted on our sweaty bodies. But now we’re exiled again. The hot sun beats down baking that gritty sand into our bodies like Shake and Bake. Moses lead us around this dry barren land to take us to what he called the promised land, full of milk and honey. Well let me tell you, it ain’t exactly been milk and honey, more like sour milk and bee stings! Of course we did some dumb things – like neglect God and worship idols. We cried out for a human king to lead us rather than God. And life with our cranky neighbors has been anything but peaceful. Some feuds started way back when Jacob cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright. So the family of Esau started their own nation – we call them Edomites. But they’re about as irritating as that sand between our toes. Why, when we first began wandering in this hot stinking desert those Edomites wouldn’t even let us go through their land to get to our Promised Land.
King Saul defeated the Edomites way back when, and then 40 years later David had to do it again. Our nation split into two kingdoms and the King of Judah ruled over Edom until they revolted and broke free. And then when Jerusalem fell to King Nebuchenezzar those Edomites showed up to plunder Jerusalem and slaughter our families. It’s little wonder we don’t get along!
Well, some days it feels as if you and I are in exile, doesn’t it. Sometimes we find ourselves being tossed by the hot dry winds of a dry desert week. We find ourselves wandering in a desert, drained of our energy by what we call our life.
Our desert journey begins as Monday morning appears on the horizon.... the beginning of typical work week, the stresses we face. In the midst of our walk in the hot corporate desert we can be blown in umpteen different directions, feeling lost and deserted… perhaps just standing in a deserted room, blinded by the storm of words like grains of sand spitting in our eyes, getting in our faces, blinding us to what is happening. Our day ends and we trudge out into the un-deserted highway, packed with the grit of end-to-end traffic.
Before you know it, it’s Tuesday... jump out of bed, fix breakfast, take the garbage out, drop the kids off at school, rush off to work still catching up from Monday... Filing papers, returning phone calls, sitting through dry meetings, jumping in the car and then sitting in traffic trying to get home in time to get the kids to soccer practice, to Boy Scouts, to piano lessons, then finally home where we begin the evening’s whirlwind of events, cook a meal, do household chores, take the dog for a walk, and finally fall into bed, too exhausted to sleep, wondering if that sandman of your childhood really exists.
Wednesday dawns and you think you are halfway there… “Over the hump” day somehow makes us think we’ve got it under control but it is just a camel mid-point in the week. We might even stumble upon a little oasis when on hump-day we slip into those brightly-clouded plaid pants, and that funny looking hat to walk around those green rolling hills, swinging that club – but only at that little ball that ends up in the sand trap anyway. So much for the oasis before our rush home to family, household chores, paying bills and homework. Thursday dawns without any significant difference in the dust storms of life. We just can’t stand to look at another chart, hear another complaint, handle another stack of reports and files, our weary hands tremble and our knees buckle under the load. Yet here we are – tired, thirsting for refreshment as we once again begin the caravan out into the desert of the highway, our bag overflowing with things to be done before Friday…and Friday is the end of the week…or at least we think it is… besides the Friday morning rush, the bundling up of the kids for school, so we can run in to scoop up the loose ends, finish those projects before the end of the day, be ready to focus on the weekend that seems like a mirage on the horizon... that much deserved time off.
Yeah right! Saturday blows in and we gulp our morning coffee before we go out to mow the lawn, do the laundry, go shopping, fix the toilet, change the oil in the car, get a hair cut, take the dog to the vet, clean the house, put up the window screens, clean the gutters, weed the garden, plant some more shrubs, trim the hedge, and then fall into bed exhausted – again.
Yes, our week from Monday through Saturday feels like we are in exile.
But then Sunday comes with wild Isaiah hope. Isaiah leaps onto a sand dune to proclaim good news: There is an oasis in the desert. There is a hope and promise of renewal. – Sabbath. We have a day of rest, to join in worship, praising the God who made both the desert and the oasis. The God who quenches our dry parched throat, who promises hope for the future -- the hope we rejoice in as Sabbath -- Sunday -- the Lord's Day. The Lord commanded us, way back when our ancestors were wandering in the desert, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy – because for six days we work -- but on the seventh day we should do NO work! Just as God created the world in six days and rested -- so we as the humans He created need a day of rest. The physical make-up of humans requires a Sabbath -- a day of rest. The biological rhythms of our human bodies follow daily and weekly timeframes. We may not fully understand how or why, but internal body processes such as blood pressure, heartbeat, and even coping with the common cold follow seven-day cycles. So, in order to stay in good health we all need at least one day out of seven to rest from our ordinary work. Why not make it Sunday, the Lord’s Day?
Not only does the physical body need to rest, but also our moral and spiritual lives need refreshed. Taking a Sabbath -- a day of rest – points us back to the God who is the source of our very lives. Each day we should acknowledge God’s presence in our lives, but Sunday is the day above all others when we should reacquaint ourselves with God... when we should spend the day praising His holy name, thanking God for all the blessings in our lives – a time to gather with our brothers and sisters to worship, to sing praises and hear the Word of God. Spending time in worship -- in spiritual renewal will not only refresh our bodies, but also our spirits. It gives us time to look out and see the crocuses peeking through the sand! There is an oasis in the desert of our lives -- right here! Right now! It’s called Sunday.
But we who are in Christ don’t have to wait for a rest one day a week. Have we forgotten? We live in Christ, drenched in the living water that never runs dry so that even in dry desert times, we have the oasis of life in Christ who makes the desert blooms, green trees become even greener and fertile fields produce abundant harvests. Jesus said, Those who drink of the water I give them will never be thirst (John 4:14). We can be perpetually refreshed so that our Sabbath worship becomes our baptismal way of life in Christ! Refreshed! Renewed! Wow, What a blessing!
Now, experience the difference in each week as we drink in the living water, splash! in the blessings of forgiveness, naturally extending that forgiveness to our co-workers, our spouse, and our children. Monday morning springs forth, singing praises at the beginning of a new day, gathering a new week blessed with the opportunity to see the world with clear eyes. Tuesday pours out as a continual blessing of hope washing over us as we confess our shortcomings and seek the cleansing waters of forgiveness. Wednesday is the middle of this God-given weekly cycle, as we study His Word, we experience the joy of hearing our children laugh, our spouse singing in the shower. By Thursday we are no longer parched and thirsting because that living water continually refreshes us as we pray, even for our Edomite co-workers. And then, Friday brings the refreshing rain of the end of the week’s cycle of work as you invite the young couple down the street to the church’s fellowship dinner. You look forward to Saturday’s chance to go forth to spread those waters around even more by washing your neighbor’s car, calling on a shut-in neighbor, helping out at the food pantry.
Acknowledge the abundant, flowing, living water of Christ washing cares and stresses away, pouring out love beyond description, watering the seeds of life and love around us, sprouting blessings in our lives. Feel the living waters flow into and through you, like rivers of dreams and possibilities. Return daily for a drink of the living water, for the Word of God, to guide the journey through the garden of life and hope and salvation. Feel renewed through his forgiveness, his love and his presence.
Yes, there may be times when each of us walks that desert path, times when life is like a desert, dried up, parched and gritty. But fear not! We have the promise of the oasis, the living water that we can freely drink. The oasis for refreshment that can be found daily, but most especially on Sunday as we gather together with others to praise and honor, to glorify the One who provides the oasis, the water of life, the respite from our desert storms. Yes, our lives may be like deserts, dry and barren, dirty and gritty. But our oasis is ever-flowing, overflowing with the living water. Life springs eternal through the oasis of Jesus Christ, the one through whom the springs of life gush forth and never run dry. Drink it all in!
Amen.