They tell us that June and July were the 10th
warmest on record for New York City and the hottest on record for much of Upstate New York. Both Con Ed and New England utilities have had several power records.
I grew up in Upstate and we did not have air conditioning. So those cooler summers long ago felt as hot as our air conditioned summers now. And the delightful relief when you get upstate are the rivers and streams. There are 52,000 miles of rivers and streams in New York. If they were laid out in a line, it would cross the entire United States 21 times. Binghamton was founded because the Chenango and Susquehanna Rivers join there. My high school was next to the Chenango and my college was next to the Susquehanna. Even the names were magical and refreshing – the Tioughnioga River in Cortland, the Otselic where my grandfather fished, Geneganselet Creek, and Little Choconut.
The hypnotic and relaxing quality of a flowing stream is an image that Bible authors noticed and used. When we are walking through a hot season in life and cannot get free of the pressure, we look for extra grace. The Bible says that God has that in abundance. If you are walking through a dry and dusty land in life, it is not always possible to dramatically escape. God sometimes grants us the miracle, but more often God offers us flowing water to refresh our spirit as we travel. Our scripture today offers you that access to extra grace.
Your only role is to respond to God. God’s grace is not just a spiritual exercise to relax you like a session at the gym. Many people feel the presence of grace in life. But there is a difference between watching the stream and taking off your shoes to touch it. The altar will be open after the message. We have to take a step towards God. If you sense the Spirit of God speaking to your heart in this hour of worship – respond, receive.
The people of Israel had been in exile in what is now Iraq. It is a desert away from Israel. Jerusalem was in ruins. Family inheritances were destroyed by the violence of war. The Israelites did not speak the language of the place where they were refugees. And now they will have to cross the desert again to rebuild.
Many felt they were too old. When I worked with refugees from Cambodia in Buffalo, some of the men were quite willing to accept welfare and live simply and never expect to work. It was not that they were lazy. At that time, the life expectancy of Cambodian men was less than 45 years. When a man got to be 40, sometimes men just felt like death was near and it was time to slow down.
Life expectancy in Biblical times was far lower than now. So you are telling people in their 40s and 50s to walk across the desert. You are telling families with kids that started to learn Persian to forget that and get back to Hebrew and Aramaic.
There are three ways to respond after Cyrus the King tells the Jews that he has freed Jerusalem and they can return. You can decide that its too dangerous and hide in Babylon. I imagine that a few people did. Find a room somewhere. Keep your family inside as much as possible. Live a half life.
Many of us get trapped like this. We see the prize in the distance, but we know that the road is hard. We are not sure that the refreshing streams really do flow through the land. So we never follow the calling that God planned for us.
Faith casts out fear just as Mark teaches in his gospel. Fear paralyzes us and ruins the effectiveness of our life. If you knew you could not fail, what would you try to do in life? If you knew you could not fail, what do you think God is calling you to do in life? My prayer for you is that you will receive such refreshment today that you will go out this week and face that hard path in faith that God is there with the waters.
A second response to try a few paths and turn back when you hit the heat of the day. Earlier in life, I believed that what counted was your mind and your gifts. But many gifted people fail and never get anywhere. The difference between success and failure is not usually your gifts, the difference is made by your faith and your heart. With faith, you keep pressing on when things get hard, because you know the king has the banquet waiting alongside the road.
Our chief task as a Christian community is to show a sample of the banquet through our life and work together. We are like those sales people at Sams Club with samples on a toothpick that we offer to people as they pass.
Next Sunday we will invite the Summer School kids to come to church and recognize their work and pray for them. One of our key missions as a church is to help kids get ready for a good college when their home language is not English. We know how hard it is. Many children in this neighborhood face a challenge like the children of Israel faced in this Bible reading. And we offer a little of God’s banquet and invite them to hear of the Savior and receive more.
And the third way to respond to Cyrus was for the great exodus back to Israel through the desert. God could have magically transported them. But the lengthy trip back trained them with the survival skills they needed to rebuild. The trip raised up new leaders who got on the job training. They got back to Jerusalem ready to restart a failed state.
I know from the prayer requests that there are some dry and dusty roads that we are on. You may be walking through an illness and feeling like you can’t afford it, you may be caught in the intricacies of a job that you cannot simply quit, you may be trying to be sexually faithful and not feeling supported, you may have troubles in school and just can’t get the grade you needed. Come to the waters. You do not need to have money, you don’t need a track record with God, you don’t need to look holy. You just need to respond to the king’s invitation to get strength for the journey.
The Prayer Garden will have 3 myrtle bushes as soon as someone donates them and I am anxious to see what they look like. The Bible says that where there was a briar in your life, sticking and poking and scratching, now there will be myrtle. They are glossy with a beautiful scent. And the wreaths around the heads of ancient Olympic athletes – those were made of myrtle, a sign for victors in ancient days.
God is offering you every good sustaining gift in such measure that your victory is certain on whatever road you must travel. When peace like a river attendeth my way, I will know the goodness of the Lord. Listen this morning to the gospel invitation, the murmuring waters, and tell the Lord yes! In your soul.
