“Waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water.” Isaiah 35:6-7
Back in 2007 Adam Hamilton, pastor of Church of the Resurrection UMC in Kansas City, brought together the senior pastors of the ten largest UM churches in the US to talk about how to encourage and edify each other. Kent Millard was a part of the first group. Out of that group the Leading Edge formed, a gathering of large church pastors from around the country coming together to learn from each other and provide connection and support for one another. We just met this past week in Phoenix.
We had not been together since before Covid. We look very different, and not just because of age! There have been many disaffiliations of churches once part of this gathering. There had always been a separating factor between participants. Now that is gone. Everyone there wants to be a part of a more inclusive, welcoming, Spirit-led, grace-forming, Bible-believing United Methodist Church. It was refreshing to say the least. I’ll share in the sermon Sunday part of the opening devotion given by David Chappel.
The desert is an interesting place. The scenery of the desert is stunningly different. The saguaro cactus that defines much of the landscape grabs your attention right away. I learned that these plants grow about 2 inches every 50 years, making some of the tallest cacti thousands of years old! Of course, the desert is dry. It appears lifeless and uninhabitable, but the lightest rain shower proves otherwise. Suddenly a green blanket will cover the floor of the desert. Flowers will quickly appear. You realize that beauty and life lie below the barren landscape.
I traveled there a bit tired and consumed with all I’ve got to get finished before General Conference and sabbatical arrive in late April. Once there, however, it was like a rain shower in the desert. I didn’t realize how much I had missed being with many of the colleagues I saw, getting to know people I had heard of but never met, and meeting new friends. The last few years have been dry seasons for all of us. Covid, racial division, denominational divide. No one was pretending they hadn’t felt like they’d been in the desert. But God lives in the desert. No one wonder the early spiritual leaders of the Christian faith, and Jewish prophets and mystics before them, would retreat to the desert to find God. But we don’t have to go there. The deserts sometimes find us. But God is like the rain shower ready to reveal the life that is there; ready to restore what gets depleted. There is a beauty in the desert. The beauty itself is a product of the conditions. If your soul ever feels like the desert, receive your revelation as a gift and let your spiritual roots grow deeper. Find people to connect with. Maybe travel to see some friends you hadn’t been with in a while. If you’re an online worshipper, give it a shot to come in person sometimes. Make time to read scripture, devotionals, and pray. These and other practices become like a rain shower. And our souls will reveal the life that is there.