Streams in the Desert
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
On this third Sunday of Advent, Scripture invites us into the tension of Christian hope. Isaiah offers us a breathtaking vision of the world God has promised: a world where deserts bloom, fearful hearts are strengthened, the broken are healed and sorrow and sighing flee away. It is the world every human heart longs for, the world God will one day bring to fullness through Christ. Yet like John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, we often look around at our own lives and wonder why this promised renewal seems so slow in coming.
In response to John’s honest question, “Are you the one?”, Jesus does not offer a philosophical argument but instead points to small, particular signs: the blind see, the lame walk, good news is preached to the poor. These are not the full flowering of Isaiah’s vision, but they are real glimpses of the Kingdom already breaking in. Advent is a season that teaches us to live faithfully in this in-between space: longing for God’s promised future, yet learning to watch for the small signs of Christ’s renewing work in the present.
As we gather for worship, we come as people who are waiting. Some of us are waiting in hope, some in confusion, some in deep weariness. Wherever we find ourselves, Jesus invites us to open our eyes, to pay attention to the quiet places where grace is already bubbling up like streams in the desert. May God strengthen our hearts, deepen our patience, and renew our hope as we journey toward the joy of his coming.
Where do you most feel the “desert places” in your life or in the world right now? How does Isaiah’s vision speak into those places?
Jesus points to small signs of renewal rather than dramatic transformation. What “small signs of the kingdom” have you seen recently- in your life, relationships, community, or world?
The James reading compares Christian hope to a farmer’s patient waiting. What practices help you cultivate patient, faithful waiting in a season of uncertainty or longing?
Where might God be inviting you to pay closer attention, to notice the tiny blooms in the wilderness of your own life?
Isaiah 35: 1–10
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
James 5:7–10
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 11:2-11
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.