Advent 3
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
-- Isaiah 12:3
When Moses had led the people across the Red Sea (or Reed Sea), Exodus reported his singing with joy, "The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him" (Exodus 15:2). Now Isaiah uses similar words to report the song that people will sing upon their deliverance. There are moments when, having felt surrounded by enemies, we are suddenly aware of a source of salvation from beyond ourselves, and all we can do is rejoice. Many believers have experienced a moment in the midst of extreme stress or danger when they suddenly felt a deep sense of peace descend upon them, and they knew that they would be all right. As the psalmist records, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ..." (Psalm 23:5).
These are the moments of deep joy drawn from the waters of faith that run deep in our lives. It is from the well of those joys, and not the superficial glitter of the season, that our hope truly rests. It is because of the collective memory of such experiences that a congregation can truly "Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth." It would be a powerful faith experience for a congregation to invite members to share their stories of the times when they have "drawn water from the wells of salvation" in their own lives and even to recall when, in the history of their congregation, they have experienced God's saving grace. A collection of these stories would make a great devotional for the following year.
-- Isaiah 12:3
When Moses had led the people across the Red Sea (or Reed Sea), Exodus reported his singing with joy, "The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him" (Exodus 15:2). Now Isaiah uses similar words to report the song that people will sing upon their deliverance. There are moments when, having felt surrounded by enemies, we are suddenly aware of a source of salvation from beyond ourselves, and all we can do is rejoice. Many believers have experienced a moment in the midst of extreme stress or danger when they suddenly felt a deep sense of peace descend upon them, and they knew that they would be all right. As the psalmist records, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ..." (Psalm 23:5).
These are the moments of deep joy drawn from the waters of faith that run deep in our lives. It is from the well of those joys, and not the superficial glitter of the season, that our hope truly rests. It is because of the collective memory of such experiences that a congregation can truly "Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth." It would be a powerful faith experience for a congregation to invite members to share their stories of the times when they have "drawn water from the wells of salvation" in their own lives and even to recall when, in the history of their congregation, they have experienced God's saving grace. A collection of these stories would make a great devotional for the following year.
