Isaiah 43:16-22 "A Horse with No Name and the wilderness"

            “Thus says the Lord…Pretty powerful statement to begin a reading. “Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse…” I had to stop there when I was reading because a popular song came into my head as soon as I heard the word “horse.” Can you guess what it is? “ (sing) Ya see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name…” It was quite the popular song quite a while ago.

            Do you remember this song? Do you remember the story in the song. There are three verses that seem to be quite simple. In the first verse, this guy—we assume it’s a guy because that is who is singing it—gets on his horse and starts riding out of this town. Don’t know why he makes this decision but on he goes. He describes that he is headed into this place where there are birds, plants, and things; and its hot and sand everywhere. SO he sets off on this journey. Then we have the chorus

“I've been through the desert on a horse with no name,
It felt good to be out of the rain. In the desert you can remember your name, 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain.”

The second verse goes like this: “After two days, in the desert sun,
My skin began to turn red.
After three days, in the desert fun,
I was looking at a river bed.
And the story it told, of a river that flowed,
Made me sad to think it was dead.”

Two days into this journey, this person on the journey begins to experience Sun burn and making these observations of looking at a dead river bed. There is nothing there, nothing growing but a path cut out in the earth where water once flowed. Our singer is now sad seeing the emptiness of the world. This picture that he is painting for is sounds a lot like a wilderness. It is a story of the person going through this alone time where all he has to depend on is himself.

            This song is similar to our reading from Isaiah. Isaiah talks about this Lord who makes a path in the sea…in the mighty waters. Isaiah tells of this journey from a place with life, birds, trees, and all the things we might associate with good things and the beginning of this journey sets out from this life into the unknown: this unknown can feel very much like wilderness time. They, like the man in the song, don’t know what they are going to experience. They don’t know what is out there.

            This song differs from the song in that the journey, the exodus from Egypt carried with it the promise from God. God called Moses to lead the people out of this land that seems to carry life for some of the people…but not for the Israelites. So one of the places they go through is a place where horse and warrior lie down and cannot get back up. It is a journey where there is that river bed that allows the ancestors of these people that Isaiah speaks of  to go to freedom. Isaiah is reminding them of their ancestor’s exodus out of Egypt. Isaiah is speaking to the people who have been exiled from Israel and are now in Babylon.

            Isaiah gives them the important four words, “Thus says the Lord.” These words are important because they mean that it is not Isaiah giving a pep talk or inspirational speech. These four words means that God is speaking through Isaiah. It is God who is reminding them of their people’s exodus…out of the bonds of slavery to be free to worship God and go where God called them to be. God does remind them but also tells them not to dwell in that place “of old,” God says. God is telling them not to dwell on the “what could’ve or might have been.”

            God says, “I am about to do a new thing.” And what might that “New Thing” be? God is saying that God will make a way in the wilderness. Well let’s go back to our song. Remember the guy, after only two days, sees all the dead things, the lack of things, and it is not looking good for this guy riding the horse with no name. BUT, we do know what happens in the Old Story of the Exodus. They were in the wilderness for forty years. They encountered all kinds of things. Soldiers wanting to kill them, no food, and trying to keep each other alive out in the vast wasteland; and they were also trying to hold onto their faith in a God that “said” he would not abandon them, yet they were feeling abandoned.

            This wilderness could have a familiar ring to it. A couple years ago I did a book study on strengthening our faith lives. One of the chapters talked about the existence of wilderness times in our lives. This wilderness time can come to us in many different ways; it can come in the form of wondering if you should switch jobs, am I supposed to be doing something else. It can rise up in the questions of relationships, it can show up in the every day, hum drums, of life. It can show up in our faith life; “is this what God wants for me OR what does God want me to do?” The wilderness times can affect how we hear one another; we hear words but they don’t sink in OR we think we heard something only to find out that was not all that was said. Wilderness times can affect our actions. We might say hurtful things or do things that hurt one another. The bottom line is that this wilderness time in our lives affects so many aspects of our lives and in so many ways that there may be times when we wonder, “how in the world did I get here?”

            That is why I like this second part of the reading of Isaiah. God uses Isaiah to tell us that we are not alone in those wilderness times. God who is powerful and mighty to overcome the wilderness will make a pathway for us.

In the last part of the song:

After nine days, I let the horse run free,
'Cause the desert had turned to sea.
There were plants and birds, and rocks and things,
There was sand and hills and rings.

            Again, the difference from this song to our reading of Isaiah is that God leads the people of Israel. It is God who gives the people Manna, helps them defeat the people who would rather see the people stop this journey to freedom. It is God who sustains them through the wilderness and it is God who brings them to the land of milk and honey. God brings them to the land that God had picked out for them; a land where all the animals bow down, worship, and praise the God of creation. It is also a place where God gives the water of life to God’s chosen people.

            Just as God leads the people through and out of the wilderness, God leads us out of the wilderness. In those times when we struggle, when we feel like we are in those wilderness times God is with us. God is with us through the promise of scripture…the very Word of God in our reading of God making a pathway to the promise of eternal Glory in heaven. We are almost through our Lenten journey. We too have walked for 40 days reflecting on our lives; hearing the son of God inviting us on the journey to the foot of the cross…the place where we can bring all that we are, warts and all, and gather at the foot of the cross.

            It is at the foot of this cross that God brings us to the gift of life. We are coming to that time in our journey where God’s only Son will give his life for all of us…for our sin and brokenness. It is the time where we are made free to see the love of God in its fullness and ALL ITS GLORY. It is where God’s promise of Glory and salvation reaches its most powerful point, because it is at this point where we can see a life full of love, mercy, grace, and compassion; and it is available to all of God’s children. AMEN