There are signs along the trails in Grand Canyon National Park that read, "Stop! Drink water. You are thirsty, whether you realize it or not." Unlike here where we can feel the sweat rolling down our back and know that we are losing our hydration, the arid landscape and low humidity in the park suck the moisture out of your body without that sticky feeling. So to avoid dehydration the park service placed these signs along the trails.

In the milder weather we experience, it can be hard to imagine that someone could be thirsty without even realizing it. But maybe you’ve experienced thirst. Many times, I have gotten a cool glass of water thinking that I would just take a sip and the next thing I know, I’m gulping down the whole glass and going back to the faucet for more. In the winter, the dry heat of a woodstove can quickly suck the moisture out of the air. I can remember my aunt always had a pot of water on the top of the woodstove to help put some moisture back in the air.

When sports teams are practicing, coaches and assistants have to ensure that the players are drinking enough fluids. This is particularly important with younger children who many times can get dehydrated without noticing. Doctors say that by the time you feel thirsty, it’s too late, you’re already dehydrated.

Isaiah uses the image of water as a symbol of deliverance for the people. With imagery echoing back to the escape from Egypt, he talks of the water parting to make a path for the people and then closing in to block the way for the Egyptians. Then, God promises to do a new thing and the image of water comes up again but this time not as a pathway of escape. The water this time is a river in a desert – drink in an arid land – survival in the wilderness. It’s almost as though Isaiah is saying to the people, "Stop! Drink the water God provides. You are thirsty, even if you don’t know it."

But what is this "new thing" God is promising to do? Isaiah speaks God’s words saying, "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" In a passage rich with imagery of the past works of God for the people, why in the world would God want the people to forget the "former things"?

The internet has been buzzing with stories of a television program that debuted last fall. "Hoarders" is a disturbing program that takes a look at the lives and living situations of people who hang on to too much stuff. They bring in organizational experts and psychologists to get to the root of the problem. I admit that I haven’t watched the program but have heard multiple stories about the disturbing looks into the featured people’s lives. The people featured on the program have houses or apartments that are so full of accumulated stuff they are unable to use their kitchens or be comfortable in their own home.

But this phenomenon of hoarding stuff is not a new thing. The Collyer brothers lived in New York City in the early 1900’s. They lived in a three-story brownstone in Harlem and they collected stuff. You name it, they collected it: from newspapers to parts of Model T Fords, from sewing machines to dressmaker’s dummies. It was all stacked high in their home. They simply left pathways and tunnels through the stuff so they could pass through the various rooms as they added to their accumulation.

The true magnitude of their hoarding was exposed when police were called about a bad smell. After removing over 130 tons of stuff from their home, the bodies of the two brothers were found. They had been buried under collapsed piles of their collected stuff.

It can be easy to look at these examples and see how things have gotten out of control. We can look upon these people and make our own judgments about their mental state or their problems. After all, they are holding on to their past so hard that they are unable to live fully in the present or even dream about a future. But before we get all high and mighty looking disparagingly at these people, let’s ask ourselves why looking into these people’s situations is popular. There have been at least two novels, including a recent one by E. L. Doctorow, have been written about the Collyer brothers. Why do we have such a fascination with glimpses into people’s lives – these people who are so caught up in the stuff of the past that they are unable to look forward to the future?

When Isaiah was prophesying, the people had spent many years in Babylon exiled from their homes in Jerusalem. Now, through the defeat of their Babylonian captors, they had been given the freedom to return home to Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Cyrus’ defeat of the Babylonians was seen as God at work to free the Israelites to return home.

So God was doing a new thing. The Israelites were faced with the opportunity to return home and rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. This must have been exciting and scary at the same time. But there’s still that bit about "not remembering the former things." It seems as though the Israelites are turning over a new leaf. They aren’t to dwell on the ways they have failed in the past, nor are they to repeat these failures. Instead they are to once again trust in God as they walk into this new future.

God is not God only of the past but God of the present and God of the future. Jesus himself said, "God is not God of the dead but God of the living." God is at work in our present and in our future.

It is joked that the seven last words of the church are, "We’ve never done it that way before." There is a difference between honoring our past, remembering God’s gracious work to get us to where we are, and clinging to the past so hard that we are unable to perceive God at work in our present or hope for God to work in our future.

Do we stock our closets so full of the stuff of the past that we are unable to make room for the future? Do we have to walk carefully through the stacks of our stuff worrying that at any moment they might tumble down and squash us? Living surrounded only by the clutter of the past can kill us. Walking the pathways through the past can keep us so tuned to the past that we are unable to perceive the new thing God is doing in our present.

I know I’m treading dangerous ground here, but if we are not willing to risk for the freedom-giving work of God, then we will be relegated to walking the pathways of the past with stuff piled so high we are unable to see God’s new thing dawning around us.

This is an area rich with history and New Concord is a church that has been a presence in this community for 175 years. God isn’t calling us to forget about the many saints of this church who have come before us and helped lay the foundation on which we stand. But God is calling us to keep our eyes open for what God is doing here and now.

It would truly be a blessing from God if this church were to continue in ministry here for another 175 years. That would be wonderful. But it would only be wonderful if we continue to keep looking for what new thing God is doing in our midst.

It was a risk for the Israelites who had been in Babylon during the exile to return home. They had a long journey in front of them and even when they returned home they didn’t know if they would be welcomed there. Some of those who had stayed in Jerusalem during the exile didn’t want the returning exiles to come back. There was resistance on both sides about what God was calling them to do. They had different perceptions of the new thing God was doing, but neither group could deny that God was indeed doing a new thing.

We have been journeying through the season of Lent for the past 5 weeks. Through this journey, we have examined ways that we can reconnect with God. As God was calling the Israelites to do, so God is calling us to do a spring cleaning of our souls. Maybe it’s time to bring the family Bible off the shelf, dust it off, and read God’s word at home. Maybe we need to get rid of the negativity that may surround you. Maybe now is the time that we get away from those things that pull us apart from God.

Maybe now, this season of Lent, is when we can perceive God’s new thing in our midst. Because God is about to do a new thing. In two weeks time, we will gather to celebrate the message given to the women at the tomb, "Christ has been raised."

God did a new thing in Christ’s resurrection, his followers just needed to open their eyes to perceive it. Perhaps this Easter, we will see God’s new thing in us. Through our journey during this season of Lent we have been preparing ourselves for God’s new thing in our life. So, with God’s help, may we forget the clutter of the former things that draw us away from God and open our eyes to see the new thing God is doing in our midst.

May we feel Christ’s resurrection within us as living water in a parched landscape. This week, "Stop! Drink of the living water. You are thirsty, whether you realize it or not."