Something About Water John 7:37-39 Albertville 5-11-08
Rev. Michael A. Trask There’s something about water isn’t there? We like to be in it. We like to be near it. We like water! I can back up this assertion quite easily: where do you suppose a large chunk of the population of Minnesota is right now! Sitting in boats, fish, on water. And in just a few short weeks, on every Friday all the way through September almost 1/3 of the population of the Twin Cities will clog the northbound highways. Where they going? To the lake of course; to the water. We like water. Not only do we like it, but we also need it. Our bodies are more than half water. We have to drink a lot of water in order to maintain function. And, of course, after a hefty work-out; a long walk; or a hot day in the sun, there is nothing like a huge crystal-clear glass of water, preferably cold. Yeah, we like water. This is an undeniable fact. Did your ears perk up when you read today’s gospel lesson? Mine did. Jesus says “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” This he said this at the feast of tabernacles, the holiday that Israel used to remember the Lord’s provision for Israel in the desert as they travelled to the promised land. During the holiday, a procession of priests with big water containers would go to the pool of Siloam and gather water. Together they would proceed to top of the temple steps. Together they would pour their water down the steps making a great waterfall that all could see and hear. This recalled the time that the children of Israel were thirsty and without water in the deset. The Lord told Moses to strike the rock of Horeb with his staff, and when he did, water came gushing out for all the people and their animals to drink. (Exodus 17) This is the background of the feast that Jesus was attending. When he stood up and said in a loud voice “come to me and drink”, He was telling him that he was like that rock. Paul would later explain it to us in this way: “they all drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” (1Cor. 10:4) But Jesus is not saying that he is a source of water as in H2O. For the text says, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” So you see what he’s doing don’t you? He’s comparing our thirst and our need for water to our thirst and our need for God. It’s very good comparison if you ask me; one of the best. We need water to live; we need God to live. All people, without exception, whether they know it or not, have a profound thirst for God. He designed us to be in fellowship with him and when we are not we notice it. We notice that something is missing; something is not right; something is out of whack in us. “What is it?” We wonder. Could it be a need for love? Someone from the opposite sex to be the perfect life long companion? While this is most certainly good, it’s not what you are really looking for in this instance. Is it money? Respect? Power? Maybe it’s recreation and entertainment. Maybe its a different and better house. People move from one “spring” to the next drinking deeply, each time, hoping beyond hope that they have found what they are truly thirsty for. But no, nothing can truly satisfy the thirst for God in your life except God. And here’s where it gets kind of weird: We need God more than anything and yet it is our nature to run away from him! Our sinful nature is constantly working to evaporate what relationship we might have with him. Our sinful nature says, “we don’t need you god!” Our sinful nature says “We don’t want you God!” Our sinful nature shouts “You bore us God!” Our Sinful nature screams “We’ve better things to do than spend time with you God.” But then as life proceeds with it’s twists and turns, we hopefully realize that none of what our sinful nature says is true. Soon we recognize that we are alone, distant, empty, tired, thirsty. Jesus says “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” He is God’s remedy for hot dusty souls.. He is God’s remedy who earned us forgiveness by dying for us on the cross. To the cross he takes our sinful thoughts and attitudes; in so doing, he bathes us in a cool, refreshing, invigorating shower of forgiveness. We who have denied God with the choices we’ve made in life are restored and brought back into fellowship with him. There is nothing that is more satisfying than having fellowship with and the approval of your creator. Nothing. That’s what Jesus gives. That is the thirst that he quenches. But that’s not the whole story. Jesus goes on to say “Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of water will flow from within him. “ By this he meant the Holy Spirit. So, not only is your thirst quenched, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who brought you to Christ in the first place, such an abundant supply of this water is given that it flows from within in you and also out of you. This is how God has chosen to irrigate this spiritually arid planet: the thirst quenching Gospel of the kingdom would be carried and distributed through the same people who would be saved by it. Each of us are like sprinkler heads. We are part of God’s underground watering system. We are planted all over the world, and we pop up to provide life giving water where water is needed. We are not the source of the water, nor are we even the power behind it. The water itself enables us to bring life to the world. I know, there’s always those feelings of inadequacy.... We wonder how we could possibly have enough water to share. But that’s where were we get into trouble. We sometimes think that we are the source of the water. But let me put that one to rest: We are not the source. Jesus is the source. His life and death and resurrection is where this living water finds its origins. It does not start with you. It is placed within you. It is given to you by faith. As Jesus said “Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within.” If you’ve got faith, you already have all that you need to give a drink of living water to others. You’ve probably already been doing this on some levels and you just don’t realize it. At the workplace when you counsel your coworker or at church when you edify your fellow church member; in the raising of your children; in that conversation you had with your neighbor; anytime you talk about and apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others, you are acting as a sprinkler for this living water. And one thing stands clear, it’s not about you, its about the Lord. It’s always been about the Lord. That was the whole point of Pentecost. Pentecost was not some pep rally that the disciples carefully planned and orchestrated. They didn’t have powerful fans to produce the mighty wind wind. They did not have pyrotechnical effects to put the flames on their heads. They didn’t have to rehearse over and over again what they were going to say. It wasn’t really their doing; it was God’s doing. The Holy Spirit filled them, and flowed outward from them. They weren’t great men either; they were often stumble bums and asked Jesus lots of stupid questions and yet look at the great things they were able to be a part of! Look how God used them on Pentecost! The Bible abounds with examples of ordinary people, people like you and people like me, who are called by God and empowered by his Spirit to do extraordinary things. If you believe in Jesus and have taken the drink of eternal life, you have this same Holy Spirit. But you’ve got to let it flow. You’ve got to get past the “I’ve got mine” theory of spirituality. You’ve got to get past the crippling belief that what you believe is private and not to be discussed!. That’s like having a plugged or misdirected sprinkler head. One of my neighbors had a sprinkler head that would water his driveway. The grass it was supposed to be watering went brown. And the water was wasted. Don’t waste what you’ve been given! Together we have what people need most. We have the Living Water that quenches Spiritual thirst. It’s welling up in abundance. Let’s not be afraid to give it away. AMEN |
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