15 May 2005

Living Waters

John 7:37-39

Evelyn Weston writes, One Sunday after church, a mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about that morning. The daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your quilt." Needless to say, the Mom was quite perplexed.

Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the Mom asked him about the morning's Sunday school lesson. He said "Be not afraid, thy Comforter is coming."

I don't know about you, but I have the feeling that the 'very young daughter' did not follow the Sunday morning class very closely that day.

Although quilt and comforter can mean the same thing, when it comes to the Bible, it is clear that the comforter refers to the Holy Spirit. A couple of Sundays ago I preached a sermon entitled "I will not leave you orphaned." Jesus told his disciples that they will not be left as orphans, that the Comforter, the Spirit of God, will soon come and be with them.

Then again, picturing the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, as a quilt, that can wrap us tight, keep us warm and safe from the elements, might not be a bad image. I believe one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to help us feel and understand the love of God toward us. We should feel safe knowing that the Holy Spirit is around us and within us.

Yet, there are other roles that the Holy Spirit plays. The passage we have read this morning gives us some clues. However, the passage itself is not easy to understand or interpret. Let me read to you the verses again. They read, "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there he cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

First, let me say a few things about the festival or "the great day". From the context of the scriptures, we know that the festival referred to in the text is one of Israel's three annual festivals, commonly known as Tabernacles. According to history, during these seven days the people were to live in booths and to do daily rituals using water. This festival was to recall Israel's wilderness pilgrimage and was a call to a renewal of the covenant.

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible says that "the water libation ceremony was the first common rite for each day of the feast. On the morning of the first day a procession of priests led down to the Pool of Siloam to bring up a container of water, which was to suffice for the seven days. At the end of the seven days, again the priest would perform a ceremony before the people. It was on the last day of this festival that Jesus said to the crowds, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.'"

One can read into Jesus words a call to question their festival, their beliefs and their actions. By the end of the seven days, many people would have run out of water. Many people would have been thirsty. Jesus, perhaps, used this time to reveal himself to his people. In fact, this is what the Gospel writer suggests happened. Jesus was just simply 'standing there', at the end of the festival. Then, out of the blue, he begins to cry out. Those who were thirsty would have been more than ready to hear about drinking water.

Was Jesus holding real water for them? Was he offering real drinking water to those who were thirsty? It is possible. It is possible that he gave them real drinking water. Perhaps as the people came to drink the water, he began to talk to them and teach them. He said to them, "as scripture has said, 'Out of the believer 's heart, shall flow rivers of living waters '."

Again, one can not help but make a strong connection with the water rituals that the people performed during the feast of Tabernacles and what Jesus was saying. At the end of all their rituals, they were left thirsty. On the other hand, by coming to Jesus, people not only would stop being thirsty, but in fact they would have so much water that out of their hearts rivers of living waters would flow.

Now, I would also like say a few words about the scriptures Jesus quoted, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living waters." We can not find any scripture passage in the Old Testament that reads quite the same. There are some that are very close, though. For example, in Proverbs 18:4 we read, "The words of the mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a gushing stream." However, the passage is more about understanding wisdom, rather than about the Holy Spirit.

In Isaiah 58:11 we read, "The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail." This passage is much better, but it seems to refer more about becoming physically stronger and more spiritually mature, than about receiving the Holy Spirit. Within the context of Isaiah 58 we have God's promise to rebuild his people so that they can truly worship Him and truly do what is right and just before Him.

Isaiah 44:3 reads, "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring." This passage, although it does not speak about the believers becoming rivers of living waters, it does talk about the pouring of God's Spirit.

Could Jesus be quoting an unknown passage of the Bible? It is possible. However, it is more likely that Jesus simply made some biblical interpretation and combined a few passages together from Isaiah, perhaps the two passages I have quoted you. And, because there is no evidence that the religious leaders who were with him challenged his biblical interpretation, it is possible that this interpretation was respected and well known. At least the crowds agreed with him. Verse 40 reads, "When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, 'This is really the prophet.' Others said, 'This is the Messiah '."

However, given what we know about this passage and the Holy Spirit from the rest of the Bible, what can we learn from Jesus' words?

As I said before, I believe that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to help us feel and understand the love of God toward us. We should feel safe knowing that the Holy Spirit is around us and within us. The Holy Spirit is here to let us know we are not alone, we are not orphans.

Yet, I also believe that the Holy Spirit is here to help us do the will of God. Pastor Brian Stoffregen, writes, 'Neither living water nor wind are stale. Shouldn't the same be true of Spirit-filled believers and congregations? Both living water and wind (Spirit) are images of power. I think that's what Pentecost is all about. We, the followers of Jesus, have been empowered by God to carry on Jesus' witness and ministry in the world.'

You know? It is true! Rivers of living waters are life-giving. Rivers of living waters are not stagnant where deadly bacteria can grow. And, it is a wonderful image to have of a Spirit-filled believer. Imagine what can happen if each us would see ourselves as people who can provide fresh, life-giving water to others. Imagine what can happen if we, who have the Spirit of God, decide to more intentionally reach out to our surrounding area. Imagine what can happen if out of us "rivers of living water" would flow.

It is also true that water, especially river water, is life-giving and we all need it to live. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them springs of water gushing up to eternal life." In Jesus ' days, water was a matter of life and death in the desert. Again, Pastor Brian Stoffregen writes, "Thus running water was a powerful symbol for life. By implication, Jesus is necessary for life. Then we need to ask, what does it mean to be thirsty? What does it mean to be without Jesus-as-life?"

And, if we believe Jesus combined biblical passages from Isaiah to come-up with a phrase that would summarize this idea, then we would agree that to have the Holy Spirit in us would help us do what is just and right before our God.

I said last week that the more I think about Houston Mennonite Church's proposed vision statement, the more I like it. "Being Transformed by God to transform the world" is sound theology. As the Holy Spirit comes to us, helps us overcome our own difficulties, as it helps us feel loved and embraced by God, then that very same Holy Spirit empowers us to bring this same hope to others. As we become filled by God's Spirit, we become empowered to be life-givers to the world, a world that is thirsty and desperately in need of living water.

Therefore, let us see Jesus as living water that is vital to our own survival. Just like water is vital to the survival of all living things, Jesus is vital to the survival of all human beings.

Let us also see Jesus as the giver of living waters that will empower us to be life-givers. Let us see the Holy Spirit not only as our Comforter who will assure us of God's love, but also as live-giving power within us -power to give life and hope to those in need.