Sermon: Living Water Text: John 7:37-39

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1 Pastor Chris Matthis Epiphany Lutheran Church, Castle Rock, Colorado The Day of Pentecost, Series A Saturday, June 7 th, 2014 Sunday, June 8 th, 2014 Sermon: Living Water Text: John 7:37-39 Focus: The Holy Spirit quenches our spiritual thirst. Function: That they would be refreshed by Jesus Words about the promised Spirit. Structure: Story-Framed Locus: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith (SC, 3 rd Article of Apostles Creed). Visuals: Large glass of water Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [Take a sip of water.] How long can you live without water? [Take another sip.] Our bodies are mostly made of water, and without it, quite simply, we die. [Sip.] According to scientists, a healthy human being under normal conditions can live only about 3-5 days without water, although shock and coma are likely to set in after 3 days. [Sip.] A child left in a car with the windows rolled up on a hot day could die in a matter of hours or even minutes. [Take a long draught.] Human beings like all living things need water not only to survive but to thrive. Are you thirsty yet? But there is a thirst in each of us that is even deeper than our need for physical water. And that is our thirst for wholeness and connection with God and other people. We are created for communion with God and community with each other. The Bible says that God has placed eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11), a deep spiritual thirst. And that thirst can only be satisfied by the Holy Spirit sent by the Father in Jesus name. But our sin gets in the way of those relationships, separating us from God and isolating us from each other. Sin wants us to be empty, alone, and spiritually dried up. There is nothing more unholy than the loneliness of sin.

2 Matthis 2 Which is why at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood up and declared, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38, ESV). 1 Jesus statement sounds rather strange on first hearing. Quite frankly, Jesus said a lot of strange things, but all of them are true. And he always said them for a very specific reason, often for a particular place and time. Jesus spoke these words at the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths, depending on your Bible s translation (John 7:2). The Jews called it Sukkot, from the Hebrew word sukkah, which means booth, tabernacle, or tent. The Feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day harvest festival celebrating the Lord s blessings and provision of food and water. For an entire week, the people of Israel would sleep in tents (or booths ) as a reminder of the 40 years of their wilderness wanderings during the Exodus, when they camped in tents. Each day in the wilderness was a test and spiritual journey. The people lived by God s hand alone, drinking water from the rock and eating the bread from heaven known as manna. For nearly 1,400 years, the Israelites celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles as a reminder of God s goodness in giving them everything they needed. By the time of Jesus, several traditions had developed around this special religious festival. One of them was a daily water-pouring ritual. Early on each morning of the week-long Tabernacles celebration, the priest would fill a golden cup with water from the Pool of Siloam. Then he would lead the crowds of worshipers in procession to the Temple, where he would pour out the water beside the altar and pray for rain. So it was in this context of the water-pouring ceremony that Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. While the people of God prayed for rain and 1 All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.

3 Matthis 3 poured water on the altar in the Temple, Jesus asserted that he alone could give them living water. He alone could satisfy their ultimate thirst. We all thirst. Even if it s not literal water, we still thirst. And we try to quench our thirst by all kinds of people and things that we think we will satisfy us: money, sex, power, popularity, fame, recognition, entertainment. But they don t satisfy. Even after we obtain them, we are still thirsty. We re left high and dry, empty, disappointed, and dissatisfied. I am reminded of the Samaritan woman by the well in John 4. At noon on a hot, dusty day, she went to draw water from the well at an hour when she hoped she wouldn t run into anyone. But she did run into somebody: Jesus, who stunned her by asking for a drink. A Samaritan woman, she was stunned that Jesus, a Jewish man, would ask her for a drink. To which Jesus replied, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water (John 4:10). Living water in the ancient world meant flowing water not water from a well or cistern, but fresh, clean water from a rushing river or babbling brook. How in the world could Jesus give her living water? So the woman snickered and told Jesus that the well was deep, and he had nothing to draw water with. To which Jesus explained, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14). Now here was a startling image: living water springing up out of a well?! Whoever heard of such a thing? These were the days before water faucets were ubiquitous in every kitchen and bathroom, before waterslides and car washes and fountains in public parks even before hand-

4 Matthis 4 operated water pumps like the one you had on the farm growing up in Kansas and Nebraska. Water was scarce. You had to dig a well and scoop water with a bucket. The kind of water Jesus promised was miraculous and wonderful too good to pass up! Sir, the woman eagerly replied, give me this water (John 4:15). And he did! Jesus brought the poor, rejected woman to faith. A complete stranger, he told her everything she ever did (John 4:39). And then he showed her that he was the Christ (John 4:25-26). He became her salvation. Like the woman by the well, we also thirst for wholeness, healing, forgiveness, hope, and grace. And Jesus freely offers living water to everyone who thirsts. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38). Isaiah 55: Jesus declaration at the Feast of Tabernacles reminds me of God s invitation to Israel in Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1-2). God invites his people to come and drink deep of water, wine, and milk without money or price. God s gifts are free! You cannot win or work for his favor. You cannot buy it. God s blessings and favor are freely given and freely received by faith in Christ. In Isaiah 55, the Lord bids us, Come to the waters! In John 7, Jesus bids us, Come to me! And when we come to Jesus, he will give us grace and every blessing. He gives us the Holy Spirit to believe in his name and receive his gifts. Whoever believes in me, Jesus says, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). There

5 Matthis 5 is a wonderful transformation that takes place in this passage. Thirsty people to come to Jesus to be filled by his grace and Spirit. But then those Spirit-filled people, who before were thirsty, now become a source of blessing and life to the people around them! As the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). Remarkably, there is not a single verse in the Old Testament that Jesus directly quotes here. When he quotes Scripture here, he is making a summary statement of many wonderful, watery teachings from the Old Testament. Besides Isaiah 55 (which I read earlier), here are a few more: Psalm 42:1: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Isaiah 12:3: With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 58:11: And you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. In Ezekiel 47, the prophet describes a river flowing out of the Temple (v. 1), and wherever the river flows, it brings life (vv. 8-9). These are just a few of many Old Testament Scriptures that use water imagery to speak of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. And when Jesus draws from the well if this rich imagery in John 7, he s talking about the Holy Spirit, whom had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39). But on the cross, Jesus Christ died for our sins. On the cross, he was glorified because the sinless Son of God died for unholy, empty, thirsty sinners like you and me. He was lifted up in order to draw all people unto [himself] (John 3:14; 12:32). Jesus came to call sinners to repentance, to give life to dying, thirsty people people like you and me. And so his invitation goes out: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). And now even Jesus Church takes up the call. In the last chapter of Revelation, John writes, The Spirit and the Bride

6 Matthis 6 say, Come The Bride is the Bride of Christ: the Holy Christian Church. So the Spirit and the [Church] say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (Rev. 22:17). Are you thirsty? Then come to Jesus, and he will give you living water! In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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