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02.24.08

3rd Sunday in Lent

WHAT ARE YOU THIRSTY FOR?

EXODUS 17:1-7; JOHN 4:5-29

Water For Life

A Gift We Take For Granted

You stumble out of bed in the morning and head to the kitchen

You turn on the water at the kitchen sink and pick up the coffee pot to fill it so you can have your first cup of coffee for the day
You can’t do anything else until you get that first dose of caffeine flowing through your system
From there, you head to the bathroom, reach for the faucet in the bathtub, adjust the water to a comfortable temperature, and step in to enjoy your morning shower

Through the course of the day, you return to that source of fresh, clean running water many times—to get a cool, refreshing drink to quench your thirst, to wash your hands when they’re dirty, to fill a pot with water to cook food on the stove

You may fill a bucket with water to scrub the floors or wash the windows
You may fill the washer to do a load of laundry, or hook up the hose outside to wash the car or water the flower garden
And you do all of that without much thinking
With the turn of a faucet, the water we need will be there
Fresh, clean running water is one of the many comforts and conveniences we enjoy—and often take for granted

Water Crisis

But what if one day you went to the faucet and turned it on, and there was no water?

That means there would be no morning coffee, no hot shower to enjoy, no water for cooking or cleaning or doing laundry, no cool, refreshing drink to quench your thirst
It’s hard for us to imagine, but it’s possible
How would we survive if that plentiful supply of fresh, clean running water is suddenly no longer available?

There are many in this world who live with the reality that they have no plentiful supply of fresh, clean running water

What water they have they must carry from polluted rivers or dirty cisterns
That water is unsafe to drink, yet they drink it anyway because there’s nothing else to drink
Disease runs rampant because the water is unsafe and there’s not enough of it for proper hygiene
Oh, what they would give to have fresh, clean water to drink

In 2003, the United Nations Water Programme released a report entitled “Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World”

According to that report, the entire world is on the verge of a water crisis
Within 50 years, more than half of humanity will be living with water shortages
Tens of millions of people don’t have access to safe water today—that’s about 400 million people
By the year 2050, that number will climb to about 4 billion people, and 90% of the severe water problems are in developing nations
Water shortages and pollution cause widespread public health problems, limit economic and agricultural development, and put global food supplies in jeopardy
According to the report, we are at the threshold of a water crisis with global implications

Living Water

Water—the Source of Life and Blessing

Water is absolutely essential to sustain life on this planet

Without it, vegetation will not grow, and without vegetation, not only is there not a supply of food to sustain life, the plentiful supply of oxygen is depleted since vegetation burns carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen in return
The human body is comprised of about 90% water, and unless that is replenished, unless we keep ourselves hydrated, the blood stops flowing, the organs cease to function, and we die

Is it any wonder, then, that the Bible so often associates water with the blessings of God?

As water is an essential for life, so is a relationship with the God who provides us, not only with water, but with everything that’s essential for life as well
One of the glorious promises of the coming kingdom of God contained in the book of Revelation is this: “To the thirsty, I will give water without price from the fountain of the water of life.” (21:6), and it is the Lamb who will lead the faithful to the springs of living water (7:17)
The Psalmist spoke of his soul being thirsty for the living God (42:1)
God’s promise through Isaiah to a people lost in exile was “I will pour water on the thirsty land.” (44:3) and Isaiah summons the people of God to come to the waters and drink freely (55:1)
It was the waters of the flood that cleansed the world of sin and refreshed it with new life in the time of Noah, and it is the waters of baptism that cleanses and renews us today
And to the woman at the well, Jesus offered himself as the living water that wells up to eternal life

Satisfies More Than Thirst

It was obvious to Jesus that this woman he met at the well was thirsty for more than water

There were needs in her life that were deeper than what water alone could satisfy
That she came to the well at noon was one of the signs that she was a woman in need
The time to draw water was in the morning and in the evening, during the cooler parts of the day
Yet, this woman came at noon—an indication to Jesus that she had needs deeper than thirst

That she came to the well alone was another sign that she was thirsty for more than water

The women of the village typically came together—it was a time of friendship and fellowship
Because she came alone, Jesus knew she had no friends
That she came to this well on the outskirts of town was a sign to Jesus that she was an outcast
There would have been a well within the village from which she could draw water, but obviously she wasn’t welcome there

This woman was indeed thirsty for more than water

She was thirsty for love, which she obviously couldn’t find from either of her five husbands or the man she was currently living with
She was thirsty for acceptance, which she couldn’t find among her neighbors because of her reputation
She was thirsty for forgiveness—she needed to find forgiveness because the guilt of her past was crippling, and she needed to learn to forgive herself
Jesus offered her the forgiveness of God, which helped her to forgive herself
And the love, the acceptance, the forgiveness she found in Jesus empowered her to go and confess to her neighbors, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did,” and seek their forgiveness as well
At her invitation they did come, they met Jesus, and they were enabled to forgive

As this conversation began, this woman didn’t understand what Jesus could do for her because she didn’t understand or refused to accept that she was in need

Yet, Jesus patiently led her to examine herself
Little by little, he revealed to her who she was and who he was
On that day, at that moment, she found what she needed—the longings of her soul were satisfied
After this event, we never see her again, but we can safely assume that her life was different—better, somehow—from that point on

Water From the Rock

On their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Israelites faced a water crisis of their own

They were camped at Rephidim where there was no water
It was a crisis so significant that a rebellion was brewing
Demanding that Moses give them water, Moses was afraid for his life
And once again, as they had on other occasions, the Israelites expressed the desire to return to Egypt

But water wasn’t really the issue here

Sure, they were thirsty from their journey in the wilderness and they needed something to drink, but their need was for more than just water
They needed the assurance that God was with them, and they needed to learn to put their faith and trust in God
Earlier in their journey, they grumbled about food, so God provided manna and quail
Earlier still, God rescued them by parting the waters of the Red Sea, providing an escape route for them from the armies of Pharaoh

If God could hold back the waters of the sea so they could cross safely, and if God could provide manna and quail to satisfy their hunger, surely providing water for their thirst was not a task too great for God

Yet, they could not bring themselves to believe
They could not bring themselves to trust
Their question, “Is the Lord with us or not?” was a sign that they thirsted for more than water

To calm their fears and strengthen their faith, God provides yet another sign of God’s presence among them

At God’s instruction, Moses struck a rock with his rod, the same rod he used to part the waters of the Red Sea, and water flowed from that rock to satisfy their thirst., and to prove to them that they could trust God
Centuries later, the apostle Paul equates that rock with Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:4)
Jesus is the rock from which the living waters flow
Jesus is the one who can satisfy whatever it is we’re thirsting for
Jesus has the power to sustain life because he is the source of life
Without him, we wither and die

Satisfying our Spiritual Thirst

What are you thirsty for?

What is it that you desire more than anything else?
Behind and beneath all of our desires there is a deeper need and desire that needs to be satisfied
Yet, we may never know what that is until we can search the depths of our soul
As refreshing as water is for the body, so is God’s love and grace for the soul
Soul and body are a unit in this life, so we can’t satisfy one and neglect the other
The desires of the body are a reflection of the deeper needs of the soul

Jesus comes to us in our dryness

Jesus meets us at the well
He invites us to drink deeply from the water that truly gives life—water that only he can supply
As we gaze into the well with Jesus, he shows us a reflection of ourselves—not only a reflection of who we are, but also a reflection of who we can become
And as we drink the water he offers, we discover what it truly means to live