Bring the Living Water

John 4:7

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

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Somebody bring me some water
Can't you see I'm burning alive

"Bring Me Some Water" by Melissa Etheridge

Burning thirst, we all know it, the woman at the well knows it better than most though.

She went to the well at noon. Anyone who went to the well to get water knew to go in the morning and in the evening. The air was cooler and so was the water. The only reason not to go then was if you wanted to avoid everyone. This woman wanted to avoid everyone.

She had had five husbands, and the man she now lived with was not her husband. Scripture doesn't say what happened to the other five. Was she abandoned? Was she divorced? Was she a widow? Was it a combination of the three? Anyway you slice it, she was seen by the other women as unseemly and as a rival for their husbands and sons. Today we would say she was bullied. Because of their bullying, she decided she'd rather get her water at the worst time of day rather than see the other women.

One fine day, Jesus was at the well when she arrived. He was burning alive in the midday sun and asked her for water. Now this just didn't happen. Across time and space, society collectively gasped when this happened. She knew any conversation between them was dicey for the both of them and asked how he could ask her for water.

This is when Jesus tells the world about the living water, the water that will become a spring of water gushing up with eternal life in all the people. She wants to know how to get some of that, who doesn't? So he tells her.

He tells her that the time is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, just like the Father wants. This is when the woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming and when he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” So Jesus said to her, “I am he.”

Jesus tells her not just that he is the living water but that he is the Messiah she awaits. He says so using the holiest phrase in the Old Testament, "I AM."

It's time to think of this as a call to evangelism, to share the Word of God with those we love and those we revile. We are all burning alive, and the only thing that will satisfy the thirst is the living water of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Great I AM.

It's time to hear the world cry out "somebody bring me some water, somebody give me a drink" and bring the only water that satisfies. We need to bring the living water of Jesus Christ.

Thirst

John 19:28-29

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.

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Let me die like a man
No one understands
Let me pray that a poor man`s brave

Smacked that horse in the ass
With my last dying gasp
My brother could hear me say

"Gimme Some Water" by Eddie Money

The story of a dying man who wants nothing more than water; cool, cool water. A man and his brother need money to pay for their dad's medical care. The elder brother gets in a card game to get money; probably a crooked game, maybe he's just got a lousy poker face. He shoots a man on the Mexican border. Years later, little brother catches up and rides with him. They will meet the same fate, a long white rope and a hangman's tree; after all, the sheriff always gets his man.

Trying to get what they need for their father's life, they die together on a tree.

Jesus was looking to save a life too, in exchange he gave his own.

It's not uncommon to feel thirst before death. I don't know why, but I'm told it's true. It's true for hanging men in a desert and it's true for a crucified man on Golgotha. Thirst, it's a fully human response to the final situation. It's a biological response, not a spiritual one.

In Jesus, there is not strictly biological response, their must be a spiritual one that accompanies. Jesus thirsts because his body is responding to his pending death. Jesus is thirsty. Jesus is so fully human that his body is thirsty. There's no "super-human" thing going on here, he's fully human and very thirsty.

The good news is for us in our thirst, Jesus provides the living water that never goes dry. Yes, our bodies will thirst, but our lives don't need to be parched.

The Sound of Thunder in a Hard Rain

Thanks to Vicke Bailey for the song suggestion.


John 12:28-30
“Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.”

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And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" by Bob Dylan

"I heard the sound of thunder, it roared out a warnin'." It's funny how people hear things. Some hear the roar of a wave that can drown the world. Others hear drummers while others hear whispers. Some starve while others laugh. Some hear poets and others clowns while some say it sounds like thunder, others say it sounds like the voice of an angel.

It isn't the message that changes, it's how people hear it; if they hear it at all. The voice from heaven says I have glorified my name and will do it again. The people heard the voice, but some heard thunder and others the voice of the angel.

This is when Jesus tells the people this voice has come for their sake, not his. The Lord Jesus has a relationship with his Father. They have an outstanding relationship that while they are separate persons, they share the same essence. They are both fully divine. So Jesus does not need to hear the Father's reassuring words. He hears them constantly in every fiber in his being. The voice wasn't for him, it was for us.

The Lord God tells all with ears to hear that he will glorify his name, he will glorify himself again and again. He will glorify his name constantly without ceasing. This is to reassure us. We live in a hectic, dangerous world, not so different from 2,000 years ago, and God will glorify his name. We can rest assured God will do as he says and glorify his name.

Funny though, some hear it as thunder and others as the voice of an angel. That's the difference, how are we going to hear it. A hard rain's a-gonna fall, Bob Dylan says so. How are we going to handle it when it comes. Will we hear the roar of a wave, a hundred drummers, or a thousand whispers? Will we be there for the one person starving or with the people laughing? Will we hear thunder or angels? The voice is there. The decision is ours.

War and What Follows

Matthew 24:4-8 (NRSV)

Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

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Someone told me love would all save us
But how can that be, look what love gave us
A world full of killing, and blood-spilling
that world never came

And they say that a hero can save us
I’m not gonna stand here and wait
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles
Watch as we all fly away, Hi-ii-igh!

"Hero" performed by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott from the "Spiderman" soundtrack and released on Nickleback's "Silver Side Up" (2001)

"A hard rain's gonna fall." Who talks like that anyway? I heard that expression somewhere in my youth. I took it to mean that the day will come when all that we know and do, especially the wicked, will be swept away like the flood. "A hard rain's gonna fall." You better believe it!

There will be wars, and rumors of wars. This comes from scripture, and I know there are statistics somewhere that tell us how many armed conflicts are being fought everyday. I wonder when the last day was that there was no declared war anywhere on earth. I'm not even counting random violence, I mean good old fashioned wars and rumors of wars.

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places." I can think of fewer things that sound appealing to me. Now not only will there be nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom--not only will the political strife get nasty--so will hunger and natural disasters. Sure, much hunger in this world is caused directly or indirectly by political strife, but natural disasters are a completely different ballgame.

So this must take place, but it's only the beginning. It's birth pangs as when labor has just begun, not contractions at three-minutes apart. This is the beginning, not the end. But as with birth pangs, something new will come from the pain and sorrow, new life.

The world is killed with killing and blood spilling and we need a hero. Fortunately, the world has a hero. Our Lord comes not as a king who will subdue his enemies by his might, but as a babe born in a stable. He comes as a man who dies as a criminal nailed to the cross.

He is the hero who can save us. The song talks about not waiting for someone to come. The song talks about taking charge and taking hold of the wings of eagles and soar beyond this world. So to must we, we must be careful of the wings we take though. Let us hold to the Lord. By His life and death and resurrection we can soar like on wings of eagles.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Matthew 6:28-30

And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?

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Top coat, Top hat,
And I don't worry cause my wallets fat.
Black shades, white gloves,
lookin' sharp, lookin' for love.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
cause every girl is crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

"Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top

Ah, the story of "Dressed for Success" is one that we can all appreciate. I have heard that you should never dress for your current joy, you should dress for your next job. I have heard that there's nothing like a fifty dollar shine on a ten dollar pair of boots. I have heard it said that pastors should always dress well to project an air of professionalism because successful professionals only want to associate with other successful professionals. I have heard that you should always wear a belt, carry a handkerchief, and have a dime on you so you can make a call if you need to.

Then again, that last bit came from the late 70's when there were pay phones and calls were just a dime. Sometimes the best advice falls out of favor, it just doesn't matter any more.

I have also been told that the Lord our God was crucified atop a garbage heap wearing only a covering for his loins. What does our God consider "dressing for success?"

Jesus tells us that God loves all creation. It can be seen in a field of wildflowers. Such tableau of color, such a variety of texture, such a glorious aroma comes from the love the Creator has for creation. If this is what God does with dirt and sun and water, imagine how God dresses us?

What we wear everyday? That's the emperor's new clothes; God dresses us in love. We are created to be in a loving relationship with God. God's love overflowed so bountifully and so graciously that we were created to share that love.

Yes, there are times when we feel like we have been strapped to the tree of woe wearing nothing but a loin cloth and three nails. We feel like we have been forsaken by God. Yet, even in all of this, our promise is in redemption. Our promise is that there are people who are sent to shine the light of Christ. Our promise is that it is there. Our promise is that even in our faithlessness God has faith in us.

Even in the darkness, that's worth having faith in. Believe me, I know.

Standing in the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:26-28

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

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You don't care for me
I don't care about that
You gotta new fool, ha!
I'd like to laugh at

I have only one itchin' desire
Let me stand next to your fire.

"Fire" by Jimi Hendrix

Let's start with this, Nebuchadnezzar did not dislike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Shoot, among the Jewish exiles brought to Babylon they were among the King's favorites. The only exile mentioned more in the book of Daniel was Daniel. But still, he's a king and a pagan king at that, so he had his own god and built a statue of the god and decided that everyone had to bow before the statue. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego just couldn't do that and this is where it all began.

Nebuchadnezzar didn't dislike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but what king can take sass from his slaves?

So the furnace was lit and was set to burn seven times hotter than normal. It burned so hot, the men who took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the fire were burned to death putting them into it. But there was not a singe mark nor even the smell of fire on the three when they came out of the furnace. What was odd was that while only three went into the fire, and only three came out, scripture tells us that there were four in the fire.

Nebuchadnezzar knew when he was licked and demanded anyone who blasphemed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be torn limb from limb. Nasty. Back to that sass thing, the King knew he couldn't sass the Lord.

The joy is that the power of the Lord is so wonderful that it protects the disciples. In the fires of this age and every age, God protects. Against the kings of this age, against those who worship other gods (and yes, there are many who still worship other gods like money, power, fame, and prestige) our God protects us. It doesn't mean we won't ever be thrown into the fire, but it does say that God is with us when we are.

We have all faced some hot, hot fires in this age; but still, when we are assembled, even in the fiery furnace, God is there with us.