May 24 Scripture reading and sermon excerpt
John 7:37-39 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
37 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, 38 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.’” 39 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.
We live in Phoenix. It’s a big city, but we’re living in a desert. People who live here are always thirsty. Many of us carry water bottles everywhere we go. This makes perfect sense because we are living in a desert. Water is important for us.
Speaking of water, Jesus joined his people for a big celebration in Jerusalem. Water was a crucial part of that event.
On the very last day, the great day, with a large throng of people surrounding him, Jesus spoke out loudly. He asked them, Is anyone thirsty? It’s a timely question, since this particular feast recalled their ancestor’s years in the wilderness. In those days, people built temporary shelters and stayed in them, a vivid reminder of the forty years when the nation was on the move without a permanent home. And the daily ceremony of fetching water from the pool of Siloam and processing with it up to the temple called to mind how the Lord provided the people of Israel with water that came out of a rock. Water was a big part of that feast, so it was natural for Jesus to say something about water and thirst.
But his question is disturbing. It comes at the end of the week. People have come from all over. They’ve had a good time. They’ve participated each day as they were supposed to. But at the end of it, Jesus asks them, After all that, are you still thirsty? You’ve gone through all the rituals. You’ve done it all. And now, as you’re about ready to dismantle your shelter and head home, do you find yourself strangely unsatisfied? Are you still thirsty? How could anyone still be thirsty at the end of week-long celebration?
Jesus perceives that underneath the happy atmosphere is a sense that something is missing. Thoughtful people ask, Is this all that there is? After doing all the things that are supposed to fill our spirits to overflowing, we’re still thirsty! We’re spiritually parched. So it is that on that great day of the feast, Jesus asks them, Are you still thirsty?
I wonder if Jesus might ask the same question today. We’ve done it all. We’ve tried everything. We’ve looked everywhere for something to quench our thirst. And yet, we’re still thirsty!
The problem isn’t the things themselves. The problem is that we’re made for so much more than anything in this world. In his autobiography, Confessions, Augustine begins by saying to God, “You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you” (I.1). We’re thirsty for God. Nothing else will do. Spiritual thirst is a good thing because it gets us going in the right direction. When Jesus says, if any one thirst, he is encouraging us to quench our thirst with what we really need.
Jesus issues a bold invitation. If anyone thirst, let that one come to me and drink. He claims to be the one who can satisfy our thirst, not merely the thirst of a few of us here and there, but of anyone. It’s an open invitation for all comers.
So he opens his arms wide, and proceeds to declare that he can deliver what we need. Come to me and drink. You who have been disappointed even when you went through the motions of the biggest celebration of the year, come to me and drink. You who have been searching for your entire life and have come up empty, come to me and drink.
And there’s more. Not only do we quench our own thirst. That alone would be huge. Jesus goes further. You will be like a swiftly flowing river, through which fresh water flows. You will not be a stagnant pond. You will be a channel, a source of refreshing for others too. Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.
Years after Jesus called out to the crowd at that great feast, as John is writing his Gospel, he adds a comment to explain what Jesus was really talking about. He was talking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus was talking about what would happen after he was glorified in his death, resurrection, and ascension. Those who belong to him receive the Holy Spirit. But not in the usual way that we receive things. Quite often, we receive something for our own use, and that’s just the way it is. A direct deposit is made into your bank account, and there it stays. That money doesn’t flow into the accounts of all the other depositors at that bank. No, there isn’t enough to go around. So you hold on tightly to what is yours. That’s the way it is in so many realms of life. But the movement of the Holy Spirit is different. It’s like fresh water that flows swiftly through us. Out of us flow rivers of living water. You don’t say of the Spirit, Mine, mine! All mine! Rather, your life becomes a source of refreshment and blessing to everyone around you. There’s abundance for everyone.
Today is the Day of Pentecost. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in a dramatic way upon the disciples of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of the Spirit was like a mighty wind or tongues of fire. Today, drawing on Jesus’ words, I’m likening the work of the Holy Spirit to fresh water flowing swiftly as a mighty river.
We who live in Phoenix are constantly thirsty. And that’s a good thing because our thirst gets us to drink the water that we need. In spiritual life, it’s good to be thirsty, thirsty for living water. If you find that other things you’ve sampled are like salt water that only increases your thirst, that’s actually a good thing because you’ll then be prompted to look to the true source of living water, Jesus Christ himself. Jesus invites everyone who is thirsty to come to him and drink. When we do that, the promised Holy Spirit refreshes us and flows through us to refresh everyone around us. So take that deep thirst that the things of this world fail to satisfy, and bring it to Jesus. Tell him that you’re thirsty for what he alone can provide, and allow his Spirit to flow through you like rivers of living water.
