WATCHWORD:
10 He replied, “If you only knew what a wonderful gift God has for you, and who I am, you would ask me for some living water!” 11 “But you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this is a very deep well! Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob? How can you offer better water than this which he and his sons and cattle enjoyed?” 13 Jesus replied that people soon became thirsty again after drinking this water. 14 “But the water I give them,” he said, “becomes a perpetual spring within them, watering them forever with eternal life.” 15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me some of that water!” John 4:10-15
Meditation:
Water, Living Water
In the beginning God’s voice thundered over the deep and the water became the essence of life. Living water.
Adam and Eve first viewed the rivers of creation and agreed with the Lord that it was good. Water.
Philip led the Ethiopian official into God’s boundless baptismal life through water from a desert pool. Look here is water! Here is water of life! Water.
At the river, God’s beloved Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit. Common river water became Living Water. Water.
“And Jesus said to Photini at Jacob’s Well, I was waiting here to talk with you. If you knew the gift of God, and who I am that asks you for a drink, you would ask me and I would give you living water.” (The Inn on Jericho Road, a yet to be published manuscript.) Water.
By the baptism of Jesus death and resurrection the floodgates of God’s forgiving love frees us to live as Easter people. Christ, our source of living water. Water.
On Easter Saturday, I was privileged to witness my adult grandson as he went through the sacrament of baptism and membership into the church. He had taken instruction for the past eight months and now he was ready. He stepped into the baptismal font, and as the sacred vows were pronounced, the priest poured three pitchers of water from the font onto his head, signifying Spiritual cleansing. Living Water. Water.
Baptism. Something most of us have in common. I remember hearing: “I don’t’t think I have ever been baptized, but Jesus Christ has been my Lord and savior all my life since I became an adult”. Baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why not? Regardless of what form the sacrament took in your life, it symbolizes not just spiritual cleansing but also the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Do we fully understand the power of baptism? I’ve heard it said that infant baptism doesn’t count because the infant does not understand. The child must wait until after Confirmation to have a “proper baptism”. Congregations have been divided on this issue, but it seems to me, even a newborn child, through baptism, becomes the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. Living Water lives, regardless of age!
Baptism is resurrection into our new life with Christ. This past Sunday, our pastor reminded us that the resurrection story is a love story, a story of refreshment, of rebirth, and is demonstrated all around us. We can recount in the Bible the awful crucifixion of Jesus, followed by His resurrection, Jesus standing among his disciples. And we look outside to our world and we see resurrection everywhere: the budding of the trees, flowers pushing their heads up in a grand array, vast pasture lands greening-up from the browns of winter, time of rebirth of God’s living things. All seeking water that will allow them to live. Water.
To bring this point home, our pastor shared with us a RadioLab podcast entitled Finding Emilie, a Resurrection love story. In short, Emily is declared dead by the doctors. Then with loved ones standing near saying goodbye, she moves her arm, and later, her eyes. As you listen to the story, you realize that her resurrection came through love. Love is the Living Water.
Our Pastor concluded with this statement: “The occurrence of resurrection, born of love, is not as much an extraordinary, supernatural, weirdly singular event, as it is the regular ordinary way the God of love, through Christ, comes into the world.” The most fitting response to Emily’s experience were her first words, post-death: “Oh, you love me? Thank you.”
Living Water? I quote again from my story: The Inn on Jericho Road. “Vividly, Photini remembered asking Jesus: “Where are you getting this water that you say lives. I would like some of it so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water?” He had answered, “We can talk about that.” But they hadn’t. Or had they? Then a second thought completely overwhelmed her. One of the towns people had asked her that same question, and she had immediately responded, “Living Water is the love that God has for us, that we pass on to others. The realization that she knew the truth, without doubt, filled her with joy.”
Resurrection, the foundation of our faith, is Love. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the Living Water of Your Love that you have poured on me, great buckets full, enough for me to share with others. Give me a giving heart, dear Lord, help me to love others as You love me. In Jesus name. Amen.
