Tag Archives: Living Water

Living Water

Lent

March 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 4:5-42

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘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.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’—John 4:7-15

When I lived in Colorado back in the 1970’s water was a precious commodity. Colorado is an arid land with limited water. I learned new habits and quickly quit taking water for granted. Israel, too, is an arid land and the well described in the story above was an ancestral gift to a people who valued its presence in their lives. The Samaritan women understood well the value of an abundant, permanent source of water their very lives depended on it. She also understood that this man Jesus was talking about a source of nurture beyond the routine needs of human bodies. Our souls also require nurture.

In Times Like These
By Ruth Caye Jones – Mother Jones

In times like these, we need a Savior
In times like these, we need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock

This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He’s the one
This Rock is Jesus, The only One
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock

Prayer: Lord, we need your nurture now as we deal with deadly viruses and environmental threats. Guild our actions in responds to these challenges while undergirding with your loving nurture.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Sanctuary

Living in the Spirit
November 8, 2018

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 9:24-28

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. –Hebrews 9:24-26a

The Greek word translated here as the noun sanctuary is more literally a holy place which means likeness of nature with the Lord” because “different from the world*.

The noun sanctuary means a consecrated place: one devoted to the keeping of sacred things**. The verb form of sanctuary means to shelter by a sanctuary or sacred privileges**.

Upon reading the English word sanctuary in this scripture, my first thought was of the large room in my church primarily set aside for the worship of God. My next thought was of the curve in the driveway on my family farm where a natural waterfall appeared with most rainstorms when water flowed down a hill across sandstone rocks in the drive, down an embankment, and into our pond. The entire length of the stretched “C” shape drive was lined with locust trees. In the spring when the trees were in full bloom and the little waterfall followed the rain, there was no more holy place on God’s good earth for me as I sat beside it on a slightly raised sandstone rock and pondered the wonder of God’s great creation. It seemed strange to me a few years ago when I sensed the same holiness visiting the coastline of Maine and sat on a rock above crevices of stone jutting out of the water being strenuously washed with beating wave after wave of seawater. The continuous nature of water cleansing the earth as it follows its natural paths or carves out new ones as it adapts to the environment in which it finds itself is always a holy experience.

As I traveled through England and Scotland in the spring, I saw and toured several no longer used crumbling cathedrals. Some were destroyed by war, some of those wars were dubbed holy. At Jesus’ death on the cross, Matthew reports* that the veil of the temple was torn thus the Holy of Holies was opened for all to see. Christ’s resurrection permanently lifted the focus of our faith to a higher plain where Christ’s unconditional love became the stream of living waters to the restoration of the whole world as his realm of love was initiated and is still developing today. Amen.

Prayer: Continuously cleanse our hearts, O God, so that our actions are pure and reflect your love. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/40.htm
**http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/sanctuary
***Matthew 27:51

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

A Cup of Cold Water

Living in the Spirit
July 2, 2017

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’

I jut received an alert on my telephone that Oklahoma City is under an excessive heat warning, one of the first of what might be a long hot summer. Such alerts come when the combined temperature and humidity is expected to reach a level that could prove life threatening if one is in it too long without adequate water. These conditions are especially dangerous for the elderly, who do not feel the heat as much as younger people, and for the homeless who must seek both shelter and water to survive. I suspect the people of Galilee and Judea were well acquainted with the problem in the first century sans air-conditioning and electric fans. Many were dependent on others willing to share life-essential water.

Love, too, is life-essential. Jesus encourages us to share our love in very ordinary ways without question and without judgment. Children absorb everything happening around them. Our attitudes and actions toward them plant seeds of hope or fear or love or lost self-esteem. It does take a village to raise a child.

Prayer: Lord, help us to love each other as you love us and particularly help us be good role models for the children we encounter along the way. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the new Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Reconciliation

Reconcilation 2Living in the Spirit
May 19, 2016

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. –Romans 5:1-2

It was a loud thundering storm that awakened me; it was dealing with how to handle a divisive issue that left me tossing and turning as the rain first came in torrents and then more gently tapping on the roof. I hate situations where decisions must be made that, in the final analysis, identifies someone as right and someone as wrong. Life events are rarely that black and white. I know how Jacob felt when he wrestled with God. He had to be purged of his vanity as well as his guilt. He had stolen his brother’s birthright, ran away to save his own skin, and met his match in a father-in-law who could be just as conniving as Jacob was. Finally besting that same father-in-law, Jacob was ready to go back and face his brother. The real battle was with God resulting in Jacob’s cleansing before reconciliation could occur. As he moved toward his brother not knowing what he would face, his brother met him with open arms. Perhaps Esau had wrestled with God, too.

The peace of God is necessary in our quest for justice for everyone. The peace of God starts first with our cleansing through the living water Jesus brought us, springing from an eternal source that will never go dry. It is the same water that can wash our souls clean while continually hydrating our wholeness. Certainly some cleansing may feel like we have been caught in a ferocious storm. As the storm abates we can experience the gentleness of God’s love like life restoring rain quenches the burnt earth.

In the early hours of the morning, I did finally drift back to sleep. When I awoke the rain had stop and a bird was singing joyously outside my window. A new day had dawned and the peace of God was with me.

Prayer: Lord, as you prepare us for reconciliation with others forgive us for our omissions and commissions that are a part of torn relationships and grant us wisdom that all involved may move forward in your truth together. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.