If I remember, I am going to post my sermons from now on. I have been preaching from the Lectionary for Lent and it has been going so well I may continue to do so. Anyway, here is the first sermon I can share with you, from March 26:
“Refreshment On the Journey” (Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-26)
March 27, 2011 (Second Sunday in Lent)
Rev. John B. Erthein, Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church
I think everyone here has been a journeys of various kinds, including a long distance journey. What is that like? Well, that is especially present in my mind because my family and I were on a long journey recently. After many hours of driving, you find you need a certain amount of refreshment. It may be just to get out of your car and stretch your legs for a few minutes, or to get a meal. After an especially long stretch, you might stop for the night at a motel, to be refreshed by a good night’s sleep.
The amazing thing about traveling in America is that you can take for granted the opportunities for refreshment. If you stay on a major highway, there will always be convenience stores and rest stops and restaurants and hotels within easy reach.
But what if that were not the case? What if you couldn’t know that refreshment was always within reach? You could be on a rural road in the dark of night, driving and driving, and nothing appears. No convenience stores. No diners. No motels. No chance for refreshment. Maybe you feel lost and you wonder what will happen. You may become fearful, frustrated and impatient with where you are.
This was the situation of the Israelites in Exodus 17. They are on their way to the Promised Land, but it is taking an awfully long time. They are worried about their refreshment, and beyond that, perhaps even their very survival. And so they “quarrel” with Moses and demand something to drink. They are even, as Moses said, “testing” the Lord. This was true even though they had frequently experienced the Lord’s favor, benefitting from his awesome power. They had experienced the plagues God sent to make Pharaoh release them. They experienced the miraculous parting of the sea which allowed them to escape Pharaoh’s army. They even benefitted from God’s previous miraculous provision of both water (the Lord made bitter water sweet at Marah(15:25, 27) and food (quail and manna, chapter 16:13-19).
But they still acted in fear and impatience. They doubted God’s care for them and his provision for them. They thought about what they momentarily lacked, rather than God’s long term care for them. And I think that is a part of the human condition. We have needs and desires. Many of us have experienced the incredible blessings of God in our lives. When I was at the Acts 16:5 conference, Stanley Ott, the founder of the Acts 16:5 Initiative, asked everyone to write down a blessing they had experienced in the last 24 hours. And you know what? It was easy for everyone to think of at least one blessing. It might have been enjoying a good cup of coffee, or smelling the pine needles, or hugging one of your children. Every day God pours out his blessings. But how often do we remember that? How much time do we spend thanking God for his blessings as opposed to asking him for something, or even feeling aggrieved about something we are missing in our lives?
Fortunately for the Israelites, and for us, our God is a gracious God. Despite their ungrateful complaining, God gave the Israelites more water. And he never abandoned his covenant with them. They did make it to the Promised Land, although there were other times of deprivation and even harsh discipline from God. Our own journeys through life are not always easy, either, but the Lord does provide for his people, materially and spiritually, both in this life and in the life to come. Refreshment takes more than one form.
This brings us to the passage from John’s Gospel, which is Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. There is a great deal going on in this passage. What I find especially important is that, while these words were set down nearly 2,000 years … a long time ago and in a very different culture … they contain timeless lessons, just as relevant to us in this day and in this place.
We see that Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman with a particular reputation. This is extraordinary on three levels. First, as someone considered a “rabbi,” it would be nearly unheard of for Jesus to speak to a woman. Women did not count in Israel’s religious life at the time. Second, this woman was a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans despised each other. Jews considered Samaritans ritually (and therefore spiritually) unclean. They were to be avoided at all costs. They were considered like lepers. Yet here was Jesus, Messiah of Israel, deliberately going into their territory and spaking to one of them … even asking her for a drink of water! And finally, this person was not just a woman, and not just a Samaritan woman … she was a Samaritan woman with a dicey reputation. She had been married five times and was involved with a man not even her husband! She was an outcast among outcasts. To be seen with one such as her would raise questions in many people’s minds. But there he was, talking to her.
And more than talking to her, he made her an offer. It was the offer of the ultimate refreshment, the living, unending water of eternal life. In the verses following the reading from John, it is reported that the Samaritan woman told her people about Jesus, and that many of them believed because of their testimony.
I think these two scriptures are so important, because they tell us some central truths about God’s provision and care for us. First, God does not bless us based on our righteousness. While God had chosen the Israelites to be his special people, they had not always distinguished themselves as good and faithful followers. Second, in Jesus Christ, God graciously expanded the availability of his “living water.” It is available to everyone, regardless of their background, their gender, or their manner of life.
Therefore, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to avoid these two pitfalls. We are not to be arrogant, imagining that we are better than other people, that we somehow have more righteousness. Remember, God elects people not because of their character, but in spite of it. Also remember that there are no secrets from God. You may be able to put on a good front before others, but God knows what is in your heart and he knows what you do behind closed doors! There was a movie made in the late 1990s called The Truman Show, starring Jim Carey. He played a man whose entire life was a reality show. Nothing he did from waking up to going to sleep was hidden from his audience, thanks to hidden cameras placed absolutely everywhere. Well, we are the stars of our own reality show, our very lives. And God in heaven is watching us, 24 hours per day.
But while we are called to avoid an unseemly pride in ourselves, we must also never fall into the trap of imagining that we are sinners who cannot be redeemed. Whatever you have done in your life, it is not enough to fend off God. I always say that God’s love and grace and mercy are strong enough to redeem the vilest criminal. If Jeffrey Dahmer or Timothy McVeigh came to faith in Jesus Christ, then they too would be saved. So never think God’s grace is unavailable to you. His living water is there for you.
And what is the nature of this water? Think of water in general. Certainly, we need it to live. Our bodies would die without water. And so it is with the living water of Jesus Christ. We cannot live eternally without it. Without Jesus Christ, our souls would perish.
But water does not just serve to ensure our survival. It is something that refreshes us. When the days get hot and humid here, and those days are coming soon, if you get all sweaty and uncomfortable and your throat is parched and you feel totally grungy … oh, the sweet relief of water. Hot water for a bath or shower, cold water to drink. It feels good. And that is one of the blessings God gives us. Now, I am not always sure of Joel Osteen’s theology, but I do like one of his phrases: “your best life now.” If you have Jesus in your heart, you will indeed experience “your best life now.” That does mean your life will never have setbacks, though. But with the living water of Jesus flowing through you, you can transcend the difficult times. Paul writes in Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and in which we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
So, I hope you will open your hearts to receive the living water of Jesus Christ, for that will truly refresh you on your journey through life. Amen.
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