Come to the Living Water
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| Winnewissa Falls, Pipestone National Monument |
On the last day of the
feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out
of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this He said about the
Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit
had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Today is the Day of
Pentecost, which commemorates Christ’s sending of the Holy Spirit to His
Church. The Church lives and moves and has her being through the gracious inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. Without God’s Spirit, no one could come to Christ or
believe in Him. No one would be saved. The fifty-day celebration of Easter ends
with this joyous festival. The risen and ascended Savior has sent the Holy
Spirit to be our Sanctifier, entering our hearts at Holy Baptism, nurturing us
through the Word, and enabling us to understand the Gospel and to live a life
that honors God and serves our neighbor.
The Day of Pentecost
traditionally turns our eyes outward. We see God gather many nations in
Jerusalem, speaking the message of salvation in many languages, and sending out
disciples to the end of the earth. This Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit
turns our eyes outward as we celebrate the mission of God.
There is another
dimension to Pentecost, however, and it is a dynamic we may not always celebrate
as it turns our eyes inward. It asks us to meditate on the depth of the Spirit
before we celebrate the breadth. This is the dynamic mentioned in the Gospel
reading. The Holy Spirit is the gift of living water that flows from within
(John 7:38). I invite you, this day, to “Come to the Living Water” and to consider
how Jesus emphasizes the depths of the Holy Spirit.
Crowds have gathered in
Jerusalem for the Festival of Booths. It is the last and greatest day of the
feast, where each year Israel gathers to remember God’s provision. After
gathering the harvest, God’s people come together and dwell in booths, often
made from the branches of fruit and palm trees. They recall how God provided
for them during the forty years of wilderness wanderings and anticipated how
God would continue to provide for them in a land flowing with milk and honey. They
were encouraged to remember that whether wandering in the wilderness or living
in the land, God provides for His people.
By the time of Jesus’
ministry, a ritual had developed that each morning during the seven days of the
feast, at the time of sacrifice, a priest proceeded to the fountain of Siloam
with a golden pitcher. He filled it with water, and, accompanied by a solemn
procession, carried it to the altar of burnt sacrifice. There, he poured the water, together with the contents of a
pitcher of wine from the drink offering, into two perforated bowls. The trumpets
sounded, and the people sang Isaiah 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from
the wells of salvation.” This ceremony commemorated the water that miraculously
gushed out of the rock at Meribah and that was intended to quench the thirst of
the multitude in the wilderness, a foreshadowing of the spiritual Rock, Christ
(1 Corinthians 10:4).
All faithful Jews were
expected to be in Jerusalem for this third of the annual feasts proscribed by
God. At first, it looks like Jesus won’t make it, because the Jews are seeking
to kill Him. His unbelieving brothers taunt Him: “Leave here and go to Judea,
that your disciples also may see the works you are doing…If you do these things,
show yourself to the world.” Jesus does not go with His brothers, but goes
later, not publicly but in private. About the middle of the festival He begins
teaching in the temple. Many people believe in Him, some seek to arrest Him and
kill Him, but no one lays a hand on Him, because His hour has not yet come.
On the last day of this
feast, the great day, Jesus stands up and cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let
him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Interestingly, this is
not the first time Jesus has spoken about living water. Earlier, when Jesus
conversed with the Samaritan woman at the well, He offered her living water
(John 4:10). What was then said in private is now being proclaimed publicly.
What was said in Samaria is now uttered in Jerusalem. In both cases, however,
there is a future harvest in view.
With the Samaritan
woman at the well, Jesus opens the eyes of His disciples to the field ready for
harvest as the Samaritans from the town come to the well to greet them. With
the people of Israel in Jerusalem, Jesus opens their eyes to a future harvest
that will come when the Spirit is poured out at Pentecost.
In either case, there
is a stress on the living water of the Spirit. Yes, Pentecost celebrates the
outreach of the Spirit among those who believe. Whether they are in public or
in private, whether they are an Israelite or a Samaritan, whether they are included
or excluded from community, Jesus gives them living water, the gift of the
Spirit, from whom divine life will continue to flow.
God’s love is not bound
by our experiences of separation. Christ has borne our sin in crucified
isolation so He might be our salvation in all places of life. He promises us
the living water of His Spirit. His is an internal resource which never fails.
He does not leave us as orphans. He does not leave us alone. He promises to be
with us always. And where two or three are gathered in His name there He is in
the midst of them.
This is certainly good
news for us as we have just started gathering once again in the Lord’s house. For
though the Church has been scattered and forced to go underground at times during
its history, the Christian faith was never intended to be a private matter, but
a shared faith. Yes, the Lord still comes to us even in isolation, but the Church
was intended to be a gathering of God’s people around the means of grace—God’s
Word and Sacrament. While I thank God that we have so many ways of
communicating so easily at our disposal—social media, Facetime, and Zoom are
poor substitutes for actually gathering with your family, friends, and fellow
believers for worship. Much less is live streaming or services on television fully
satisfactory substitutes for the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in His means
of grace and the fellowship of our brothers and sister in Christ who are
gathered with us. The Lord has made us members of His body.
I pray that we will
celebrate this Day of Pentecost with a new-found sense of community. I pray that
the physical presence of others, gathered around Word and Sacrament, so often
done but so seldom noted in the past, will now be appreciated in a deeper way.
May our physical presence together today help us to celebrate the Holy Spirit, His
gathering of God’s people together from all nations to form the body of Christ,
even as we long for the day when we may all gather together again.
Whether you are
sheltering at home on Pentecost or gathering together with your fellow
Christians in Church today, you and I have reason for praise. Jesus Christ is
the source of the Spirit and that Spirit will never fail. Jesus offers to
everyone His promise of living water, the life of the Spirit, and that life
flows from the heart of all who believe.
Come to the living
water! Through the proclamation of the Word of God, the Spirit is at work to
bring Christ to you, that He might forgive your sins and dwell within you. The
Holy Spirit brings your risen Savior to you this day, that Christ might cleanse
you of sin and satisfy your thirst with living water, that you might be His
people forever.
The Holy Spirit works
through the spoken Word of God. Moses spoke the Word of God to the rock in
Horeb, and water flowed. We proclaim to you the Word of God and living water
flows; for by the work of the Spirit, Christ is here to take away your sins.
Furthermore, as you speak the Psalm and chant the liturgy, and as you sing the
hymns this day, living waters flow from you as you proclaim the Gospel to one
another—just as they flow when you share the Gospel with those whom you
encounter in your daily vocation. Thus we rejoice in the Word of God and its
proclamation today.
Come to the living
water! In Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of the youngest
infant or the oldest man or woman, to deliver Christ by water and the Word.
There at the font, He washes our sins away. There the only-begotten Son of God
makes us sons of God and heirs of His kingdom. By water and the Word, the
Spirit delivers Christ; and Christ delivers His living waters of salvation to
you, that you might be His forever.
Come to the living
water! In Holy Communion, the Holy Spirit delivers Christ to you. Jesus, who
turned water into wine at Cana and who multiplied bread for the 5,000, now
gives you His body and blood in with and under the bread and wine of the Lord's
Supper. There, at His altar, He grants forgiveness and nurtures faith; there He
strengthens and preserves you, body and soul, unto life everlasting.
Dear hearers, rejoice!
The Lord is truly among you. He was with His people at Massah and Meribah,
giving them water from the rock to sustain their lives. He was among His
people, in the flesh, in Jerusalem to proclaim His Word and to promise living water.
And because He sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, He is here among you by His
means of grace. You are delivered from your wilderness of sin. Your thirst is
quenched. Your sins are forgiven.
In the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture
quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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