“Thirst for the Spirit”
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
I was looking at the statistics for the virus this week, as I am sure many of you have also. One chart listed the likelihood of dying from various causes, including the virus. Some surprised me, some did not. Of all the dangers to life and limb we face in this life, dying of thirst is pretty low on our list, isn’t it?
I think the closest we get to that kind of thirst is after mowing the lawn on a hot Texas day and coming in for a cold drink, maybe even a beer, that first sip or gulp is so good, so refreshing.
I remember watching Sesame Street as a child and seeing an animated short about a man crawling through the desert, sweating and exhausted, calling out and grasping at the air, “Water! Water!” I suppose he was dying of thirst. What a relief it must be for someone like that to find an oasis, and drink their fill. That water becomes the difference between death and life.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus invites people, you, me, anyone… anyone who thirsts, to come to him and drink. And he promises such a drink that whoever receives it, that is, whoever believes in him… will also become a source for even more. From his heart will flow rivers of living water. And finally, John comments, that Jesus was saying this about the Spirit. So what do we make of all this today?
For starters, it’s important to notice the setting for this proclamation. Jesus is at Jerusalem for a feast… one of the 3 major feasts of ancient Israel – the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths. It was when tents, or booths were set up in the fields for harvest time. It also recalled the wilderness wandering and God’s providing food and water for the people during their 40 years there. Remember the manna from heaven and the rock that was struck and poured out water for them to drink?
Tabernacles was a week-long festival, with various ceremonies and rituals taking place throughout those days. One of the rituals involved water. Each morning, water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and carried in a golden pitcher to the temple. The water was poured out, the trumpets would sound, and the people would sing the words of Isaiah, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”1
It’s no accident that Jesus chooses this event, with all this business about water to make these comments about himself and the Spirit. He’s connecting God’s provision for the people of old with God’s promises in the Messiah, namely, himself. But just as the manna in the wilderness pointed forward to the true Bread of Life, Jesus… so also the water from the rock pointed forward to the greater waters bestowed by Jesus upon the church – through holy baptism and the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit. There are so many ways to extol the work of the Holy Spirit among us. But today, consider the Spirit’s connection to water.
The first mention of the Spirit of God we hear in Scripture is the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of the primeval creation. The Spirit also makes himself know in the baptism of Jesus, even appearing visibly, in the form of a dove. And of course, the Holy Spirit comes to each of us Christians in our baptism, through the water and the word of promise there.
The Spirit is also, as we confess in the Nicene Creed, the “Lord and Giver of Life”. This is true both of our bodily life and breath, but even more so of the new life of faith. This is why the Spirit’s work is called “living water”. Water is always closely connected with life. Think about it when scientists go looking for life on other planets, one of the first things they look for is water – as far as we know – a necessity for life. You can live for weeks without eating, but only a few days without water. And when the water is bad or tainted or too salty you it won’t help you. It needs to be good water, healthy and pure water. How much more the living water that Jesus Christ gives!
And so Jesus invites all who thirst. But he means more than physical thirst. All who have a desire and yearning for peace. All who know their deepest need. All who sorrow over their sins and yearn for the comfort, the quenching of the soul that the Gospel brings. All who look for the washing away of all the troubles of this sad life marred by griefs of all kinds.
If everything is just dandy in your life, and if you have not even a spot of trouble in your conscience… then you don’t have the thirst. But if you know it’s all wrong. If you see the world isn’t as it should be, and more than that, you aren’t how you should be. Then you’re approaching that thirst. Then you need Jesus, and Jesus you will receive.
Luther puts it this way: “Christ chose words that addressed themselves to the heart and to those who felt the need of them. These are comforting, friendly, and charming words; they refresh, console, and strengthen the thirsty.”
It’s so simple. Come to me, believe in me, and receive from me. There’s no complicated process or set of instructions to follow. There’s no 12 or 100 step program to earn this living water. It’s a gift. It’s free. Freely given by the one who freely gave himself even unto death, even death upon the cross.
There also we see water – as the spear pierced his side, and blood and water issued forth. Water, blood and spirit crying – all three give testimony to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
John says Jesus was speaking here of the Spirit, but that the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Well, that’s true in a sense. In another sense, the Spirit had already been there from eternity, was active in creation, and also spoke by the prophets. But the Spirit would come in a new way, and with particular power, when the glorified Christ poured out the Spirit on Pentecost.
On that day – the Gospel was preached to pilgrims from all over the world who had gathered at Jerusalem. Miraculously so, in their own languages. And presumably many of those who heard and believed would carry that message home, and the same Spirit would work through that Gospel and continue to bring more and more sinners to believe in Christ.
That the church would continue to grow and the kingdom expand, that the word of Christ would be preached even to the ends of the earth – is the work of the Spirit even today. And it takes us back to the water.
Notice Jesus says about those who thirst and come to him – they receive a living water. But it’s not just for them. It’s a water that flows out of their hearts, out of our hearts. The blessings of Christ are not to be hoarded and clutched and squirreled away for ourselves. Faith isn’t like that. Faith flows, like water. It springs forth from us in ways we may not even always comprehend. For just as the Spirit moves when and where he wills, so does he employ the believers in Christ as he so chooses. To love and serve neighbors. To witness to the hope that is within us. To pray and work and love and give. Living waters, flowing naturally from the believer as water flows from a spring.
Do you thirst for forgiveness, sinner? Then come to Christ and drink freely. Do you want to see the work of the Spirit? Then give ear to the words and promises of Jesus. And you will receive the living water freely, only to see it flow forth from you, by the power of the Holy Spirit himself. Thanks be to God, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1 Paragraph taken from a sermon by Rev. Charles Henrickson
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