Rev. Ferd Bahr
From intimate friend to casual contact-how many people's lives do we touch in a day, a week, a year? Some are friends, some are just part of the scenery, some we use for our pleasure, and some are irritants or even enemies. God loves them all. He wants to reach them. Will he do it through us? In John seven, Jesus invites us to come to him for a drink of living water. It is my hope that the Spirit will use these words to encourage us to come to Jesus, realize our thirst, drink deeply, and flow with blessings for others.
The Feast of Tabernacles, held in October, was a remembrance of the forty years the people of Israel lived in temporary shelters. This, the third major feast of the year, was also the fall harvest festival. The events of John 7:37-39, most likely took place right before the morning sacrifice on the last and greatest day of the Feast. A priest poured a pitcher of water from the Pool of Siloam into a funnel on the east side of the altar. Immediately Psalms of praise were chanted antiphonally. A hush overcame the crowd. The morning sacrifice was about to be offered. Suddenly Jesus stood and cried out with a loud voice: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink"(John 7:37).
We hear the echo of similar words in the Scriptures: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1); "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17); "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2).
Jesus' invitation was impressed on me from early childhood. Our little white frame church had white spires behind the altar, a typical chancel of the early part of the century. Right at the center was a statue of Jesus, his arms extended downward. The words of invitation, "Come unto Me," were written on the base. Jesus has never stopped calling me. He used my parents. He gave me a new life in baptism. There were countless people who were vessels of living water who touched me with love and concern. There were times when I was not thirsty. I was too busy growing up, too filled with my own religious ideas, and later, too occupied with the busyness of ministry. When I was a little thirsty, the invitation of Jesus was nice but didn't seem necessary.
If we are not thirsty, the finest drink causes little interest. And if we do drink, it will not satisfy. So it is with Jesus and his love. Until the law crushes us enough, we will not really believe that there is no other answer to our sin and guilt except to come to Jesus.
Until the thirst is real, I may relate to the water of life as meaningful information. I may even have a passion and devotion for it and faithfully study the Scriptures. This practice can especially affect preachers of the Word. In our desire to transmit the Word in an interesting and challenging way, we may not come to the Word as desperate and thirsty sinners. When we are burdened by the weight of ministry, we need to hear Jesus invite: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Thirsty, weary and burdened preachers and hearers all need Jesus.
He then gives the assurance,"'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified" (John 7:38-39).
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people" (Acts 2:17). Those "last days" began at Pentecost and will be completed when Jesus returns in glory. From Pentecost to Parousia Jesus gives his mission assignment to his people. The assignment begins when thirsty sinners come and drink so the completed work of the cross becomes ours by faith. God sees us through the cross and declares us to be holy and pure, just like Jesus. Faith receives the promise and clings to the Word. Faith drinks deep of the water of life. The assignment continues as the Spirit is outpoured in and through us. He flows from the inner most being of the believer. How does he flow? In streams. Not just one stream, but many streams. Think of it. He flows from my heart, out of my very life. When I trust Jesus, my life becomes the vessel though which God blesses others.
"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
We are clay jars; temples of the Holy Spirit, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, created by the Father. We are the jars which carry the water of life to a dying world. First "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). And then with joyful obedience you can share that water with others.
The Holy Spirit has a strategic place and plan for each congregation and each individual believer. Before we do any deeds of love or speak the Good News, we first need to consider the importance of our presence. We need to "be there."
Paul talks that way about the lives of the people in Corinth. "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:3). The letter first of all has to be delivered. Once it has arrived, to "be there" means a struggle with self consciousness.
If I think, "God has placed me here. I wonder what I'm supposed to do. How should I look? Do I have to smile? How am I coming across? What if I say the wrong thing?" Such questioning only puts the attention on me and not the Lord. I become more important than the person he wants to bless through me. It is much better to go about my business, relax and let God go to work. We need to accept that in a given situation just being there may be our assignment. People read our lives. They observe the letter that God has written. Meanwhile, we may think that "nothing happened." But Jesus was there. But because he is there, he also gives opportunity to communicate through deeds and words.
Faith works. When the Spirit gives us the gift of repentance, the gift does not stop with our hearts. It continues to flow from deep within as living streams gush and bubble. "Streams of living water are to flow forth. Him who comes to Me I shall equip, not only to be refreshed and satisfied and to quench his own thirst but also to become a sturdy, earthen vessel, endowed with the Holy Spirit and with gifts that enable him to give consolation and strength to many other people and to serve them, as he was served by Me." (Luther's Works, American Edition v. 23, p. 273).
Let me start the list of those deeds: Visiting Jesus in prison, giving him a drink of cold water, clothing him, etc. (See Matthew 25:31-46) For when I do these things my faith is active in love.
Faith is more than a mere assent to a doctrinal proposition, it is a living relationship with Jesus through which he produces life and love for others.
Do you get the picture? Because God is the mover, he does not need bureaucracies, impressive buildings or PR stunts. Remember Jesus was born in a stable. Neither does God have a place only for the brightest or the strongest. Remember, he chose fishermen for the first disciples. He also pointed to a little child as the model for greatness in the kingdom. This is not to despise all the ways God uses to get the gospel out. Thank God for the gifts of transportation, radio and TV, Internet, print media, and satellite communication. But our topic focuses on the local congregation and the one to one influence of the gospel through the ordinary lives of its people. The flow of living water gives hope to the smallest and most struggling congregation and the most insignificant person. Imagine! Through one thirsty congregation God can reach out to the world. Imagine! One thirsty believer can touch the lives of countless people .
Thirsty people come to Jesus, drink and flow. The Spirit uses our personality, experience, gifting, occupation or volunteer service ---- and opens up opportunity for us to interact with other people.
Some examples from my own congregation come to mind:
· A man regularly prays for his neighbors and reaches out to them in friendship, helping whenever possible. The Spirit opens ways to speak the Good News.
· A twelve year old boy, born mentally and physically disabled, was baptized when he was ten. God is reaching people through him by the glow of Jesus on his face and the loving care shown by his family.
· A public school teacher brings the love of Jesus to her kindergarten class in an inner city school.
· A young mom cares for her children.
· A man will carry the love of Jesus with his family to another part of the country as he relocates because of new career opportunities.
· An elderly shut-in prays every day for Jesus to take her home to heaven. But each day that he keeps her here, she spreads the joy of Jesus and is a powerful intercessor for the Lord.
· A respiratory therapist believes that Jesus touches every patient she works with.
The flow also begins at home. There is a witness made in every neighborhood in which our people live. There are associations, contacts, interaction, being there in the name of Jesus as the lives of others are touched by circumstances and events of life. And the network enlarges in complexity. Everyone goes to their assignment. Let the flow begin!
Teachers, nurses, engineers, toddlers, factory workers, computer experts, students, sales representatives, medical technicians, homeschooling moms, small business owners, skilled craftsmen, accountants, firefighters, policemen, financial planners, administrators, musicians, machinists, lawyers, etc. . . . this is how Jesus uses one congregation to flow into its community with streams of living water. How is he doing with yours?
Rev. Ferd Bahr
4444 S. Burrell St.
Milwaukee, WI 53207