Title: Christ gives living water to those who thirst!
Text: John 7:37-39
37 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 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.
As we celebrate the day of Pentecost and the sending of the Holy Spirit, we begin with a short reading in the book of the Prophet Joel:
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:28
The Spirit has now been revealed as He that is sent to glorify Christ or to make Him known. We have a greater measure of His manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work in our day than the believers of the Old Testament had.
"At the time when Jesus preached, He promised the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy Spirit was not yet there - not that He was not in existence in His person, but that He was not fully manifested – or made known - in His revelation and in His work.
For that is the special work and office of the Holy Spirit that He reveal and glorify Christ, that He preach and give testimony concerning Him. That this office of the Holy Spirit was then not yet in active working and the office of glorifying Christ the Lord was not yet fully in use … that is, the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and how one may be delivered from the power of sin, death, and the devil, and have comfort and joy in Christ.
All this was at the time of Christ, unheard of and not mentioned; that deliverance, salvation, righteousness, joy, and life should be given us through that man, Christ, whom people did not know."
Popular Commentary of the Bible P.E. Kretzmann NT Vol. 1 Pg 452
Christ gives living water to those who thirst!
Ill.
Some years ago, two students graduated from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man named Overton and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, Kaspryzak. They had met one another in school when the armless Mr. Kaspryzak had guided the blind Mr. Overton down a flight of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of interdependence. The blind man carried the books which the armless man read aloud in their common study, and thus the individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other. After their graduation, they planned to practice law together.
Gary Inrig, Life in His Body.
This is a wonderful story of gift giving and how two men gave in service to each other for the betterment of both. It is a wonderful story of love in service to ones neighbor with the gifts benefiting both giver and receiver. Should one leave though … the gift given to both would be lost.
Not so in the giving of the Holy Spirit.
37 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.
It was on the last day of the feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, the "day of the great Hosannah,” which was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in their current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years of exodus they endured in the wilderness.
The leaves of the willows and the other branches that had been used for the building of the booths – or tabernacles - were shaken off and the palm branches were waved against the altar, when the priests went around the altar seven times in a procession of thankfulness, and when a priest was commissioned to get a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam and then pour it out at the side of the altar. All these ceremonies had been introduced over time, and the Jewish teachers had explained some of them, especially the last, as a symbol which would find its fulfillment in the days of the Messiah.
The water of the pool of Siloam was considered living water, since it was replenished from time to time by means of a natural siphon from a spring in the rock. But, after all, it was only earthly water, which could quench the thirst for only a short while.
Here Jesus points to the work of the Holy Spirit and the revealing of the work of Christ himself when He says:
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Not only with the Spirit bringing those to faith in Christ by His own working, but also by those who are brought to Christ and are used by God through the Spirit to bring Christ to others.
Christ gives living water to those who thirst!
Ill.
This past weekend was big for a number of families from our church as well as families in our area and around the country. Both, Waterford High Schools, Kettering and Mott, celebrated graduations at Oakland University while others were celebrated at Eastern Michigan and surrounding sites. Because graduating is an important time in the life of a student and their families, some of our members couldn’t be in worship last weekend as graduation was on Sunday.
It is important for parents to celebrate with their children this big event and there have been a number of videos online of dads, who had been serving in the military, surprising their children who were not expecting them to attend. Now, as the dad’s surprised their children, the emotional breakdown is quite touching and heartwarming for all to see. What had been thought to be missing … was really there and is now revealed to them. Parents and children reunited to celebrate this special day together.
It is with this in mind that we today recognize our graduates and celebrate their wonderful accomplishments!
Just like a parent, who it was thought was unable to attend a special occasion, the Spirit can at times be forgotten … as though He were afar off and not part of our daily lives. At the best of times, when things are going well, we have little need for Him. We can get consumed with things of this life that are going well and the abundance that at times God provides. But, other times … just as all seems well … your world can come crashing down. You can lose focus of Jesus, the one who redeemed you who were lost. The Spirit’s work can be resisted, while things of the world draw you away demanding your attention, and just when all seems well life can call your attention to all its frailties and trials … loss of life, loss of job, loss of security …
Ill.
I attended my good friend, Pastor Paul Monson’s, 50th birthday party at St. Augustine Lutheran Church last Sunday afternoon in Troy. It was a wonderful time of celebration with food, cake and a bit of roasting – or poking fun at the church’s pastor! However, the previous week, Pastor Monson suffered a heart attack. You might remember him as the one who preached at my ordination. I visited him in the hospital, and though He had no blockage, and his heart attack was caused by a little kink in a vein, the frailty of life once again was thrust in his face and mine. Just how long will the Lord tarry – or wait to return - and what has He prepared for me to do?
We can’t know what God has in store for us as he calls each one of us to faith and in service for Him through the Spirit’s work … but we can know, as Jesus said:
“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 Jesus said this, about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.
I couldn't help thinking about, the heart … which thanks be to God, my friend Pastor Paul is still with us, but one day … it will stop for all of us and our work in the name of Christ will be finished.
I think of so many, who still need to hear the good news of the gospel and the joy of salvation found only in the name of Jesus. Yes and I feel, as my friend Paul Ruehl and I discussed at Pastor Monson’s birthday party, the urgency to allow God to work through us to reach the lost in service to Him, now!
Christ Jesus has given you and me, by His Spirit, an appeal to His work to reach those who are lost with the word of the gospel. That appeal comes to you through the Spirit and through His working in you feed on the word of God and by faith cling to that blessed hope.
Christ gives living water to those who thirst!
God in his mercy has had mercy on you. You have been washed clean of your sin and by faith in Christ have peace with God. The working of the Holy Spirit causes faith in you to believe the gospel message that in Christ forgiveness of sins is offered and by faith received.
Christ gives living water to those who thirst!
May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forever!
Amen
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