This Sunday, April 22nd, my
congregation will celebrate the “Festival of God’s Creation,” or Earth Sunday. The theme for our celebration is “Living
Waters, Healing Waters.” Part of our
focus during the service will concern the importance of being good stewards of
the water and other natural resources that God has entrusted to our care. Also, we will focus on the pivotal role that
water plays within the Christian faith.
I have chosen John 4:7-15 as the
foundational scripture for my proclamation during this service. This scripture tells the story of Jesus and
the Samaritan woman at the well. As the
story unfolds, Jesus and his disciples have stopped at the village of Sychar,
Samaria. They are walking through
Samaria on their way to Galilee. They
have stopped to rest and refresh themselves at the well on the outskirts of the
village. It is the middle of the
day. Jesus sits, waiting by the well for
the rest of the disciples who have gone to buy food in the village market. Jesus is hot and thirsty. As he waits for the disciples, a Samaritan
woman comes to the well to draw water for her household. Jesus asks the Samaritan woman to give him a
drink of water from her bucket.
It is important to underscore that
there was great animosity and social strife between Jews and Samaritans at that
time. Although both groups have the same
sacred texts and share a common faith, they disagree bitterly over how to
interpret those texts and live out that faith.
Their most important point of contention concerns the correct location
of their “holy of holies” or most sacred site.
For the Samaritans, the correct location is Mt. Gerizim; for the Jews,
it is the Temple in Jerusalem. The
social tension between the two groups has escalated to such a heighth that Jews
no longer have contact with anything Samaritan due to a fear of ritual
contamination.
Jesus’ request for water perplexes
the Samaritan woman because drinking from her container would mean that Jesus
was ritually contaminating himself. In addition,
he is a Jewish rabbi, and Jewish men do not engage in public conversation with women. So, she asks Jesus, “How is it that you, a
Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”
Jesus’ reply is unexpected and
unconventional: “If you knew the gift of
God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have
asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Now, the term, “living water,” can
have two possible meanings in Aramaic.
First, it can refer to running
water, such as water running in a brook or gurgling up from a
spring. Second, it can refer to life-giving water. Of course, Jesus is using the second meaning
of life-giving water, but the Samaritan woman misunderstands, thinking that he
is referring to the first definition of running water and she is flabbergasted.
She responds, “Sir, you have no
bucket, and the well is deep. Where do
you get that living water?” Given the
context and her interpretation of “living water,” we can appreciate how
astounding Jesus’ claim appears to her.
Afterall, here is a man without rope or bucket, who just a moment ago
was asking for help in getting a drink from the well. Now, suddenly, he is claiming to have
superhuman access to running water. This
conversation is not coherent.
Jesus clarifies: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be
thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will
never be thirsty. The water that I will
give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
It’s at this point that we realize
Jesus is using “living water” as a metaphor for the loving grace which flows
down upon us through his life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. Living water is an especially poignant
metaphor. Adequate water is absolutely
essential for biological survival and flourishing. For instance, water is the signature resource
that astronomers and astrobiologists focus on in their search for
extraterrestrial life because it is hard to conceive of life existing without
water.
Water is also pivotal in Christian
faith:
Ø In the Creation Story contained in Genesis 1,
God begins by moving over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
Ø At a water well, Jacob met his future wife, Rachel,
and helped water her sheep. (Genesis 29: 1-12)
Ø When the Hebrew people escape from their
slave-bondage in Egypt, God parts the Red Sea to provide an avenue of escape
from the pursuing Egyptian army. (Exodus 14)
Ø Jesus sought out John the Baptist to be
baptized by water; when he emerged from the baptismal waters of the River
Jordan, a voice from heaven identified him as, “…my Son, the Beloved, with whom
I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3: 13-17)
Ø As we’ve seen already, Jesus meets the Samaritan
woman at the well and asks for a drink.
Ø On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus
used water to wash the disciples’ feet, teaching us to serve one another. (John 13: 1-20)
In the Christian tradition, water heals and water is sacred. In the Sacrament of Baptism, we use water as
the physical substance which points beyond itself to that inward, spiritual
grace which God offers to us from the deep reservoirs of God’s limitless
love. With the tactile substance of
water, we welcome persons into the family of Christ through Baptism, while also
anointing them for ministry as Christian disciples. At Baptism, water also offers healing. Just as physical water is very effective for
physical cleaning, so also Baptismal waters point to the spiritual cleansing,
forgiveness, and healing that Jesus offers to those who truly repent from their
sins and shortcomings.
Yet, much of our planet’s water is dirty and polluted. Even more distressing, scientists warn that
our planet is facing a water shortage challenge in the near future. We have grossly mismanaged our water
resources.
As the only earthly organisms created in the image of God, we have been
charged with stewardship of God’s good Creation. This is both a privilege and a
responsibility. Water, along with all of
the Earth’s other natural resources, do not belong to humans. Instead, they belong to God, the Creator, who
has entrusted humans with the responsibilities of stewardship and careful
management of the environment for ourselves and all of Creation.
In my proclamation on Sunday, I will suggest that there are four
actions which American Christians need to take in order to be good stewards of
water. The first three suggestions are
preventive in nature. That is, they are
forms of stewardship which we can perform in order to prevent water
pollution. The fourth and final
suggestion focuses on the important responsibility of cleaning up some of the
causes of water pollution which have already occurred:
1.
Properly
Dispose of Products which Contribute to Water Pollution, such as house and
garden petroleum products, medicines and pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other
chemicals, etc.
2.
Try to
reduce the amount of plastic used and try to recycle plastic after use.
3.
Examine
fertilizer, pesticides, and other lawn and garden products. Try to use organic products as much as
possible. Ask your lawn provider about
their products and encourage them to provide organic products which do not
pollute, if they end up in lakes and streams.
The University of Minnesota Extension has a great article on lawn and
garden fertilizer: “Preventing pollution
problems from lawn and garden fertilizers,” by C. J. Rosen and B. P. Hogan. Check it out online at: https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/lawns/preventing-pollution-problems/
.
4.
Volunteer
to help with the Clean-up of Streams and Roadways. While prevention of water pollution (nos.
1-3) is important, we also need to work hard to clean-up pollution from our
lakes, streams, and waterways. In addition,
pollution—especially plastics—on our roadways frequently end up in the water
systems.
Come and join us this Sunday, April 22nd, as we celebrate Earth Sunday
and recommit ourselves to the task of stewardship of water and all of the
natural resources which ultimately belong to God the Creator. Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A”
Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our two
traditional Worship Services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday morning.
Come, join us. Everyone is welcome and accepted because God
loves us all.
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