Drink Deeply of the Life-Giving Water of Jesus, Your Rock

Drink Deeply of the Life-Giving Water

Pastor Pete Metzger

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John 7:37-39

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 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.

Drink Deeply of the Life-Giving Water of Jesus, Your Rock

Did you see the connection? Do you know why, on Pentecost Sunday, of all days, I didn’t say a word about the Holy Spirit in my children’s message, but talked exclusively about Moses in the wilderness? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, because it’s hidden in the details. The first 9 words of our Gospel for today set the stage for us: On the last and greatest day of the festival.[1]

Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles. It was an eight-day celebration of God’s providence during the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness after being set free from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. For eight days, faithful Jewish believers would vacate their comfy homes and set up booths in their backyards, as a reminder of the vagabond survival of a whole generation of Israelites, who – despite being in a barren wasteland for 40 years – were nevertheless blessed every day to find bread miraculously appear on the ground, quail run through their camp, and water in the unlikeliest of places.

In fact, it was that water that became a special feature of the festival. On days 2-8, the priests would lead a procession from the Temple in Jerusalem to the Pool of Siloam, draw water, carry it back to the Temple, and pour it at the base of the altar as a visual reminder of how God continually provided for his people.

Can you picture it? The priests with their pitchers of water pouring them at the base of the altar. The sound of water gushing out and trickling down the paving stones. The people remembering Moses striking the rock with his stick in the desert and water pouring forth. And Jesus blurting out in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”[2]

If it were anybody but Jesus, that’d be sacrilegious. But because it is him, it’s as if a switch got flipped and the scene centuries in the making suddenly jumps into sharp focus. It had always been about Jesus. Jesus had always been the thing that people were missing. Jesus had always been the thing that people needed the most. Jesus had always been the answer that God was eager to give because Jesus is freedom and life and forgiveness and love.

What do you thirst for? What gaping hole persists in your life? What need drives you to your knees in your better days, or causes you to clench your fists in your lesser days?

There’s nothing wrong with having a need. That’s the wilderness of the world we live in. We’re not in heaven yet. So, it’s unsurprising to continue to get bad news about the health of your parents or grandparents. It comes as no shock at all that there’d be conflict even between family and friends. We should only expect to continue to have reasons to worry about how we’re going to continue to take care of ourselves and our families.

It’s what we do with that need that can become a problem. Oftentimes it comes down to a choice either to circle the wagons or circle the drain, and both keep us from finding the satisfaction that can only come from Jesus.

Something happens, so you put your nose to the grindstone. You’re just going to push your way through. But for how long, and at what cost? I commend the effort, but are you strong enough? Can you singlehandedly turn the tide of your life? Can you will yourself to a better life? And what’s happening while you’re trying? What relationships are you letting wither on the vine – your kids, your spouse, your parents, your God? When you try so hard, where is your trust in the Lord? When you put all your hope in yourself, what happens when you inevitably let yourself down?

Then you circle the drain. You let out a constant refrain of complaint. Woe is me! What did I do to deserve this? Why is everyone else letting me down? Why is God letting me down? And the more you allow the grievances to accumulate, the more you play the victim in your life, the more you betray the dis- and the malcontent you harbour in your heart.

Thirst is only natural in the wilderness of the world we live in. It becomes a problem when we complain about it or seek to quench it on our own, which is what makes Jesus’ invitation such welcome music to our ears: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”[3]

Who is Jesus speaking to? Thirsty people like you. People like you who come to him empty-handed in every sense of the word. People like you who have gaping holes in your life and in your heart, who have real need physically and spiritually. People like you who have no answers, only problems, but who find in Jesus not only providence but patience and forgiveness and life and love.

Those Israelites in the desert were grumblers and complainers. They were always the victim in their own stories and they let God know about it. But what did God do about it? Did he have Moses raise that rod in judgment? No. He lifted it in mercy, and with patient forbearance he supplied their need. He didn’t strike the people down for their sin. He struck the rock and gave them life.

And do you know what that rock that gave the Israelites life was meant to symbolize – the same water-giving rock the Jews were celebrating at the Festival of Tabernacles? Paul tells us: They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.[4]

This whole festival that Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate was about Jesus being the answer to our greatest need, which goes deeper than food and water and the air we breathe. It touches spirit and salvation and eternal life. Our sin threatened to separate us from our God forever and throw us into an eternity away from him where we would long for a drop of water to cool our thirsty tongues. But he sent his Son to pour out his blood in love on the cross to quench our thirst and satisfy our need, to forgive your sin and assure you of a salvation that does fill the gaping void in your life.

You didn’t get the diagnosis you were looking for. Come to Jesus and be filled with a life that will not end in death, but will continue in heaven, where there is no weakness or pain or cause for tears, but life in your Lord forever.

You can’t enjoy the company of the person you care about because of the conflict that has sprung up between you. Come to Jesus and receive full reconciliation with your God, who keeps no record of wrong but who credits you with his perfect Son’s perfect righteousness and therefore also a perfect relationship with your Father in heaven and all those he calls his own.

You still worry about how you’ll be able to provide for yourself and your family. Come to Jesus and receive in him your daily bread – the health and the life that he gives you, the skills and abilities he’s bestowed on you, the opportunities he lays before you. And know that a day will come when the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be your light and your life forever.

Anyone who is thirsty, come to Jesus and drink. Whoever believes in him, rivers of living water will flow from within them.[5] That’s God’s promise to you. And that’s the secret Spirit at work within you.

It’s Pentecost Sunday. I’ve only said the word “Spirit” twice in this sermon so far. And you know what? I don’t think he’d mind. Do you know what the Holy Spirit’s whole job is? It’s to point you to Jesus. That’s why he allowed Peter and his friends to speak all those different languages – not so that they could say how great the Spirit is, but so that they could declare the wonders of God,[6] i.e. so that they could talk about Jesus to people who didn’t know him yet.

That’s why the Spirit gives different kinds of gifts to different kinds of people – not so that you can pat yourself on the back and flaunt your wisdom, eloquence, or compassion, but so that by your wisdom, eloquence, and compassion you can point others to Christ, so that the Spirit can enable them to say, “Jesus is Lord,”[7] just as he has enabled you to say that.

And this pouring out of the Spirit isn’t some measly performative gesture we only make once a year. Jesus calls it rivers of living water that will flow from within you. There’s no scarcity of the Spirit. We’re not in a drought without him. Jesus promises and delivers an abundance of his Advocate.

You don’t need to be able to speak in tongues to know that the Spirit wells up inside you. The fact that you’re here is all the evidence you need. The confession we’ll share in another minute is an expression enabled by the Spirit within you. The faith at work in your life every day is further proof, as you recognize the intrusion of temptation, resist the sinful desires of your flesh, and put into practice the fruit of the Spirit among the people in your life (e.g. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).

Rivers of living water flow from within you, and your heart is not a drain; it’s a fountain. Your heart isn’t where the Holy Spirit goes to evaporate; it’s where he goes to overflow so that so many more can hear and know the wonders that God has performed for you in Jesus your Saviour.

Do you see the connection now? The rock is Christ. The water is the Spirit abundantly at work in your heart and in your life, and it’s the Father who in love gives you both a rock-solid foundation, and rivers of living water to provide you faith and life in abundance now and forever. Amen.

[1] John 7:37

[2] Ibid

[3] John 7:37

[4] 1 Corinthians 10:3,4

[5] John 7:38

[6] Acts 2:11

[7] 1 Corinthians 12:3

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Jesus Redeems Your Suffering to Give You Hope

Jesus Redeems Your Suffering to Give You Hope

Pastor Pete Metzger

1 Peter 3:13-22

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Jesus Redeems Your Suffering to Give You Hope

What do you do when you feel like you have no hope left?

My mother had been sick for a long time. For the better part of the last 15 years of her life, she lived in a collection of facilities in palliative care with a terminal diagnosis she was all but certain would be – and ultimately was – her cause of death.

As hard as it was to watch her health wane, there was something else amazing that my family and I were privileged to witness. It was the impact and influence she had on the people around her. Now, my mother had her bad days like anyone else. But there were plenty of times when her prayers, her personal devotions, her spiritual conversations were overheard through paper curtains or paper-thin walls. My mother was able at times to be a light in a dark place.

I have a friend named Grace. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in her mid thirties. She’s a mother of two beautiful girls. I don’t know anyone who leads a healthier lifestyle. But, now she spends her days irradiating her body in an attempt to destroy life-threatening cancer cells.

No one would fault Grace if she were grumpy, if she withdrew from the world. But oddly enough, she’s seemingly engaging even more than she did before, if that’s even possible. She’s flooding the ears of anyone who’ll hear with the sound of her singing and praying. She’s connecting with nurses and patients on the cancer ward, and sharing a hope otherwise foreign in those parts.

That’s the Christian life. We are still in the season of Easter. We still rejoice in the resurrection and life of our Saviour. But the farther removed we get from that day, the farther away it feels and the more real our suffering seemingly becomes, which is exactly why Peter wrote the words we heard earlier.

Peter wasn’t writing to unusually young cancer patients or battle-hardened great-grandparents. He was writing to Christians in crisis, i.e. believers in the pressure-cooker of persecution, and he had some strange things to say to them.

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”[1]

Imagine Peter, of all people telling us not to sweat the prosect of suffering. Peter was so afraid of the Jews that he locked himself in his room for more than a week. Not long after, he was hauled on trial before those same Jews for healing someone. That’s the definition of someone trying to harm you for doing what is good. I don’t know about you, but threats of lawsuits, jailtime, even death don’t sound like things I’d call “blessed.”

Peter had some strange things to say. He goes on to say things that are bordering on, if not outright, impossible: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.[2]

The first piece seems reasonable enough for a Christian: revere Christ as Lord.[3] Isn’t that what it says on the tin? We’re Christians. Christ is our Lord. But remember the context of this command. It follows immediately after Peter says, “Do not be frightened.”[4] That’s where the rubber meets the road, isn’t it?

Most of the time, when we’re scared it’s for one of two reasons. We’re afraid of the power that some external force can exert over us, i.e. that that thing or that person is stronger than us. Which is the second thing that causes us fear, i.e. that we’re uncertain of our own strength to resist, abide, overcome.

Do you see the problem? If I’m afraid of something else because of the power it has over me, then whether I would say this out loud or not, I’m revering it as lord. I’m (even reluctantly) giving it mastery over me, or at very least, mastery over the situation I’m in. If I’m afraid of something else because I’m uncertain of my own ability to master it, then I’m revering myself as lord, albeit a not very good one. So often our fear is founded in our inability or stubborn refusal to revere Christ as Lord.

Always be prepared, Peter says, to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.[5] Any command that follows “always” will always be broken. We can’t do anything all the time, much less be articulate about our faith. And yet that’s exactly what Peter tells us to do, because that’s the Christian life.

How many times have you let the opportunity to talk about the difference Jesus has made in your life slip by because you were afraid – afraid you wouldn’t say it right, afraid of how you’d be received, afraid you might be found out for a fraud whose hope is more aspirational than real?

Or how about the second part of this command: But do this with gentleness and respect[6]? When someone is mistreating you – especially when you are doing something objectively good – is your first instinct to respect that person? When you’re talking about errors that you see out there in the world, are you always gentle; or does your disdain for another person or an idea that a whole segment of society subscribes to shines through?

I haven’t kept a clear conscience. And I’d venture to say the same is true for you. So, where does that leave us, if we’re not leading the Christian life Peter prescribes for us? Right where we belong – in the hands of a gracious God.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.[7]

Jesus knows what you’ve been through and what you’re going through. He knows better than you do. He suffered too. But Jesus’ suffering was different, because he did it with every ounce of humility and grace that God, through Peter, prescribes for you. Jesus’ suffering was different because in addition to being unjustly and cruelly crucified despite maintaining a clean conscience throughout his life, he also bore the full weight of your guilt on the cross.

Jesus’ suffering was different because it accomplished something, something real and profound, something universal and yet highly personal. He suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. You couldn’t have done it on your own. We can’t rise to meet him. So he condescended to us. He came down to earth in flesh and blood, to live this life of suffering to the bitter end, to redeem you; to trade places with you – the righteous for the unrighteous – taking all your guilt and shame and granting you forgiveness and the peace of the release from all your fear – both the fear of the punishment you have deserved but have been forgiven, and the fear of all the fearsome things you face every day.

It’s kind of strange what Peter says next: After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits.[8] Why did Jesus descend into hell? And why does Peter bring it up here? It wasn’t to suffer. He had already done that. He had already finished his work of forgiving sins and saving you. He went to hell to make proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, i.e. to stroll into the headquarters of hell and ask, “How do you like me now?”

And that’s why Peter brings it up here. Jesus went to hell to declare his victory over the devil and his demons, to demonstrate his mastery over death and the realm of the dead, to prove to you that he has the power to protect and provide for you, even over the worst that this world and the underworld can throw at you.

And then what did he do? He has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.[9] We’re going to hear more about this next week as we celebrate Jesus’ ascension, but it means that he sits in the position of power and authority over heaven and earth. And that makes a difference for you. That empowers you to do exactly what Peter prescribes for your Christian life.

Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.[10] What do you have to be afraid of when the almighty, supremely victorious God is the same one who loved you so much that he laid down his life to save you? There is nothing in this world that can separate you from him – not even death. Through his resurrection – and your baptism that connects you to it – you will live with him forever in heaven.

Revere Christ as Lord.[11] That’s what he is, i.e. your Sovereign God, with authority and power over everything – even cancer and terminal diagnoses, rising bills in a falling economy, strained relationships with people you love who can hurt you more than anyone else. Christ is master over them all. He has more power than all of them combined, and he can and he does work despite them and in them and through them to bring you good.

Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have.[12] You have hope because your Saviour died for you to bring you to God. That doesn’t require a master’s degree in theology to understand or explain. It’s yours, not because you have such a strong Christian character, but because you have such a strong Saviour. It doesn’t require eloquence. All it needs is a chance to say, “Jesus died for me. Now I am free – from the guilt of my sin: it’s forgiven; from the fear of death: it’s beaten; from the fear of those who speak maliciously against me: what they say doesn’t matter after I hear what Jesus has to say, i.e. that he loves me and will love me, to the end.”

What do you do when you feel like you have no hope left? You look to Jesus and you revere him as Lord in your heart. You point to Christ and share the hope that is yours in him. Amen.

[1] 1 Peter 3:13,14

[2] 1 Peter 3:15

[3] Ibid

[4] 1 Peter 3:14

[5] 1 Peter 3:15

[6] Ibid

[7] 1 Peter 3:18

[8] 1 Peter 3:19

[9] 1 Peter 3:22

[10] 1 Peter 3:14

[11] 1 Peter 3:15

[12] 1 Peter 3:15

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