Lent 3, February 24, 2008
John 4:5-42

�gLiving water�h was the first topic when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan Woman at the well: �gIf you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.�h The woman thought Jesus was talking about some sort of magic water that if she drank it she would never thirst again. That would be better than having to carry the heavy water jar every day to the well. She would be happy with indoor plumbing. She thinks Jesus is teasing her, so she teases back, until she sees that he is a prophet who can know about her personal life. Jesus is not teasing; he is telling her the Gospel truth! They are at a well, so Jesus talks about a subject that will be of natural interest and lead into the Gospel: �gliving water.�h

Many homes throughout the world do not have running water. It is the same as in ancient Palestine. Sometimes people have to walk a long distance from their house to the village well. If it is like in the Bible story, everyone has to bring their own bucket which is on a long rope. This is lowered down into the deep well. Then they can carry the water home. Indoor plumbing would be nice. It would be like a bucket that never goes dry. Carrying heavy buckets of water is hard work, it makes a person thirsty. We all know what it is like to be thirsty, especially in the hot Okinawan summer. Wouldn�ft it be nice if Jesus could make things convenient or give us a refreshing drink to quench our thirst for good? We want Jesus to help us in our problems, to give us money to buy what we think we need. We want Jesus to satisfy all our desires, all our �gthirsts.�h We want that sort of �gliving water,�h like an over-flowing bank account. But that is not what Jesus was talking about.

Jesus said, �gEveryone who drinks this water (of the well) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.�h This living water gives eternal life. It does not settle for merely quenching our thirst temporarily. It is more than a convenient miracle, it is salvation. What is this �gliving water�h and how does Jesus give it to us? There are two possible ways to understand it, and as is often the case in the Gospel of John, Jesus probably meant both at the same time.

First, the living water is Jesus�f revelation or teaching. Proverbs 13:14 says, �gThe teaching of the wise is a fountain of life.�h Also, Proverbs 18:4, �gThe words of a man�fs mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.�h In Isaiah 55:1, God invites people to hear so that their souls may live, �gAll you who are thirsty come to the water.�h And of course there is the beautiful Psalm 42, �gAs the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.�h Also Psalm 23, �gThe LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me like down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul�c..my cup overflows.�h The Word of God is living water. It is life-giving water, it give eternal life.

Have you ever been thirsty for the Word of God? When I first came to Japan and still didn�ft know any Japanese, I had to attend church at a Japanese congregation. After awhile, I really wanted to hear the Gospel, so during the sermon I read theological books that did give me the Gospel word. I enjoyed the hymns because I knew many of them in English. I learned to enjoy the liturgy: the words were different, but the meaning was the same and I knew that meaning by heart -- in my heart. I often get upset when I listen to someone talk in church, whether during the sermon or a casual time, and all I get is dry, dusty words that do not quench my thirsty spirit. But when I feel the guilt of my sin like a scorching heat, I speak the prayer of confession, and my heart thirsts to hear the promise of God�fs forgiveness and is restless until in faith I receive that forgiveness and grace.

Jesus knew what it was like to be thirsty. Not only at the well in Samaria, but also in the wilderness for 40 days and then on the cross he said, �gI thirst.�h It was a thirst put upon him by all the sin and suffering of the world. Cool water could not quench this thirst, only the blood that was shed on the cross could. This sacrifice for forgiveness and grace is the true living water that overflows to give us eternal life.

The �gliving water�h is the gospel-word of God�fs salvation, and the �gliving water�h is also the Holy Spirit which Jesus will give. Listen to John 7:37-39, �gon the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, �eIf anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.�f 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.�h In 6:63 Jesus says, �gThe Spirit gives life.�h

For the meaning of the term �gliving water,�h we do not have to choose between the Word or Spirit, because it is the Spirit who reveals the Word of God and who brings the Gospel into our hearts. This is the living water that gives us eternal life.

There is also the symbolism of Baptism in today�fs passage. We don�ft drink the water in Baptism, it is a washing of forgiveness and regeneration, a drowning and rebirth. But Baptism is a �gspring of waster welling up to eternal life.�h At the risk of confusion, St. Paul in I Corinthians 12:13 says, �gFor we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body?whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free?and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.�h

The woman at the well did receive that living water that day. You can watch her faith grow: she meets Jesus as a stranger, then calls him a prophet, and then she confesses him as the Messiah. And then her living faith flows out and she tells the people in town, �gCome, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?�h And those town people too drank the living water of faith and confessed, �gWe no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.�h

Before you reach for the bottle of sports drink, before you try to satisfy your lusts and longings and cravings, before you go out to conquer the world; quench your spiritual thirst with the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will give you the water of eternal life.

Amen.

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