University Presbyterian Church - Chapel Hill, NC

“We Believe in Water”

A sermon for University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill

by Anna Pinckney Straight

July 6, 2008

Genesis 2: 4 - 10

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground-- then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 

John 9:28 - 30

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

It is, I believe, impossible to grasp a true sense of the messages of the Bible without considering the role played by water.

Water is central to almost everything, serving both as participant and motivator.

Eden is created around a river which can nourish the land. (Genesis 2)

God uses a flood of water as a door to a new start. (Genesis 7)

Rebekah, wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau, is discovered at a well.   This mother of a nation is recognized because of her generosity with a scarce resource (Genesis 24)

It is the lack of water that causes the drought that sends Joseph’s family to Egypt, and generations later, it is the parting of the waters at the sea which allows the Hebrews to escape.  (Genesis 37, Exodus 15)

In the wilderness, as the Hebrews wander, their fear of having no water exposes the weakness of their faith.  It is water coming from the rock that sustains them and shows God’s ever present care for them. (Exodus 17)

Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well in the middle of the day.   The well, a place to which all must go, but also a place of social gathering and sharing.  The woman is outcast, shunned, and cannot go in the morning with everyone else.   She must go in the heat of the day, alone.  And it is then that she meets Jesus. (John 4)

For the early disciples, water was both a place of danger and survival.  It was the place where they found fish to eat and sell, and a place where many died in rough waters, stirred up by storms.  (Luke 5 and Luke 8).

And Jesus said, on the cross, just before he gave up his body, “I am thirsty.” (John 19)

It is impossible to grasp a true sense of the messages of the Bible without considering the role played by water.  Water is central to almost everything, serving both as participant and motivator.

Our bodies cannot survive without water for any length of time.[1] Our world cannot survive without water.

An yet.  1.1 billion people in the world lack access to clean drinking water.  2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation.  Currently, one third of the world's population lives under what is called ‘water stress.’  With the rate of water consumption growing at twice the rate of population, two thirds of the world’s population could be living under ‘water stress’ by the year 2025.[2]

It is estimated that 1.8 million children die yearly because their drinking water is unclean, and that this is the largest cause of death in the developing world?[3]

We hold with all of these other numbers the number 150. While statistics vary, a middle of the road estimate of daily per person water usage in the United States is 150 gallons per day.     In the United Kingdom, this estimate is approximately 30 gallons.  Spain, 68.  In China it is 20, and in Mozambique it is 3.[4]  The EPA suggests that 30% of our water usage is for lawn care.[5]

Water isn’t just about health and comfort, it is also a source of political turmoil.

There are many who believe that the source of the conflict in the Middle East boils down not to theology or politics, but water; who controls it, and who has access to it.  For example, in the West Bank only 15% of the water supply is allocated to the people that make up 90% of the population.  It has been suggested by more than one that if we could broker an equitable water agreement, a peace agreement would quickly follow. [6]

When Jesus speaks of living water (John 4), there is a very real, not-in-any-way symbolic aspect to his usage of the term.  We are called, as people of faith, to be stewards of water.  To use the resource of water carefully.  Not because we can ship the gallons of clean water we do not use to other places, but because faithful stewardship is something that is critical to our entire lives and the lives of the people with whom we share this planet.  Jesus is thirsty.   Today.  In many places around the world.  As people of faith, God is calling and equipping us for ministries of water.

Four years ago, a group of Presbyterians in the Synod of Living Waters started a mission project entitled  Living Water for the World.  This project “trains and equips church mission teams to bring the gift of clean water to communities in need.  From rural Appalachia, to Latin America, to Asia and beyond.”[7]   in the last four years LWFTW has trained  “more than 500 people from 30 states and nine countries, including members of the Catholic Church and nine Protestant denominations” on how to instill clean water systems and creating partnerships in the communities that need clean water”  In the last four years,  “graduates of Clean Water U had installed 178 water-treatment systems in 19 countries, including Guatemala, Kenya, Bolivia, Haiti, Ghana, Honduras and Nicaragua.” [8]

The motto of this program is, “Jesus is living water for our bodies and our souls.”

Water is important for our bodies, but that’s only part of the picture.  We are a people of faith, and we know that living water is every bit as important for our souls.

We believe in physical water and we believe in spiritual water, living water.

The Psalmist writes, As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. (Psalm 42)

Isaiah tells us that whomever is with God is like “a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” (Isaiah 58).

Jesus is baptized by John in water. (Matthew 3, Mark 1, John 1)

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes

in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6)

We believe in spiritual, living water, every bit as much as H2O.  Living water, without which our faith would be as dry as a desert. 

And we have shown our belief this day, as we baptized two children of God at 8:30.

In these baptisms we have used water.  Water which shows that we are washed and connected to all children of God, past, present, and future.

According to the Book of Order[9]:

In Baptism, the Holy Spirit binds the Church in covenant to its Creator and Lord. The water of Baptism symbolizes the waters of creation, of the flood, and of the Exodus from Egypt. Thus, the water of Baptism links us to the goodness of God's creation and to the grace of God's covenants with Noah and Israel. Prophets of Israel, amidst the failure of their own generation to honor God's covenant, called for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream. (Amos 5:24) They envisioned a fresh expression of God's grace and of creation's goodness -- a new covenant accompanied by the sprinkling of cleansing water. In his ministry, Jesus offered the gift of living water. So, Baptism is the sign and seal of God's grace and covenant in Christ.

What does this mean?  It means that when we are baptized, the water nothing changes and the water changes everything. 

In Baptism we recognize what God has already done-- named, claimed, and called us to serve other in God’s name.  And everything changes, for in Baptism we concur with this call, whether on our own or on behalf of someone else.  These waters create a community a, to use the words of Professor Barbara Lunblad, “water-thicker-than-blood family.”[10]

Scott Haldeman, another professor of worship, writes[11]:

Baptism is a gift.  The gift includes a call, as the call includes a gift…  All who are baptized are called to proclaim to others the good news of God’s mighty acts, to testify to the light that brings joy to those who are lost because it allows them also to find their way and to join the journey….   [And] three characteristics predominate. First, the journey is not a solitary one, but that of group bound irreparably. Second, the journey is demanding, requiring much of us. Finally, the journey requires courage—but the source of courage is also supplied—it is bringing us full circle: the very promise that baptism communicates.

We believe in water.  In this spiritual water that feeds our souls and tells us that we are a people set apart for greatness.  Greatness found not through accomplishment or glory but through service and humility, faith and the way in which we model hope and justice in our living.  We believe that we are a part of a water-thicker-than-blood family, and everything that entails.

Today is a day of Good News.  For here they are, two things before us that, together, create the perfect example of the Christian life.  We believe in water, physical water and living water.   We are called to give those with thirsty bodies water, and we are called to share living water with those who have thirsty hearts.

And here’s the good news.  There is physical water.  There is living water.  And we are able to share it.   

We are the ones in the places to make social change.  To insist that those in charge take seriously the basic needs of all people living here on earth, and we do that when we take those needs seriously ourselves.

We are the ones in here, communing with God.  We are able to hold our hands out with this water, too, to show people the way to this living water.  The water that Jesus shared with the woman at the well.  The water of love.  Of grace.  Of acceptance. Of compassion.  Of courage. 

This is good news.  We are rich beyond measure.  Blessed beyond compare.  Because we know God.  We know and trust God’s generosity.  We understand our role as stewards and shepherds.  We don’t do this alone.  God is with us, and we are with one another.

And we know this.  We believe in Water.  Thanks be to God.  Thanks be to God.