1 April 2014 - waterworks

1 April 2014 - waterworks

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.

The stream is the grace that flows from the side of Jesus, pierced for us in the cross.  This is stream is the water of baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on all who believe.

This water allows life to flourish where there is no life.

“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.

The life that we receive in baptism is abundant.  It overflows and cannot be contained.  This water empowers evangelism.  The fish in these waters multiply and become abundant.

Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.

The water from the side of Jesus can't help but bear fruit in our own individual lives, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, wherever it flows.  It gives "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (cf. Gal. 5:22-23).  No longer are we dependent for our virtue on whether or not we feel up to it, whether or not we had a good day.  This fruit shall not fail.

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

We are freed from circumstances and empowered to live our purpose.  We are therefore set free from all fear that can hold us captive.

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.

Jesus offers us this water freely.  But many of us sympathize with the crippled man who "had been ill for thirty-eight years."  We all have areas of our lives where what we do isn't working.  It seems to be working for everyone else so we assume that we are terminally unique.  We tend to give up.  After all, thirty-eight years of seeing other people healed and not us?  It's easy to give up in situations like that.  Jesus knows how we feel and he has compassion on us.

When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time,

He wants to reignite hope in our hearts.

“Do you want to be well?”

Let us hear Jesus ask us this as well.  Do we want him to heal the areas of our lives on which we give up?  Are there physical ailments that won't go away?  Jesus asks, "Do you want to be well?"  Are there sins with which we cease to struggle because it seems like a losing battle?  Jesus asks, "Do you want to be well?"  We are after all, both physical and spiritual people.  Healing of one aspect of our lives can feed into healing us entirely:

“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

But it begins with hope.  Perhaps the pool in which everyone else is cured isn't what Jesus has for us.  Maybe he himself wants to come to us and tell us to "Rise" and begin to walk with him.  This sort of healing is a beginning where we go from people who "did not know who it was" who healed us to people who tell others just as the man "went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who made him well" after a second encounter with the savior.

It begins with hope.  This hope is kindled by the voice of Jesus.  Let us hear him today.