“Quench Your Thirst with the Living Water!” John 4.5-26, Lent 3A, March ‘17

1.                   Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 3^rd Sunday in Lent comes to us from the Gospel of John chapter 4:5-30.  Here we see that our sins give us an unquenchable thirst (vv. 5-18), but Jesus our Savior offers us living water to quench our thirst (vv. 10-14, 19-26).  The message is entitled, “Quench Your Thirst with the Living Water,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                   “Will you give me a drink?” Jesus asked. New Yorkers consume 1.5 billion gallons of water a day, and this will increase to two billion by 2020 when a new water tunnel is finished. Begun in 1970, the 5 billion dollar tunnel will be a mammoth 60 miles long, 200 to 800 feet underground, and will deliver water to 6,000 miles of distribution mains. Already 20 workers have been killed and 1,000 injured on the project. All this to “give a drink” to the thirsty people of the Big Apple. And, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again” (John 4:13).

3.                   The Scripture lessons for this Sunday emphasize these truths: The Lord saved the human race from its sins through a Savior, through one Savior. Jesus Son of God was born into the human race to cleanse us from our sins by his holy life and His sacrificial death. He came from Abraham’s descent, according to His human nature. But He is Savior of all. No one can merit the kingdom of heaven. Rather, those who are of the faith of Abraham receive God’s promise of life everlasting.

4.                   The lessons for Lent prepare us to properly celebrate Good Friday and Easter. This Sunday we rejoice to remember that the Savior came for all. Here in John 4 we see Jesus in all His compassion and love seeking a lost sinner of the Samaritan race. We see the Son of God’s power in action, a power that works through His Word to create spiritual life. We see that Jesus alone can quench our thirst for life with God.

5.                   John 4:5-15 says, ^“5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  ⁷There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “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.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

6.                   By observing the Samaritan woman, we see a mirror reflection of ourselves. We have no right to claim we’re God’s chosen people due to our race, background, or human effort. Like the woman, we would rush headlong into a lifetime of sin, trying to gratify that inner craving, that unquenchable thirst for real life, eternal life. Are not the epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse, the pursuit of sinful pleasure, and the mad craze for earthly wealth symptoms of this thirst?

7.                   The journey through the barren desert of our fallen, sinful world is hot and dusty business.  In the midst of this barren wilderness, we thirst as our tongues cling to the roofs of our mouths.  We search, looking and hoping for some relief.  We’re parched by sin and threatened by death.  We struggle in this wasteland until our very souls are dried up like a leaf in autumn, threatening to be blown away by the winds of winter.  We search and look around us, but we see no water for our thirsty souls.  We groan and moan in our helpless, hopeless condition.  In the midst of this desert, where will we find water?

8.                   Nowhere will we find water in this barren desert.  Nothing can quench our thirst, except our Lord Jesus Christ.  He pours out his living giving waters upon us.  “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling…  Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”  From the side of our dear Savior Jesus who was crucified on Calvary’s cross for the forgiveness of our sins flows the water and the blood.  From His side flows the water of salvation that can quench our thirst.  From His side flows the water and the blood, cleansing us from the guilt and power of our sin.  From the side of Jesus we drink of the waters as they flow over us from the baptismal font.  Through Jesus we quench our thirst from the living water that flows from His side.

9.                   Jesus comes to us. He offers us the living water of eternal life. By believing in him, we are drinking of that water freely, fully. Our consciences rest. Our haunting doubts dissolve. Our vain pursuit for real life, empty and hopeless without Jesus, is over. Jesus satisfies our thirst. By the gospel in Word and sacrament, the Holy Spirit has called us to faith in Jesus. The gifts of forgiveness of sins, peace with God, the confidence to call God our Father, and fellowship with God now and forever in heaven quench our thirst for eternal life.

10.               Contrary to popular believe, Religion is still spoken about a lot in America. Students on college campuses don’t hide their quest for the spiritual. You no longer are considered odd if you speak openly of your religion. But the religion that’s popular is false. Many profess to worship in spirit. Their emotional enthusiasm, their introspective meditation, or their “supernatural” experiences convince them that they have found true worship. The truth of Christ crucified and salvation through Him alone, however, is still unpopular. Natural man rebels in pride against the necessity of a Savior from sin.

11.               Jesus taught the woman of her need. He’s taught us of our need through His holy law. He’s taught us of forgiveness through His death and of justification through His resurrection. Thank God that He’s given you the gift of faith. Worship Him then in spirit and in truth.

12.               While religion is still spoken about, confusion reigns. People are searching the stars for guidance. They consult the gurus of Eastern cults. They seek to find hope in New Age pantheistic ideas. They look for the god within themselves. Their thirst rages on. The woman knew that the Messiah could answer her questions. How she must have been thrilled to hear Jesus say, “I am he!” Take heart in knowing that the same Jesus, the holy Son of God, is our Savior. He answers our questions about the true God and how to have life with Him. The news, “I am he,” will bring peace to our troubled, often doubting and confused hearts.

13.               See again how Jesus in love, singled out this Samaritan woman. Her past was tarnished. She had destroyed her life. Her guilt was overwhelming, but Jesus approached her in love. He patiently led her to see in Him more than a tired, thirsty Jew. She saw in Him the Christ, the One who could cleanse her from her sin. She became a believer, for Jesus’ powerful words drew her to faith. She became a witness, for everyone who trusts in Jesus becomes a missionary.  Jesus alone can quench the thirst for our thirsty souls with His life-giving water!  Amen.

“Jacob the Heel Comes Home,” Gen. 28.10-17, Lenten Midweek #3, ‘17

1.       Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word in our Lenten Midweek series, “Coming Home From Exile: The Exoduses from the Scriptures,” is taken from Genesis 28:10-17 and is entitled, “Jacob the Heel Comes Home,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.       As the mother gave birth to twin boys, the second child exited her womb clasping his older brother’s heel (Gen 25:26). So he got the name of ya‘aqob, which basically means “heel.” Now you might think that with a name like that, little ya‘aqob was destined to get walked all over by those around him. Think again. As it turns out, this heel-boy, Jacob, was quite good at walking all over others, but always in a sneaky way. And no one did he deceive more than his own family—most notably when he tricked his old, blind father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn that belonged to his brother, Esau. But, such trickery turned out to be his Achilles’ heel, his downfall, for his deception nearly got him killed when Esau discovered what his kid brother had done. So to save his own skin, Jacob headed for the hills, exiled from the Promised Land, with little more than the clothes on his back.

3.       I take that back. He didn’t have “little more” than the clothes on his back; he had much more, especially after his overnight stay at Bethel. For there, God put these words into his heart. A word that said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac” (28:13). A word that said, “In you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (v 14). And a word that said, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (v 15). So, with those words playing over and over in his mind, Jacob walked onward. His back was toward everything he’d known, his face toward the unknown, but with this certain promise attending him: that Immanuel, which means “God with us,” traveled alongside him.

4.       There are plenty of Jacobs here this evening, in fact, a whole church full of them. For the more things change, the more they stay the same. As it was with Jacob, so it is with you. The Lord walks beside you. The Lord slips his words into your heart too; and, really, that’s all you need. “Take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our vict’ry has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth” (LSB 656:4). His Word remains ours. I don’t care if you clear four figures or six figures a year; it doesn’t matter if the roof over your head is attached to a shack or a mansion; the truth is, in the blink of an eye, it could all melt away. You could have as little (or even less) than the exile Jacob had. And then what will you have? Still everything. For “whether . . . the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor 3:22–23).

5.       There’s only one problem: we don’t believe it. Our actions speak louder than words.  We often fear poverty and homelessness more than we fear God, don’t we?  We would probably explode with greater joy if we won the lottery than all the joy combined that we’ve ever had over the forgiveness given freely by Jesus, wouldn’t we? We may find greater comfort about the future in a retirement plan or savings account than we find in the Father’s promise to help and support us in every physical need, don’t we?

6.       We Jacobs, need to repent! “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21). And where your heart is, there will your treasure be also. Get your heart out of your wallet and your wallet out of your heart. For if the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, then trust in money is that root’s soil, fertilizer, and water.

7.       For look at what a kind and gracious Father you have! He not only promises to feed you, clothe you, protect you, and walk with you through thick and thin. He’s proven time after time that he will.  What God promises, He will do.

8.       See what happened to Jacob, our fellow exile? He left home with no more worldly goods than he could carry on his back. When he reaches his relatives’ home, his uncle gives him a job as a shepherd. And for the next 20 years, he labors away, those divine words still echoing inside his head: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. . . . In you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. . . . I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (vv 13–15). And for the next 20 years, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—our Lord Jesus Christ—blessed this exiled son. For at the end of those 2 decades the man who had arrived empty-handed had more than a thousand pairs of hands could hold: 2 wives, 11 sons, and huge flocks and herds of sheep and goats, cattle and donkeys!

9.       And so, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does for you. He gives you a family, puts food on your table, clothing on your back, shoes on your feet, money in your bank, a roof over your head, and—for most of you—tons more. He not only promises, but he also delivers the goods. If he knows how many hairs are on your head, doesn’t he know all your needs? And won’t he provide exactly what you need? He has, he does, and he will, for you are his beloved child.

10.   Yes, his beloved child you are, even as Jacob was; and for you he does what he did for Jacob: He brings you home. As he brought Adam and Eve back to paradise in the sacrifice of himself; as he brought Abraham and Sarah out of Egypt and back to Canaan; so after blessing Jacob through 20 years of exile, he prepared the way for this lost son to step foot in the Promised Land once more. But, our Lord, had one more blessing to give to this son named, “the Heel.” He met Jacob at the river, wrestled with him all night, and then, as the sun rose, he changed Jacob’s name to Israel. No more would he be called by the name Heel, but the name that means “one who strives with God,” for he had “striven with God and with men, and [had] prevailed” (Gen 32:28). Then he crossed the river to meet his brother, from whom he had fled so many years before, to discover that Esau had long since forgiven him. Brother to brother, they embraced in forgiveness and peace. Jacob’s, or rather Israel’s, exile had ended. God had brought him home again.

11.   And so the God of Israel does for you. Into a world where men sell their birthright for a bowl of  soup; into a world where sons fool old, blind fathers; into a world where brothers hate brothers, where Cains murder Abels and Esaus plan revenge against Jacobs; into a world where sinners such as you covet and worship the creature rather than the Creator; into such a messed-up world the Son of the Father came down. In love he came down to join you in your exile, to walk in the shoes of all Jacobs, and to accomplish for you what you couldn’t even begin to accomplish for yourself. He came to soak up all the hatred that Cain has for Abel, Esau has for Jacob, and you have for those who hurt you. He came to absorb the deception and lies to which we use to get what we want when we want it. He came to take into himself our love of money, our false trusts, our betrayals. In mercy, he came into our exile, made all these evils his own, and hung on the cross in our place as the Judge of heaven poured into him the wrath that we had earned. Jesus became Jacob the deceiver, Esau the hater, you the greedy—he became it all that all might be paid for in the currency of his own blood. With his own blessed heel, that “Jacob” on his foot, he squashed the skull of that slithering serpent Satan of hell.

12.   And he’s brought you here, to your home, to the land of Canaan, called the Church. At the river of Baptism he changed your name to Israel, for in Jesus you, too, strive and prevail. And he places in your hand not a bowl of soup to buy your birthright; instead, he puts in your hand and to your lips his flesh and blood—the flesh and blood of the firstborn—that you, too, might be an equal heir along with him of the riches of the Father. Welcome home, Israel, welcome home from exile to the promised land of grace.  Amen.