Day of Pentecost (2024)
Notes
Transcript
The central thought of the text is that Jesus is the water of life that quenches spiritual thirst.
THE GOAL of the sermon is that the hearers will continue to satisfy their spiritual thirst in using His Word and Sacraments.
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Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and from our risen and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
John 7:37–39 (NKJV)
37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive...
Let us pray: “These are Thy Words, Oh Lord…”
Anyone who has traveled in desert regions—Death Valley, the Sahara, the Australian Outback—can imagine the plight of a person who has run out of water. Physical thirst is not a problem for us, as we blessed with water in abundance. You can turn on the tap and it flows freely, to the point that maybe we take it for granted. Companies have figured out how to bottle it, and retailers sell it by the cases. We are fortunate in that we have easy access to water.
The Feast of Tabernacles, at which Jesus spoke the words of today’s text, commemorated the wilderness wanderings of Israel. For seven days the people lived in booths. Every morning a libation of water was brought in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam and poured out in the temple in commemoration of the water from the rock that God had provided for the Israelites in the desert.
On the last day of the feast, the eighth and great day, this rite was probably omitted, either to suggest the blessedness of the people on their entrance into the Promised Land, or to indicate their thirst for the greater spiritual blessings of which the prophets had spoken.
Jesus must have seen in the multitudes at the feast those of all ages and lands who had been making their pilgrimages, thirsting, fainting, and distressed. Jesus makes the supreme claim (John 7:37) that He is for the whole — the weary, unsatisfied, thirsty world what the split rock had been for the Israelites. So, this begs the question for us:
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT SPIRITUAL THIRST?
Like most things in life in order to do something about it,
You Must Recognize it
You Must Recognize it
Spiritual Thirst is not easy to recognize, for most people do not associate their restlessness with thirst for God.
The Jewish leaders were unaware of their spiritual thirst.
The verses preceding today’s text describe Jesus’ verbal encounter with the Jewish leaders at the feast.
John 7:25–32 (NIV84)
25At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” 30At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” 32The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
Self-righteousness prevented the Jewish leaders from recognizing their spiritual thirst. They did not grasp the meaning of Christ’s words.
John 7:34–36 (NIV84)
34You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
We are not much different, many times we, too, are unaware of our spiritual thirst.
Our smugness or self-satisfaction may prevent us from saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
This plays itself out in infrequent attendance at the weekly Divine Service.
Sunday or Wednesday rolls around and we have other things to do.
The Problem: We are not recognizing our spiritual thirst.
We think we do not need to grow in grace and in the meaning of God for our lives.
We forego attending Bible class, and daily Bible reading. But like with the weekly worship service other things in life take a priority.
We are not recognizing our spiritual thirst.
Our confirmands have their lives ahead of them, which will include times when you’ll wonder, “Where is God now that I’m going through all this stuff.” The devil will work overtime to convince you that you don’t need what God has to offer; that other things in life are more important right now. Don’t buy into the lie!
As is so often the case with other things in life, we don’t recognize our need—our spiritual thirst—until we’ve hit rock bottom.
When we see that God has not yet filled every area of our lives,
When we yearn for forgiveness,
When we desire to be the kind of persons God would have us be—then we are recognizing our spiritual thirst.
Jesus tells us how to
Quench our Spiritual Thirst
Quench our Spiritual Thirst
Jesus made a great claim in impressive circumstances.
The libation of water had rich associations for the Jews. Consider Moses and the rock of Meribah. There are two occasions:
Exodus 17:5-6, The Israelites complained to Moses about their lack of water. They also put the Lord to the test by saying that if God is really with them, He should provide. God told Moses to strike the Rock and water will come forth.
Numbers 20:7-8, This time the Israelites complained that Moses should never have taken them out of Egypt. God told Moses to speak to the Rock for water to come forth. Despite Moses’ disobedience in striking the Rock out of frustration, instead of speaking as God told him, God still provided the needed water.
3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Jesus proclaimed Himself as the source of salvation and the means of quenching spiritual thirst.
Thirst is quenched by coming to Jesus, by believing in Him.
Jesus takes the initiative in quenching our thirst.
By the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost He quenched the Apostles’ thirst.
The Spirit comes to us in Word and Sacrament.
To make Christ’s cross a living reality.
To show Jesus in the middle of our struggle.
To assure us of God's gracious concern for us.
Riggins, Anfin, and Abram: when you were Baptized your parents made promises to raise you to be a Christ follower. Today, you will be taking your Confirmation vows in a few minutes to confirm the faith in which you were Baptized. Your vows will declare that you desire to continue to be a Christ follower.
As you grow from young men to middle-aged, to older men, the gift of Word and Sacrament is what will enable you to make it through the ups and downs of life. The devil will try to convince you that it’s okay to skip this step, but don’t listen to him. Even if you don’t feel like it, or it doesn’t seem like hearing God’s Word and receiving His Body and Blood is doing any good — remember, that is Satan best trick of all — keep coming, because only Jesus knows what your need, and He had Himself nailed to the cross to quench your spiritual thirst.
Finally, the Holy Spirit enables us to be channels of
Living Water for Others
Living Water for Others
Spiritual aspirations are satisfied when people come to Jesus and drink (John 7:37), in other words, believe in Jesus (John 7:38). Satisfied by Him, they will become sources of spiritual blessing to others (John 7:38). Jesus adapts words from Isaiah 58:11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” Zech. 14:8 emphasizes that the influence of believers will not be meager but like “rivers of living water.” This promise was fulfilled on Pentecost (John 7:39).
From the little group in the upper room, “rivers” flowed to all. Grace has continued to flow to others in succeeding generations.
The “rivers” flow from you too, because you are Ambassador’s for Christ. You all bear His name, the name given you in Holy Baptism.
We are fountains of goodness to others, sharing the love of Christ with others.
The message of the forgiveness of sins.
The message of “rest” we have because of Christ Jesus.
Until this fountain wells up to life everlasting — then we will never thirst again.
What are you going to do about spiritual thirst? Does self-satisfaction prevent you from saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner?” Or, do you think you’re okay and don’t need to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord?
Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.