Pastor Dan Eddy
John 7:37-39
Finally, the
Glorious Day has arrived
6-12-11
First Communion
for Robbie Dockendorff and Andrew Slekis
P: The Holy Gospel according to the Apostle,
C: Glory to
You, O Lord.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up
and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and
drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water.’” 39 Now
this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive,
for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
P: This is the
Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to
You, O Christ.
I.
Introduction – What water are you
drinking?
Well the day has
finally arrived. Robbie Dockendorff and Andrew Slekis will receive their First
Communion in a few moments.
So, let’s
celebrate by drinking some water. Isn’t that what this text is telling us to
do? Jesus was at a festival of booths and each day they celebrated with water
to rejoice for all the rain they received from God which gave them good crops
and lots of food.
Well Sunday
morning worship is a festival, especially today because of you, two. So let’s
celebrate with some water.
(Go behind the altar and bring out three
glasses of clear liquid and put on the table in front of the boys.)
There’s a glass
for you, two and me. So let’s take a glass and drink to your First Communion.
Oh…wait a minute. There’s only one problem. Only one of these glasses has real water
in it.
The other
two…well one has ammonia and the other Vodka. You don’t want to drink either
one of them.
But can you tell
which one is real water, and which ones are not?
They all look the
same don’t they? Yeah.
But only one is
living water. The other two are deadly.
So how do you
tell? You could smell…but you shouldn’t smell ammonia. You could taste but
Vodka is very intoxicating. That’s not good. You have to trust me that I know
this one is the only glass that has water in it.
And that’s the
point Jesus is making here. He is telling this festive crowd at this most
important of Jewish celebrations that He is the living water. You have to trust
in Him to really believe He is the living water.
II.
What is the Living Water?
But what does that mean Jesus is the living water? He is the Word of God made
into flesh Who dwelt among us. He is the Word of God you both, Robbie and
Andrew, received through the Word and literally through the waters of
baptism…many years ago. He is the Living Water Who gave you faith. He is the
Living Water Who gives you eternal life.
Jesus referred to
Himself this way to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:14 ESV, when He
said: “…whoever drinks
of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I
will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
And the sense
from verse 37 of today’s Gospel text is that Jesus wants you to keep coming to him and keep
drinking His living water. He is promising to satisfy your thirst for Him
every time you come to Him, trusting in Him, trusting in what He is saying for
your life today.
That happens
every time you come to worship and listen…every time you meditate and study on
His Word. And you will literally taste the Living Water in a few moments when
the Living Word is combined with bread and the cup to literally feed you
Christ’s true body and real blood. In all these ways, you are drinking in His
living Word to satisfy your thirst to knowing God, knowing you are loved by Him.
Unfortunately,
our sins sap us of Jesus and our hot, dry, sin-fallen world drains us of His
Living Water.
(Refer to
glasses)
So, when you are
thirsting, what are you drinking?
Because at first
glance all the glasses of clear liquid look the same, but only one is living,
the others are deadly. For example, at first glance, all the gods in the world
can look alike. We can think that all religions in the world lead to the same
god...That Jesus is just one of the many glasses we can drink from…but only one
cup has Living Water, the others are deadly. And how do we know which one is
the right cup…Jesus tells us in this text that He is the right cup.
And the more we
drink in Jesus as our Living Word the more we understand and appreciate all
that He has done to satisfy our thirst for life…today and for eternity.
For example,
Robbie and Andrew has been preparing for their First Communion with special
classes that we have been held over the past few months. And in those classes
we have been learning about what it means to confess your sins. Confess means
to say the same thing that God would say. They kept a prayer journal where they
wrote down specific sins they committed with their thoughts, by their word, and
through their deeds. They learned the difference between sins of commission and
sins of omission. Our confession of sins liturgy used this morning really
brings that out. They also were encouraged to write down all the good works
that God has done through them. So they can see the Holy Spirit, the Living
Water, working in their lives.
Robbie and Andrew
also learned what it means to confess our faith…and it’s done when we speak
about our faith like with this morning’s reading from Acts 2 on the Pentecost
of the Church. For us, it starts with the words of the Apostles Creed, but that
is not the only time we speak our faith. In a few moments, Robbie and Andrew
will confess their faith publicly before you with the Rite of First Communion. We
speak our faith when we pray with others. We speak our faith when we share how
Christ has changed our lives. And part of sharing our faith is knowing more
about our Lord. So the boys explored three Scripture readings that brought out
the Glory of God as our Heavenly Father, as Christ our Savior, and as the Holy
Spirit being our comforter and sanctifier. Not that we believe in three
gods…but three persons of the one and only Lord God.
And then in our
final session we learned what we are really receiving here at the Lord’s Supper.
That the reality of this Sacrament is not symbolic, nor are we eating human
flesh and drinking human blood. We are not cannibals, but that we are really
eating Christ’s body and drinking His blood…so that the glory of His
forgiveness and everlasting life can shine brightly because of the faith He gave
us in His Word.
What the boys did
over three, two-hour, class sessions I am asking you to do each week as you
prepare to receive this Holy Sacrament…so that Holy Communion doesn’t become a
thoughtless ritual…but a rich, meaningful part of your faith in Christ…so that
you know Christ, as the Living Water that you receive here this morning, is
satisfying your thirst. That is how Christ is glorified. That is why every
Sunday here is the Glorious Day of your salvation.
III.
Living Water flowing to others
You see at the
time of our Gospel text from John 7, Jesus had not yet been glorified, meaning
He had not yet suffered, died, nor had He arisen from the dead in the flesh.
I mean what Jesus
was doing here was great…but the best was yet to come.
After He arose
from the dead…He walked with His disciples for 40 days…not just the 12 Apostles.
He was being glorified…and that was great…but the best was yet to come.
He then ascended
into Heaven, and then the Day of Pentecost came…as we talked about with the
children…the Day was great…the waters of salvation burst forth…the promise Holy
Spirit was given, not for the first time, but was given to the Church in a
spectacular way…and that was fantastic…but the best was yet to come.
Since that great
and glorious day almost two thousand years ago, arguably billions have come and
drank the living waters of faith in Christ, because of the special giving of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus is glorified and that’s great but the best is yet to
come.
Because some day
Christ will come back in the flesh…and end all we know…and assemble a reunion
of believers with souls and new, perfect bodies together…and the best will
finally be completed in all who have drank the Living Water.
With you guys,
Robbie and Andrew, today is a great and glorious day, but the best is yet to
come when you are confirmed. And even then, the best is yet to come many times
in your life, leading the best ahead in the next life.
So for today, what
are you drinking? Are you tasting and seeing that the Lord is good?
IV.
Water flowing from your belly
You see the
evidence that you have the Living Water of Christ flowing in you is that it is
also flowing out of you. That’s what Jesus was referring to in verse 38. Jesus
is indirectly quoting from a number of Old Testament passages like Zechariah
14:8. The idea is that there is so much
water in you that it is flowing from your belly. I mean that’s where water goes
when it goes inside of you. The translators
use heart because the idea is water flows out of your faith, because Christ is
in your heart.
This is shown
when people see that you care for them with Christ. Let me give you an example.
If you remember, I said that we handed out prayer cards at this year’s Easter
Sunrise service. A number of people who attend this community service down at
the Lighthouse are not your usual church members. Some this is only one of a
couple of services they may attend in a year. Others come just out of pure
curiosity.
Anyway, this year
we put prayer tickets in each bulletin promising them that despite all the
uncertainties they could be assured that today someone would pray for them. And we got 18 written prayer requests. After
the service was over Pastor Schipul and I prayed for them. Then we prayer for
these people's needs Easter Sunday in worship. And then I distributed the
Prayer Cards among volunteers in our congregation and asked them to call and
follow up on the people’s prayer needs. Do you know that virtually all the
people we follow up with…really appreciated the fact that someone called to
care. Many reported that their prayers had been answered. That’s reflecting
God’s Glory…for many the Glorious Day had arrived in knowing that Christ was
more than a concept talked about in a worship service.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good. When He tastes good, you want more.
V.
Conclusion
Robbie and Andrew
you will experience that here in just a few moments with your First Communion…to
see that Christ as your Living Water is not just some great analogy, not a
theoretical concept, not a fleeting wish…but a certain, tangible, loving
reality to satisfy your thirst for His love, His forgiveness, to assure you
that eternal life is welling up inside of all of you to share with others,
reflecting His glory as we head toward that everlasting great and glorious Day.
Amen.