Sermon:  “Faith That Holds Water”

We mean well.  We really do.  And yet somehow, so often, our best-laid plans seem to go terribly wrong.  We start out one way, with clear direction and a firm purpose, and somehow, before we know it, we end up somewhere else.  Don’t you sometimes wonder where you made that first wrong turn?  How does that happen?  You know?  Have you ever started a diet on Monday and by the weekend find you’ve packed on 5 new pounds?  Or have you ever started a school year or a work week with great resolve and a neat “to do” list, and by the end of the very first day, you have a list that grew longer instead of shorter? 

We like to think we’re pretty competent, functional, and ethical human beings – if you’re here in church today, you’re probably someone who basically knows right from wrong and mostly chooses to do the right thing most of the time.  Like generations of our ancestors who went before us in faith, we probably don’t think we really need to hear such stern, demanding sermons as the ones Gordon read from the Bible today – the one from the great prophet Jeremiah and the other from the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, an anonymous letter that is actually a sermon probably circulated among Jewish converts in the early church.  Why would we need to hear old, recycled sermons like those today?

It’s awfully hard to listen to our Old Testament sermon from Jeremiah – it’s such an angry rant.  (I told you the common lectionary gives us hellfire in August!)  I hate to criticize anyone else’s sermon, but let’s face it, this is a pretty ugly parental lecture from God:  “⁵Thus says the Lord,” says Jeremiah, “What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they [ran away] from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?” “⁷I brought you into [the land of plenty] …But ….you defiled [it]!” ”⁸[Your religious leaders] did not know me [or even look for me]; [your] rulers …and [their advisors] went after [their own schemes and selfish ways], things that do not profit.” 

And then Jeremiah takes off down one of those “low roads” of parent-child communication that we’ve been learning to avoid this month in our parents-of-teens book study:  God fall into accusing and blaming the Hebrew people, his children – and that never seems to inspire anyone to do better.  It just makes us defensive.  Not only that, he begins to prophesy and predict that they will teach their children and grandchildren to be just as bad.  Then he commits that cardinal parental sin – he compares one child to another!  He actually praises his OTHER children – pagans who live in countries like Cyprus and worship foreign gods – and he says those foreigners are actually more loyal and faithful than the Hebrews are.  He says that even though they worship stone gods that aren’t even real, at least they are consistent!  They don’t waffle like the Hebrews and change gods whenever they feel like it.  “¹²Be appalled, O heavens,” says the Lord, “be shocked, be desolate,” ¹³for [you] have committed two evils: [you] have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for [your]selves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”

See where Jesus got some of his best preaching material?  When Jesus spoke of God’s true spirit as refreshing, “living water” he was quoting Jeremiah. In the great prophetic tradition, he was calling his people back to their ancient roots – where the caring relationships of people, “mutual love,” was far more important than Torah study, Temple sacrifice, or any other religious holidays or rituals we humans can make up. 

Do you remember the “living water” story from John’s Gospel?  Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the old well thought to be the original well of Jacob, where the father of all Israel had watered his flocks.  That’s where Jesus offers to end her oppression under the strict law of her people, which made her an outcast because she was living with a man who was not her husband.  Conventional morality and so-called family values make very tempting stone idols, even today, right?  Jesus goes completely against the social and religious conventions of his time and offers her understanding and companionship for who she is and how her life turned out, instead of judgment.  He offers her the love of the Holy Spirit, which he calls “living water.”  Remember what he says to her when he invites her to share a drink with him?  Chapter 4, verses 13-14: “¹³Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst; the water that I shall give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

Don’t we want this water?  Don’t we need it?  Aren’t we tired of being judged by the world, and by our own inner self-judging voices?  Aren’t we thirsty for God’s unconditional life-giving love?  Through that story, we can see why God’s amazing grace – and a real and active relationship with the living Christ through the fellowship of Christ’s church – is so far superior to what most people settle for in their religion – that is, strict, human-made ethical codes of conduct.  The “living water” that Jesus offers is far, far more refreshing than the old dusty well of Jacob, which was the law of Israel, which is today the strict morality and stifling religion that most people today think churches are about. 

But let’s stop to think about it for a moment:  Our busy, wealthy, modern world is more full of temptation than ever – temptation to greed, to envy, to anger, to lust – every variety of failure to love.  What if there was a way to inoculate ourselves from sin?  What if we could strengthen our spiritual immune systems in such a way that we would have the moral fortitude to turn away from all the glittering distractions and worthless things the world tries to sell us – the false idols of our time?  If we want to be spiritually strong, and if we want that same spiritual health and “fitness” for our families, we need to seek nourishment with what both Jeremiah and Jesus called “living waters” – that is, the endless love of our mysterious, invisible, living God.  That same God, who led the Hebrew slaves to freedom across the Red Sea, who came to us in Jesus Christ to set us free from another kind of bondage, the bondage of sin – that same living God continues to be there for us, offering lead us through the cruel wilderness of this world with tenderness and grace.  As the writer of Hebrews says, we need to place all our faith in the grace of Jesus Christ – making a continual “sacrifice of praise” to God and sharing Christ’s love with others.

After all, Hebrews 13 has plenty of good advice to offer, although it’s kind of all over the place with its train of thought.  It comes off like kind of a “cover all the bases” sermon about how to live a good and ethical Christian life:  “¹Let mutual love continue,” “²show hospitality to strangers,” “³Remember those who are in prison,” “⁴Let marriage be held in honor” “⁵be content with what you have… free from the love of money,” “⁷Remember your leaders … and imitate their faith,” “⁹Do not be carried away by …strange teachings,” “be strengthened by grace, not by law,” “¹⁵offer …praise to God,” “¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have….”  It’s practically another 10 commandments! 

But just like the 10 commandments – which begins with the first commandment, to love God above all else – Hebrews 13 is founded on its first statement, “¹Let mutual love continue.”  Can you hear how that echoes the “Great Commandment” of Jesus – where he calls us to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves?  According to Jesus, we show our love for God by first loving one another.  If we can just remember to always share “mutual love,” everything else in that long list would just follow naturally: hospitality to strangers (those angels we may entertain unawares) and to those in prison, faithfulness in marriage, freedom from envy and greed, respect for church leaders, and the desire to praise God in worship and to share what we have with others.  That’s faith that holds water, right?  Live in the healing love of Jesus Christ – “the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Let us hope and pray our church is a place where we and our children can be refreshed in the sweet, clear waters of God’s grace.  Let us hope and pray our church is a place where we can hear once again those old stories of faith that remind us – as Jesus did – that our God, as a Heavenly Father, created us in the divine image and loves us as much as any parent loves a child, no matter how badly we go astray or mess things up.  Each week we receive anew that invitation from Jesus to live in loving relationship with him, in covenant with his church, at table with the great family of faith.  This is a great miracle and wonder – that as flawed as we are, as poorly as we manage to love and be loved – we still are thought worthy to live holy companionship with the God who made us.

The faith that flows from the of God love is never be a chore – if it is, it has become a cracked cistern that can no longer hold water.  True faith – faith that does hold water – is fed by a fount of living water that wells up within each of us like the waters of our baptism.  True faith – faith that does hold water – sings a love song to our souls like the one we sing to the babies we baptize, “Jesus loves me, this I know!”

Thanks be to God for this Good News. Amen.

 

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Jeremiah 2:4-13 (NRSV)

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? ⁶They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” ⁷I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. ⁸The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. ⁹Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. ¹⁰Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. ¹¹Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. ¹²Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, ¹³for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Hebrews 13:1-9, 15-16 (NRSV)

13Let mutual love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. ⁴Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. ⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” ⁶So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” ⁷Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations … ¹⁵Through [Jesus], then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. ¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

 

Jeremiah 2:4-13 (RSV)

[4] Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
[5] Thus says the LORD: "What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
[6] They did not say, `Where is the LORD
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?'
[7] And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests did not say, `Where is the LORD?'
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Ba'al,
and went after things that do not profit.
[9] "Therefore I still contend with you, says the LORD,
and with your children's children I will contend.
[10] For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
[11] Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
[12] Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD,
[13] for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.
 

Hebrews 13:1-9, 15-16 (RSV)

[1] Let brotherly love continue.
[2] Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
[3] Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body.
[4] Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.
[5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never fail you nor forsake you."
[6] Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper,
I will not be afraid;
what can man do to me?"
[7] Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.
[8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
[9] Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents.
[15] Through him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
[16] Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.