Living
Water
“In the
not too distant future, however, living water might be mere
theological memory—a spiritual element increasingly lost to rising
generations. If nothing else, our descendants will surely interpret
the spirituality of water in starkly different ways than we do now.”
Diana
Butler Bass (Grounded, p.77)
In the New Testament,
John 4:7-15, there is an interesting story about Jesus and a
Samaritan woman. Jesus' disciples had gone into the city to buy food,
and Jesus was waiting for them at a well. The woman came to draw
water, something she probably did multiple times per day. This
particular well had been provided by the patriarch Jacob, and was
greatly valued. When the woman approached with her water jar, Jesus
asked her, “Will you give me a drink.” Now this seems like a simple
request except for the fact that this particular woman was foreign,
fallen, and considered by the Jews, unclean. It was forbidden for
Jews to even speak to a Samaritan, let alone ask to drink from their
water jar, and to ask it of a woman—well, that was just beyond the
pale. But we already know that Jesus broke all the rules, right? So,
he proceeds to have a rather lengthy discussion with this saucy
woman. He offers to give her living water, to which she essentially
answers, “Who do you think you are?” As the conversation
proceeds, Jesus tells her who she is—and it isn't good.
That's the fallen part—she's had multiple husbands, and now is
living with someone to whom she's not married. For the Jews, that
would be a stoning offense. But what Jesus reveals to this woman is
astounding—that he is the Messiah!
The discussion about
water is something we moderns would do well to consider at a deeper,
broader level. The water that the woman at the well comes to collect
is drinking water, obviously. Essential to life then as now. The
living water that Jesus offered her is God's eternal spirit. The
metaphor here is, according to Diana Butler Bass, “Water is
life; life is water. Living water is God; God is living water.” We
humans, and all living things on this planet, require water. We can
survive for quite some time without food—a month or more—but only
about a week without water. And today, our waterways are under
duress. Worldwide, 780-million people do not have access to clean
water. We have a tendency as a species to ignore such problems,
thinking that government will take care of it. I have only to point
you to Flint, MI to dispel that delusion. In Birmingham just this
week, three members of the waterworks board were arrested for
corruption. On the news last night, I watched firefighters battling
out-of-control wildfires in drought parched California, wondering
where all that water they were spraying came from. We have a
water crisis right here and right now that most of us are simply
ignoring.
What if we were to
acknowledge the sacredness of water. What if, as we put a glass to
our lips, we remembered that water is life, and life is water. What
if we were to treat the water our planet provides as living water, as
God's spirit. Would we be more conscious of how we use it? Would we
take steps to conserve our water? Would we begin to concern ourselves
with what is dumped into our waterways and oceans? The woman at the
well, though she was fallen, foreign, and unclean had sense enough to
ask Jesus to give her living water. Don't we want the same?
In the Spirit,
Jane
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