(today, the Church brought food to be given to a local ministry for the needy. The next week, people will bring a special offering, collected in water bottles, to build wells in India)
Intro: Let me reset the context for this series today.
In Matthew 25, Jesus describes certain groups of people – people in need – the hungry, thirsty, those in need of clothing, strangers, the sick, and those in prison – and refers to them as “The Least of These.” The point of His story is simple: when we take care to meet the needs of these needy people, it is the same as doing it for Jesus Himself. So, for these next 5 weeks, we are continuing our effort to see the face of Jesus in those people, and to see our care for them just as if we’re caring for Jesus – not just for these few weeks, but from now on too! And we’re working through several practical ways that we can make actually do that together.
This pile of food on the stage here is one way we’re doing that – by addressing hunger through Rockford Rescue Mission. We’ll dedicate this food to that cause before we leave today.
And today, we’re talking about the role of water in peoples’ lives. Water! What could be simpler?
Why, every Sunday, I bring a bottle of water along with me. It’s because my throat needs the break. I don’t feel too bad about needing that. Sometimes, even senators who are delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union address need a drink of water!
Why Water Matters
Everyone here has already used water today – maybe a lot of it. The average person in the US uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day. So, I know that you already care about water, but let me broaden your horizons a little bit today and just give you a few reasons to appreciate how much it actually matters to you.
Water is Life
I remember biology class in 8th grade. We got to go down to the pond behind Holmes Jr. High School and scoop up water samples into little vials. The, we trekked back to our classroom and put a couple drops under the microscope. Eww!
It was all a part of learning an important part of the way creation works: water is life.
Take away water, life stops. Add water, life happens. It’s that simple. It’s because of that the driest parts of planet are also the most lifeless, and the parts of the planet with the most water are teeming with it.
This past week, another report came back from the surface of Mars, confirming that there is water on that planet – not just ice, but some kind of water cycle that includes water in a non-ice form. Scientists are pretty excited about it, because they know that to discover life on Mars, even in its simplest form, presumes there first must be water on Mars. No water, no life.
If you’ve ever gone without water for a long time, you have come to appreciate how important it is to you. You can probably survive a few weeks with no food, but only 3-5 days without water, depending on the conditions.
Go without water for any length of time, and you suddenly regain a healthy perspective on water all over again.
Anytime I’ve been overseas, one of the greatest necessities that immediately arises is safe water. In many countries, it’s just not safe to use the water, so you have to make sure that you use only bottled water, which can get costly, and which is heavy to carry around with you. It’s not convenient, but when it’s a choice between that and cholera or dysentery, you use the bottled water.
Water plays such a central role in so many stories in the Bible. Quite simply, water is life. No water, and life can’t be sustained; especially in a land that contains a lot of wilderness. If you were going to live anywhere, there had to be water. So we read…
Genesis 26:18
Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.
Wells with names? Sure! When that well is an essential part of your daily life! We give names to dogs. These people named their wells. That whole chapter in Genesis is about wells. Livestock can’t live without water either, so there had to be wells for Isaac to live where they stayed.
Egypt is built around the delta of the Nile River. All life there centered at the river and went out from there. So, when the Lord struck Egypt with 10 plagues, remember the first one? He struck the water – the river, and the water everywhere around. If you want to cause hardship to people in Egypt, take away their water.
Israel made the great escape from Egypt, into the wilderness, and the first crisis they encountered was the lack of water. They had that crisis over and over, complaining to God, and God provided them with water. Because water is life. Take away water, and you take away life.
The planet’s surface is mostly water. Our bodies are mostly water. God put it together this way. Do you suppose this relationship of water to life was by design?
God has taken the importance of water and has woven that into a long list of spiritual truths. I want to look at just a few of those to show how important water is, and then to direct our thinking to how we can help use water to meet the most basic and important of needs among those who are The Least of These.
Water is Cleansing
Have you ever tried to get clean without water? It just doesn’t work! Mom was right when she told us to wash our hands before eating. Just that simple act of cleanliness can reduce diseases in developing countries by a large percentage.
Both literally and ceremonially, water has always been associated with cleansing.
Every year, in one of 6 festivals, some 110 million Indian Hindus jump into the Ganges River, even though it’s icy cold, and polluted, because they believe there is a spiritual cleansing that happens when they do this.
And, in the Bible, water was the focus of many ceremonial cleansings – of the priests, of the people, even of houses and clothing.
The writer of Hebrews is looking back on the OT ceremonial washings when he says to the Church,
Hebrews 10:22 (NIV)
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
We looked at I Peter 3 a few weeks ago and talked about the role of baptism in becoming a follower of Jesus. Peter even points out there that the water of baptism isn’t about washing dirt off of our bodies, but rather that it has a spiritual value – that it’s us asking God to cleanse us inwardly, and to wash out consciences clean.
The world is a dirty place. In fact, next to water, it seems like the 2nd most common thing we see on this planet is dirt! So, God gave us the gift of water for cleansing, and you and I have a much cleaner life because of it.
Water is an Opportunity to Serve
The reason I say this is…
Mark 9:41
I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Jesus doesn’t overlook it when we are deliberate to give someone a cup of water in His name. That may not seem like a lot, but Jesus says Heaven is keeping records of that.
Wall Drug Store, SD, 1931, while people were struggling from the Great Depression, the owner of this little drug store came up with an idea to help people; something that hadn’t been done before: offer free ice water. It ended up meeting a real need for hot and tired travelers, and it started a trend that most restaurants in the US keep today. Providing a cold water to someone is a way to serve them.
Water has always provided an opportunity to serve others. Today, that’s exactly what we’re doing with it.
Water Enables
I’ve looked at statistics about the need of water worldwide, and many of them confirm that for every $1 spent on water and sanitation there is a $4 economic return.
In countries where water is most needed, when time required to collect water is reduced, school attendance increases. When sicknesses are reduced because of cleaner water and sanitation, women and children are more able to apply themselves to productive work.
Water enables people to live productive lives.
Real Life Comes From Living Water
Jn 7 - It was the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. Jesus was there, and on the final day, there was a big ceremony where the priest would take a golden pitcher of water from the Pool of Siloam. It was then carried in a big parade to the temple, and there it would be poured as a part of a thank offering into a silver funnel affixed to the altar. Everyone in the crowd interacted with chants and songs, and it was most likely at this moment that we have what John records in…
John 7:37-39a
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
While all these people were thanking God that He provided water, Jesus wanted them to understand how there is an even more important life that comes from the living water Jesus gives.
Where Water is Needed, by The Least of These
Let me share just a bit of the need for physical water that is currently facing people around the world.
• 748 million, more than 2X the population of the US, 1 in 9 people, lack access to safe water. In the time I deliver this message, about 100 children will have died due to a lack of safe water.
• Women and children spend 140 mil hours a day collecting water. On average, in Africa and Asia, they walk 3.7 miles. Many of them carry it in 5 gal jerry cans – which weigh about 40 lbs.
• 80% of all illness in the developing world is water related. This makes lack of access to clean water the #1 global risk based on impact to society.
It’s not an accident that water has such a prominent role in life.
Today, as we take on the challenge to help provide a well in Andhra Pradesh, India, we are taking a step to help The Least of These. Not only this be used to help provide much needed clean water access, but it will also be used as the basis to provide people with Living Water through Jesus Christ. So, today, as you’re leaving, get a water bottle. Fill it with an offering to bring next Sunday, and we’ll pile those up here on the stage. We’ll total up that money, and it will be sent to IDES. They will then use that sponsor the provision of a well in India, through a group they are partnering with there.
(Invitation)
Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Concluding prayer: everyone come forward, and let’s pray over this food – that it will not only satisfy physical hunger, but will truly help build the Kingdom with The Least of These.
