10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”-John 4:9-15
I read a FaceBook post this morning about someone who couldn't believe a program she was watching that was hawking a product called "Miracle Water." It got me curious, so I Googled it. Unbelievable. This video is about 7 minutes long... I couldn't even force myself to watch the whole thing, but try to catch a few minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhWT7-OIGM8&NR=1
Granted, they are offering the water for free, but can you imagine getting on their calling and mailing list? And if you are gullible enough to think this water has magic properties, they will probably be able to fleece you of your life savings in no time. I am not an advocate of judgment and hell preaching, and I suppose God's grace extends even to people such as these, but deep down, I like to think that there is a special corner of hell reserved for those who take advantage of others in the name of religion.
There is a kind of miracle water though. If you are a Christian, you have probably been drenched in the refreshing waters of baptism. Whether as an infant, child or adult, that water (combined with the Word of God) has miracle properties. It cleanses us, refreshes us and brings us into the family of God.
And then there is the living water that Jesus spoke of when he met the Samaritan woman at the well when he said :
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)There is a lot of symbolism in water that makes us think about our faith. I love the story of the little girl who regularly attended church with her parents. She would often watch people dip their fingers in the baptismal bowl and make the sign of the cross on their foreheads before communion. During one service she impulsively ran up to the font to do it for herself. When her mother asked why she did that, she explained, "I needed to get my cross wet."
Yes, water IS important to our faith. And once baptized, we need to "walk wet" all the days of our lives. And we need to keep going back to the font to re-wet our cross. Dear friends, I doubt anyone reading this could get sucked into the kind of nonsense spouted by Peter Popoff and his ilk, but remember that there is a kind of miracle in water... there is the miracle of remembering your baptism each time the rain falls, or each time you take a shower. You can remember God's promises as you look on the scene of a beautiful water fall or stand amazed at the power of the ocean. And don't miss the opportunity to get your cross wet the next time you are near the baptismal font.
Father,
I pray for those fall victim to those who use your name only as a means to get rich. Lead them to your absolutely free truth. Amen.
Joys: Fun day in Asheville with Richard Saturday; yummy lunch out Sunday at a Thai restaurant; Kevin bringing his girlfriend to church for her first Lutheran experience
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