Hello,
As the summer began, no one would have ever guessed that as the summer was ending we would be crying for rain. In May, June, and into July it rained every day (well, not really, but it seemed like it). In August and September, it hasn’t rained at all (well, maybe a little bit). Early in the summer when I walked on my grass it was like walking on a well soaked cheap sponge. Now it is like walking on that same sponge after it has sat dried out and has become hard and crunchy.
I didn’t realize how dry everything had become until I went over to my brother in law’s place, a place nestled in the mountains, bordered by a mountain stream. In the early summer the water was cascading down the mountain only splashing only into the biggest boulders, all the rest of the rocks were far under the surface. But this weekend the stream was streamless. Now, only the air flowed over the rocks, big and small. Small puddles dotted the stream bed. It looked like an old western ghost town.
The change in the watershed is a reminder to me of the faltering hope that the things of the world can give us. It is a reminder of what Jesus said about building one’s house on sand. If you are looking for a solid foundation, you’ll not find it in the fluctuating things of this world. No matter how many steps you take each day that your Fitbit registers, the day will come when it will register none. No matter how diversified your retirement portfolio, the day will come when it will no longer enable you to enjoy life, but instead it will just keep you alive. No matter how strong the mortar that bonds you with your family and friends, the day will come when the acidic storms of life will erode it away into dust.
It is against the frailty of hope that the things of this world can provide that Jesus spoke these words, “‘Everyone who drinks of this water (well water) will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’” (John 4:13-14) When your Fitbit says, “You’re done,” Jesus will say to you, “Let’s go.” When your bank account is full but hollow, Jesus will fill you with the solid divine joy of the incredible, amazing divine grace. When the mortar that you use for the friendships you build has crumbled, you will find the mortar of the love of God, which nothing in all of creation has the power to overcome (Romans 8) holding you tightly.
When I was in Israel a couple of years ago, a place where the scarcity of water is well known, there is a hill on which stands a church to mark the place where Jesus spoke of the blessing of God (the Beatitudes). Outside of that church is a fountain with John 4:13-14 (from above…”Everyone who drinks…”) written on a stone. Humorously enough, next to that inscription of Jesus words is a sign that says of the water that is bubbling from the fountain, “This water is not for drinking.” An ironic reminder that the things of this world cannot do for us what Jesus can do.
So, amid the flux and flow of the things of this world…the flood and the drought…happiness and sadness…wealth and poverty…life and death……let me invite you to come this Sunday to church and be grounded in the solid love of Jesus Christ, a grounding upon which you can always and eternally count.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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