To My Flock at Marion:
Living Water of Joy
This Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost. This year things are different; our celebration seems more limited. I don’t know about you, but I think that I have taken the celebration of Pentecost for granted in previous years. Like everything else in our lives this pandemic has reminded us that nothing in this life is assured so maybe we should learn to appreciate the special occasions in life. By not being able to worship together most of the symbolism has been removed from Pentecost. We will not gather together dressed in red to symbolize the tongues of fire that fell on those first disciples or share the bread and the cup of Holy Communion, remembering the body of Christ broken for us and the blood of Christ poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. We will celebrate together again. I can say that with confidence because I know according to the Word of God that even if our earthly celebration is taken from us, we will one day celebrate in heaven with our Savior.
So how do we celebrate Pentecost without the usual rituals and things that we are accustomed to? Pentecost is a celebration of the Holy Spirit that indwells every believer in Jesus Christ. The Spirit marks us for salvation and moves in our lives encouraging, guiding, and sustaining us. It is a wonderful luxury to be able to come together in the Spirit and celebrate together but even when we can’t gather together the Holy Spirit moving in our lives should be celebrated. From my devotional readings this week I was drawn to a subject that I have preached in the past, the difference between happiness and joy. This fact stuck out to me, the words happy and happiness occur slightly more than twenty times in the bible while Joy and Rejoice occur more than four hundred times. Here is the difference between the two. Happiness is an emotion that is dependent on circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is a deep-seated conviction that is based on truth and faith, not circumstances. Joy is specifically listed as part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We strive for happiness because it is an emotion that makes us feel good. We long for the usual things in worship because they have given us moments of happiness and comfort. The early church, because of persecution, was often separated and denied the opportunity to worship together, but the joy of the Lord, the salvation that God had provided, sustained them and even gave them joy through their faith in Jesus. Your joy as a Christian can’t be taken from you unless you allow it to happen. My devotional puts it this way. Don’t let anything steal your joy. Trust in the Lord, be filled with His Spirit, and trust His sovereign will for your life.
The scripture that I have focused on this week is: John 7: 37 – 39. Just four verses so it should not be too difficult to read for yourselves. Halfway through the Festival of Tabernacles Jesus goes up to the temple courts. Today’s scripture picks up on the last day of the festival and calls it the greatest day of the celebration, comparable to our day of Pentecost. On the final day the priest group would go to the pool of Siloam and draw water into golden pitchers, which they would pour onto the altar of sacrifice at the temple. They would sing songs from Isaiah 12: 3 and Psalm 114: 7-8. This ritual was a reminder of God’s provision in the wilderness. Water represents life. Without water we cannot physically live. To pour out water in the wilderness where it was scarce was a great sacrifice. The statement that it makes before God is: we know that true life comes from you, so we pour out what we trust in for life, trusting in you and you alone to sustain us. What a wonderful concept to give back the things of this world that we need and trust in God who is the source of all life and creator of all things to sustain us.
On that last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” What is this living water? It is the Holy Spirit that indwells every believer and it was first given on the day of Pentecost. If this sounds like something that you have heard before in scripture it is. Go back to chapter four and we find the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Jesus says to 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.” Living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit to everyone who believes in and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. This is a joy that can never be taken away. It is a joy that you carry with you. It doesn’t matter where you are, the circumstances of your life, whether you are with a crowd of people in church or alone in your home. I recall the story of Paul and Silas in prison. They were cold and alone and facing uncertainty, possibly death. What did they do? They sang to the Lord with joy in their hearts, the joy of salvation and the promise of eternity in heaven with Jesus. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the festival. He is both the Rock from which the living-water flows and the living-water itself. Listen to me for just a moment. Life is difficult and we are living in trying times. Things aren’t the way that we want them to be and we miss the very things that used to make us happy, like worship. Maybe your life has been one anxious situation after another. Maybe you have been searching for happiness all of your life only to find disappointment and frustration. Maybe we are looking and searching for the wrong thing, maybe we need to acknowledge and accept the lasting joy that Jesus can provide. I preached a sermon once that I named after a song, “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places.” It’s just what we do; we look everywhere for the love that our souls crave and need. We just want to be happy, but happiness never lasts. Maybe it’s time to give it all to Jesus. Maybe it’s time for the joy that comes in the morning when you follow the Lord. It is never too late; Jesus is always waiting, and He will change your life and give you Living Water of joy.
In Christ’s Love and Peace
Pastor Bob
30 May 2020
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