Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Rom. 5. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- When a person is literally out in the wilderness and lacks water – as were the children of Israel in the Old Testament account, they know that they are in trouble and need help. In that Scriptural account God miraculously and gracious granted them relief and refreshment at the hand of Moses, His servant.
- When a person has burned through five marriages and is currently living with a “domestic partner,” they ought to know that they are in trouble and need help. However, the woman whom Jesus encountered at the well was going about her normal duties and didn’t seem the least bit disturbed at her circumstances – willing to converse with Jesus without shame.
- Denial and self-delusion are extraordinarily powerful aspects of our fallen sinful nature. We balk at acknowledging the reality that we are all still “weak” and “ungodly” and “sinners” – which is what the apostle Paul calls us in our text. We don’t like this, and we abhor it as part of our self-understanding, and self-image. In fact, many people go to church precisely to help get rid of this undesirable self-understanding and to enhance their efforts at denial and self-delusion – as did the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time.
- Others are so far gone in denial and self-delusion that they no longer even come to the well where Christ refreshes us with His grace, mercy, and instruction. They are seldom if ever found in church, and refuse to be served the miraculous and gracious gifts of the Spirit from the hand of a servant of God. They would rather delude themselves into thinking that they “take” such things and have little need of God’s grace and serving, His refreshing. Sadly, they get only what they have invented in their own minds – and when their strength runs out even that is gone.
- So we also struggle to see that even though we have not had five spouses, we have sinned much more than five times – already today. And viewed over the course of a lifetime our lives are in many respects devoid of much real spiritual fruit – and if we are honest with God in our confession of our sin and guilt we will recognize our need for His refreshment, and just how precious it is that He promises and provides all that we need through His Word of grace and His sacrament of grace. For:
I. We Do Indeed Pass Through A Wilderness Of Challenging Troubles In This World As Fallen And Sinful Human Beings
A. Of Course We Have The Basic Needs Of This Life – Which God Graciously Supplies To All
Psalm 145:15,16 “The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
B. We Also Have Conflicts And Trouble, And Our Fears – This World Is A Dangerous Place, But God Graciously Protects And Defends His Dear People Of Faith
Is. 41:8-13 “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, My friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off, fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I Who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the One Who helps you.’”
C. We Also Have Our Guilt, In Consequence Of Our Sin – Which God Graciously Removes Through His Forgiveness And Mercy In Christ Jesus
Psalm 25:4-11 “Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long. Remember Your mercy, O LORD, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O LORD! Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
D. And Ultimately We Face Aging And Death – Which God Comforts Us In And Changes Into A Blessing For Us
Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.”
John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Rev. 14:13 “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
Statement: All of this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.” But again, all of this pertains only to those who have been justified by faith, who have peace with God, and who have “obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
But if you are arrogant – denying your needs, deluding yourself into thinking that you can take care of yourself, convinced that all is well for you, taking and feeding yourself rather than receiving from God, from the hand of His servant – His Word and Sacrament, convinced that you are wiser and better than what God has ordained, and have no need of His service, then none of this pertains to you. You are on your own, apart from God, and you will have to fend for yourself – including the resolution of your sin and guilt, which is, of course, impossible.
Application: But as you can clearly see from our text, this is not God’s will for you – in spite of your stubbornness and self-determination and pride. So He calls each of us to humble ourselves – that we may rejoice in the richness of His gracious love, that: “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly . . . God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
So the children of Israel were blessed with water – and also with manna and quail, and ultimately the Promised Land. So also the woman at the well – in spite of the mess she had made of life, was granted the “living water” from Christ our dear Lord, the assurance of God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness. And He seeks to give the same to us – as we come to Him for this “living water” that wells up to eternal life.
Transition: So let us also humble ourselves and come to God, to the place where He promises to be with us to provide for all our needs and to bless us. For:
II. God Does Indeed Bless His People And Refresh Us Out Of His Gracious Love For Us – Through His Word
A. It Is His Word That Pronounces Us Justified And Calls Us To Faith And Peace With God
Text: “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
B. It Is His Word That Assures Us Of Eternal Life
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life.”
C. It Is His Word, His Promise, That Works Great Good For Us Even In Our Sufferings
Rom. 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
D. It Is His Word That Supplies To Us The Water Of Life
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The Words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.”
E. These Same Words Of Spirit And Life Continue To Be Ministered To Us By Jesus Himself, Through His Servants
Luke 10:16 “The one hearing you hears Me, and he who despises you despises Me; he who rejects you also rejects Him who sent Me.”
Statement: Again, all of this runs counter to what our sinful nature would like – our desire to have a self-righteous self-image, our pride and dogged self-determination and independence, our insistence upon finding security in our own strength and abilities. But this is the path of utter devastation and destruction, the way to eternal death. Life is refreshed by God; He is the fountain and well. He has established refreshment, life, health, and renewal at His altar – and He bids us come to Him.
Application: So let us humble ourselves, and not be stubborn – not now, not tomorrow, not ever in the future. Let us receive and humbly hold on to the deliverance God has given us – His justification and peace, while we were yet sinners. Let us grasp His love for us, revealed in His salvation in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion: We are in a wilderness of sin in this lifetime, and we have desperate needs – as God is well aware. He has provided for us – let us not be like the proverbial horse, who though led to water refused to drink. Let us not reject the means by which He supplies us, and thus reject Him. Rather, let us be refreshed by the pure water of His grace, mercy, and love. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.