James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a;
Psalm 1
Mark 9:30-37
“Are You Drinking Enough Living Water?”
I probably don’t drink enough water every day. Different sources suggest that people should drink between 2 to 4 litres of water every day, and I rarely manage to do that. Actually, I rarely even try to reach a goal for water consumption. Instead, I usually drink when I feel thirsty or my mouth feels dry. And I’m just as likely to reach for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, rather than choosing the healthier option of water.
As a result of not drinking enough water, I probably get more headaches, have drier skin, get more tired, and possibly more irritable as well. And over a longer period of time, not drinking enough water could have other health impacts that I don’t even want to think about.
And yet, at this point, I still haven’t decided to commit to drinking more water. The health app on my phone even has a function to track how much water you drink, but I haven’t turned it on.
I wonder if there are positive things in your life that you haven’t made a decision to do either. You know you should exercise more, or sleep more, or eat better, or reduce your stress, or take a day off, and you just haven’t done it. You know it will be good for you, but for whatever reason, you just haven’t made it a priority.
Now, let me be clear… I’m not talking about the other list of things you probably have in your head about things you should be doing for others. Maybe you should spend more time with your aging parents, or call your friend who’s been going through a hard time, or give more attention to the person at work that you’re supposed to be mentoring, or plan something special for your kid’s birthday, or volunteer more of your time in the church or a community organization.
Of course, we all have lists like that in the back of our minds too – the things our consciences are telling us we should be doing, the things that sometimes overwhelm us when our lives are too full and our responsibilities are too many. But I’m not talking about those things today. Perhaps you can just let those things float out of your mind for now, because I want you to consider today what YOU need.
I have always loved the image that the Psalmist puts before us of the tree that is planted beside the water. Because it has a constant and reliable source of moisture, it grows strong and healthy. Its leaves don’t fade, and it bears abundant fruit.
The Psalmist tells us that the truly happy person is like that tree. Not that the happy person drinks 2-4 litres of water each day, but that the happy person is the one who “drinks up” the advice, wisdom, and instruction of God instead of filling up on the rumours, rhetoric, and fake news being poured out by wicked people in the world.
Just as I compared how much water I typically drink with how many other less healthful beverages I consume, I want to invite you to consider where you are drinking from to nourish your faith and spiritual life, and to guide your daily life and decisions.
Think about the news you consume through radio, TV, newspapers, and social media. Think about what you are reading and watching, and what kinds of messages you are receiving and evaluating. Think about the people you talk to or consult with as you choose your direction and priorities in life. What kind of values are they promoting or affirming in you?
The author of the Book of James shared a lot of practical advice with the earliest Christians. He suggested that they should notice and take stock of the level of conflict that they were experiencing in their communities. If their lives are full of bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, and conflicts between people, then they’re not being guided by God’s wisdom, but rather by wicked and selfish intentions.
James tells them that the wisdom that comes from above (that comes from God) is first of all pure, and then peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good actions, fair, and genuine. These are the kinds of qualities that describe the Wisdom of God that should be our main source of guidance and advice.
If, in contrast, the advice we’re getting is arrogant, violent, divisive, defiant, judgemental, biased, or even fake, then it’s not coming from God. And the more we “drink up” of that kind of talk, the more conflict we’ll experience and the further we’ll move away from God’s will for us.
One of the things that I appreciate about this text is that the Apostle doesn’t just tell his readers to try harder to be good. Instead, he directs them towards the resource that they will need to change their lives and relationships towards goodness and righteousness. And that resource is the free gift of God’s wisdom.
James says, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to you.”
It’s as if you were a tree that could choose where to be planted. Don’t put down your roots out in the desert, but select a spot that is close to the water where you won’t have to struggle to live.
I recognize that I’m probably preaching to the choir when I suggest that coming to worship regularly is an obvious way to plant yourself and your family beside the water of God’s Wisdom. But for those who only drop in or join online occasionally, it’s probably worth saying that it’s kind of like you occasionally choose to have a sip of water. It’s good, but it’s probably not going to be enough to sustain you.
And let’s be real… Even this hour on Sunday morning every week is not enough. Regular church-going folk have often been heard saying, “I go to worship every Sunday to get filled up again so that I can make it through the next week.” And it’s true, we do that.
We come together to remind each other that God is real and God loves us. We listen for God’s Word and wisdom in the Scriptures and think about how we can live in response to it. We tell stories about Jesus, recounting his wise parables and teaching, and we open our hearts to receive the help of the Holy Spirit in following in his footsteps day-by-day.
But if we can only get to a water station once a week, how can we run the miles we need to travel in between? I’m reminded of the practice of the Hebrew People in ancient times (and some Jewish people even today) of binding tiny copies of God’s laws on their hands, on their foreheads, and on the doorposts of their homes. It’s the idea that wherever you are, whatever the day of the week, God’s Wisdom and Word is always before you.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, God instructs the people through Moses to “Keep the words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”
But I think Jesus would invite us to take even more of God’s wisdom with us everywhere we go. Not only the laws and commandments, but also the good news of God’s grace and love for us – God’s grace and love for you specifically, in the midst of your hectic Monday morning, your over-stressed Wednesday afternoon, when you get some bad news on Friday evening or you can’t sleep because of worry on Tuesday night, or when you need to make a big decision within the next 24 hours.
Yes, God will be there for you when you lift up a prayer for help, strength, or direction in the middle of a crisis. And as a church we will strive to be there for each other as well. But God is also inviting each one of us to make a plan and choose to drink up God’s Word and wisdom every day.
If we were adherents of the Muslim Faith, we’d be pausing five times each day on a schedule to pray and direct our attention towards God. I encourage you to think about how you can add Bible reading, prayer, and attention to God’s wisdom into your daily life.
If you can do it together with other family members, perhaps at a shared mealtime or the beginning or end of the day, that’s great. But there are all kinds of daily devotions, daily reading guides, and apps we can use to help us. It’s mostly a matter of deciding to do it – whether it’s deciding to drink 3 litres of water every day, or deciding to spend 15 minutes reading and reflecting each morning.
Last Sunday in the Gospel reading, we heard Jesus scolding one of his most devoted followers, saying that Peter was “setting his mind on human things instead of divine things.” At the time, Peter was letting himself be led by cultural expectations for a Messiah who would come in and grab power and win victory of his enemies.
The problem was that Peter wasn’t listening carefully to God’s wisdom in Jesus’ teaching. Jesus was trying to explain that his Messiahship would be different. It would involve loving service, mercy, and sacrifice instead of power and control.
In today’s Gospel text, Jesus continues to pour out wisdom as he explains to his followers how his mission will be accomplished in a totally unexpected way. And even though they are his closest disciples, walking right along with him every day, they still don’t understand.
It’s almost as if Jesus is holding out a cup of life-giving water for Peter and the others to drink, and instead of drinking it they’re drawing on ideas held in reserve about what is important in life. As they walk along together, they are not discussing how each of them might be called to serve Jesus’ mission, but they’re arguing about which one of them is the greatest.
Haven’t we done something similar at times? Comparing our congregations, our religions, our ideologies, and giving more attention to arguing about how we are right and good, while neglecting the call to use our gifts to serve?
Jesus was right there with the disciples, calling them to stop, to listen, and to drink up God’s wisdom. He reached for a little child, placed him among the Twelve, and embraced him. Then he said, “Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me.”
I don’t have time left this morning to unpack all the implications of that beautiful word of wisdom from Jesus. But suffice it to say that Christ followers are called to put away their focus on their own power and prestige and to enact God’s love for the little ones in their midst.
That kind of wisdom is readily available for us too. It’s simply a matter of choosing to drink it up, to allow it to nourish our spirits, direct our decisions, and grow within us the fruit of the Spirit. Thanks be to God for the gift of Living Water.