Living Water
March 8, 2026. ohn 4:5-30, 39-42. Erin Lussier
Have you ever been thirsty? And I mean reeeallllly thirsty? We are so privileged to live in a place where clean drinking water runs from taps in our homes and buildings so that we do not have to work hard to find water. I am blessed to have never known true thirst. But, Cohen and I do love to hike (we had a run-in with some ticks last weekend, but I’m not ready to tell that story yet!), and water planning and rationing become very important. Sometimes, a hike ends up being longer or more intense than we thought it would be, and we have to really stretch our supply. On days like those, I have to admit I kind of become a control freak, monitoring each of Cohen’s sips to make sure he’s not taking more than his share. As my mouth and my water bottle dry up, it is easy to see how the Israelites turned to grumbling and complaining as they walked through the wilderness with no water to be seen. “I’m thirsty!” “My mouth is dry!” “I’m tired!”
Moses shouldn’t have even bothered to bring us out of Egypt.
Slavery was better than this.
How short our memories are.
These people, God’s people, forgot so quickly about the pain and suffering they endured in Egypt, but more importantly, they forgot so quickly about God’s continued faithfulness to them. God delivered them from Egypt miraculously, sending plagues to free them from the Pharaoh and parting the Red Sea to permit their safe passage! The faithless question they were guilty of asking is summed up in Exodus 17:7: “Is the Lord among us or not?” They doubted God’s presence, God’s faithfulness, God’s plan for their redemption, and God’s provision for them in the wilderness, even though God had faithfully provided for them continuously, sending them manna and quail and turning bitter water sweet.
The Scriptures are a story of God, time and time again, being gracious to the ungodly. This people, ungrateful, untrusting, and so grumpy that they wanted to stone their leader. God could have yelled at them or punished them! He could have struck them down! He could have said, I’m sick of your bad attitude! I’m done with you! But instead, He went before Moses to the rock at Horeb and commanded Moses to bring the staff and strike the rock. So Moses did, and out poured water, and the people of Israel could drink deeply. I am imagining the taste of cool water after a day of hiking, seeping into every cell in my body, rejuvenating and refreshing, but exponentially greater!
God gives to the ungodly mercifully, graciously, abundantly, and freely.
In John, we meet another ungodly character. A woman, a Samaritan woman no less, who is not rockin’ the whole marriage thing. We have to remember that in this culture, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a woman to be single and support herself. This woman had been married 5 times, and the man she lived with when Jesus met her was not her husband. This is a woman who has likely gone through a ton of suffering, trauma, and sorrow. When Jesus begins to speak to her, she is surprised that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan and addresses the difference between the 2 groups regarding their worship practice. At this time, worship was about gaining access to God by means of sacrifice. In order to do so, a person needed a holy place (a temple or mountain), a holy person to do the sacrifice (the priest), and something to sacrifice. What is the punishment for sin? Death. The sacrifice serves as a representation of the person who has sinned. Really, it is a prayer that says, “Lord, accept this in my place.” Rather than me dying for my sins, the sacrifice dies for my sins, and as the smoke and smell wafts up to heavens, people hope that God will smell the smoke and be pleased, if not at least appeased.
This is a very important thing! And for a woman who has had a life that is full of shame, who is not looked upon highly in her society, its importance increases significantly. The Samaritans believed that true holy place to sacrifice to God was at Mount Gerizim because they adhered to the older teaching of Jacob, whereas the Jews believed it was at the temple.
This is a woman who is deeply worried about what God thinks of her. She knows her past, she knows her shame. But, she believes that God will be pleased with her for worshiping at the correct place. Even though she’s messed up that sixth commandment, you shall not commit adultery, she really wants to get that whole worship thing right by worshiping in the holiest place.
Jesus’ response? My daughter, you are both wrong–the Jews and the Samaritans. It is not about the physical location, it is not about being correct about where you worship! No, “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people ot worship him.” This woman believed that the Messiah would come and judge who has been correct and will vindicate or have mercy on her for getting it right. But instead, here is the Messiah, who sees every one of her sins, and he does not care about where she worships!
Jesus saw her sin and diagnosed her. The verdict: thirsty. Deeply, spiritually thirsty. Thirsty for forgiveness, and thirsty for assurance and an answer to the same question the Jews asked at Meribah: “Is the Lord among us or not?”
God gave this woman the same answer that He gave the Israelites. Living Water. Living Water! Water poured out miraculously, unexpectedly, at just the right time. Living water, which never runs dry, which becomes a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Christ Jesus says, Here I am. Drink of me. You are thirsty, and only I can quench your thirst. No more will you have to search for that which cannot satisfy. Do not look to your sacrifices, do not look to certainty in your location of worship. Jesus came not only to be the Messiah, one who knows the sin and secrets and shame of this woman and of you and I. He came to be the Saviour, the one who washes away that sin, who takes it completely away, once and for all. When her sin was revealed, this woman did not panic! She did not fear! She didn’t cower and hide! No, she had experienced forgiveness and freedom! She was so excited that she forgot her water jar, ran into town, and told everyone she met about this man she had met. Could he be the Christ?
As Jesus was crucified, and the spear pierced His side just as Moses struck the rock, water and blood poured out from Him, the Rock of our Salvation. This is indeed the Saviour of the World. God gives to the ungodly. For God shows his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God gives to you and I, sinners, the ungodly, just like the grumbling Israelites, and just like the woman at the well.
Through faith, given to us by the Holy Spirit, by the grace of God, we rejoice in hope. Our hope is a specific hope–a hope in Christ, in His death and resurrection, in His reigning at the right hand of the Father, in His Kingdom.
Christ is our Living Water, who pours out forgiveness, faith, freedom, and family for us in Holy Baptism, in His Word, and in His Body and Blood given for you at the table of the Lamb. When we worry what God thinks of us, He points us to His Son. When we question God’s faithfulness, when we ask, “Is the Lord with us?” let us remember His faithfulness, poured out for us on the cross.
Let us drink deeply. Let us be assured of what God thinks of us: we are righteous, forgiven, and freed by the blood of His Son. Let us rest in His promises, poured out for us in the Living Water of Christ, the Saviour who takes away the sins of the world, and who quenches our thirst for all of eternity.
Praise the Lord of Living Waters!
Copyright © 2026 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops
Visit my Blog: https://standrewslutheran.ca/blogs?blogcategory=Erin+Lussier
Lent
February 18, 2026. Mathew 6:1-21. Richard Senum
Lent is a time for Christians to spiritually and physically recognize the depth of love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When we see him on that cross we are reminded of our own mortality as a consequence of our sinfulness. In the eyes of God - sinfulness is lawlessness against his perfect – life sustaining commands – laws and precepts. And yet - we continually violate one or more of His laws each day of our lives -- even though we try not to.
This dilemma was recognized by Paul in Romans 7:15; “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” On this side of Paradise – we are spiritually and physically incapable of living up to God standards. Or – again Paul says in Romans 3: 23: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So during Lent we are called to repentance – prayer – fasting or abstinence and charitable giving of our time and talents. Charitable giving because of God’s gracious gifts of life – love - grace and mercy in our lives - we are charged to share those divine gifts with those around us.
But I sometime wonder – am I doing enough and am I giving enough – not just in church but in my life outside of church. In a way my Lenten response has less to do with doing and giving than the attitude of a humble – contrite and repentant heart. Remember Cain and Abel. In Genesis 4: 3-5 we read; “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.” Abel showed reverence to God by providing the best of the firstborn from his flock where as Cain just gave some of his produce. Was it the best from his first harvest? Probably not. Y’ see God knows our heart and knows our attitude towards him. Abel was reverent – Cain was casual.
It wasn’t the offerings to God from Cain and Abel that was the issue but the attitude of their heart. Abel had the right heart attitude toward God – and sadly like so many in this world he paid with his life for it.
Similarly with Jacob and Esau – it’s the heart that revels our attitude toward God. Esau was only interested in his hunger to fill his stomach. But Jacob recognized the importance of a blessing from his father was like a blessing from God.
Jesus says in Mark 7: 20-23; that it is what comes out of our heart that defiles us. We read; “He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
So how much do our hearts value a right relationship with God our Father? How important is God to us? Do we view God with a reverent attitude or a casual attitude. In this post-modern world, we are probably a little of both.
So we are called to repentance – prayer – fasting or abstinence and charitable giving.
Our heart attitude toward God is related to how we repent of our sinful life.
The simple meaning of repentance is - to turn from a sinful life and turn to God. Simple enough – right. But real repentance suggests something far more dramatic than simply turning from sin and turning to God. It would mean a fundamental spiritual regret and remorse that we have deeply offended God our Father and grieved his Holy Spirit. It is more than simply being apologetic for something we said or did. It the thing that makes us sob and cry from the depth of our heart when we know we have deeply offended and grieved the heart of God.
And I’ll bet that everyone of us has had those moments of deep regret knowing we have offended God. Sadly it’s part of our life – and it’s a life long struggle between our sinful nature and our need to be right with God.
Hear again is some of what I read in Joel;
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
Rend is a perfect word to describe how we separate ourselves from a sinful life. Rend means to violently tear away with great emotional pain and anguish. I think of Lot’s wife. She could not rend herself from the life she must have enjoyed in Sodom. So – in this post-modern world – how do we – or can we - rend our heart and life from a sinful world.
In Psalm 51 - King David’s laments that he offended God. You can feel his sense of remorse as you read the words. He violated two of God’s ten commandments – adultery and murder. But – sometime I wonder – would he have been so remorseful if the prophet Nathan had not confronted him with his crimes. And don’t we try and hide those things and hope we are not found out. – What can we hide from God.
Fasting and Abstinence
Over the years I’ve heard some Christians say that during lent - they are going to give up chocolate or meat or wine or watching TV or whatever. There is no meaningful personal sacrifice – no heart felt submission to God. Heart attitude. Lots of people live with out those things all their lives – it is not a real repentant sacrificial fast.
As I go through the Scriptures there are several examples of fasting.
In the book of Ezra. Before he and some Jews returned to Jerusalem - he proclaimed a fast – with prayer. Asking God for a safe journey. We read in Ezra 8:21; “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.”
And Isaiah refers to fasting and we read in 58: 3a;
“Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
Clearly fasting and prayer go together. Luke tells us in Acts that Paul and others are praying and fasting. During their prayer time the Holy Spirit speaks to them. In Acts 13: 2 – 3 we read; “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
Our reading in the gospel of Matthew is part of Jesus’s – Sermon on the Mount. In it he speaks about giving to the needy – prayer and fasting. But he says we must be careful; “…not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” But to be charitable – to pray and to fast in private. It is something we do for and with God not for the world or worldly. We are not to seek brownie points or accolades from the world - like showing people how good we are. But how do we define ‘good’?
When we do these things in private, we must be doing them with a humble and contrite heart. These things are private because it is a private conversation or action between each or us individually and our Father in heaven. And in doing so we are to be storing up treasures in heaven.
So during our time in lent – it is a time to focus our heart on our heavenly Father. To build on our relationship and our faith in God and the blood of Jesus.
So how do we rend our sinfulness for our worldly life and turn to God. Well – whether you fast or give to the needy – we must always pray. And pray as if our life depended on it – because – truly - it surely does.
AMEN
Copyright © 2026 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops
View ths sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/NzpNTNGIvTw
Sermon Blog: https://standrewslutheran.ca/blogs/f/lent
Visit my Blog: https://standrewslutheran.ca/blogs?blogcategory=Richard+Senum
