1

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

I. Introduction [Reminder: Please turn on the timer] [Slide 1] We are in the middle of a series on the Gospel of John called Knowing I AM. [Slide 2] The title of the sermon today is “Anyone who is thirsty” [Slide 3] Introduction: John 7: 1-36

• Jesus was going around, teaching in Galilee. He did not want to go to Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.

• Jesus’ brothers wanted him to go down to the festival of tabernacles to show off. Jesus’ brothers

continue to push him to bring God’s kingdom to earth through the power of this world. They do not yet fully understand.

• However, after his brothers had left for the festival, Jesus went, not publicly though, but in secret.

At the festival, Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking “Where is he?” The crowds were whispering about him…some saying he’s a good man, others saying he deceives the people. They were divided.

• Halfway through the festival Jesus goes up to the temple courts to begin teaching. They were

amazed at how well versed he was in scripture.

• The Pharisees try to have him arrested and want to have him killed for the teaching he is doing in the temple courts, but the scripture says “No one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”

• It is in this contentious and highly volatile environment that we come to our passage today.

• Let’s read John 7:37-39:

[Slide 4] 37 On the 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[c] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. [Slide 5]Today we are going to talk about three things related to this passage: (1) The backdrop: The Feast; (2) One Condition; (3) Jesus our Rock. II.[Slide 6] The Backdrop. I want to set the stage for what Jesus has to say here so we might gain a better understanding of what he was seeing and hearing leading up to this proclamation.

2

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

1. The festival of tabernacles. a. The Basics

i. The Festival of Tabernacles, also called the Festival of Booths, was the 3rd and most popular of the Feasts.

ii. Lasted 8 days in Jesus time (originally it was a 7 day festival). So when Jesus was

proclaiming our scripture for today, it would have been on the last day of the festival.

iii. It is primarily a harvest festival, so it was a time of Thanksgiving. There was a

spirit of giving during this time, for all were included, the servant, stranger, widow, poor…all were to share in the joy. This was a rejoicing of the blessings of God’s provision and care for our lives, charity/generosity was considered especially important. This makes me think of our own thanksgiving celebration. I always think of that time of the year as especially warm, strangers smiling at each other, good will going around with more prevalence, the sharing of meals, people gathering together.

iv. [Slide 7] During this time, families constructed a booth/tabernacle – a temporary living structure made from branches and leaf-like parts of palms, ferns, etc. (Leviticus 23:40)

1. This was intended to remind the people that they were once wanderers, homeless, in the desert, no roof over their head.

b. [Slide 8] Ceremonies, prayers and scripture

i. [Slide 9] Prayer: for thanksgiving, for rain, for the resurrection of the dead, for water = new life.

ii. [Slide 10]Each day of the festival there would be a ceremony. People would come

with their palms and their willows to the Temple; with them they formed a kind of screen or roof and marched round the great altar. At the same time a priest took a golden pitcher which held three pints-and went down to the Pool of Siloam and filled it with water. The water was carried up to the Temple altar and poured out as an offering to God.

iii. There was singing and the reading of scripture:

1. People recited Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of Salvation.

2. Sang the Hallel (Psalm 113 – 118) Psalm 118:25-26 25 LORD, save us!

LORD, grant us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.

3

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

3. Ezekiel 47 was read at the Feast of Tabernacle a. “Son of Man do you see this?” b. The water was coming down from under the south side of the

temple, south of the altar. c. Trees and swarms of living creatures. d. Leaves will not wither nor will the fruit fall e. Fruit=food and the leaves=healing f. Dead Sea becomes fresh. g. It is the same language and imagery that are used in Revelation

22:1-2, used to describe the garden of eden restored, the New City for which we get our namesake.

iv. So the people at the festival would have understood that this was not just about

water in the physical sense. The Prophet Ezekiel prophesied in Ezekiel 47 that a time would come when the river of God would pour out of the temple and bring life, fruitfulness, and healing wherever it went.

c. [Slide 11] The meaning of the ceremony

i. [Slide 12] The whole dramatic ceremony was a vivid memory of the water, which sprang from the rock when they travelled through the wilderness. This story comes from Exodus 17 and we’re going to come back to that scripture.

ii. During the festival people looked forward to that day when God’s spirit would be

poured out at the coming of His Kingdom. They understood this water as more than just thirst quenching, but soul quenching. Our hearts were to be made clean. The earth was to be made new.

iii. They understood that the human soul has a thirst. Our body was made to live on

water our soul was made to live on God. We have a soul, a spirit. There is more to us that just a body. And that you, if it does not drink from the greatness and wisdom and power and goodness and justice and holiness and love of God, will die of thirst. They were thirsty for the presence of God. They wanted him…to be in the inner court, where only the high priests could go…to see his face like Moses once did…to experience his presence.

III. [Slide 13] One Condition

In was in this atmosphere that Jesus’ heart is so filled with a message, that despite the threats of death, he cries out in a loud voice... “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Jesus is overwhelmed by the message that he is the living water. The whole pomp and circumstance, the singing, the reciting of scripture, the desire for God’s presence, the tabernacles, the living water, the fruit that feeds, the leaves that heal, the Kingdom of God that will come to earth…Jesus says come to me.

4

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

When I was preparing for the sermon, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for those words. The invitation is universal, and yet it is conditional. There are no ethnic, intellectual, or social qualifications for drinking at Jesus' fountain. The invitation goes out to all. Everyone in this room has a personal invitation from Jesus to come to him and drink. There is only one condition: you have to be thirsty. [Slide 14] Am I thirsty? Are you thirsty? I think Jesus is speaking directly to the people in the crowd. But why would he choose to phrase it this way. Clearly the people he’s speaking to understand that they are thirsty. For the past 7 days they had put their thirst on display, and not just their physical thirst, but their soul thirst. I think Jesus is trying to get to the heart of the matter, as he so often does. He’s trying to break through the pomp and circumstance of our lives. He did it with me as I was preparing this sermon. I reflected on two types of people Jesus is addressing with this statement.

The first person in the crowd I want to talk about is those who deny their thirst. Through the eyes of the Pharisee in the crowd.

a. We deny our thirst because we are trying to earn our salvation.

[Slide 9] It reminds me of the scripture in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

b. Every time I read that scripture it’s difficult for me. I have no problem admitting that I have sinned…I know I get angry – maybe I’ve said a few things a time or two that I shouldn’t have, enjoyed one beer over the Christian limit a time or two, cheated on that test, been lustful, coveted my neighbors house …but

c. number one = I’ve got a good excuse for all of those shortcomings: I’m human

d. number two = fallen short of the glory of God – don’t you think that’s a little extreme. I’m Dave Guyer - - I don’t fall short. I get good grades, I do well on my performance evaluations, I’m at least in the top 5 of best dads for the year, I’m a decent husband, …If anything I’m worthy to be praised for the most part. Isn’t that how we all feel sometimes. I mean, how can we look on the Pharisees with judgment, when we are all trying to earn our salvation.

e. How many of us deny our thirst? How many of us drink of our own glory. We are self-sufficient and in control. Thirsty? That’s for the prostitute and the drunkard…Thirst is a sign of weakness, and I’m my own god, I don’t thirst.

f. It’s so easy to look at the Pharisee in the story and judge them. Before we do that, let’s look in the mirror and examine our own thirst. Do we go to Jesus for life giving, soul quenching water?

1.

5

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014 2.

[Slide 16] The second type of person I want to talk about is the Israelites in the story of Exodus that the water ceremony is a remembrance of. These are the people who rebel against God and self-medicate their soul’s thirst.

g. In His statement, Jesus is referring to the story in Exodus 17 [Slide 17] Exodus 17 1The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” [Slide 18]4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.

h. These are the same guys that God delivered from slavery and parted the Red Sea for. How easily they have forgotten how the Lord delivered them and how much he has blessed them. They deserved death...they were rebellious, blaming God, quarreling with Moses. The rod of God was always the symbol of punishment and judgment. When I read this story, I expected God to take the elders up to the rock and smack them around a little bit with the rod of justice. Seriously, how could they forget that God parted the Sea to deliver them from Egypt?

i. It’s easy to read the story and judge the Israelites. I mean how foolish are they …if God had parted the Red Sea for me I would never forget how amazing he is. They were so lucky back then. But, as I was preparing this sermon I realized that I am just as foolish as they are. You see, my wife and I are pregnant. We found out we were pregnant in January. We were cautiously optimistic, you see we have had 4 miscarriages before so pregnancy is a scary time for us. I remember being at work on a Wednesday…I was getting ready to suspend 4 students, and I get a call from my wife and just break down and cry. Those kids must have been freaking out. It was Michelle on the other line. We were 10 weeks pregnant, and despite seeing the baby’s heartbeat at 7 weeks, at her ultrasound that day the sack was empty, there was no more heartbeat and no movement. We lost another child. Michelle and I were devastated. We scheduled a procedure to get the baby removed and have tests run to figure out what caused it this time. Two days later, Michelle went back into the doctor because she was having some more complications. The doctor hooked her back up to the machine and was looking to see if the body was already starting to eliminate the pregnancy. What was an empty sack two days before had come back to life, the heartbeat returned and the baby was dancing. What an amazing miracle.

6

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

j. Two months later, Michelle and I are trying to buy a house. We were wanderers, much like the Israelites in the story. We felt like we have no place to lay our heads. My top 5 dad of the year status is slipping…I have to provide shelter and a place to grow for my family. I was worried. I’m sure God was thinking…really Dave, I just brought the dead to life in your wife’s womb and you’re worried about where you are going to live. Have I not done enough for your soul to rest on me, for you to thirst only for Jesus and not the comforts that you have tried to set up for yourself.

k. Again, I used to judge the Israelites for the foolishness. I mean this is the same group of people who are going to make a golden calf to worship. Who worships a golden calf? Cows aren’t even that cool. Then as I was sitting in front of my tv the other day, I wondered how ridiculous the things we worship would look to them.

i. They might think…Why do they spend so much time in front of that plastic glowing box? Why do they model their lives after the characters that show through the screen?

ii. Just like the Pharisees and the Israelites of the Old testament we medicate our thirst…with success, being busy, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, fame, the illusion of fame, entertainment, sports, having a good family, a high quality facebook/twitter/instagram page, a loving pet.

iii. What would they think of how glued our faces are to our phones? Would they wonder why the amount of likes on our instagram photos matter so much to use? Would they wonder if this world cup was more of a global worship ceremony than a global sporting event? Would they think we had exchanged their golden calf for a living dog?

iv. I think that last one is particularly fitting for LA. I mean, no matter how big of a jerk I am at work, if I have BO, bad gas, a bad hair day, if I’m mean to my wife, accidentally of course (I don’t fall short, remember)…none of that matters to my dog Baxter [Slide 19]. No matter what, he wags his cute little tail and is so excited to see me when I get home. He will kiss all over me. His love for me is unconditional. No wonder it has become popular to love our pets in the wild and crazy ways we do, in our society that is increasingly devoid of interpersonal contact, where our thirst is getting easier and easier to medicate. We have special sweaters for them, they have a special bed, with fancy dog treats…they are worshipped. Isn’t that what we want. We want to be loved unconditionally, despite our mess, despite our personality flaws or the fact that we can be cranky sometimes, that we may not have got into Harvard or make a ton of money, that we wore the same shirt last Sunday and we’re hoping no one will notice. Guess what, Baxter doesn’t notice, and he doesn’t even care, he’s going to love me no matter

7

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014 what. I’m sure if the Israelites could see us now, they might say

we’ve exchanged their golden calf for a living dog…

l. I’ve heard it said before that the hardest work is not getting men saved but getting them lost. We spend so much time either denying our thirst or medicating our thirst. [Slide 20] John Piper put it this way, “The hardest thing is not to satisfy man’s thirst but to make them feel thirsty for God. All men thirst. But not all thirst for God. We are the only species of God's creation afflicted and blessed with chronic longing. Dolphins are content to frolic in the sea, dogs are content to lie in the sun, frogs are content to bump their bellies from pond to pond. But man is not content. He is afflicted with chronic restlessness. Everything we set our hand to gets old. We fight without success against an epidemic of boredom. Fad after fad, fashion after fashion, challenge after challenge, leave us thirsty in the end.

m. God is gracious. He frustrates the human race again and again. He causes every wreath to wither, every gold cup to tarnish, every muscle to sag, every face to wrinkle, every sexual exploit to go sour, every sin to sting, until we have put him off too long. He wants us for himself. God wants to do spiritual surgery on our souls. God wants us to thirst for Jesus. Many of the wells we’ve gone to for life are not bad things, but we’ve fashioned them into our own gods.

i. Baxter will still love me unconditionally when I go home today, but instead of his love quenching the thirst in my soul, it reminds me of how God loves me despite my mess.

ii. Our small group will be glued to the tv to support the US in the world cup match today. But, win, lose or draw, my soul will thirst on Jesus.

iii. My successes in life no longer quench the thirst for God, but they remind me that I am blessed and without the favor of God I would be a complete mess.

iv. My family, instead of being my source of life, becomes a reminder to me that God is good, and even when we fail each other, his love will endure forever.

v. The problem is, when we go to the constructs of our lives in search of living water.

n. So again, I come back to the question I had at the beginning of this section. Am I and are we thirsty? Are you thirsty for Jesus’ life giving water? Again, there is no other condition that Jesus gives in this passage…we don’t have to be successful, tall, beautiful, or worthy in any way, in fact we can’t earn it. The second part of his statement begs another question. We must not only be thirsty, we need to come to Jesus.

8

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

IV. [Slide 21] Jesus the Rock

1. Jesus tells them…I know what the real water is.

2. Let’s go back to the passage in Exodus that Jesus was referring to. So, God didn’t order Moses to slap around the elders and knock some sense in to them like I thought he would. At the very least maybe God would tell Moses to have them bow down and worship the rock where his presence was. Instead, God has a different plan. It’s a different plan than my sinful heart could conjure up.

Exodus 17 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” (ALREADY READ ITALICS – just recap) 5 [Slide 22] START HEREThe LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

3. Instead of God, justly striking the rebellious lot with his rod of justice, he stands by the rock before the elders. He places his presence by the rock. He asks Moses to strike that very rock where the presence of God is. What an upside-down kingdom approach to quenching their thirst. This is a foreshadowing of what God would do through Christ.

4. Jesus knows what that story was referring to. As he watches the crowd remember that story over and over again for seven days, he can’t help himself by cry out. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

5. Jesus understands that someone has be pay for the foolishness of humanity. We continually go to the well of creation, to the gods we have formed with our own hands, to our own glory for our thirst…we have poisoned our souls with sin. Jesus knew that. He knew that he was the rock. He would be struck. He would be glorified…crucified on the cross and raised up for the forgiveness of our sins. His blood needed to be shed. The whole ceremony was about him.

6. Jesus gives us living water. This water cleanses the soul, renews our spirit, brings life where there was desert, fills us in the most satisfying of ways.

9

Knowing I AM: Gospel of John “Anyone Who Is Thirsty” John 7: 37 - 39 Kevin Haah

June 22nd, 2014

7. The scripture says, He who believes in me, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" The promise is not only that we will be satisfied, but that we will be satisfying. He promises not only that our cup will be full, but also that it will be overflowing for others. In drinking from Jesus we become not merely a receptacle, but a spring or a fountain. Jesus promises that if we drink him into our hearts, he will flow out from us with rivers of living water.

8. This longing for unconditional love, this thirst in our soul is one that only God’s presence can satisfy. Jesus can bring God’s presence into our lives. But, it was not until the rock was struck that water flowed out. John says in verse 39 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

9. There was an experience of the Spirit that could not be enjoyed until Jesus had died for our sins, been raised triumphant over death, and ascended to the right of the Father in glory. This is what the Father gives to everyone who believes. The presence and power and fellowship of the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ.

10. As I was preparing this sermon I was convicted by the words of Charles Spurgeon. He said, “Some of us know what it is to be too happy to live. The love of God has been so overpoweringly experienced by us on some occasions that we almost had to ask God to stop the delight, for we could endure no more, and if God had not veiled his Glory and his Love a bit, we would have died for Joy.”

a. When we read this, do we say, is this guy in the same religion I’m in?

b. We hear the gospel message preached every Sunday. As I was preparing, Kevin and I were reflecting on how repetitive the message in John is. Over and over again Jesus preaches the gospel and the gospel, or good news does not change.

11. Am I and are we allowing ourselves to continue to leave, knowing the good news, and yet thirst upon things that will merely wither away and leave us empty?

12. I believe we have to be done forever with the sad notion that saving faith—that believing on Jesus—is a mere decision to believe facts. No. It is a coming to him as a feast. A treasure. A banquet. A spring in the desert when we are dying of thirst.

13. The really wonderful implication for us is that God spoke of this reality hundreds of years before it

happened. It means that God was planning this for you. God was planning to send his Son. He created you to have an unquenchable soul thirst that could draw you to him. All you need is to be thirsty! He planned for Jesus to stand in Jerusalem, and for me to stand here before New City Church, and cry out: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me [Jesus] and drink.”

14. Let’s pray.