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Creekside Church
Sermon of October 28,
2001
"Come to the
Living Water"
Revelation
22:1-9
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Rev. Dave
Eis
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Water
is such an essential ingredient to life. It is one of the
basic elements that sustain life. I am reminded of a speech
at North Manchester where it was pointed out that one of
the issues for the future will be struggles over access
to water. Water for drinking, irrigation, and watering livestock
will become a sparse commodity. With increased industrialization
and pollution with material that we are not now aware will
further diminish the available supply of clean usable water.
This can be the basis for war between those who have water
and those who need it for survival. The water that flows
from the river of life is plentiful.
There
is a song recorded by Gene Autry written by Bob Nolen that
speaks of the greatest need of the lonely cowboy is water:
All
day I've faced the barren waste without the taste of water,
cool water.
Old Dan and I with throats burnt dry and souls that cry
for water. Cool clear water.
The shadows sway and seem to say to night we pray for water.
Cool clear water.
And way up there He'll hear our prayer and show us where
there's water. Cool clear water.
Today,
this song about a cowboy and his old horse, Dan, describes
the need of our congregation. We are thirsty! We are not
thirsty for the water that comes from the faucet, but for
the crystal clear water that comes from the throne of God.
When we drink water from a stream or a faucet we get thirsty
again. When we drink from the eternal stream that comes
from God it satisfies. It heals, it saves.
When
has there ever been a greater need to drink from the water
that comes from the river of life. It is the pure crystal
clear water that heals nourishes the soul.
The
writer of the apocalyptic book of Revelations writes to
all who will hear, but especially to the Christians who
were under horrendous persecution. Under Nehru Christians
were being fed to the lions for Roman entertainment. The
writings by John in the island of Patmus were words of encouragement
given by God for the Christian community. They were words
that were given in codes that other Christians would understand.
It is a book that is probably the most misunderstood book
of the Bible.
But,
just because it difficult to read and even more difficult
to understand, that is not a good reason not to read it.
The biggest problem with Revelations is, it is not read.
Many
interpreters would have you believe that it speaks of a
time line projected into the future that foretells the future
for hundreds or thousands of years. Some would say that
this particular evil creature refers to Napoleon. This evil
creature refers to Hitler. And now some would say that there
is an evil creature that refers to Soma Bin Laden. That
is not my interpretation.
Every
time there is a crisis, some would-be prophet will stand
up and say this is being fulfilled according to the book
of Revelations. It is inspired misinterpretation. Those
messages are not void of any truth but they are subject
to misuse and abuse in ways that are incredibly misleading.
The
promise in Revelations is simply this; if you will remain
faithful during persecution until the end, God will reward
you. The only way to survive its journey is to drink from
the river of life.
Putting
it in contemporary language that most of you might understand
let me share with you this modern day parable. I used to
enjoy hearing Dale Brown tell why Cubs fans make good Christians.
Every
year the Cubs show some promise. "This might be the
year," some will say. Only to see our hopes dashed
and our dreams come to a nightmare. Then there is that old
familiar cliché, "Wait till next year."
There is something to be said about loyalty to the team
that plays in the friendly confines. The book of Revelations
would say to the Cub fans, "Don't give up, someday
you are not only going to win the pennant; you will win
the World Series as well."
The
angel is saying to the Christians, "Don't give up,
come and drink from the river of life and eat the leaves
that grow from the tree of life, so that you can be refreshed
and renewed and healed."
After
the message is delivered to John he wanted to bow down and
worship the angel.
But
the angel would not have any of that. The angel admonished
him to only worship God. That admonishment bears repeating
today. When we begin to feel insecure we want to hang on
to something that is bigger than ourselves. When we feel
insecure about the evil and violence in our country we want
to hang on to something and for many that something is patriotism.
So we buy a flag for our car and for our house and to wear
one on a lapel and we have suddenly a deluge of flags everywhere.
Who ever has the most flags and the biggest flag is the
most patriotic and to be envied and respected.
I love
my country. I am a loyal American. However, I only worship
God. In our enthusiasm to be a loyal American we run the
danger of worshiping the flag instead of the God who inspires
democracy and justice. John was ready to worship the river
of life, the tree of life, and the angel messenger. But
the angel said, "Only worship God." We can get
ourselves into trouble spiritually when we begin to worship
the flag or a political leader or anything except God.
Not
only are we invited to eat and drink from the source of
life but also we are encouraged as well to dispense these
elements. In this same chapter, a few verses later there
is a reference to "Come to the waters. Let all who
hear say come to the waters."
The
good news is that it is free; there is enough for anyone
who wants to benefit from the water.
I can
get excited about that concept. It is a call to become an
inviting Church. The Church of the Brethren has something
that is unique and satisfying in these times. The CoB has
a different way of responding to the evil in the world.
Personally, I am glad to be a member here. We have a spiritual
and rational manner of responding to terror. We are called
by God to worship him in Spirit and in truth. Some would
worship only in truth and some would only worship in Spirit.
We have a lopsided gospel if we do not do both. It is not
out of fear but in faith. It is not out of despair, but
hope. It is not out of hate, but love. The only way we can
respond to our world with faith, hope and love is if we
come and drink from the living water. We cannot do it on
our own.
Do you
remember the chorus of the cowboy song, Cool Water? It goes
like this as they struggle for water not knowing if they
are seeing a mirage or something that is real.
Keep
moving Dan Don't listen to him Dan he's a devil not a man
and he spreads the burning sand with water. Dan can you
see that big green tree where the water flows free and its
waiting there for me and you, cool clear water.
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