1 DATE: JANUARY 13, 2013 SERMON TEXT: Luke 3:15, 20-22 SERMON TITLE: Water I want to begin my sermon this morning by talking about water. So if you need to take a potty break, now would be a good time to go because all this talk about water may be more than your bladder can stand. I begin with creation. In the beginning God created the earth and it was on the third day that God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry ground appear. Then God called the dry ground land and the gathered water he called seas. At the same time God put vegetation on the land and seed-bearing plants of all kinds. And there was evening and there was morning the third day. It was on the fifth day that God said, Let the water teem with living creatures... So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems according to their kind. And there was evening and there was morning the fifth day. Because the earth is a closed system, the amount of water that is on the earth today is the same amount that was on the earth at the time of Creation: 326 million cubic miles of water.
2 There are two kinds of water on the earth fresh water and salt water. Of the 326 million cubic miles of water, only 13% of it is fresh water. The rest is salt water. On the sixth day God created human beings. We read in scripture that all the creatures that God created were formed out of the ground, human beings included. The fact of the matter is that the human body is made up largely of water somewhere between 60% and 75%. The human brain is 75% water. Bones are 25% water. Blood is 83% water. And a chicken is 75% water. We humans can live about a month without food, but only a week without water. Of all the water on earth only 2% of it is safe to drink. Over 2 billion people do not have a safe supply of drinking water; 3.5 million people die each year from water-related diseases, mostly diarrhea. Every 20 seconds a child dies of a water-related disease. That means by the time my sermon has ended 45 children will have died. The United States uses about 346 million gallons of fresh water each day. Most of the water each and every one of us uses is to flush the toilet, to take a shower, or to brush our teeth. The amount of water we use taking a five-minute shower is the same amount of water a person in a developing country would use in one day.
3 Water has the ability to destroy. Many of you have been on mission trips and have seen firsthand water s destructive power. Water has the ability to create. Water in liquid and solid form has created some of the most gorgeous landscapes in America. Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon? From a theological perspective water has helped shape many of the rituals and sacred practices in the church. Throughout the Bible water has been symbolic of the cleansing power of God. Take the story of the Great Flood. The people on the earth had become so evil that the only way for God to save the earth was to wash away the evil that existed on the earth. Water in the Old Testament is also seen as a liberator. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, they were being hotly pursued by the army of the Egyptians. Moses used his staff to part the waters of the Red Sea so the Hebrews could escape on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to cross over as well, they were swallowed up by the advancing waters. One of my favorite images for water in scripture is its sign for service: 1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel
4 around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 7 Jesus replied, You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. 8 No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. 9 Then, Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! 10 Jesus answered, Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you? he asked them. 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. As one of our two sacraments, being baptized as a child or as an adult is a sign of our rebirth into the care of the church and a sign of God s grace and forgiveness. Think for a moment about the birth of a child. I have not had the privilege of witnessing childbirth firsthand, but I know that the process begins with the water breaking along with a lot of pain. Although it is much more complicated physiologically than I care to get into this morning, for nine months a baby is
5 literally bathed in the water of its mother s womb. When the water breaks forth, new life springs eternal from the womb. The same process takes place when we are baptized, symbolically of course. I was baptized as a believer in Mill Creek Church of the Brethren on December 6, 1964. There was a baptistery in the basement of the church. Imagine, if you can, downstairs in our own social room a sunken tub about the size of a hot tub buried in the floor of the stage. The floor boards were removed; the tub was filled with water. The pastor descended into the tub and baptized the children one by one. Each child was put up and down three times, once in the name of the Father, then of the Son and finally of the Holy Spirit. Symbolically, coming out of the water is just like the birth of a newborn. Once you emerge you are a new person washed by the purifying waters of baptism. The same happens when we baptize an infant. The same symbolism applies. The child is brought before the church and is born anew by the purifying waters of baptism. Having once been baptized means that once it is done it never needs to be done again. And once we have been baptized we rely forever on the reconciling love of a forgiving Father in Heaven. Today we recognize the Baptism of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Today his ministry among mankind began. Through the waters of baptism Jesus was
6 transformed into the Savior of the world. It is very possible that a molecule of water that drenched Jesus body was a molecule of water that we drank today or covered our bodies with as we bathed this morning. Water is a marvelous creation of God. In nature it is life-giving and life- sustaining. In the church it is life-giving and life-sustaining. Thank God for the gift of water. I close this sermon with the beautiful prayer of our baptism liturgy. Hear the words again as we thank God for water s recreative power: We thank you, O God, for the gift of creation called forth by your saving Word. Before the world had shape and form, your Spirit moved over the waters. Out of the waters of the deep, you formed the firmament and brought forth the earth to sustain all life. In the time of Noah, you washed the earth with the waters of the flood, and your ark of salvation bore a new beginning. In the time of Moses, your people Israel passed through the Red Sea waters from slavery to freedom and crossed the flowing Jordan to enter the Promised Land. In the fullness of time, you sent Jesus Christ who was nurtured in the water of Mary s womb. Jesus was baptized by John in the water of the Jordan, became living water to a woman at the Samaritan well, washed the feet of the disciples, and sent them forth to baptize all the nations by water and the Holy Spirit. Bless by your Holy Spirit, gracious God, this water. By your Holy Spirit save those who confess the name of Jesus Christ that sin may have no power over them. Create new life in the one baptized this day that she may rise in Christ. Glory to you, eternal God, the one who was, and is, and shall always be, world without end. Amen.