Monday, March 24, 2014

Reflection: "Is the Lord Among Us or Not?" (March 23, 2014)

The 3rd Sunday in Lent
Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-26

After God had delivered Israel from slavery and death with a mighty hand, they found themselves in the desert without any water. They knew that they could not live for long without it. In their thirst, they grumbled against Moses and demanded that he do something. “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” they accusingly asked him. Moses looked to the Lord to provide and, true to form, God gave His people water — from a rock nonetheless! Even though the Lord had provided the water that they needed, He was not pleased with His people’s lack of faith. After all that He had done for them and despite the miracles that they had witnessed and experienced, they questioned His faithfulness by saying “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Like the Israelites in the desert, the woman who encountered Jesus at the well in Sychar questioned God’s presence and purpose in her life. They had expressed their weakness of faith through their words, but she expressed it in her actions. Having gone through five husbands and then living with a man who was not her husband, she came to the well at a time when she could avoid facing the people of her village. She did not expect to find anyone else at the well, let alone a prophet who would expose her sins and sinful attitude. Once she realized that this man was extraordinary, she wanted to know “Is the Lord among us or not?” Jesus answered her by giving her living water from the Rock.

We have received that same living water. It’s the water that brought us new life in Holy Baptism. It’s the water that washes away our sins in the words of forgiveness spoken in the Absolution. It’s the water that refreshes and renews us each day in the spiritual desert of our fallen world as the Spirit lives and works in us. In light of how the Lord has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death and with such an abundant stream of living water welling up and overflowing in our lives, how could we ever wonder “Is the Lord among us or not?” Yet, in our own ways, we do.

Jesus invites us to come to Him and drink deeply of the living water that He provides in His Word and Sacraments. Through these gifts, He brings life to those who are thirsty in the dry and dusty spiritual wasteland of our world. And He assures us that, in His grace, mercy, and love, the Lord is among us, now and always.

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