J-2: The eternal thirst quencher

Throughout history there has been many famous war ships.  There is the USS Missouri where Japan surrendered to end World War II. There is the USS North Carolina, famous within its own state. Then there are some that are famous for their size, such as the USS Nimitz. There is one ship that may be more infamous than famous, the USS Indianapolis. The USS Indianapolis departed San Francisco carrying the first atomic bomb. They arrived at their destination with few problems. After the package was dropped off they were instructed to meet up with a fleet of ships to prepare for an invasion of Japan...but they never arrived. July 30, 1945 they were torpedoed by a Japanese sub. The damage was so bad the ship went down in 12 minutes with 300 men and leaving over 900 in the water with nothing more than a life vest and a few rafts.

For 5 days these men drifted in shark infested water as they awaited a rescue.  During that 5 days the numbers dwindled quickly. While sharks got many of them, others simply died from dehydration. Here they were surrounded by water and couldn't drink it because the salt water would do more harm than good.

Last night I was reading through John and came across the story of the women at the well. At this well Jesus broke down social barriers by asking this women for a drink. It was there Jesus turned the need from physical to spiritual. While we don't know a lot about her background we do know she had been involved in many relationships and was in one at the moment. From one standpoint this woman was thirsting for something but constantly kept drinking 'salt water.' What she thought would satisfy a need just created more of a need and she kept returning to the same place over and over.

In this passage Jesus offered her 'living water.' Verse 4:13-14: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. What makes it living, it is constantly being replenished.

How many of us are drinking 'salt water' instead of 'living water?' It may be constantly finding ourselves in bad relatioships...it may be constantly making destructive decisions...the fact of the matter is there is a thirst we are trying to satisfy. There is nothing on this earth that will satisfy...the only solution is what Jesus offers. It changed the life of an ostrized woman and it is still changing lives today.

For those have discovered the living water, I believe an awakening is taking place...there are many who spent their 20's and 30's doing what they've wanted and now they suddenly realize how thirsty they have become...these people are starting to return to the well...are we going to offer them 'living water' or are we going to send them away because they don't meet our 'social standards thus sending them back out into a world full of salt water.

Perfection

Sometimes I have a problem...I want things to be perfect. Over the last 6 to 8 weeks I've been using powerpoint slides while preaching. When it comes to these things I want it to be perfect and I work my hardest to get it that way. This Sunday I was thrown a curve ball. I began my second point and realized the slides had gotten out of order. The frustration began growing inside of me because I knew I'd checked it more than once and now I was looking "foolish." For the rest of the sermon my concentration was gone...but I learned that God is more powerful than my imperfection.

Jesus tells a story in the Bible about a man who wanted to become a disciple. Jesus invited him to come and his response, 'Let me go bury my Father and I will.' Jesus response, "Let the dead bury the dead.' Was this Jesus being uncompassionate? To begin with Jesus had insight we don't. If his Father was close to death why wasn't he at home caring for him at that moment? Chances are this man's father was not anywhere close to death so it could be years before this man returned. In some ways this man wanted to follow but he wanted to wait until things were perfect.

Sound familar? There are times God has called us to something...we get all excited and say 'YES but wait til...I am more financially secure...til my chilidren are grown...til I retire I'm so close'...bascially wait until life is perfect. Guess what...life will never be perfect so we might as well say 'Yes' and begin moving. This morning I was riding down the road when I heard a story that really impacted me. This story had to do with Japan. Japan has been devastated by an earthquake and tsunami yet when word reached them of the destruction in the South, especially Alabama, they chose to give and help these places re-build. Things in Japan are far from perfect, yet they are giving money that could go toward re-building their own country. Whatever they give may pale in comparison to what they've recieved but what an impact this has on the lives that will be touched by it...Life upon this earth will never be perfect but God can work powerfully through our imperfections.