John 7:37-39

Dan Flynn
May 11, 2008

In Numbers 11 there is an interesting story that is not often talked about. Israel has been wandering in the wilderness with Moses as their leader. The people began to complain about the food. They didn't like the food and they continued to whine and whine until Moses was ready to erupt (moms and dads, sound familiar). Moses finally prays, "God, what will I do with these people?" You can read the details in Numbers 11 but basically what God said is gather 70 elders of Israel and bring them to the tabernacle where they worshipped. This way Moses wouldn't be alone when he had to lead all these people. When Moses gathered them the Scriptures say in Numbers 11:25, "When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied (preached) but they did not do so again." They started preaching. What they said, we don't know. What we are told is that there two guys, Eldad and Medad, the dad boys, weren't at the meeting. They were hanging out in their neighborhood and the Spirit came upon them and they began to preach. This was reported to Moses with the expectation that they would be told to not do this because it didn't fit the plan. Moses said, "let them speak."

Today is Mother's Day, a fine day. A day we applaud moms and everything they do for their families. A right and good thing, call your mom today. Yet, today is also Pentecost. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Christian church. On this day in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples and other believers and dwelt within them. And these people were no longer the same.

In Numbers 11 we see the Holy Spirit present. He rests on the elders. The Holy Spirit was at Creation (Gen. 1:2) hovering over the waters. The Spirit anointed or rested upon Moses and the prophets and even on King Saul but there is a difference between the Old Testament resting and what Jesus preaches in the New Testament.

Jesus is at the major feast of the Tabernacles. Thousands of pilgrims came to Jerusalem for the feast. On the last day of the feast, the 8th day, large crowds, gathered outside of the temple. The choir was there singing and the trumpets sounded and the people were shouting joy to God. Out of the crowd came a priest carrying a golden vessel he walked through the crowd with high reverence to a pool of water outside of the temple, the Pool of Siloam. He would fill the pitcher with water and then with trumpets playing and the choir singing and the crowds shouting he walked into the temple to the high altar, up the steps to the silver basin and poured out the water. This was the Water of Life for the Jews.

It was in the midst of this major festival that Jesus speaks out. "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." Jesus is more than just resting. Resting means to settle and then go. It is not permanent but Jesus is about permanent change. He reaches out to the people around him in this large crowd and he calls out. John 7 continues, "streams of living water will flow from within him….by this he meant the Spirit…" The Spirit comes and brings change, the Spirit transforms people and makes us new. The Spirit hovered over the water and created so also does the Spirit dwell in us and make us knew.

The danger is that we can squelch the Spirit. God can be calling you and you can walk away. God never forces us to come to faith. He doesn't demand and or control, He calls us by name. And we can walk away. Jesus can put people into our lives to call out with a loud voice, like those 70 elders, and we can still drift away. We can ignore what Dan Orlovsky, the quarterback from last week, said, "He felt the nudge." Many of us feel the nudge and we deny it because it doesn't fit into our plan. How thirsty are you today? I call it Spirit Thirst. Is there a yearning, a nudge, a drive for you to know more about the God of the heavens who sent Jesus Christ. That's the living water. If you feel bland about your faith walk. You come simply out of obligation than you are in spiritual danger. Pray, "God, fill me with the Living Water. Give me spiritual thirst." He will.

A public school teacher wrote this email to me a while back. At the beginning of the school year I ask my students to fill out a short questionnaire in order for me to get to know them better. The questions are really generic (favorite food, movie, etc.) As you can imagine the answers are always just as generic. However, one student's answers have really struck home with me and made me really examine my relationship with God. From a 12 year old boy:

Who is the person you most admire? "Jesus"

A wish you have for someone else? "To know Christ."

Something about which you dream? "heaven."

Something about which you are curious? "What heaven is like."

A description of your best friend? "He paid the price for everyone."

The teacher wrote to me, "In my profession it is difficult to share my beliefs when God cannot legally be a part of the curriculum. ..I feel ashamed of myself that my first instinct would be to write generic answers…"

A 12 year old shows the teacher and the nudge happens, the thirst, the call to Living Water. My friends, Jesus calls us to more than a life of survival. Look for His promise, pray for it.

Amen.