LIVING WATER OFFERED FROM A DIRTY CUP?

How often are pastors and lay leaders offering Living Water from a dirty cup?  The answer is “far too often.”  When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well he said to her, in contrast to the water drawn from the well and in referring to himself,

“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water I shall give him will become to him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

Like the six water jars at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1-11) each holding twenty to thirty gallons, we are to be filled to the brim and transformed to bring the Living Water, Christ himself, into the lives of those who thirst.  In so doing we are means of grace, called to be filled with the very presence of God and to pass his grace and essence onto to a world of people seeking Living Water.

If sin remains and returns again and again into the life of the believer and is not dealt with, even the most serious, well-intentioned follower of Christ becomes a dirty cup in need of cleansing.  We can go through the motions of passing the water of life to others, but if we’ve sinned, if we’ve been disobedient, if we return to the old wells of carnality and sin, how can God use a dirty vessel.  He will not.

Pornography is a scourge in the lives of many.  It is no longer restricted to adult bookstores.  It dominates the internet, is readily available to children, and holds an insidious grip on many pastors and lay leaders.  It is directly tied to human trafficking.  Make no mistake.  There is great sin in the camp.  You may ask why the church is not being more effective in winning the world for Christ, why there is not a great awakening of to a movement by the Holy Spirit to transform the culture, why so many Christians seem asleep, dissipated in their faith.  Why is the preaching and teaching in so many churches ineffectual and lacking in God’s blessing and results.  The cup is dirty.  Too many, including pastors and lay leaders, are living in the deep abyss of sin with all the guilt that goes with it. God will not honor a desecrated life, a dirty cup.

We are not inevitably chained in bondage to sin and guilt of pornography or other sins (gossip, lies and deception, modern idolatry, self-centeredness rather than Christ-centeredness, and so on) that so easily beset us.   God can and will cleanse our hearts and lives and give us power over sin, but he requires obedience if we are to stay clean and pure within and filled with the Living Water of God's presence.  When temptations come, and they always will, the Holy Spirit can empower us to turn away from sin, to live life pleasing to God, and in obedience continuing in Christ. In the words of Oswald Chambers, "God does not save us from temptations.  He sustains us in the midst of them."  The Psalmist wrote (Psalm 51:10 -13) –

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and restore a right (steadfast) spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.

O Gracious Lord, Living Water, fill our cups.  We lift them up.  We will do our part and in obedience to keep our lives clean.  We will be vessels you can count on.  Because of your faithfulness, out of our hearts flow rivers of living water.  Amen.