THIRST QUENCHER
JOHN 7:37-39
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " [39] Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
On an episode of the comedy Seinfeld, Kramer gets a part in a Woody Allen movie. He tells Jerry, Elaine, and George that he has a speaking part in the movie. His friends are speechless, and wonder aloud what the speaking part is, Kramer responds with the line that has now become a classic line in the history of Seinfeld episodes: Each character of the comedy utters the line, with differing emphasis and in differing situations. Can you guess the line? It is: “These pretzels are making me thirsty.”
Pretzels are not the only thing that makes us thirsty, we are, by nature, a thirsty group. It is said that our bodies are made up of water, 80% water. So, we need to be hydrated. We need water. We need liquid. Try abstaining from water for a long time, and you find that your body will react in ways which cry that your body is thirsty. Your mind will have trouble staying on track, your skin will grow clammy, and your vital organs will begin to shrink. You need fluids to keep the body going strong, you need fluids for your glands to sweat, for your mouth to swallow, for you blood to flow. You cannot afford to go without water.
When you are without water, you are thirsty. You need something to quench your thirst. In the field of athletics, you need a thirst quencher. Scientists have formulated a special drink to quench your thirst, if you really are thirsty.
It was early in the summer of 1965, when a University of Florida assistant coach sat down with a team of university physicians and asked them to determine why so many of his players were being affected by heat and heat related illnesses.
The researchers — Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada — soon discovered two key factors that were causing the Gator players to ‘wilt’: the fluids and electrolytes the players lost through sweat were not being replaced, and the large amounts of carbohydrates the players’ bodies used for energy were not being replenished.
The researchers then took their findings into the lab, and scientifically formulated a new, precisely balanced carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage that would adequately replace the key components lost by Gator players through sweating and exercise. They called their concoction ‘Gatorade’
Gatorade has become known as the thirst quencher, for it provides the necessary chemical nutrients to keep a body functioning smoothly after any type of physical workout. Gatorade is the thirst quencher.
We need to quench our spiritual thirsts, for within each and everyone of us is a thirst for God, for a relationship with God, for knowledge of who God is, what His nature and disposition is towards us. The Scripture puts it this way: Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee. We are a thirsty people, for by our very nature we are a people who are deprived from knowing who God is, our wills are opposed to His, and we show this in our lives, throughout our lives. We show how far apart we are from God in our short tempers, the loads of fear and guilt which is prevalent in our lives, the hopelessness, and the sleeplessness. We need the thirst for God quenched. We need His love and forgiveness.
Thanks be to God He gives us life, new life flowing as living waters from His throne of grave. In His Son Jesus, God calls all to drink from the rivers of life which flow from Jesus, God’s only Son, and our Savior.
In our text for today, Jesus cries out a loud cry. God’s people were opposing God and His will for them. God’s people were living for themselves, selfish in their lives, not responsive to God and His mercy, nor were they responsive to the needs of their neighbor. They forgot God and His mercy. And so God in His Son Jesus cries out to His people in mercy, inviting all who are thirsty to come to Jesus and drink in God’s love.
Jesus’ cry is one of invitation. God’s mercy is for you and all people. On the cross Jesus cried out, asking His Father why He was forsaken, but Jesus knew why. He was made sin who knew no sin, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He took on your sins and the sins of the world so that by His shed blood there would be forgiveness for all.
God points out your need for Jesus in His Law. There you see that you have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. There in God’s Law you find that you are condemned for your sin. You deserve Hell. You thirst for God’s mercy, you ask God for relief, and God hears your prayer. In Jesus He invites you to drink of His love, His forgiveness, not in a trickle or a stream, but in the life giving waters of forgiveness. They are rivers of life giving water. God forgives you and loves you from His heart; it is a love which flows freely, a love which will never end.
On Pentecost God poured out His Spirit on all flesh, bringing life and salvation to the world by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Faith is produced by the Holy Spirit, and Pentecost is still ongoing today, as believers share their faith in the one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen
You are invited to turn your attention to the screen to view an opportunity we have to participate in an effort in our District to spread the Gospel in the nation of Haiti.