Season of Creation #2 – FLOWING WATER
Reading: John 7:37–39 and Revelation 22:1–5. Preacher: Phil Swain
We continue our Seasons of Creation series and hear Jesus’ invitation: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” In a world, and sometimes in lives, that can feel dry, weary or depleted, Jesus offers the renewing presence of God’s Spirit. Yet the living water Christ gives is not meant to remain within us: it flows through us, bringing life and hope to others and to creation.
Reflection Questions
Exploring the Passage (Ezekiel 47:1-12)
- In John 7:37–39, what does Jesus invite thirsty people to do, and what does he promise will then flow from within those who believe?
- John explains that the “living water” refers to the Holy Spirit. What does this image reveal about the Spirit’s presence and activity within us?
- In Revelation 22:1–5, where does the river of life begin, and what signs of healing, renewal and hope appear as it flows?
Pondering the Sermon Themes
- The sermon suggests that we can be “surrounded by blessings and still be spiritually thirsty.” What kinds of experiences can leave a person spiritually dry or depleted?
- Think about the image of the teapot with its lid closed. What might prevent us from being open to the grace and renewal Jesus offers?
- “A teapot is filled so that it can pour.” How did this image help you understand the relationship between receiving God’s grace and sharing it with others?
Going Deeper
- What is presently flowing from your life into the lives of others through your words, attitudes, priorities and actions?
- When the needs of people and creation feel overwhelming, how might it help to remember that we are not being asked to become the river, but to join in what God is already doing?
- Where is one specific place—within a relationship, your community or the wider creation—where God’s living water might flow through you this week?
Ian Ackworth has also written a bible study – you can access it here.
Sermon Text
Last Sunday, as we began this Season of Creation series, Bill led us into that extraordinary vision from the prophet Ezekiel — a river flowing out from the temple of God and into a dry and lifeless landscape. And wherever that river flowed, life returned. The water became fresh. Living creatures began to flourish. Trees grew along the riverbanks, bearing fruit for food and leaves for healing.
It is a beautiful vision of what happens when the life of God begins to flow into the dry and wounded places of creation. And our world is certainly longing for that kind of renewal.
In some places there is not enough water. There are communities without access to safe drinking water, and farmers wrestling with the effects of drought and changing weather patterns. In other places, there is suddenly far too much water, as we have seen in the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet. And in still other places, rivers and waterways which ought to sustain life have become polluted, depleted or damaged.
Creation is thirsty. Creation is groaning. Creation is longing for healing and renewal. But perhaps creation is not the only thing that is thirsty. There can also be dry places within us.
There are times when life drains us—when we become tired, discouraged, anxious or overwhelmed. There are times when we keep doing what needs to be done and keep giving what we have to give, but somewhere inside we know that we are running low.
We can be surrounded by blessings and still be spiritually thirsty.
And it is into that thirst—the thirst of creation and the thirst within us—that Jesus stands and offers the invitation we heard in our Bible reading today: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”
(Get another kids to read out the passage)
There is something important about when and how Jesus said these words. John tells us that Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of the Tabernacles. As part of that celebration, water was carried into the temple and poured out in thanksgiving for God’s provision. It was against that background that Jesus stood up and cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”
Jesus takes this powerful symbol of God’s life and provision and points towards himself.
If you are thirsty, come to me.
If something within you has become dry or depleted, come to me.
If you are carrying a weariness that sleep alone cannot fix, come to me.
Earlier in John’s Gospel—in chapter 4—Jesus had offered the same gift to the Samaritan woman beside the well. Her life had taken some difficult and complicated turns, but Jesus met her with dignity and offered her living water. He told her that the water he gave would become within her a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.
I think this is an important point: Before we can become part of God’s renewal of the world, we need to allow God to renew us. Before living water can flow through us, we must first be willing to receive it.
So what might it mean for us to receive this living water from Jesus?
Some of you with particularly good memories may remember this teapot from a sermon I preached quite a few years ago. It is a simple but effective analogy which is worth returning to today.
Let’s imagine that this teapot represents the spiritual part of our lives—our inner life, our connection with God. Jesus says, “Come to me and drink,” and offers to pour his life-giving water into us.
[Try to pour water into the teapot while the lid is still on.]
But there is a problem. If the teapot remains closed, the water cannot get in. It can be poured generously, but it simply runs off the surface.
And sometimes that can happen to us. We become so busy, distracted or preoccupied that we leave very little space to receive. Sometimes we are guarded because life has hurt us. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we should be able to manage on our own.
But Jesus continues to invite us: “Come to me and drink.”
[Remove the lid and begin filling the teapot.]
Receiving the living water of Jesus begins with opening ourselves to God. It might happen as we pray, worship, read Scripture or sit quietly in God’s presence. It might happen through a conversation with someone we trust, through the care of our Christian community, through rest, or through time spent surrounded by God’s creation.
These things do not earn us the living water. They simply help us become open to the grace that Jesus is already offering.
And so perhaps the question is not whether Jesus is willing to pour life into us. The invitation has already been given. The question is: are we open to receive it?
But, of course, receiving the water is only part of the purpose of a teapot. What is the other purpose of a teapot?
It is filled so that it can pour.
And this is the point Jesus is making in John 7. He begins:
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”
But then he continues:
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The living water is not only something we receive. It is something that begins to flow through us. John tells us that Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit— the life and presence of God at work within us … but I also think it is also referring to the love and grace and joy and hope and compassion that we receive from God.
[Pour water from the teapot into a cup or bowl.]
All of this living water flows into us so that it can then flow from us to others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are filled so that we can pour God’s life and love into the people and situations we encounter—and into the wider creation of which we are part.
And perhaps this has a particular resonance on Father’s Day. Fathers and father figures — and, really, all of us who have influence in the lives of others — pass on more than we realise. What is within us has a way of flowing out through our words, our attitudes, our priorities and the way we treat people.
At its best, fathering is not about power or control or always having the right answer. It is about helping life to flourish—encouraging, protecting, nurturing and making space for another person to grow.
So perhaps today we might ask:
What is flowing from my life into the lives of others?
- Is it something that refreshes, encourages and gives life?
- Are there people who need the patience, forgiveness, generosity or hope that God has poured into us?
Because the living water of Jesus was never meant to stop with us.
And this brings us to the second reading we heard today—the vision from the final chapter of Revelation. John sees a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river stands the tree of life, bearing fruit in every season, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
It echoes the vision we heard from Ezekiel last week: wherever God’s river flows, life flourishes and healing comes. But notice where the river begins. It does not begin with us. It flows from the throne of God.
That matters, because when we look at the needs of our world—the scale of climate change, polluted waterways, drought, flooding and communities without reliable clean water—it can all feel overwhelming. What difference can one person, one family or one church possibly make?
Revelation reminds us that none of us is being asked to become the river. God is the source of life and renewal. This is God’s creation, and its healing is God’s mission. But we are invited to become part of the flow.
One teapot can only pour a little water. One act of kindness, one letter, one prayer or one gift may seem very small. But when the living water of Christ begins to flow through a whole community—and when our small streams join with the streams of others—something larger begins to take shape. We become part of God’s river of healing.
The final vision of the Bible is not of God abandoning creation, but of God renewing it: water flowing, trees flourishing and the nations being healed.
And that leaves each of us with a question: Where might God’s living water be seeking to flow through me?
Perhaps God’s living water will flow through our generosity as we support the water pumps and irrigation at Zambia’s Child.
Perhaps it will flow through our voices as we write to our political leaders and advocate for those most affected by climate change.
Perhaps it will flow through our prayers, our daily choices and the way we care for the creation around us.
The response sheet offers several possibilities, but we do not all have to respond in exactly the same way. The invitation is simply to choose one place where the grace we have received can begin to flow through us.
Because we are blessed to be a blessing. We receive so that we can give. We are renewed so that, through us, God might bring renewal to others and to creation.
And now Jesus invites us to come. All who are thirsty, to come and receive living water, come and be filled, come and be blessed.
We are going to symbolically do this by coming up to communion table. We do not come to this table because we have everything together, or because our inner wells are already full. We come because we are hungry and thirsty. We come because we need the grace, love and renewing presence of Christ.
As we share in Communion today, we will receive the bread of life and the cup of grace. And as we come forward, there will also be an opportunity to pause at the baptismal font—to touch the water and, if you wish, make the sign of the cross upon your forehead.
The water reminds us of God’s grace made visible in baptism, and of the living water Jesus offers to all who thirst.
We are going to sing and pray – and then we will be invited to come.
Come and receive what Christ so freely gives. And then may the grace we receive flow through us—into our relationships, our community and our care for creation.
Amen.