Thirsting for God
Sermon for Maundy Thursday, year B
Bible reading: John 19:28
Jesus spent his ministry surrounded by water. He was baptized in the River Jordan. He changed water into wine at Cana. He walked on the Sea of Galilee. He chose fisherman as disciples. He calmed storms. He washed feet. And now, as he hangs on the cross, he cries out, ‘I thirst.’
It is a bit like the Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
Water, water, everywhere
And all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink
Jesus spent his life with water, everywhere. And now, in his final minutes, he hasn’t a drop to drink. He is de-hydrated. He lacks the most basic human need. And in lacking this most basic thing, he also lacks everything. He is without water, he is without breath and soon he will be without life.
Later tonight we will have the stripping of the altar. This symbolizes the crucifixion where Jesus was stripped of his clothing, his dignity and his life. Jesus knows what it is to suffer. He knows what it is to be in need, to thirst. Not just a physical thirst but an absolute thirst.
What about us? Do we know what it is to be in need? We tend to have our most basic needs met: water to drink, food to eat, houses to live in.
What else do we need? What else do we thirst for?
Well, some of the things we thirst for are very positive; they are good, even godly, desires. We thirst for enjoyment in our work. We thirst for social and political justice. For peace in our local area. For harmony in our home. For rest in the busyness of life. We thirst to be content. There is also that fundamental human thirst for a clear conscience; for the removal of guilt and sin. We reflected on this at length tonight in the confession. All of these are good and godly desires.
Other things we thirst for are not so positive. We might call them ungodly desires. We thirst for power to meet our own ends; to be served rather than to serve. We thirst for more and more money; more and more possessions, even if they belong to other people. We want to set the rules for our own life; to be our own boss and our own god. The Ten Commandments warn us to watch out for these ungodly desires.
We are thirsty people. And at times we struggle to make sense of our own thirsts, our own desires. We thirst for answers. We thirst for meaning. And ultimately, whether we realize it or not, we thirst for God. As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after you.
Augustine writes, You made us for yourself O Lord and our hearts are restless, until they find rest in you.
To be human is to thirst for God.
That brings us to the cross. Here, Jesus embraces every single human thirst: our longing for enjoyment, or justice, or peace, or rest; our longing for power or money or possessions; our simple longing for water and food and shelter. They are all contained in the thirst of Jesus. He knows the good and bad, the godly and ungodly yearnings of each heart. He knows what we desire, what we thirst for and what we truly need. All these things he bundles up, throws over his shoulder and carries up the tree. There he presents them to the Father. He cries I thirst
, on our behalf. And then he dies, on our behalf. He dies with our thirst and our sin on his back
We are thirsty people. Where can we go to be filled? We know that God forgives sin but where does God forgive my sin? Where does he give me a good conscience? Where can I go to get a piece of the action?
The psalmist writes: My soul thirsts for the living God.
Where can I go and meet him? Because sometimes it seems to us that God is a long way away. It seems that he is no where to be found. Why are you so far from me, O God?
But, my friends, God is not far from each one of us. He is accessible to us exactly where he has promised to be. He meets us in his word. He meets us in the waters of baptism. And tonight, especially, he meets us in the Lord’s Supper, where he is present for us.
The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, the Eucharist – whatever you like to call it – is a special focus on Maundy Thursday. Because on this night, Jesus instituted his meal, his last will and testament, his legacy to us. And he said some very familiar words. Let’s not let them become so familiar that they lose their wonder and mystery: This is my body… this is my blood, given for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Here God’s forgiveness becomes ours. It is given to us. It is not merely forgiveness floating around out there somewhere, but it reaches us. It hits home. How else could it be of any use? It would be like having water everywhere but not a drop to drink
. It would be like a little boy at Easter who knows there is chocolate to be had, but is unable to find a single piece for himself.
We need a place to go to find God’s riches. We have come to right place. At the Lord’s Table, God quenches our fundamental thirst. He forgives us and unburdens our conscience. He gives us rest and renewal – both physically, as we come here and take time out from our daily chores, and also spiritually.
He promises us eternal life. Jesus said to the woman at the well:
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become in that person a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
This life giving water sustains us. Therefore, we can endure this world in which our desires and thirsts sometimes go unfulfilled, and sometimes are hard to make sense of. But we know that God quenches our greatest thirst. Christ says, Blessed are those who thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
And Christ is our righteousness. He fulfills our deepest desire to see and know God. He does so in his Holy Meal. So come and receive the riches of God, the mercy which Jesus cried out for, and which he now delivers to us in His Supper. In the words from the Revelation:
Come! The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who desires take the free gift of the water of life. And thirst no more.