A Place of Springs

[00:00:02] In the name of jesus. Amen. [00:00:08] In the Old Testament reading this morning, we hear this beautiful image of the rain and snow coming down and watering the earth. And God says, it's not going to come back to me without doing what I sent it to do. God's Word produces life and growth, beauty, sustenance, abundance. That's what God's Word comes to do. [00:00:36] So is God promising Israel a good crop or a good. [00:00:41] I mean, is he just saying, I know it's dry, but I'm going to give you lush abundance this season? [00:00:53] Now, we wish he was saying that to us, right? [00:00:56] We could use that. And maybe they could that season, too. I don't know. I don't know what the crops were like or what the moisture had been like that season. But God is using images not just to talk about the landscape around them. [00:01:16] He's talking about the landscape of Israel. [00:01:20] He's talking about the hearts of his people in which thorns and briers have grown up. [00:01:30] And he's saying that he's going to. [00:01:32] Well, he's saying, listen to my Word, incline your ear to me so that you can live. Because my Word is like rain and snow that waters the earth and brings about abundance. [00:01:45] He wants to do that in the hearts of his people, or thinking of them all together in the heart of his people. He wants Israel to turn to him and receive from His Word. [00:01:59] That would mean receiving water. [00:02:01] Now, you know what happens when soil isn't receptive. [00:02:07] We can experience that. Well, this year I'm sure there's been flooding. Yeah, there was some flooding up up in south park, at least. Probably other places. In this dry year, the soil comes to repel water because it's so dry and the water just runs off it instead of benefiting the soil. [00:02:32] It all hinges on their receptivity. God brings the growth, he brings the life. He's the source. [00:02:41] But will they incline their ear to God? [00:02:44] Will they receive what he has to say? [00:02:47] Or will they arrogantly pursue life in other places as though it comes apart from God's Word? [00:02:58] That's the question. [00:03:01] So in this sense, in the Old Testament reading, really, Israel is the soil in which God wants to grow good things through His Word, like rain. [00:03:11] Same as the Gospel reading, where the Word is the seed, and the seed finds different kinds of soil. [00:03:20] Soil with various degrees of receptivity to what God wants to grow in it. See, the soil is our hearts, and our hearts, well, they need God's Word. They need the seed, they need the water in order to grow abundantly. [00:03:46] So we can think about this. Also, just going back to Genesis, right? Remember the description of the garden, Okay? A water, a river watered the garden and mist was coming up from the ground. Did you ever think about that line? [00:04:04] Why does that matter? A mist was coming up from the ground? [00:04:08] And I think. I don't know. I like to think about it like this. Like the river watered the garden, which means that the garden received water from the river. [00:04:19] You know, like the soil was moist. [00:04:22] Think of all that soil. And again, God uses soil to describe our hearts and the hearts of his people of Israel. [00:04:31] So the water permeated the soil maybe so much that mist was coming up from the ground. [00:04:40] And that was the setting for abundant life for trees with every kind of fruit and. And joyful abundance and peace and rest. Not the kind of rest that's just like, lack of anything. [00:04:57] The kind of rest that means productivity, like real fruit that can be enjoyed. [00:05:05] That's what God wants for you and me, is to cultivate us like a garden. [00:05:15] How does he want that? Like, how does that happen? He says, incline your ear to me. [00:05:22] So in the Gospel reading, Jesus talks about different ways that we can become unreceptive to His Word, right? [00:05:33] The cares and riches of life are an easy one to picture. The thorns and the weeds that come up and choke the Word. [00:05:44] It's happening in my yard. [00:05:48] You saw my yard. There are a lot of happy weeds. [00:05:52] There's a lot less happy grass. [00:05:55] Actually, it's partly my fault. [00:05:57] We are watering some, or so I thought. [00:06:02] Turns out, of course, the outlet was tripped. It's a gfci. [00:06:07] It was tripped and I didn't know it. And so I'm looking out and the yard's getting worse and worse. I'm just like, wow, it's a dry year. Even with the water, it's just not doing it. [00:06:18] And now we've got some really dead spots, and it's only just starting to recover a little bit. But a lot of happy weeds have grown up. [00:06:30] And it's like, well, is that, like, my life? You know, you think about. [00:06:35] Think about receiving God's Word. Like, am I praying continually? Right? Like Paul says, too, meditating on God's Word all the time. Am I like the man in Psalm 1? Right? Blessed is the one who meditates on God's Word day and night. He's like a tree planted by streams of water. [00:06:59] There are all kinds of other things that occupy my mind, right? And constantly we're tempted to look away from Christ or to forget about him or, you Know, maybe it doesn't even feel like temptation. Maybe we're just kind of walking along and not thinking much about the path that we're on. [00:07:20] Are we listening to the voice of our shepherd and following him? Is that the path? [00:07:26] Are we taking up our cross and, and following Jesus to Jerusalem, to Zion? [00:07:34] There's a beautiful line that becomes the gradual in between readings for part of the year. It's from Psalm 84. [00:07:45] Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. [00:07:55] Blessed are those who are traveling to Zion. You could think of it like taking up their cross, following Jesus, listening to the voice of the Savior and following him wherever he leads. But the next line is, they make the valley of weeping a place of springs. [00:08:20] And springs are cool. You know, the mountains are like the water cooler or maybe the water tower of the west. [00:08:29] It's kind of cool. Like all that snow accumulates up in the mountains in a good year and then it melts all year long and provides water everywhere. It's amazing. [00:08:41] But springs do the same thing, you know, like the permeable rock soaks it up like a sponge soaks up the water. [00:08:51] And then when the water hits hard, you know, harder rock, then it's forced out of the rock and it's a spring. [00:08:58] There it is. It's like, wow, where'd this come from? You know, usually water comes down from heaven, but here it is coming out of the rock and well, those who, in whose heart are the highways to Zion, who are looking to Jesus, the source of life, Jesus who, from whom water came out of his side on the cross, right? Jesus saying to the woman at the well, if you know what I have to offer, I'll give you the water of life. You'll never thirst again. [00:09:36] Or Jesus who says, come to me all you who are thirsty, who says, if you believe in me, springs of water will come from your heart. [00:09:52] It's like abundance and life and joy and peace, patience and goodness and kindness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control and. Might have missed a couple. No, those are the fruits. That's the abundance that God has promised to produce in us. Not by our works or our sort of self help approach, simply by faith. Incline your ear to me and live. [00:10:26] Open the, the doorways to your heart, the pathways to your heart. [00:10:31] Just by what? By listening. [00:10:35] Stop doing and listen. [00:10:37] And then God will produce and you'll do. [00:10:40] God who works in you both to work, both to will and to work for good purpose, right? [00:10:49] This is God's will for You. And he accomplishes it through Jesus. It's really that simple. [00:10:57] And Jesus makes it more complex, right? He'll produce in you a garden. But that's the key. It's by grace, just coming down from above like rain and snow. Nothing you can do to go up and get it. [00:11:11] And then graciously from springs right here, as God fills you with water. You who are permeable through faith and receive God's word, have God's word in you. [00:11:24] He makes you a spring in a place of weeping. [00:11:31] It's the valley of Baca. Baca means weeping. [00:11:35] They make the Valley of Baca to be a place of springs. [00:11:42] It's nice, actually, just to think about God's word as. Not just for my benefit or your benefit, but for the benefit of those around us. You think about that like your devotional life, your prayer, your attention to God and receiving him every day. It's. [00:12:03] Yeah, you should do it. [00:12:06] Yes, it'll benefit you. [00:12:08] Everybody around you needs it. [00:12:11] Your spouse, your friends, your children, your parents, people on the street, whoever it is, they need that from you. [00:12:22] They need that mist coming up from the ground. [00:12:26] You know, the abundance. [00:12:30] And again, it's not something that you produce by having a bubbly personality or something like that. [00:12:38] It's not something that you produced by developing skills and putting them to use. I mean, yeah, that can all be part of it. [00:12:48] And there are plenty of people who are out there accomplishing great feats for humanity from a certain perspective, going out and curing diseases or doing those kinds of things. But those are all temporary. We can get a little bit better at staving off death through medicine and such. [00:13:09] But in the end, that's not going to. That's not the life that Jesus is talking about. It's not the life that he comes to offer. [00:13:18] He comes to offer the restoration of the garden. [00:13:26] God gave us thorns and thistles, and we can beef up our shoes to resist the thistles. [00:13:36] We can protect ourselves from the thorns as we garden, where God has given us to garden as gardeners, as caretakers of creation. [00:13:51] But God has given us Jesus Christ, his word, to take us through suffering and death to life forever. [00:14:06] This world can be made to look abundant apart from the Word, but it's temporary, it's fleeting. [00:14:16] The place to find abundance is Jesus Christ crowned with thorns. [00:14:23] The place to find abundance is Jesus Christ in the wilderness, fasting and praying for our sake, or in the wilderness of his crucifixion, giving up everything for our sake. [00:14:38] That's where life flows From. And so we go not to where it looks glorious or abundant. We don't climb the mountain of this world, success or happiness or pleasure. [00:14:50] Fleeing pain, we go to the cross, to Jesus Christ. [00:14:58] We endure suffering for the sake of our neighbor. [00:15:02] We hang out in the valley of Baca, the valley of weeping. [00:15:08] But God makes us a place of springs, just like Jesus there his side a spring on the cross. [00:15:18] He's conforming you and me to himself. [00:15:21] What a blessing to get to be a spring in a place of weeping. I mean, you might not choose the place of weeping, but it's a real gift that Jesus would be there with us, living in us, giving us life and giving blessing to those around us through him. It's all him. [00:15:44] He brings the water, he brings the life, the abundance. [00:15:49] Thanks be to God. In Jesus name, Amen. [00:16:09] Jesus, let's stand for prayer. [00:16:35] Almighty God, in this season of historic dryness, we ask for rain to water the earth. [00:16:47] We ask that you would bring blessing and abundance and you would bless firefighters and all those affected farmers, all those who are affected by the the dry weather and that you would bring relief and provide for those who are suffering from it. [00:17:08] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:17:13] Father, bless those who are experiencing the wilderness in the form of pain or challenge difficulty. [00:17:23] We pray especially for Paul and Mary, Teresa, Allen, Vernon, Rachel, Jim, Bob and Carolyn Virtus, Karen, Linda, Dick, Ellen, Christy, Bruce, Bill, Lorene, Les, Gordon, Ruth and all those we name in our hearts. [00:17:59] Father, you've given them and us abundant promises through Jesus, promises of forgiveness and life of rest in him. [00:18:11] Be their strength and shield. [00:18:14] Be their abundance and life. Make them springs in the valley of weeping. [00:18:18] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:18:23] Bless the family of Gary Kemp who passed away in the Lord, give them comfort and assurance through the resurrection of your son, Jesus Christ. [00:18:38] Give comfort also to Arlene and all the Otto family. [00:18:44] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:18:50] Lord Jesus, we thank you for the gifts that you bring and the abundance that you bring. Help us to lift our eyes away from the things of this world when they draw our attention unduly. Help us to look to life after this life. Help us to look to the end of things and not simply our circumstances now. Give us endurance and patience to bear with pain and difficulty and to suffer for the sake of our neighbor. Now in order to receive eternal glory with you. [00:19:30] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:19:33] Bless our nation and those who lead us. Bless those who work to protect us. [00:19:39] Be especially with members of the military and police officers. [00:19:45] Firefighters first responders bless them in their work. Give them courage. [00:19:50] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:19:53] Father, you send your word like rain and snow. [00:19:58] And we pray for those who are unreceptive, that you would soften their hearts, that they would make them ready to receive your word and the life that you have to offer. [00:20:11] Bless the preaching and teaching of your word here in our church and school and throughout the world. [00:20:18] Bless the mission, the ministry of your church, the ministry of your son, Jesus Christ, and make more to come to know you and your promises. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. [00:20:33] Father, this morning we receive the gift of your son's body and blood for our incorporation into Jesus body, Jesus, making us one with him, and therefore your children and heirs of you with Christ. What does that even mean? What a blessing. We ask that you would give us wonder and joy at this blessed mystery. You give us faith and humility to receive it, to recognize our own unworthiness, and to receive from you every good thing also. Lord, give us unity at this table to recognize one another as those who have been redeemed by Christ, made in your image, remade in your image and bound together in his body. All these things we ask through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.