Designed to Leak
Designed to Leak for paper Rev. Terry Goerz, Redeemer Lutheran Church
If you have ever had to repair a leak in your plumbing you know it can sometimes be very frustrating. The apostle John though tells us we as Christians are designed to leak big time. “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” John 7: 37 – 39a
“Whoever believes in me streams of living water will flow from within him”. Like a shower head is designed to provide streams of water for our cleansing as we shower, so we are designed so that living water should flow from within us. And it is plain what that living water is. It said “by this he meant the Spirit”. So we are designed to leak the Holy Spirit. And not just a drip drip sort of leak. The Holy Spirit is to flow from within us.
All Christians receive the Holy Spirt when they are baptized: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3: 26, 27 and “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” John 3: 5
So all Christians have the Holy Spirit within them. Jesus said in our first quote “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” Christians received the Holy Spirit in their baptism, but Jesus now tells them to come and drink (the Holy Spirit). If Christians received the Holy Spirit at their baptism, why do they need to drink again? They need to drink again because Christians are designed to leak the Holy Spirit, not just leak, but to have the Holy Spirit flow from them. So they need to be continually topped up. In Ephesians Paul urges Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirt even though they have already been baptized: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5: 18
So how do we today “come to Jesus and drink the living water that is to pour out from us.” It is sad today how many people who profess to be Christians say they do not need to come to church. They feel they can worship God on their own. And that is certainly possible. But they are missing out on the most important aspect of worship. Christian worship is a two-way street. We come to God in worship and praise with both words and hymns. We offer gifts and intercede in prayer for ourselves and others. But God also comes to us with his gifts to us. He absolves us of our sins as we confess; he brings us his true body and blood to remove all trace of sin, known and unknown in our lives. Communion also works to sanctify us, to make us more and more Christ like. The Holy Spirit works in our lives through the scripture readings and the sermon to strengthen our faith and to build up our spiritual armour as we stand firm against Satan’s schemes. The benediction at the end of the service is not just some nice words to end the service. God, acting through the pastor truly blesses us. These gifts of God given to us in Christian church services is the living water we are to drink. It is how the Holy Spirit is “topped up” in us.
Well if we are regular worship attenders, how are we going to go out this week and leak it all out? You are all familiar with the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As we go about our secular lives and those around us see or witness this fruit of the Spirit in our lives or actions; living water is flowing out from us. Did you get more change at a purchase than was right and point it out to the teller. Were you patient with those you interact with, did you provide a meal for the homeless, did you make a donation to the food bank, etc. Living water was flowing from you.
Also you are aware of spiritual gifts. Some are listed in1 Corinthians 12. But these are only a few of the spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are gifts that enable the church corporately and Christians individually to fulfill the ministries God has assigned to them. Every Christian has spiritual gifts in them. Every Christian!!
What are your spiritual gifts? Ask yourself what is the ministry you have been assigned with? You may be good with numbers and serve as treasurer, using learned skills in accounting and spiritual gifts to accomplish that assigned ministry. And the same with the church secretary and all the other “things” we do to make our church work, even cutting the grass etc. As we fulfill our assigned ministries we are leaking the Holy Spirit. But we do not just use our gifts of the Spirit at church. When we pray for others we are using our gifts and leaking living water. When you use your computer skills to help your needy neighbor, when you witness your faith, when you use your wealth to support a charity and so on and so on. You probably did not realize it but you have been leaking living water in many ways even from your youth. And we all should be daily. As we now recognize that the HS is flowing from within us in many ways, as we live our daily lives, let us strive to do so more and more since we were designed to leak, leak living water.
Blessings