The Water That Gives Life
[Extract of World Water Day Sermon]
By Dr. Anthony G Reddie
Mark 1: vv 10: Jesus’ Baptism
Water is perhaps with air, the most elemental of entities in the world. Put simply, we cannot live without water. Water is essential to life. It is perhaps because of the basic elemental quality of water that many cultures and religions have placed particular importance on it as a way of representing the divine.
The importance of water as a metaphor or analogy for talking about the essential qualities of God become all the more pronounced when the context in which such conversations are located are those that are particularly arid or desert like in their appearance. So it was with the ancient land of Israel and Judea. The so-called Middle East as we have been taught to call it, is an area that is particularly arid, where rain fall is sporadic; making water a very precious commodity indeed.
Especially in this context, perhaps, it is no wonder that water took on a special importance as a way of highlighting the central importance of God as the provider of the very means of life and the continuing sustenance of that life.
In the early Church, when converts were being put through their paces, being trained to understand the Christian life (often called the Catechumen); the culmination of this process was Easter Sunday, the traditional end of Lent. In the service on Easter Sunday, converts would be baptized into the family of God, in the name Christ, echoing Jesus’ own baptism as recorded in Mark 1: 9-11.
Baptism involves water, which symbolizes the new life in Christ for the Christian believer. The church does not believe that the water is to be literally understood as God nor is there any magic qualities in the water per se, but it does symbolizes an essential quality of God as both the giver life and the new resurrected life of hope in Jesus the Christ.
And yet for all its importance both as a natural, real resource for life or as symbol for God’s life-giving presence within creation, there is always a tendency to take water for granted; so much so, that it is only in its absence that we see the true potency of significance of it our lives – both individual and collective.
Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus challenging those who would, through their enforcement of unjust rules and structures, deny the free access to God that is the right of every human being, especially those who are poor and on the margins of society. Just as access to water must be given to all, so too does God seek to restore all those who are denied access to God’s own self through the life changing presence of Jesus.
On this World Water Day when we remember the central importance of water as an elemental force in the world that is essential for life and well being, let us consider all those people who are denied access to safe, clean water. All those who cannot afford to buy water. All those who find their access to water rationed and controlled by those with the power to do so. Jesus’ baptism at the start of his ministry, with water, in the river Jordan, marked his commitment to an ongoing ministry, both within his initial life and in his continuing life that seeks to offer all people the full and abundant life (John 10:10) that is symbolized by water (baptism) – the new life in Christ, which is available to and for all people – free of charge and without restriction.
May all those who are denied access to water – an essential element for life, find not only the water they need, but God’s very self, who is often symbolized by water and is the creator of all things, including water.
Amen
Popularity: 3% [?]
