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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity |
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Psalm
116 Isaiah 12
John 11:21-44 Wells
of Salvation One
of the very first things I noticed about Powhatan County is its abundance
of Sycamore trees. The
Sycamore is a unique kind of tree. It
is found throughout the eastern United States, and as far west as Kansas.
It can live to the tender young age of 500 years, and it can
develop a hollow trunk that is a favorite den for small animals.
The Sycamore has the largest leaves of any tree in North America,
which is why it is such a favorite of people who like to hear wind
rustling the leaves, as the song, Moonlight
in Vermont whimsically recalls. The
Sycamore has the characteristic of loving water.
It is usually found along the banks of streams and rivers, which
made it a useful tool for pioneers and explorers traveling through new
territory. If they could get
to a high point of ground and view the land around them, they would look
for Sycamores, and the Sycamores would lead them to water.
Land with an abundance of Sycamores was usually land with a
plentiful water supply. This
is certainly true in Powhatan. The
county is bordered by the James and Appomattox Rivers, and has a number of
small streams running through it, many of which have had ponds and lakes
dug in them. And around these
bodies of water grow the Sycamores in abundance.
So Powhatan is fortunate in having an abundant water supply.
We are never far from one of these water sources. Yet
it would be impractical to get all our water from the rivers and streams
and ponds. We may have one in
our backyard, but it would still be a major inconvenience to go to the
stream every time we were thirsty or needed water.
Not to mention the sanitation aspect of drinking from an open water
source. I would have to be
pretty thirsty to lap up a drink straight out of the James.
Fortunately we have a simple solution to these problems.
We dig wells. Now we have water wherever we are whenever we want it.
Cold, clear, pure water. We
in America don’t always appreciate the convenience and blessing we have
in this, but if you have ever been to a country where you are advised not
to drink the water, you know how good it is to have a decent well at home. Now
imagine the value of a well in a semi-arid land like Israel.
In ancient times, wells there were often centers of villages, and
they were popular meeting places and social centers as well as water
sources. Picture hot, thirsty
people gathering at the well, laughing, talking, drinking the cool water
and splashing it on their faces and arms, and of course, “dating.”
Both Moses and Jacob met their wives at wells, for example, and I
am sure many young people happily made the walk to the local well to carry
heavy buckets of water home, because they knew that “certain someone”
would be there too. Now
picture something that brings that kind of joy and refreshment to the
souls of people. Think of an
arid, desert land, barren and forbidding.
It is the picture of life apart from God.
It is a picture of sin. But
in this desert God digs a well, and another, and another, until the land
is filled with wells of cold, pure water that brings life and refreshment
to souls. What would such a
well look like? First,
it would have to give a sense of forgiveness to people.
Isaiah wrote this morning’s Old Testament Lesson to people who
were struggling under the burden of sin, and were experiencing the anger
of God because of it. Yes,
God is angry at sin. Yes, God
does chastise sinners. Let us
be clear about this, and let us avoid the unscriptural stance of many
today who attempt to baptize all behavior as good and wholesome, and paint
God as a gentle old man who just wants us to have fun.
We know better than that. The
Bible teaches us better than that. Even
the human conscience teaches us that sin is real, and that some things are
good and others are evil. And,
when we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we have partaken of
the evil, like everyone else. And
we come to the unwelcome conclusion that we are guilty in some sense of
doing wrong. But where can we
turn to find relief from this intolerable realization?
Can anyone or anything help us escape from our guilt and shame?
Anything, any well of spiritual refreshment, any person, or
movement, or philosophy that claims to give help to our troubled souls
must first be able to deal with the problem of our guilt, or it will never
really offer refreshment. Second,
it must offer a sense of the presence of God.
People today are disconnected from God. To many, God is a myth, a great idea that does not exist in
reality. To others He is
simply a philosophical necessity, the Great First Cause that caused all
that is. Still others
consider Him the Great Enemy who throws people into everlasting fire for
having fun. A well of
salvation must bring water to this need.
It must give people the sense that God Is, and that He is near and
He cares for us, is willing to be called upon, and is willing to show us
the way of real peace and life. Third,
it must provide answers to the perplexing questions that hound human
existence. James Stockdale
was Ross Perot’s running mate in the first presidential election to hold
a televised vice-presidential candidate debate.
Stockdale was a retired Navy admiral, a POW during the Viet Nam
war, and well known to Navy and military people.
But he was an unknown to those outside of those circles.
So, when he took the mike in the introductory segment of the
debate, he began with the words, “Who am I, and why am I here?”
Needless to say, everyone in the audience burst into laughter.
I did too, watching it on TV.
But those questions are also very serious, and, sooner or later
every person has to face those questions on a personal level, but also in
the great cosmic scheme of things. Why
do I exist? Is there a reason
for my existence? Am I
created for a purpose, or do I simply exist by accident, having come from
nothing and going back into nothingness?
In short, does life matter? Do
I matter? Fourth,
a well of salvation must provide a unifying force to life as an individual
and as the human race. People
are alienated from one another, from common values and goals. Often they find that even areas of their own lives are
alienated from other areas. So
they feel fragmented, like one of the people in a Picasso painting, with
an eye in one part of the picture and an arm where a leg should be and an
ear where the mouth should be, with nothing tying the portrait together,
nothing to make sense out of life or themselves. As
Isaiah wrote chapter 12 he was telling the people that God would forgive
their sin and deliver them from the hand of their enemies. You may remember that the people of Israel were actually
divided into two kingdoms at that time, and the northern kingdom, called
Israel was fighting against the southern kingdom, called Judah, in an
alliance with the king of Assyria. God,
chastising His people for their idolatry, and their insincerity in their
worship of Him, allowed these enemies to rise against Judah.
The invading armies were already in the land, bringing death and
destruction to the outlying villages.
The king of Judah was filled with fear.
But Isaiah prophesied the failure of the enemies and the safety of
Jerusalem. Chapter 12 is a
hymn of praise to God for His mercy.
In this passage the people drink with great joy from the wells of
salvation God has provided by saving them from their enemies. Yet,
the invasion and deliverance of Judah do not exhaust the meaning of this
section of Isaiah’s book. Just
as the Child Immanuel looks beyond the current situation to something God
would do in the future, the wells of salvation also look to something God
would do that would provide great joy and deliverance to people on a much
deeper level than the mere human enemies faced by Judah.
They point, of course, to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
He is the Great Well of Salvation given to us.
And He fulfills each of the qualifications I mentioned earlier. Do
we need forgiveness? He died
for our sins. Do
we need to know the presence of God?
He is God With Us. In
Him God became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Do
we need answers to the great questions of life?
Christ is the answer. I
remember someone mocking a person who said in the course of a
conversation, “Christ is the answer.”
The mocker’s response was, “What is the question?”
My response is, “Every question.”
No matter what the question, Christ is the answer.
But especially in the great questions of life, who am I, and why am
I here? Who is God and what
is He like? What does God
require of me? What is the
meaning of life? Where did I
come from and where am I going? What
is goodness? What is evil? What is beauty, and truth, and happiness, and peace?
To these questions simply look at Christ as He is revealed in the
Bible. Christ is the answer. Do
we need someone to integrate the fragmented ideas and segments of life? Do we need something to live for, someone to give life
meaning and purpose? Do we
need something to make us whole persons again?
Again, Christ is the answer. Look
to Him as He is found in the Bible. He
alone can unify life, and humanity. He
is the great Well of Salvation. He
is the great River of Living Water springing up into everlasting life. Drink of Him freely. Drink of Him deeply. Drink
of Him often. In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
The Anglican Orthodox Church P.O. Box 128 Statesville, NC 28687 The Most Rev. Jerry Ogles, Bishop Metropolitan The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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