Sermon

August 16^th 2009

“Water-the elixir of life”

 

Exactly a year ago I arrived in Bermuda and stayed for the first week at Greenbank Guest House. There was a little sign in each bathroom. It said simply ‘Water is Bermuda’s most precious resource – please do not waste it.’ I then discovered the ingenious but necessary way in which Bermudians collect and conserve their drinking water and the requirement that each house is built with its own water tank beneath to catch rainwater. After I had taken my first service a man came up to me and said rather fiercely “Let me give you a piece of advice!” Oh dear, I thought, one service in and I have already trodden on some taboo. He then delivered his advice: “Drink plenty of water!” Well, I have tried to follow his advice. All the health experts tell us that we should drink 2 litres of water per day (that’s 4 pints for all you traditionalists).

If you haven’t guessed by now, WATER is the theme of today’s service. Water in nature, water in the Bible, water as the elixir of life.  I’ve got water on the brain.  In fact, in common with all of you, I’ve got water IN my brain: 75% of our heads are composed of water. Here are some more facts: Humans can go 4 weeks without food but only 3 days without water without fatal results. 2/3rds of the earth is covered by water and yet 2/3rds of its population live in water-stressed areas. That’s because only two and a half per cent of the Earth’s water is fresh water and of that only 1% is available. The rest is  underground or frozen as ice or snow. The frozen water exercises a peculiar threat were it all to melt; the seas would rise 70 metres and engulf vast areas of the globe.

That role of water as a balance, without which human life could not function or even exist, is one that needs a little explanation and it means talking a little science. Water is H2O - composed of two atoms of hydrogen (the lightest and simplest element) and one atom of oxygen. The way the hydrogen atoms cling to the oxygen results in some very crucial properties, one being that ice floats. That's not unusual.   I can hear all those G+T drinkers think.  Well, in fact water is weird in this respect. The solid state of most things is much denser than the liquid state and therefore sink. Usually what happens when a solid is formed is that the molecules become more tightly packed together. When things melt, the molecules move apart and get liquid. But with water the solid state is less dense than the liquid.

Why is that significant? Because if it were not so, the ice would fall to the bottom of the sea and the seas would freeze from the bottom up, killing all marine life. The weirdness of water is in fact essential to life on earth.

Water is also way out of line in that it boils at an extremely high temperature for its size. Why? Because of those extensive hydrogen bonds they want to hold the water molecules together and there are a lot of them! (in scientific jargon, it has a high specific heat and heat of vaporization).The process of boiling requires that the molecules come apart: a process that takes a lot more energy than expected. We use that fact in hot water bottles to take the heat out again. The freezing point of water is also much higher than expected, again because of this hydrogen bonding. If water were "normal", it would be a gas at room temperature. No lakes, no rain, no body fluids!

The nearly universal solvent properties of water to dissolve things is also due to hydrogen bonding. But on the other hand the hydrophobic effect, or the exclusion of compounds containing carbon and hydrogen (non-polar compounds) is another unique property of water caused by the hydrogen bonds. The hydrophobic effect is particularly important in the formation of cell membranes. The best explanation is that water "squeezes" non-polar molecules together. Another consequence is that oil and water don’t mix. If they did the oil barons would never have been able to refine oil so easily.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t follow all this science. The fact is: Water is unique and exercises a balancing role in our fragile biosphere. If it didn’t have these unique properties life could not exist on earth. That makes me appreciate water as something that is integral to God’s creation of the earth and of life.

The Bible gives water an important place throughout its pages. In the account of Creation in Genesis, water covers the earth and it is from the water that the heavens and the earth emerge. In the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2, a river flows out of Eden to water the Garden. Life and water are inseparable.  Water plays a key role in other stories. When Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the desert to die, the angel of the LORD finds Hagar a spring. One of the first covenants between humans in the Bible is about water-use. After Abraham complains to King Abimelech about access to a well, they swear an oath about access to the well’s water and name the well - Beersheba -  the “well of the oath” (Genesis 21:25-34).

After the Israelites follow Moses into the desert, they doubt God’s abundance and complain to Moses that they are being brought into the wilderness to die of thirst. First, they complain of bitter water at Marah (Genesis 15:24) and then, despite God having turned the water sweet and leading them directly to Elim, a place of 12 springs, they still complain that there is no water when they come to Horeb. In the Old Testament reading today (Exodus 17) they are still at it, moaning again! Moses then strikes the rock with his shaft and water flows out. The same story is also found in Numbers 20. Interestingly in the Numbers 20 version, Moses is punished with not seeing the Promised Land, because he did not give God the credit for bringing the water from the rock. Here is another lesson that we should not take water for granted but see it for what it is - a gift of God .

Many Psalms and Proverbs remind us of God’s bountiful gift of water and our need to share that gift. Proverbs reminds us that the one who gives water will get water. Proverbs 25:21 directs us to give food and drink to even our enemies: “and if they are thirsty give them water to drink.” And Psalm 65 is overflowing with references to water.

For Jesus, sharing God’s gifts was often exemplified using water. In Matthew 10:42 he says “who ever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple -  truly I say to you, none of these will lose their reward.” But John’s Gospel uses water with even greater symbolism. In John 2, Jesus turns water into wine, symbolizing his own sacrifice. In chapter 4 from which I have just read, he meets the woman at the well of Samaria and offers her “living water, from which she will never thirst again.”

Despite the abundance of water on the Earth, we humans are doing a rather poor job of sharing the abundance. Concern over the pollution of freshwater and many efforts to limit access to fresh water has led the United Nations to declare 2003 “The Year of Freshwater.”

According to the United Nation Committee on Economic, Cultural, and Social Rights water is not just an economic commodity, but a human right. “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses.” (document 2002)

 This is a not a religious document but in effect it is saying that water does not come from our own efforts, but is provided by God for all humankind. Those that declare water to be best provided by private efforts are repeating Moses’ mistake of not recognizing God as giver of water.

Today, some 1.1 billion people do not have regular access to clean safe drinking water and some 2.4 billion do not have adequate sanitation or sewage, according to the United Nations. According to the World Council of Churches, 80 percent of the disease in poor countries of the world is related to poor drinking water and sanitation. Six thousand children a day will contract diseases linked to unhealthy water. Forty percent of the world’s population goes thirsty every year, while in the United States, water use continues to climb (and with it, profligate waste), whereas in East Africa water use per capita has halved in the last 30 years and , women and children now walk an average of 21 minutes for each trip to collect water. Note, they WALK they don’t turn on a tap!

In Matthew 25, Jesus elaborates on the comments made in Matthew 10 about providing a child with a cold drink of water. He, Jesus, declares that one of the ways both individuals and nations will be judged is by the way we have basic needs to the least, the poorest members of the human community. The stakes are high. This is the passage about the Last Judgment which goes on to say that those who do fulfill this command are promised eternal life. Those who spurn this obligation give themselves eternal punishment.

Jesus said ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.’ So let us use our water wisely and well.

 

 To conclude, here are five principles which I believe are utterly in line with Christ’s teaching:

 

1.APPRECIATE water as unique and wonderful in its properties

2.CONSERVE it, not waste it , for it is a precious resource for life on earth

3.SHARE it, with those who lack it, for no fault of their own

4.DO NOT POLLUTE water lest you harm other creatures

5. Last of all, for your health’s sake DRINK IT!!

 

 Cheers!