It seems the path between spring and summer is a meandering one this year. We have had some gloriously warm days, but we have also had some surprisingly chilly days. Personally, I prefer the gloriously warm, but I don’t mind the occasional springtime chill. Probably because I know the heat of summer is coming.
You know as well as I do, in the south, the summer heat is no joke. The average summer temperatures in our part of the south hovers between the high 80s and low 90s and it is not uncommon to occasionally flirt with 100 degrees. And that is not counting the heat index. Ours is not what they call a dry heat and our proximity to the equator means we are closer to the sun than our northern neighbors. This heat has a dehydrating effect on the body and dehydration is not something you will want to dismiss.
You see, a healthy human body is made up of approximately 2/3 water. The water in our bodies lubricates our joints, aids in digestion, flushes out waste and toxins, and makes our skin look good. You can physically tell when a person is properly hydrated. However, when the normal water content of your body is reduced, by excessive perspiration that is so common during the heat of the summer, it effects the way your body functions. Three early warning signs that you are becoming dehydrated are irritability, confusion, and weakness. It is ill advised to ignore these warning signs. Ultimately, lack of hydration can lead to kidney failure, seizures, and potentially life-threatening heatstroke. Which is why (are y’all ready for a public service announcement) when you are out working or playing in the heat of a southern summer it is so very important for you to stay properly hydrated.
Keeping your body properly hydrated is important but not as important as keeping your soul properly hydrated. In our Gospel lesson from John 7:37-39 Jesus encourages us to stay spiritually hydrated, for our own good and for the good of others.
Today we are celebrating Pentecost; the day when the disciples were, as it said in our lesson from Acts, “filled with the Holy Spirit”. Filled with the Holy Spirit the disciples began to miraculously speak in other languages. The ability to speak in other languages is an amazing part of Pentecost, but it is what they were saying in those languages that is the most amazing part pf Pentecost. Filled with the Holy Spirit the Pentecost disciples finally understood who Jesus is, filled with the Holy Spirit they recognized what Jesus had done for them, filled with the Holy Spirit they were able to confess Jesus as their redeemer and savior. It is true Pentecost was a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but it is not just the Pentecost disciples who are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We all need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
You see the Holy Spirit is to the soul what water is to the body. Without the Holy Spirit the soul cannot function. In fact, without the Holy Spirit the soul is like a scorched plant that has become brittle and is easily broken. Without the Holy Spirit the soul is like an arid wasteland in which nothing can survive. Without the Holy Spirit the soul is like the dry kindling used to start a fire. In short, without the Holy Spirit the soul is dead. (The prophet Ezekiel’s valley of very dry bones comes to mind.[1])
Now, this does not just happen suddenly and unexpectedly. It is not as though a believer’s soul is filled with the Holy Spirit one moment and the next it is dehydrated and dead. There are at least three warning signs that your soul is becoming spiritually dehydrated.
First, just as a dehydrated body struggles with irritability, so also struggles the soul. An irritable soul struggles to turn the other check, it struggles to pray for those who persecute, it struggles to love neighbors as self. An irritable soul assumes the worst of others, gossips about them behind their backs, and is quick to speak a harsh word to their face. If you find that you are becoming increasingly irritable with other people, it is likely that you are becoming spiritually dehydrated.
Further, just as a dehydrated body is easily confused, so also the dehydrated soul is easily confused. And a confused soul struggles to live a life that gives glory to God. Timeless truths become outdated ideas. Increasingly the straight and narrow path grows too rigid and constricting. More and more the desire to glorify is replaced with a desire to gratify. The good it once longed to do no longer seems so desirable and the evil it once fought to avoid no longer seems so bad. If you find it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between right and wrong, then it is likely you are becoming spiritually dehydrated.
Finally, just as a dehydrated body grows weak so also a dehydrated soul grows weak. A weak soul struggles to resist temptation. It listens to Satan’s lies, it accepts the world’s rationalizations, and it indulges the desires of the flesh. If you find that it is becoming increasingly difficult for you to resist temptation, then it is likely you are becoming spiritually dehydrated.
The fact that you are all here this morning suggests that your souls are not “without the Holy Spirit”. But, if the symptoms associated with spiritual dehydration are ignored, your souls could become like a scorched plant, an arid wasteland, or dried kindling.
It is ill advised to ignore the warning signs of spiritual dehydration. Better to obey the gospel imperatives to “come” and to “drink”. In verse 37 Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” Those who obey the commands to “come” and to “drink” are, in the very next breath, identified by Jesus as “whoever believes in me”. The ones who “come” and “drink” are the ones who believe in Jesus as their Savior. They know Him as true God who became also true man. They recognize Him to be both their perfect substitute and innocent sacrifice. They confess Him to be their redeemer and savior. They are able to know, recognize, and confess these things about Jesus because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit filled the Pentecost disciples so also, He fills us, not with the blowing of a violent wind or the flicker of a tongue shaped flame, but with Word and Sacrament. With Word and Sacrament, The Holy Spirit brings thirsty souls to Jesus that they may know who He is, recognize what He has done, and confess Him as their redeemer and savior. With Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit fills our souls.
A soul that is filled by the Holy Spirit is a spiritually hydrated soul. The spiritually hydrated soul is like a vibrant plant that produces abundant fruit. The spiritually hydrated soul is like an oasis teaming with life. The spiritually hydrated soul is like a fountain bubbling in a pool. The spiritually hydrated soul is alive and well and there is evidence that supports that condition. First, the spiritually hydrated soul is a soul that is loving to others. It takes the words and actions of others in the kindest possible way, it speaks well of them defends them, and it is quick to offer a word of encouragement. Further, the spiritually hydrated soul seeks to glorify God. It seeks truth not in the opinions of man but in the pages of Scripture, it is willing to carry a cross because it knows our momentary troubles are not worth comparing with the glory that awaits us, and it humbly, submissively, and obediently prays, ‘not my will, O Lord, but your will be done’. Finally, the spiritually hydrated soul resists temptation. It wraps the word of God around it like armor, it uses the word of God to reveal how the ways that seem right to man actually leads to death, and It depends on the word of God to give it the strength to deny the desires of the flesh.
For your own spiritual well-being it is eternally important that your soul be filled with the Holy Spirit, but you are not the only one who benefits from a spiritually hydrated soul. In verse 38 Jesus tells us, out of the spiritually hydrated soul, “38 streams of living water will flow.” Saint John connects that statement to the events of Pentecost. Streams of living water flowed from the Pentecost disciples. Filled with the Holy Spirit one of those Pentecost disciples preached a powerful sermon about who Jesus is, what Jesus had done, and what Jesus means for all people. It was as if the Holy Spirit who had filled that Pentecost disciple now flowed from him. As a result, we are told about 3,000 were filled with the Holy Spirit that day.
The Holy Spirit can and will do the same through you. For some of us the Holy Spirit will flow from our lips as we tell others who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what Jesus means to them. But for the vast majority of you, your powerful sermons will not be preached in a pulpit. Your powerful sermons will be preached on the tennis court, on the golf course, and in the neighborhood pool. And your powerful sermons will likely be preached not with words but with actions. You see, many of those people on the tennis court, on the golf course, and in the neighborhood pool are more dehydrated than they know. But when they see you being kind and compassionate to others, when they see you seeking to do good, when they see you resisting temptation, they will see what a spiritually hydrated person looks like. And if they ask you how you got that way you can open your mouth and let the streams of living water flow. It may not result in 3,000 tennis players, golfers and swimmers being filled with the Holy Spirit, but how amazing would it be if there were 3! If the Holy Spirit overflowed from you and me so that from each of us 3 more were added to our number and streams of living water started flowing from more and more people … it wouldn’t take long for that number to be far greater than 3,000. But that is the work of the Holy Spirit. We will let Him worry about the ratios and results. Instead, we will focus our attention on keeping ourselves so spiritually hydrated that the Holy Spirit overflows from us and streams of living water flow into the lives of others.
Keeping your body hydrated is important, but not as important as keeping your soul hydrated. Therefore, my friends I urge you, stay hydrated. Amen
[1] Ezekiel 37