Proper 21 A + Living Water + 9.27.26

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Exodus 17:1-7;  Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32)

Some of you are familiar with the farm church that was formed around the Abundant Table farm, and which now continues in a different iteration. When I would join the farm church for worship at a local community garden, often with Ted, our music director, I loved a simple moment in which we passed a container of water and used it to bless ourselves, lifting up water as a holy source of life in our area of Southern California and the Central Coast. Local theologian Ched Myers calls all of us in his book Watershed Discipleship to connect with and claim a relationship with our local watershed. For those of us in the Oxnard plain, we are part of the Ventura River Watershed. As we spend time at local sources of water, we feel more connected to our local ecology and also to our forebears on this land, and the indigenous people who continue to reside here as co-guardians with us settlers.
It is therefore very fitting that in the Anglican Communion’s Season of Creation that the theme for this year is Living Water. And today’s passage from Exodus speaks of the Living Water that God provides. The Israelites are in the wilderness and rightly fear thirst. We might look at them grumbling and judge, but as anyone who has gone hiking in a chaparral or desert location knows, it is not safe to wander without water. They are rightly afraid. And God guides to a source of water. The people cannot take this source with them, but for now they can have their fill, and be sustained that little bit longer.
They are called to simplify and trust in God’s provision. Today’s scriptures remind us that when we over complicate things we are not always good stewards of the gifts that God has given us. In Philippians we are called to self-empty like Christ, to regard others as better than ourselves. Only in so doing was Jesus able to live out his role as the Son of God.

 And those who are questioning Jesus in the Temple seem to want to complicate things. They wish to catch him out, asking him on whose authority he is teaching and healing. And he turns it back around on them. He asks them, was John’s Baptism from God, or not? What I find fascinating about this passage is how they tie themselves up in knots. Why don’t they answer from their hearts? Because they are afraid.

Speaking at our Wednesday Bible Study, Fr. Will pointed out how much we mess things up with fear, and how as Christians we must be not afraid. He told us of a town in France, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. During World War II, they had a pastor who decided to shelter a Jewish family. But it wasn’t just him, but many families in town also sheltered other Jews seeking refuge from the Nazi Vichy Regime. Will shared that there were two factors that allowed this to happen. First, the villagers, perhaps despite fear, persevered, because it seemed the right thing to do. As one said, “We had no time to think. When a problem came, we had to solve it immediately… There was no decision to make. The issue was: Do you think we are all brothers or not? Do you think it is unjust to turn in the Jews or not? Then let us try to help!”[1] Secondly, a German major in charge of the area had begun to doubt the actions of the Nazi regime but felt he could not fully speak out. So he allowed this to happen for years without repercussions so that he could quietly resist even though he felt bound by his role. We might say these folks followed the suggestion to be unafraid. But I might say that they were probably very afraid but helped people anyway. Because that was what they knew they had to do.

 I think of our gospel passage for today. I have often identified with the son who said he would not go and then went. But a colleague mentioned this week that we must strive as Christians to say yes, Lord, and go when called. However, Pastor Alene rightly pointed out that if we are called to follow Jesus, and bear in mind the cost of what following him means, we may rightly respond No first. But then, as God’s love overcomes fear, we will get the strength to follow, even if that means sacrifice.

Today, we are faced with a climate crisis. Every year we see the earth heating up and more animals dying or facing extinction. Even though it is a very different situation than the Holocaust, many people around the world are disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change. Our Green Anglicans resource shares that, while Africa as a continent produces a lot less contamination, many poorer African countries are already feeling the effects of climate change with more severe droughts and more effects. We, too, have seen devastating wildfires in our region. We may rightly be afraid. Will the Living Water remain abundantly available to us? As we try to take action, we may fear that our little effort is not enough. But we should not be deterred. Whatever action it is that you can take, be it driving less, recycling, using reusable containers and cutting down on plastic waste, nurturing community and personal gardens, cleaning up our beaches and other local water sources, and more, take it! And do not hold onto guilt if something is outside of your ability.
The human desire to take more from the land than we give has come from a lack of trust in God to provide the Living Water and the daily bread that we need as was mentioned last week. Let us trust in God and find a faith beyond fear. So that we and future generations can live simply and simply live. Amen.

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[1] Margot Stern Strom, William S. Parsons, Facing History and Ourselves: The Holocaust and Human Behavior, 1982 (with thanks to Will Wauters for sharing this resource.