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Pastor Tom Johnson, May 28, 2023
Have you ever seen water flowing out of rock? Not water flowing over the surface of the ground and over rock. I’m talking about water that is flowing out of the rocky side of a cliff or a mountain. Have you ever seen water flowing out of rock? I have. Just a few weeks ago. Elizabeth and I were hiking the Catskills in upstate New York. We were coming down the eastern side of Slide Mountain. There is a weathered wooden sign with a yellow arrow and letters spelling out “SPRING.” Steps away—a stream of water comes right out of the rocky side of the mountain. In the Grand Canyon, there are rocky cliffs reaching a mile-high all around. Close to the North Rim, there’s a river gushing out of a cliff called “Roaring Springs.” And that is just one of them. They call these rivers “hidden rivers” because no one knows where all that water comes from. But probably the granddaddy of them all is the river Camuy in Puerto Rico. It is not at the surface of the island. It’s deep beneath one of the largest caverns in the world. You can hear it roar 400 feet below in the few places you can get a glimpse. Scientists don’t know where all that water comes from. They put strong dye in the water and placed spotters all around the island. They could not find even a trace of the dye. They don’t know where the water comes from or where it is going. It’s another mystery of water flowing out of rock.
We don’t expect water to flow out of rock. Just as we do not expect the Holy Spirit to flow out of our hearts. And yet, that is Jesus’ promise: “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” This seems impossible if we know the human heart. The prophet Jeremiah says “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus said, “out of the heart come evil intentions” (Matt 15:19). Our hearts need healing because, from our hearts, we often want to do things that harm others and ourselves. Is that not what we learned in confirmation class—sinful thoughts and actions spring from our hearts? At the beginning of the service we confessed that we have not loved God with our whole heart. It’s a kind of riddle, this mysterious and hidden river of the Holy Spirit flowing out of our hearts. We often think of God’s love and grace showering like rain and snow down on us from heaven above to earth below. And certainly that is true.
But Jesus wants us to have a new vision of how the Holy Spirit flows. When we believe in Jesus who lives, died, and lives again for us—when we trust in Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life, our hearts undergo a transformation. Instead of the Holy Spirit pouring down upon us from heaven to earth—instead of taking the water with our hands in a cup and drinking it down—the Holy Spirit wells up from below—deep inside. The Spirit softens our hearts. God cracks our hearts of rock open—and the Holy Spirit gushes out like rivers of flowing water.
Have you ever seen water flowing out of a rock? The Israelites did. Remember? They were wandering in the wilderness for forty years. They were dangerously dehydrated in the hot desert. God told Moses to strike the rock. Water gushed out. They all drank from the spiritual rock which is Christ, Paul says (1 Cor 10:4). We see rivers of water flowing on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit pours out upon believers in worship. First comes a rushing wind from the outside and tongues of fire. But that’s not the real miracle. The real miracle happens deep inside each of their hearts. Then the torrential power of the Holy Spirit flows out of their mouths. The believers speak about the mighty acts of God—Jesus’ deeds of great power. Out of their hearts flow rivers of praise and thanksgiving to God. Out of their hearts and mouths they shoot out the good news like a geyser. Christ has died. Christ is risen! He has triumphed over sin, the devil, evil, and even death itself.
Jesus says “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” We don’t expect to see water flow out of a rock. But Jesus has more faith in us than we often have in ourselves. He not only expects it to happen. He—by the Holy Spirit—promises to make it happen. Have you ever seen water flow out of a rock? We have. Many of our confirmands went to Youth Quake in Baltimore. The Word struck the rock inside you. Your faith grew. You connected with one another. You sang and prayed late into the night. You came back wanting to sing with Jackie and the other adult leaders. I’ve heard some of you say, “I love Confirmation.” I’ve heard you all say that you plan to continue with High School Youth Group, participate in Sunday School, and in public worship. All of you plan to go to the mission trip this summer. Your thirst to go and serve God. You thirst to connect with God and each other. And in your thirst you become a wellspring of joy to us as the Holy Spirit lives in you and through you like mighty rivers. What an answer to prayer to see these rivers flowing out of your hearts and your lives! Jesus believes in you. God believes in us. Together we thirst for the living waters. Christ has promised that rivers of living water will flow out of our hearts.
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