Reflection – Rev Dr Phil Wall

‘Let Justice roll down like waters’

Readings:

Exodus 17:1-7; Brian

Matthew 25:31-46 Pam

Have you ever come across the concept of nominative determinism? Nominative determinism – it’s a hypothesis that suggests that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. It might sound a little ridiculous on first hearing but there are a few serious thinkers who have given this theory some credence – the Swiss reformed psychiatrist Carl Jung, for one – and there are a few cracking examples of it around. Let’s test that out now as we see if you can guess what job the following do:

Dr Ashley Seawright? Yes, an ophthalmologist (eye doctor!).
Walter Russell Brain? Congratulations if you went for neurologist.
Michael Vickers? Yep – currently the vicar of St Luke’s CofE church, Cranham Park
And here’s my favourite – Les McBurney? Yes, Les is a fireman in the Sun Prairie Fire Department in Wisconsin! Amazing!

And if we’re sold with this idea, I could always ditch the dog collar, pick up the hard hat and join the world of construction. In fact, between the two churches, we could probably build a decent house – with Jayne and Roger Bright doing the electrics; Diane Wheeler working the wheelbarrow; Kath Couchman sorting soft furnishings and when it comes to selling it, perhaps we could ask Lynda Bull to be the estate agent…if you catch my drift!!!

What’s this got to do with the season of creation and water, you might well ask. Well, let’s look at Moses and the Biblical account[1] of his given name. We all know the background. Born at a time in which Hebrew babies were drowned in the Nile at the orders of the Pharaoh, here comes one such baby floating down that very river and seen by a sympathetic daughter of said Pharaoh;

“This is one of the Hebrew babies,” Pharaoh’s daughter said.
Then the baby’s sister asked her, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.”
So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:6-10)

So, according to the story in the book of Exodus, the Hebrew baby found in the river was named Moses, meaning ‘to draw out of the water’. And whilst Moses didn’t then forge a career in water management, it is certainly the case that from his origin story onward, his entire life was punctuated by life and death encounters with water. From wells[2] to rivers[3]; seas[4] to springs[5]; violent storms[6] to morning dew[7], Moses – as all good wilderness wanderers should – knew only too well the beauty, blessing and danger that water, its absence and overabundance, could bring.

In today’s particular H₂O-ccasion, Moses – and his fellow Israelites – are dealing with a lack of water;

The people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (17:3)

Now, I’ve heard a couple of sermons in my time which talk about how ungrateful and grouchy the Israelite people were. Can you believe it – God just freed them from slavery, the sermon usually goes, and they show their thanks by grumbling – as if somehow comparing the dehydrated desert dwellers to a tantruming toddler.

Well, I have to say that I think the Israelite response was pretty understandable. After all, we’re getting a little fed up by our current restrictions, health concerns and inability to plan anything…so just imagine how much worse they had it in the wilderness! And when you see those Water Aid adverts with parents watching their children grow weak from a lack of clean water, do you roll your eyes and think they should count themselves lucky or does your heart break for them and do you even wonder – as the Israelites did in their similar situation – ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ (17:7).

Well, according to the World Health Organization, around one in three people – 2.2 billion of us – live without safe drinking water today[8]. If current trends continue, by 2050, up to 5.7 billion people could be living in areas where water is scarce for at least one month a year[9] and even our soggy islands are not safeguarded from such a crisis[10]. This is whilst extreme rainfall and flooding are also predicted to increase, both at home and abroad, because of climate change. With such crises on the horizon, we might well become despondent and question ‘is the Lord among us or not?’.

And yet, the story of Moses and the Israelites at Massah and Meribah did not end with drought and thirst but with God’s provision, once again, of overflowing water. For Moses prayed – a short and direct prayer it must be said, but sometimes they’re the most authentic – and he listened to God’s instructions to gather the elders, strike a certain rock with his staff and watch the water flow, as it did. In other words, Moses listened both to the needs of the people and to God’s reminder that he already possessed the tools needed to address the problem – the staff through which God had provided for them before.

The key question, for me, that comes from this reading then is, are we – like Moses – really listening? Are we listening to our neighbours who are thirsty today? Are we listening to the 2.2 billion people around the world who do not have safely managed water services? Are we listening to the three hundred thousand mothers whose children die each year due to diarrhea caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene?

Are we also listening to God in prayer? Are we listening to the Creator who has made a world of abundance? Are we listening to a God who reminds us that we have the tools to address the problem and who encourages us to use them?

And, finally, if we are able to listen to both, are we then ready to do what is needed to enable the thirsty to drink? Are we ready to turn off taps; boil only what we need; take shorter showers; eat more plant-based meals; reduce our food waste; shop sustainably and take all the other steps we can to save water[11]? Are we ready to take climate change and our part in it seriously – to adjust how we live so that others might also live[12]?

Those on the left will say ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me’. (Matthew 25:44-45).

The prognosis for a future in which water is abundant, justly shared and life-giving is bleak…but not without hope, for nothing ever is. We might well just be entering the wilderness where we will wander for many years to come but the Lord is among us, does provide for us and calls us to partner in the task for caring for the needs of all.

I might scoff at the idea of nominative determinism but I do believe in nominative voluntarism – the freedom to choose what to do and how to live because of the name we accept. When we dare to take the name of Christ – when we claim to be Christian – we are called to believe in a Saviour who came so that everyone might have life in all its fullness. We are called to follow the incarnate God who spoke of thirst from a cross and abundance for all in God’s kingdom. We are called to heed his command to feed the hungry; visit the sick; give water to the thirsty. In his name, then, may justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amen.

Blessing for the week:

May the Creator, who caused rain to water the face of the earth,
May Jesus Christ, who gives us the water of eternal life and
May the Holy Spirit, who quenches thirst with gifts from the spring of life,
inspire and challenge us to become advocates for water justice and
bless us all to flow as ‘justice rolls down as waters’ both now and forever more. Amen.

[1] Some commentators suggest that this is a folk account of the name Moses, arguing instead for a Hebrew etymology. For those interested in exploring this particular rabbit-hole, Professor John Huddleston’s article might be a good starting point – https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/was-moses-name-egyptian. Otherwise, ask Ray or John Henson for their thoughts!!!

[2] Exodus 2

[3] Exodus 7

[4] Exodus 14

[5] Exodus 17; Numbers 20

[6] Exodus 9

[7] Exodus 16

[8] WHO/UNICEF (2019): Joint Monitoring Programme 2019 update report: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/jmp-report-2019/en/

[9] UNESCO (2018), UN World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-based Solutions for Water: https://www.unwater.org/publications/world-water-development-report-2018/

[10] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/water-drought-shortage-england

[11] https://friendsoftheearth.uk/natural-resources/13-best-ways-save-water-stop-climate-breakdown

[12] ActNow is the United Nations campaign for individual action on climate change and sustainability. It highlights 10 simple actions that each of us can do to help tackle climate change – https://www.un.org/en/actnow/

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Prayers of Intercession ~ Read by Viviane

Holy God, whose Spirit moved over the waters at the dawn of creation, hear our prayers for all who thirst today.

We pray for those who are spiritually thirsty, who long to know that they are loved, but don’t know where to find You. We pray for those who are alone and without hope, those who long to feel needed and loved, those who are searching for meaning and purpose.