A Cup of Cold Water

Picture for me….a blistering hot day. You’ve been working or playing sports.

You take a break and the one thing that you most want….

Is a big cup of cold water.

There’s nothing quite like it.

For me, getting a cup and putting lots of ice in it…then shaking or stirring it to get it really cold….really quenches the thirst.

We know at a deep level, the kind of satisfaction that a cup of cold water can bring.

Now…think about the visual image of providing that cup of cold water.

What do you think of?

Maybe, the picture of a well at a farm somewhere….Where the buckets goes way down and a ladle is there to scoop out the water to quench your thirst.

Or, perhaps….it is the trainer at a football game that is giving the athletes something to drink while they’re sweating like crazy.
One of the images I think of is in the movie: “Ben Hur”. Maybe you recall.

Ben Hur has been struggling for personal meaning…even after he established himself as a big star in the world at that time. He of course, was a Chariot Driver. The chariot scene is one of the all-time best.

But, toward the end of the movie….he happens into Jerusalem. The city seems empty and he’s trying to figure out where everyone is.

He walks around and stumbles on the Via Delorosa. There the crowd is watching as a procession goes by.

The procession: A young man carrying a cross.

Ben Hur remembers that man. He was the same one who taught the crowds on on the side of the hill.

He was the same one who made a blind man see.

And so, Ben Hur….who we all know is Charlton Heston, watches and the man stumbles down the path….lugging the cross that weighs him down.

The very same cross that he will soon die on.
It is near mid-day. He is exhausted, beaten, crushed under the weight of the cross.

And, just in front of Ben Hur, this stranger…one Jesus of Nazareth collapses….collapses from the weight of the cross.

Ben Hur, immediately rushes over to a bucket of water. He brings it over to Jesus and ladles out a dipper of water.

He lovingly helps Jesus have a drink of cold water.

Of course it is only a movie, but the image of that care and hospitality is memorable.

For we all recall the words of Jesus how he says…
“when you do it to the least of these, you do it unto me.”

Today’s passage implores us to show that kind of hospitality.

“A Cup of Cold Water”: literally or symbolically.

We all know the literally…how a cup of cold water can be a life-saver. It can be soothing, healing, energizing. Life-giving.

Symbolically….it can be the same thing.
Giving A Cup of Cold Water…..

Can be seen symbolically in many ways.

It suggests to us: Hospitality, Generosity, Compassion, Healing, Heart.

This is the stuff of faith. The stuff of faith sharing.

So…how might we do this? Both individually & congregationally?

I know recently, we had a bad experience here of “sharing a cup of cold water to a stranger”

Probably many know how we tried to provide shelter, food and a decent dose of humanity to one who had no home or place to be.

How were we rewarded? By being broken into. By opening ourselves to theft and heart-ache.

Instead of being rewarded somehow, we got bitten

So, what can we say to all this? Should that stop us from caring? From showing hospitality? From sharing a cup of cold water to a stranger?

All’s I can say is…remember Jesus’ words about being “wise as serpents & gentle as doves”.
Clearly, we lock things up and have to be cautious with our belongings, our building and ultimately….our humanity.

But, being burnt can not deter us from discipleship.

Jesus said on the cross: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”

Yes, caring makes us vulnerable. Ministry does not guarantee success. Faithfulness is not always returned with the results we want or expect.

But, that’s life. That’s “The Cost of Discipleship”.

Praise God however, that we can put our trust in One who is ever faithful to us. One in whom we know will never fail.

The Lord Jesus will never fail us. And, just when we get on our high-horse about those who don’t respond to our caring & giving. …..Just remember, we too have failed. We too, have sinned & fallen short of the Glory of God.

Research show, a growing church is one that expresses “Radical Hospitality”. One that is expressing “love in action”. Let us be that church.
“Where’s the Ladle?”