John 4, 10-14
Word of welcome and liturgical opening
Potatoes and corn, bread and grapes, carrots and cabbage, apples and bananas, sugar and rice: once a year, these foods find their way into our church service.
Here they lie: and each time, a beautiful picture emerges: an impression of abundance: there is so much. There is enough for everyone. Basically, the decorated altar area at Thanksgiving is a reminder of creation: and behold, it was very good. This year, we are placing one food at the center of the service: water.
Every year, the large Protestant development aid organization “Brot für die Welt” compiles ideas for a family service. This year's theme is: “God means well with us – draw strength for life!”
Water is a precious food: the healing rhythm of sowing, growing, ripening, and harvesting is unthinkable without water. No bread without water. No life.
Thanksgiving is a joyful remembrance of the Creator of our lives, a serious reflection on inequality when it comes to water and food, and a longing plea for strength to live!
The service is different than usual: Brass band and a band accompany it – children and adults celebrate together. Gestures, words, music. What to expect: Thoughts on the importance of water—a journey with “ Brot für die Welt /Bread for the World” to Kenya.
Skit / dialogue between Lilia and Peace
Clean and delicious. Water straight from the tap. Two steps away and always at hand. For many in our Johannes congregation, water is something we take for granted – in the middle of a country where it is not a matter of course.
We are fortunate to have plenty of water when there is sufficient rainfall, as was the case last year and even last weekend.
In the region north and east of Mount Kenya, it is very different. It is very dry there. Many women walk for several hours a day to fetch water from distant sources. This water is often polluted and can easily make people sick.
We will now hear a conversation between Lilia and Peace. The butterfly Lilia is an invention of “ Brot für die Welt /Bread for the World”. Lilia is a butterfly who travels the world for and with Bread for the World, visiting children in all countries. Lilia collects stories, which she then tells so that we, children and adults in many countries, feel connected and learn more about each other.
Today, Lilia tells us about her last trip. She was in Kenya, where she visited a little girl named Peace and her grandmother Agnes Irima.
The following skit and story tell us about the importance of water for families in Kenya's arid regions.
Lilia:
Hello dear Johannes congregation, I am Lilia, the butterfly from Bread for the World. Many people work for Bread for the World to help others around the world. I also like to help and visit children worldwide. Recently, I was in Kenya. To get there, I had to fly over a large desert: the Sahara. There was nothing but sand everywhere and the sun was very hot. And when I finally arrived in Kenya, I was sooo thirsty. Do you know that feeling? Have you ever been very thirsty?
Finally, I saw a small river and really wanted to drink something, because ...
Peace:
Stop, little butterfly! You mustn't drink that. Otherwise you'll get sick!
Lilia:
But I've flown so far and I'm terribly thirsty!
Peace:
I know how you feel. We used to be terribly thirsty too and
had no clean water. When we drank the dirty water, we got sick. Come with me to our new water reservoir, which provides us with
clean water now. You can drink some there.
Lilia:
That's really kind of you. What's your name, by the way?
Peace:
I'm Peace and I live here in the village of Gichunguri with my family. Come on,
I'll show you around.
Peace
Hello everyone, this is our farm. This is where I live with my family. We live at the foot of Mount Kenya. During the rainy season there is more water here, but most of the time the rivers are dry. Then we have hardly any water to drink, we can't water our plants and we are often thirsty. In our community, the women are responsible for fetching water. My grandmother Agnes used to have to get up in the middle of the night and walk a long way to fetch water. I was often afraid for her because of the dangerous animals on the way. She had to walk three hours to the nearest river. When the river was dry, she dug a hole where the remaining water could collect from the ground. The water was often dirty because wild animals also drank from the water holes. But we had to drink what was available. This often made us sick, gave us diarrhea and headaches, and made us very weak. Grandma was always gone for a long time, and when she came home, she was exhausted from the long walk and the water canister she carried on her back. We were happy when she came back and had found water. But she often came back without water, and we had to go to bed thirsty. Grandma says it's because of climate change that it's become so dry.
We had to do something. Together with helpers from the Anglican Church's development service here in the region and Bread for the World, we made a plan for how we could get clean water safely every day. At the top of the mountain, we built lots of small channels that direct rainwater into a very large concrete tank. Now we can get fresh water here every day. The best thing is that the tank is not far from home. Everyone pays a little money for the water, and some of that money is now being used to build a water storage tank for the school.
Now everyone is much happier and healthier because we can finally drink enough. Nevertheless, we are still careful not to waste any water because we know how valuable it is. Grandma no longer has to worry and no longer has to walk so far. She has more time to grow vegetables and fruit for us. Here in the picture, we are harvesting peas and shelling them. It's fun, and I love being able to help. We also harvest sorghum, which is a very healthy type of millet. Great-grandma makes a porridge out of it,
which makes us super strong. She says it's our energy drink.
And what do you like to drink best?
Sermon: John 4, 10-14
Dear congregation,
Oops, I've already gotten really thirsty!
The girl Peace wanted to know what we like to drink best. I really like drinking water. How about you?
I also really like drinking a glass of wine. How about you?
Fresh apple juice mixed with sparkling water is also a delicious drink, and I suspect there are also some beer drinkers among us.
Just think about how many different drinks we can choose from: Sprite and Fanta, Letta and Coke, coffee and tea, juice and water, flavored and unflavored water, smoothies and alcoholic beverages, ...
So, it's clear: drinking is very important. And we get thirsty again and again.
It never stops. This is normal for our bodies. We are healthy when we get thirsty.
Our bodies respond wonderfully to different temperatures and activities. If we run around a lot, we get thirstier.
When the sun is shining and we sweat a lot, we get thirstier.
And of course, when there is something to drink that tastes good, we can get very thirsty.
So far, so good—I think we've all learned something from the short journey of the butterfly Lilia: we can be happy and grateful when we have enough water. And we also learn that water is more precious than we might have thought. It is a real treasure that we should take care of.
And it is a global task to ensure that all people have access to water. A huge task.
But then there was the story of Jesus meeting a woman at the so-called Jacob's Well.
Yes, at first glance, it was also about Jesus being thirsty. Jesus had traveled a long way and was thirsty. He asks for water.
The woman hesitates. She had no good reason for this, but she was forbidden to speak to a Jewish man. And she was not allowed to give him water either. From our perspective today, this is a sad rule, an unnecessary enmity between Jews and Samaritans.
But we all know that such things still exist today. We humans are very strange creatures who make life very difficult for each other with such foolish views.
When I read about Jesus, it sounds to me as if he didn't like these hostilities either.
And when there was an opportunity to show that we are all human beings and everyone is a fellow human being, Jesus tried to do so.
This is also the case here with this woman whom he meets for the first time. “If you knew who I am!”
This sentence touches me. Yes, if we knew who Jesus is, our lives would be different.
Jesus then says to the woman: If you know me, you will never thirst again.
Of course, Jesus does not mean here that her body will never need water again. That goes without saying.
Jesus means something else: he is talking about her soul.
Jesus had noticed that this woman had a great longing for love. You could say that her thirst for love was great. Someone could say to her, “I love you!” Then everything was fine for a while, but soon she began to doubt again. “Does anyone really love me?”
For many people, it is important to hear this from their partner, family, or friends.
Jesus then speaks to the woman about another kind of love: divine love. He says to the woman, “If you knew who I am, you would encounter divine, eternal love!”
This is not so easy to understand. But the woman realizes that this is something special.
It is a love that has no beginning and no end: a love that always remains.
No matter what happens in our lives, God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
Jesus promises that whoever experiences this love will have their longing satisfied. Once loved, you are loved forever.
And those who feel loved stand tall and courageous, comforted and alive in the world, looking to see what good they can do in this world.
Now I would like to come back to Lilia and Peace and the great work of “Brot für die Welt” (Bread for the World). I believe that the people who work for “Brot für die Welt” are inspired by this love. That is why they try to help people all over the world. They bring hope to people, satisfy their longing, and let them experience that God is love—his love is at work around the world.
Today, on Thanksgiving, when we give thanks for everything we have: water and bread, grain, vegetables, and all other gifts, we say: Thank you, God, for loving us so much.
And we also say to God, if you want, God, then let your love shine through us to others – near and far.
The sign that reminds us most of this is the water of baptism.
The baptismal font: right in the middle of the good gifts. Washed with all waters – once and for all!
Make a sign on your forehead: "I am baptized in Jesus' name! "
This is what Jesus means when he says to the woman at the well: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Prayer of intercessions
1.Thank you, dear God, for our water. Thank you that we have enough to drink. Thank you that it rains. Thank you that we can swim. Thank you that we have seas, oceans, rivers, and lakes in this country. We thank you for every joyful moment—when our thirst is quenched and we enjoy your wonderful creation. Thank you for the water of baptism.
2. Thank you, dear God, for people with great ideas and boundless hope. Thank you for all the people who devote their energy and time to ensuring that every child, every woman, and every man on our earth has enough water. Thank you for inventors and engineers. Thank you for development workers. Thank you for faith that can move mountains.
3. Alongside our great thanks, we offer our prayers: Dear God, if only more people could recognize you and look to Jesus Christ. We therefore ask you that everything Jesus brought into the world may continue to grow and bear much fruit.
4. We pray for people who still live without fresh water: Grant us compassion and new ideas on how we can help. Let us continue to do everything we can to make the unjust living conditions of poor and rich people more equitable.
5. We also ask you, good God, to remain visible in the world with your love. Quench our thirst for love—let us ourselves become a source of living water.