When I Was Thirsty

Water is in the news quite a bit lately.  The problems related to the public water system in Flint aren't going away any time soon.  Furthermore it makes us all start thinking about our own systems.  How do we know that our own water is clean?

I find the water crisis upsetting on many levels.  Obviously, it is upsetting to think about drinking lead tainted water.  Or worse yet, giving it to your children.  The thought of the long term health consequences are hard to imagine, but some people are living it.  And not to minimize that problem, but I have been thinking a lot lately about the public trust.

We assume certain things about our public institutions.  We trust that electricity will flow from the outlets.  We trust that the roads will be plowed and repaired.  We trust that police, fire and ambulance will come if called.  And we trust that when we turn on the faucet, the water that flows will be worth drinking.  We assume these things, but it's not always true.

The purpose of this post isn't to dig into how this trust was broken or who was to blame.  I suspect the list is vast and crosses several levels of government.  But beyond that, I think that we all have a role in the public trust.  I think that we all have a role in looking of being our neighbor's watchdog.  The public trust extends beyond government and extends to each one of us in how we relate to our neighbors.

A few years ago I had lit the gas grill and it was heating up.  There must have been a lot of grease on it because it started to smoke and smoke and smoke.  I was letting it burn off when one of the neighbors can driving up in a hurry.  From his house there was so much smoke that he thought our house was on fire.  He came in a hurry to investigate.  This is the attitude that we all need to cultivate in our daily lives.  We need to look out for those around us and be prepared to offer a hand up when our neighbors stumble.

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.

When we offer water to the thirsty, whether it be to the rich or poor, it is like we are handing the drink to Christ Himself.  As we think about rebuilding the water systems in Flint and across the state, we need to think about what type of water system we would put in place if it was running through Bethlehem and Nazareth and to the home of Jesus.  Because in His eyes, we are.