Scripture: Proverbs 25: 25-26; Romans 8: 18-25
Sermon: Muddying the Waters
Topics: suffering, metaphor, water, creation, groans
Preached: July 19, 2009
Rev. Mike Abma
Proverbs 25: 25-26
25Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.
26Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
are the righteous who give way before the wicked.
Romans 8: 18-25
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in* hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes* for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
THE METAPHOR IS THE MESSAGE
The book of Proverbs is a collection of one wise saying after another.
Sometimes these sayings are strung together.
In our passage this morning, we have a couplet.
Two sayings are placed together like two sides of a coin:
there is a bright side and a dark side;
a positive proverb and a negative one.
The thing that holds them together is water.
Both use water as the metaphor.
Good news from far away
(in other words, unexpected good news, surprising good news)
is like a drink of clean, cold water for a thirsty person.
However, a righteous person who gives in to doing wrong,
is like a muddied stream or a polluted fountain.
Water is the metaphor that is being used.
Cold, clean, clear water – is good.
Muddied, polluted water – is bad.
You know, there is that expression, “the Medium is the Message.”
Well, this morning, I would like to suggest that “the Metaphor is Message.”
When you think about it, the Bible often uses the metaphor of water – cold, clean, clear water — to communicate what is best in life: goodness, righteousness, even God himself.
It is the deer that pants for cold, clear, clean water in Psalm 42.
It is the person at prayer who yearns for water in Psalm 63.
And cold clear streams are what make glad the city of God in Psalm 46.
In Bedouin culture still today –
that culture of nomadic shepherds in the arid middle east,
which intimately knows the value of water —
in that culture, the one unforgiveable sin
is to muddy a stream.
or to befoul a source of water.
Nothing could be worse.
Nothing could threaten life more.
Last year our family visited the Alhambra Palace in Granda, Spain.
This was the last Muslim stronghold in 15th century Spain. The Alhambra was one of its most spectacular palaces. In building the Alhambra Palace, you can tell they wanted to build a bit of paradise on earth. The thing about Moorish or Muslim architecture is that you can also tell it has Bedouin roots. They loved and treasured water. So what does this Palace have? It has pools, fountains, running streams, and gardens throughout the whole Palace. It really is quite enchanting.
The Bible has a number of references to our longing for the goodness of cold, clean, clear water. But the Bible also uses muddied waters, polluted waters, or the lack of water to describe wickedness or the effects of evil. Not only here in this Proverb but elsewhere as well.
Take what the prophet Ezekiel says.
Ezekiel spends the first 20 or so chapters talking about the faithlessness of Israel.
Then he turns his attention to the faithlessness of Israel’s neighbors.
In a rather long section aimed against the wickedness of Egypt,
Ezekiel describes Egypt as a big beast,
thrashing about in a stream,
troubling its waters
and fouling the whole stream (Ezekiel 32).
What could be worse than this?
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah talk about the wickedness of Jerusalem,
more in terms of a lack of water than in terms of muddied waters.
In light of the corruption of Jerusalem,
the city is bone dry,
the earth withering up,
and the world languishing.
Again and again,
the prophets describe that when the people are corrupt and wicked,
when even the righteous are led astray,
then creation pays part of the price.
Creation withers,
Creation is befouled,
and Creation groans.
CREATION WAITS and GROANS
In an absolutely remarkable passage about present suffering and future glory,
Paul clearly links the future hopes of humanity,
with the future longings of our planet, earth.
Paul writes “For creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.”
Later he describes this waiting in terms “groaning.”
Creations is groaning, as if in labor pains,
as it waits.
Creation waits in hope,
but it groans because of what we have done to it.
So what is creation waiting for?
It is waiting for the “revealing of the children of God.”
What does that mean?
It means that it is waiting for the last trumpet,
the day when God’s children will be raised,
and the perishable will be clothed with imperishability.
It is waiting for the day its groaning will cease,
and shalom shall fully return.
We know how the Old Testament paints that picture of Shalom:
It is the wolf lying down with the lamb, (Isaiah 11:6-9)
swords beaten into plowshares, (Isaiah 2:4)
deserts in bloom (Isaiah 35:6)
and trees clapping their hands (Isaiah 55:12)
But what shalom also means is that the muddied waters will be made clean again.[1]
We are waiting for that day.
But so is creation.
One translation has it that creation is “waiting on tiptoes” for this day of Shalom to come.[2]
In Japan, a professor of agriculture owned a dog – an Akita dog, a very faithful dog. Every morning, this dog accompanied his master to the train station on his way to work. Every afternoon, this dog was waiting at the train station for his master’s return from work.
This was the rhythm of each work day.
One day, his master didn’t return.
The professor had had a stroke at work. He did not survive.
They found his dog, faithfully waiting at the train station.
Over the next while, that dog was taken in and cared for by different owners.
But regardless of what owner he was with,
wherever he ended up,
the dog always escaped,
and made its way to the train station in the late afternoon
to wait …..to wait for the return of its master.
This went on for 10 years.[3]
“Creation is waiting with eager longing …. ”
and the truth is,
creation is often waiting more faithfully, and more eagerly than we are.
What Paul is saying in this passage is that we are all waiting together;
Creation is waiting,
and so are we.
We are co-sufferers,
groaning together because of the evil, and corruption, and pollution in the world.
But we don’t only groan.
We don’t only wait.
We also work.
We work to relieve suffering where we can,
to battle evil,
and to try clean the muddy waters.
We try to bring shalom into this world.
BLESSED ARE THE SHALOM-MAKERS
Last month I attended a conference here at Calvin College.
It was all about the Plaster Creek Watershed.
Whiskey Creek, the creek that flows through this campus,
enters the Sem Pond,
goes underneath Burton
and meanders behind our Ministry Center,
is part of the Plaster Creek Watershed.
I am pretty sure that a large majority of us live in the Plaster Creek watershed.
If we aren’t in the Plaster Creek watershed, we are surely in the larger Grand River watershed.
I learned that Plaster Creek is one of the most polluted streams in Michigan.
It is unfit for bodily contact – in other words, you should wear waders and rubber gloves before wading into it (which is a very sad way to enjoy a creek).
Why is it so polluted?
Well, when we have those big thunderstorms,
the storm water carries all kinds of junk into the streams and rivers.
There is the junk we can see – the garbage, liter and debris.
But there is also the junk we can’t see:
the phosphorous and nitrogen from over-fertilized lawn;
the herbicides and pesticides from farmer fields;
and every other water-soluble toxin in its path.
The result is very muddied waters,
so foul, that on warm summer days after heavy rains,
there is an E Coli alert on many West Michigan beaches.
What struck me most at this conference was what a speaker from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had to say. She has been working to improve water quality in the Plaster Creek watershed for 20 years. She said that even though there are many churches in the watershed, and even though she has tried to work with many different churches and denominations,
very few have taken any interest at all in matters of water quality.[4]
To me, there was something very discouraging and wrong about that.
Of all people, we, the children of God
should be extra alert to the groans of God’s creation,
and extra vigilant in bringing shalom to our corner of the world.
It isn’t only North American Christians who are facing this challenge.
This is a challenge for Christians throughout the world.
Some of you may know Stephen Hamidu.
Right now, Stephen is home in Nigeria.
But in the fall, he will be back to finish his ThM thesis at Calvin Seminary.
I encourage you to talk to him about his thesis.
As a pastor in a largely farming community in Nigeria,
he is very distressed at the farming practices that are becoming common in his home country.
The farming practices are laying waste to the land,
polluting the rivers,
and causing a true environmental crisis.
The government is too disorganized to really address this problem.
And what distressed Stephen the most is that the churches are silent.
They are saying nothing, as creation groans.
So Stephen is here,
writing a ThM thesis on the responsibility of all Christians
to care for creation.
Even our Christian Reformed Agencies, like World Missions and our World Relief Committee, are becoming much more intentional to promote environmental stewardship as part of their ministry.
CONCLUSION
I know that these types of sermons can be a bit intimidating,
even wearying.
We are surrounded by the prophets of doom and gloom,
who drop phrases like “environmental crisis”
or “habitat devastation”
or “reducing our carbon footprint.”
At times we can become discouraged by the miniscule effect
our little efforts can make when looking at the global scope of the problem.
But for us, followers of Jesus Christ,
the bottom line is always hope.
And we hope for what we do not see – the restoration of Shalom.
The restoration of Shalom is why the Father sent to Son to us.
The restoration of Shalom is our calling in the world.
We hope for it.
We work for it.
We wait for it.
We, and all of creation, eagerly wait in hope, for that final day of eternal shalom.
And we wait knowing
that peace-makers,
shalom-creators
are blessed,
for they will be called children of God.
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For example, see the end of Ezekiel 32 where God says he will make the befouled stream of Egypt is made clean again. ↑
-
The J.B. Phillips translation uses this expression. ↑
-
This is the rather famous Japanese story of the dog named Hachiko, which apparently means faithful dog. ↑
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Janice Tompkins of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality speaking at “Creation Care on the Home Front,” Calvin College, June 23-25, 2009. ↑
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