River of God

Ezekiel 47, 1-12.

River of God Let’s step into the middle of this vision and see what Ezekiel saw. We see a new temple, with greater glory than the previous. In this chapter we just arrive at the end of the description of the new temple. The most important thing we need to know about it that God’s glory is in the temple once again. And now we start at the temple but everything happens outside. It’s interesting that if God is in the house things will going to change outside. God leads out Ezekiel and we can follow him in his vision. Let’s step outside of the temple. If we step out we find ourselves in a desolate place. We see no trees and no life. You would not want to live there. If it was our land it would be painful to see this lifeless desert. It may seem hopeless, but a glimmer of hope appears on this dry land. It comes from the temple. A small stream flows from under the threshold of the temple. It goes East through the land. The water is so precious in places like this. Especially a fresh, sweet water. If we follow Ezekiel in his vision soon we will discover that this is a miraculous river. It grows without other rivers fall into it. As we walk down near the river after Ezekiel we are challenged to believe the impossible. We are challenged to believe that God’s river can do something other rivers cannot. At first God let Ezekiel measure it. But after a while it can not be crossed anymore. It’s just too big and too deep. It becomes unmeaserable. It starts from an incredible narrow stream and becomes a huge river. It’s bigger than Ezekiel. It’s bigger than us. Whatever this river is it is abundant and we cannot control it. Whatever this is, God gives it generously. To let all the vision sink in Ezekiel is asked: “O Mortal, have you seen this?” He does not have to say anything just believe the unbelievable. We can also ask ourselves: Have you seen this? Have you seen God’s work? Have you recognized what happened when God brought life into the desert? But there is more… When Ezekiel walks back everything is changed. We can see that life springs near the riverbank. Trees grow, fishes swim and the water heals the sea. With God’s river this place is not a desert anymore. Beauty conquered ugliness, life conquered death. But seeing all these changes of the terrain our suspicion may grow stronger: Is it a real place? Is this a new paradise recreated by God? Or is this the geographical location between Jerusalem and the Dead-Sea which is transformed into a beautiful oasis? Is it the Heaven the place where all the saints go after they die? Where is this temple and where is this desert? I cannot help myself identify this river with the one in Heaven as we can read about it in Revelations. If that is the case we have to imagine heaven in a new way. Have you ever wondered about why is that tree next to the river with all the power to heal nations if everyone is healed and healthy and alright in Heaven? My only explanation is that Heaven or the Kingdom of God exists in the now and affects us and our reality. The river is in the Kingdom of God, but the Kingdom of God is closer than we may think. The river of God flows into our dry, deserted realities just as naturally as a stream flows through the land. Our world is without hope. If it’s without God. But if God is not the God of the dead but the living, then His Kingdom should surely affect us. I invite you to see this world through this vision. We will see that both the outer world and our inner world in this picture. It is like our inner dryness is mirrored in the world around us.

First this land exists in us. The forsaken dry landscape mirrors our lonely selves. We know what it is like being forsaken. We know what it is like to be dead – like this land – and hopeless. We see it in other peoples’ eyes but we also know it from the inside. Just like the Samaritan woman at the well addressed by Jesus. Longing for such an intimacy no man can give. We all long for something. But other people are also dry and have not got enough water for themselves. What others can give us is never enough. We might try it again and again like that woman tried with her husbands. But we are longing for a spring instead of a well with a bucket. And when we taste God’s living water we change. That’s because the river of God is unlimited. That’s because God can be our intimate friend and a friendship like that changes our other relationships. (Reference here to my marriage and the fact that we cannot be God for each other. Cannot be close enough.) I saw a video on YouTube recently which was about Cardboard testimonies. It was at the end of a service when members came to the front and showed on a cardboard what they were like before getting to know Christ. They wrote their sins or their sorrows or their disbeliefs on it. And then they turned the cardboard and showed what they become after becoming followers of Jesus. It was like seeing first a desert and then seeing a beautiful green oasis full of life. We need to experience this healing. We can only bring healing to this world if we are healed. We have to be washed in God’s river, drink from the living water in order to show our source of healing – God – to others. The river of God can empower us to go outside and be instruments in God’s hand and heal the wounded, help the poor, set the captives free… The problem is that God’s people sometimes trying to tame this flow and build dams to control the water. Sometimes it is a judgmental attitude which blocks the way to the source of healing. Or sometimes it is just conformity with the “world” while the life-changing difference disappears. Sometimes Christians slip into their looking for their own convenience and do not see the connection between their spiritual life and the responsibility for others and their environment anymore. If we take seriously that God’s Kingdom is near, we have to let God’s river overflow. We have to have a holistic understanding where our world and the Kingdom of God are close to each other. They belong to each other. We need this vision of God’s river to see God’s work in our present reality. That is because we live in this land of no water. It is our land. Once we experienced the Kingdom of God we are called to step outside of the temple and witness God’s work in the world. You may ask how does this river change our world? If the Kingdom of God and the river in it are purely spiritual how does it bring water, food and healing to our world? We may ask a different question to answer this: who separated the worship of God and all spiritual things from helping the poor, feed the hungry and heal the sick? I think doing this is just as spiritual as reading the Bible, praying, “fishing souls” and so forth. There is a missional community called InnerCHANGE who live intentionally among poor people. They live out their faith authentically when they step out of their comfort-zones and “submerge” themselves into their poor neighborhood to make a difference. Contemplating their work among the poor empowers them spiritually. It makes real changes in them and in the society. Let us live out this vision by let God’s river flow through us. Let this river make a change in us. Let us accept the healing power of God. And then let us step out to the wilderness to the desert and be agents of change. Let God’s river overflow and bring life to death, water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, and healing to the sick. Amen.