Thirsting for Living Water

March 06, 2026

Thirsting for Living Water

The Third Sunday in Lent | March 8, 2026

Opening Thought

Have you ever been truly, desperately thirsty? Not just a little parched, but the kind of thirst where your mouth feels like cotton and all you can think about is a single drop of cold water?

As we hit the third week of our Lenten journey, we are moving deeper into the wilderness. Last week, we talked about stepping into the dark unknown with Abram and Nicodemus. This week, we confront what happens when the journey gets long, the sun beats down, and our spiritual canteens run dry.

We all experience seasons of spiritual drought. Sometimes it manifests as complaining and exhaustion, much like the Israelites in the desert who wondered if God had simply abandoned them. Other times, we try to quench our thirst with things that leave us feeling even emptier—drawing from wells that can never truly satisfy us.

But the beautiful promise of this Sunday is that God does not leave us to dry up in the desert. When the Israelites cried out, water flowed from a stone. And when a tired, outcast woman came to a well at noon, Jesus met her there, offering her a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. Whatever your wilderness looks like today, know that the Living Water is already waiting for you.

Engaging the Word

Our readings today center entirely on our deep needs and God’s miraculous provision.

Exodus (17:1-7) finds the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, and they are completely out of water. Fear quickly turns to anger, and they turn on Moses, asking why he brought them out of Egypt just to die of thirst. Despite their lack of faith, God instructs Moses to strike the rock at Horeb with his staff, miraculously bringing forth water for the people to drink.

Psalm 95 connects directly to our Exodus reading. We are called to sing and shout for joy to the "Rock of our salvation". However, the psalmist also gives a stern warning: "Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me". It is a call to trust God's provision rather than testing it.

Romans (5:1-11) offers profound comfort for the dry seasons of life. Paul writes that we can boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Why? Because God proved His immense love for us in that, while we were still sinners—while we were still complaining in the desert—Christ died for us.

John (4:5-42) is one of the most beautiful and intimate encounters in the Gospels. Jesus, exhausted from his journey, sits by a well in Samaria and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. This breaks major cultural, religious, and gender barriers. He tells her about "living water" that will ensure she never thirsts again. He knows her entire, complicated past, yet he doesn't condemn her. Instead, he reveals his identity to her as the Messiah. She leaves her water jar behind and runs to tell the city, becoming one of the first evangelists.

A Journey in Song: Our Musical Guides

This Sunday every musical element intertwines flawlessly with the themes of wilderness, rocks, and life-giving water.

Opening Voluntary: We begin with J.S. Bach's "An Wasserflüssen Babylon" (BWV 653). Translated as "By the Waters of Babylon," this chorale prelude evokes the sorrow and longing of exile. Its flowing, intertwining lines musically represent the running waters of the river, preparing our hearts for the living water to come.

Entrance Hymn: We stand to sing the great Welsh hymn "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah" (#690). This hymn was tailor-made for our Exodus reading, asking God to lead us through the barren land and pleading: "Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow."

Sequence Hymn: We sing "Rock of Ages, cleft for me" (#685). Here, we tie the rock that Moses struck in the desert to Christ, the ultimate Rock who was pierced for us, providing the waters of salvation.

Offertory Anthem: The choir offers a gorgeous arrangement of "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say". Arranged by Donald Busarow using a theme by Thomas Tallis , the choir will sing the very words of today's Gospel: "Behold, I freely give the living water; thirsty one, stoop down and drink, and live".

Communion Hymn: We draw near to the altar singing the ancient chant, "Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord" (#328).

Post-Communion Hymn: We sing "Glorious things of thee are spoken" (#522). Listen closely to the second verse: "See! the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love, well supply thy sons and daughters, and all fear of want remove."

Closing Voluntary: We conclude with another masterpiece by J.S. Bach, his Prelude and Fugue in E minor "Cathedral" (BWV 533). The sheer structural grandeur and foundational weight of this piece send us out into the world grounded on the solid Rock.

A Closing Note on our Journey

There is a tiny detail in John's Gospel that I always find striking. When the Samaritan woman finally realizes who Jesus is, the text says: "Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city".

She came to the well at noon —the hottest, most miserable part of the day—specifically to avoid the other women of the town because of her shame. She brought her heavy jar to do the grueling, mundane work of fetching water. But after her encounter with Jesus, she forgets the very thing she came for. She leaves the jar behind.

When we truly encounter the grace of God, the heavy things we've been carrying to try and sustain ourselves suddenly don't seem so important anymore. The temporary fixes, the shame, the exhausting routines we use to cope with our spiritual dryness—we can leave them at the feet of Jesus.

You don't have to carry that heavy jar back down the mountain. The Living Water is here, and it is a free gift. Let it wash over you this week.

A Prayer for the Week Ahead

As we journey through the wilderness of Lent, let us bring our thirst to the Lord, trusting in His provision.

For the Church, that we may be a wellspring of grace in a parched world, offering the living water of Christ to all who are seeking truth and love.

God of living water,