The water of life

[AI translation] My Christian Brothers and Sisters!The prophet Ezekiel has a vision again: centuries before the birth of Christ, God shows him, in a vision, the power and the effect of the coming gospel of Christ on the earth. His vision is symbolic, as always. He sees the temple in Jerusalem, but not the old temple, but a new temple that does not exist in reality, a new temple in place of the old one, much holier, purer, bigger and more glorious than the old one. He sees the altar in the temple, and from beneath the altar he sees water flowing in the form of a small stream, running through the temple, spilling out of the gate, running through the streets, and then gushing out into the desert. The small stream grows larger and larger, becoming a river, then a mighty river, and finally flowing into the Dead Sea. Wherever the waters of the altar flow, new life springs up on either bank, and even the sulphurous waters of the Dead Sea are healed.
Ezekiel measures the depth of the water with a measuring line: a thousand yards from the source, the water is only up to his ankles, another thousand yards, the water is up to his knees, another thousand yards, he is wading in it up to his waist, another thousand yards, and he can only swim in it. And so the experience of God's grace grows in a man's life. When one begins to turn towards God, one only just experiences that there is grace in the world: one walks up to one's ankles in the water of the altar. Later, when his turning towards God becomes more and more serious, he feels that grace is growing around him, but his feet are still on solid ground, he is still on his own feet: he is knee-deep or waist-deep in water - like a bad swimmer, he does not dare to trust himself completely to grace, he just takes a step at a time, but he also puts his feet down to see if he can still reach the bottom. If, at such a time, one does not turn back, but keeps on going, keeps on praying, keeps on trusting, keeps on believing: then the grace of God will at once lift him up and carry him with all his burdens, just as the good swimmer is sustained and carried by the water itself.
When a man learns to swim, it takes a long time before he dares to lift his feet, before he dares to lie down on them and trust in the sustaining power of the water. So it is with the grace of God, we are like a man thrown into the water, we are nervous, we think that if we don't help ourselves, if we don't try to stand on our own feet, we will sink. We don't believe what God said to the Apostle Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor 12:9). Someone has asked me several times: how can this be done? Well then, it is a movement - only in a spiritual sense, of course - like a swimmer throwing himself on the water, with the difference that God's grace cannot be submerged, it always sustains and carries those who throw themselves on it. How far have you come, my brother, in experiencing the grace of God? Is it knee-deep, waist-deep, or has it already lifted you up, is it already carrying you? Can you now look for forgiveness of sins, eternal life, joy and suffering here on earth, life and death, to the grace of God alone? Let it carry you, swim in it! He will keep you!
But there is something else, too, symbolized by the water coming from the altar, and its constant growth and swelling. It means that the Gospel, the Christianity, the spirit and the mind of Christ that we proclaim here in the Church, that we gather here every week to listen to: it cannot remain isolated from the world! But just as the water from the altar flows out of the church door and overflows the city, the desert, into the Dead Sea, so the animating power of the Gospel must flow from here into the dead sea of human hearts. The power and the effect of the divine word that has been spoken to us in the temple must be felt by people outside the temple. When the Word is preached in here, what Ezekiel saw literally happens: water flows from under the altar, the water of life is stirred up, and at its touch spiritual wounds are healed, unclean and sinful souls are cleansed, great spiritual turmoil is quieted. We all know that there are resources that can help us to live happier family lives, to raise more courageous Hungarians, to create a cleaner public life, to find solutions to serious crises. We all know that only the Gospel of Christ can help the fallen to get back on their feet, can effectively serve our country, save our people, solve social problems, and bring happiness to our country and to all humanity. But what good is it if this life-giving water of the Gospel is trapped in the church, if it does not reach beyond the walls of the church or the Bible study?
We all see, don't we, that we are surrounded by a dead sea of human souls wherever we go. Well, how can that dead mass be animated? According to the prophet Ezekiel's vision, it was not the fetid waters of the Dead Sea that poured into the temple to heal, but the waters that poured out of the temple poured into the Dead Sea and healed it. When the gates of this temple are opened at the end of the service, like water gushing out of an open floodgate, the people flow out in all directions. You and I: we are the channel, the riverbed in which God's reviving power should flow. We are a few hundred here. Imagine how all the family homes, all the offices, all the countless different spheres of life could be caught up in this stream of living water from God, and the whole "Dead Sea" could slowly come to life! The Dead Sea of millions of people, you know what it is? Accusation against you: it is stuck in you, in your life the water of life has been blocked, you did not let it flow beyond you to others! You have fallen victim to the fashion of the age, to church Christianity, you have confined Christianity within the four walls, you have blocked its flow by not taking it out. And yet the world is unconsciously waiting for it, and it is waiting for it from you, who used to sit here by the fountain. By whom can this world be made more beautiful, happier, more peaceful, more balanced, if not by you, who go to church, who draw from the pure, healing spring of the Gospel?!
Because this water has the property of healing power! This is how Ezekiel describes the vision. Between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea lay a desolate plain, and as Ezekiel walked along, following the flow of the water, he saw no trees. As he turned back, however, he noticed a wonderful change in the landscape: on both banks of the river, lush vegetation grew at once, huge, strong trees swaying their lush branches in the wind. The whole area around the Dead Sea had changed, even the water itself. The water, which had destroyed all life that came near it, was now visibly filled with teeming fish. The deserted shoreline is now bustling with fresh life, nets stretched between the trees. Where before there was stillness, death: life throbs, life sings - the water from the temple has healed, the water of life has conquered the water of death!
The prophet describes the power of the gospel in this vision. The word of God, the Word of God must bring new life to you! For it is not true that the promises of the Gospel are only for life beyond the grave! It is not true that they only comfort you with happiness and peace of mind to be gained there, because the gospel wants to recreate and change people here and now! Whoever does not experience the sprouting of a new life here will not be promised anything good over there! How much we do not believe in the regenerating power of God, in the possibility of changing a man, is shown by such sayings as: "Well, man is only man, or a dog will not become bacon! Do we not feel, my brothers and sisters, that such thinking is a total denial of the Gospel of Christ, a total denial of Christ Himself?
Do you remember what it was like four and a half years ago in this place where today the Lord's Table stands, with the psalm singing, the organ playing, people praying? Rubbish heaps, weedy mounds, puddled pits. And then workers came, engineers, bricks were brought, wood was sawn, and today the church stands here. Behold, with manpower, a beautiful clean church can be built instead of a rubbish heap. Can God not then build a spiritual temple on the site of a spiritual rubbish dump?! Can God not cleanse the soul of any reprobate, or even your soul, and dig deep, deep foundations and build a whole new life and order of life?!
You know why you can't get better, holier, purer? Because you don't believe in the life-giving power of the gospel! When one comes into contact with Christ, he can never be the same person he was before. He becomes a different man, a new man. The change is just as evident in him as it was in the waters of the Dead Sea when the water from the altar poured in. He who has been touched by this holy water can no longer remain as selfish, vain, greedy and malicious as he was before. All will be healed and live, somewhere this river has gone. And if there are no signs of change, that soul has never been touched by the gospel. Therefore, we cannot carry the life-giving power of the gospel forward and pour it into the dead sea of souls.
For why is there a church in the world, what is God's purpose in it? Is it so that there will be more of them in the world with an interesting formation or association? No. But only that God may make this sick world healed, this dead world alive and fruitful through it. That he might be the salt of the world, giving it flavour and preserving power, without which it would fester like a puddle and rot like slaughtered flesh. Why is the church-going Christian man in the world? It is to make a difference in the marketplace among the grumbling and swearing people, or in the office among the cynical colleagues, or in the factory among the workers. It is not his business to preach there, for the occasion is not always right; it is to let flow from him, imperceptibly and perhaps unconsciously, influences which will make the waters of the dead sea around him come alive, become useful. As the Scripture says, all things are healed and live, wherever the running water, that is, such a Christian man, goes.
Will all things be healed, will all things come to life, my brother, whither thou goest? Jesus says: if the salt is unseasoned, it is good for nothing, but is thrown away and trampled underfoot by men! Is that the only good your Christianity can do? To be thrown away? To be trampled underfoot?
Church-going brethren, hearing the living water of the Word splashing! It should not be so! It could be otherwise! Just as Ezekiel saw the waves of life-giving water from the temple splashing out the door, bringing life to the wilderness and healing the Dead Sea. It is up to you to make it so! Pray for it, ask God to make it so!
Amen.
Date: 21 February 1943.