Issue 400
In this 400th edition of WORKTALKweekly, I am going to take you to a dark, human scenario, so that later you can capture some light.
It happens in all kinds of settings. It could be a business, a department, a church or a bank. It could be a school or a design studio. It could be a social gathering.
Here is that scenario. Things are going well. People are even having fun, indeed seeking fun. Many are deriving pleasure from their work or from the party. Then one individual comes up with an idea. The idea is spoken quietly to a few selected others. The idea will greatly increase the profit margin or the bottom line results, or the pleasure of an evening. It could be a way of fixing exam results at a school. It could be a financial scheme, which boosts income. It could be the use of some inside information, in order to make a decision. It could be a drug or a drink.
So in the quiet, in the dark, a few individuals conspire to fix results, run a side scheme, share information or take the drug. Maybe for a while there are spectacular and surprising results – till they overdo it, overplay it or overdose on it. Then the devastating results come out and people end up in court, in jail or in dying.
The scenario is so common, it plays out in individuals as well as groups. Behind it lies a desire to make something spectacular happen, so that the ordinary becomes turbo- charged. It is the desire to gamble, take a risk, seek a pleasure or make a fast buck. It is about beating the system, becoming elite and finding a high.
Our seventh exploration of the ‘What do you want?’ question in the fourth gospel, brings you face to face with Jesus’ bright light version of that dark scenario. The question in ‘What do you want?’ form is ‘What do you want to drink?’
In the seventh chapter of the gospel, Jesus says ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink’.
To understand it, you will have to remember it was spoken to people who were having a great time. It was the last great day of a feast. They would have been up most of the night, partying. Water was the centre of their attention. Priests, every day, went to the pool of Siloam to draw water and take it to the temple. It was celebration, fun, and unbridled joy. It would have been very noisy.
Then this voice rings out. ‘Anyone thirsty? Come to me and drink’. Jesus would have had to shout, just to make himself heard. So here comes the light. It’s not for the elite, the select few, it’s for anyone. The only selection process is a self-selection process, in that you have to realise, however much fun you are having, or however well you are doing, that you still are thirsty for more. It’s not quiet and furtive. It’s loud and clear. It’s not illegal, it fulfills and goes beyond all laws. In fact, Jesus is deliberately reminding them of Old Testament themes of thirst (Isaiah 54) and desire (Psalm 42). He is connecting them with their own sacred laws and then superseding them.
It doesn’t destroy you, it pours the life of God into your life and creates a self-sustaining stream inside of you. It involves not believing a lie of the quick fix, but in Jesus himself.
But it is risky. The authorities had sent special forces to arrest him. If you are thirsty, and if you believe in Jesus, you will find that you meet special forces against you.
But here’s the choice. Do you want the dark drink or the clear water? Do you want the bootleg liquour or fine wine? Do you want it from a dubious source or from the recognised authority? Do you want the freely available or secret stash? Do you want healthy or toxic?
In your life and work, or at a party, you will, for sure, meet someone who suggests the dark, illegal, dangerous approach. If you don’t meet them outside of yourself, you will meet them inside your own soul.
So Jesus says, and 400 WORKTALKweeklies have been saying for 10 years ‘What do you want to drink?’
John 7:37-53
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flowing from within.”39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no-one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “No-one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. 47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn people without first hearing them to find out what they are doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” 53 Then they all went home
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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