Receiving Christ on the Front Porch

Heat and humidity are to be expected in August in Memphis.  These days those expectations are being met and then some.   We have plenty of both.  Temperatures the last few days have been near 100 degrees and the heat index has gone up over 110. 

Guests at Manna House arrive hot and thirsty, and worn out from the heat.  Even the night brings little relief with lows in the 80’s, along with an abundance of mosquitoes.  As one guest said today, “I gotta try to sleep during the day and to keep moving at night or I’ll get eaten alive.”

            This morning when I came early to Manna House to start the coffee, there was Christ waiting for me on the front porch.  He was Black; very Black.  And thirsty; very thirsty.  “Pete,” he said, “can you get me some water?”

            “Lord, when did I see you thirsty and give you something to drink?” (Mt 25:37).

            I went into the house and got a pitcher of water (with ice), and returned to Christ on the porch, who now included folks of various colors (and shapes).  Christ drank a lot of ice water.  He sure does like a cold drink of water on a hot and humid day.  These days we’re serving almost as much ice water as coffee during the hours that we are open. 

I’m also glad that H.O.P.E. is doing great work offering water to the thirsty Christ. They are going around the city offering cold bottles of water to any folks they see on the streets. 

Water in the Bible and in our biology is known to be essential for life.  Isaiah the prophet speaks of the promise of free water (and food and drink) as part of his vision of God’s reign, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost’ (Isaiah 55:1).

Water is so essential and sacred that our thirst and need for water symbolizes our thirst and need for God, as we find in Psalm 42, “Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for God. My soul is thirsting for God. When can I see the glory of God?”

            On these hot and humid days we share the need for water; and we’re easily reminded how precious water is for our lives.  We need to remember, too, how Christ promised to meet us in the sharing of water with those who are thirsty.  Water shared with the thirsty is a sacrament, a place of encounter with the Divine, and not something to be reduced to a commodity (as has happened in Detroit where the Pharaohs of the city have attempted to shut water off to people who are poor).

            I’m looking forward to the day when we respect all water as the living water come from God, a day when “the Lamb at the center of the throne will be our shepherd; 'he will lead us to springs of living water.' 'And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.'" (Revelation 7:17).