Reflection by Lucy Wambui Waweru

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
John 4: 13-15

Nipe maji ninywe, maji ya uzima Yesu akasema mmesha yapata…(give me water to drink, the living water, Jesus said you already have it…), thus goes a famous Swahili song that captures the need and great desire for water in Kenya. Many are still pleading – give us water;  how can we get water?

Degradation of the water catchment areas due to deforestation, land degradation, and industrial activity around such areas has caused untold suffering and had a negative effect on the economy. The current controversy about the Mau forest – the largest of all water catchment areas in Kenya is just the tip of the iceberg. Prolonged droughts, outbreak of Cholera and heavy floods are causing deaths and havoc, bringing suffering to many. Such events raise issues of inaccessibility to clean water, mismanagement of natural resources, ecological degradation, inequalities, sanitation, and poverty.

Against this backdrop a Presbyterian baptism recently took place of about 80 adults from the Maasai community of Kajiado (a semi-arid area in Kenya). They were baptized in a man-made pool (actually a “deeper” version of a trough). Because the rivers are dry, the water for baptism had to be purchased at a cost of Kshs. 2,000 – about 26 $. This is quite an investment in an area where people and livestock are dying due to lack of food and water. Yet the people opted for the water of baptism, rather than buying food or water, and chose also baptism by immersion. Even for infants, the minister had to be in the water as he baptized though by effusion in those cases. After the ceremony, the members of the congregation scrambled for the remaining water, dirty as it was, to feed their livestock.

This story represents the reality for many communities. There seems to be a very strong correlation between the water of baptism and water for daily use. The water of baptism represents life, the grace of God, renewal and hope. The yearning of this particular community for baptismal water at whatever cost reflects an equally deep yearning for the provision of water for ordinary use.

In contexts like this, water still remains the vehicle for taking the gospel to the people as well as the solution if their lifestyles are to change. Urban churches and others that have access to water, and those who still wish to maintain the Jordan river baptism motif, have their churches designed in such a way that there is a pool at the altar that can be opened and filled with water during baptism services. Others carry out their baptisms in swimming pools, while a majority of mainstream churches are content to carry out baptism by effusion. When I compare these different practices, it leads me to conclude that the people who thirst most for physical water thirst even more for baptismal water.

In the discourse between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-15), we see the Samaritan woman asking for the living waters. Yes, she needed the water from Jacob’s well, but she also needed the living water even more. God gives Jesus to the world, and Jesus offers himself to the world as the living water. This living water figuratively represents a blessing that reproduces itself, and like a spring, it is never exhausted. Through those suffering from water poverty, Christ is still begging for something to drink, for water, for the living water. In this season of Lent, as we deny ourselves comforts in order to feel the pain of others, may we come up with practical ways of providing an answer to the many who are still crying, give us water … the living waters!

Lucy Wambui Waweru from the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) is currently serving at the Lavington United Church (which is Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian).

Together we can make a difference:

• Take a moment to reflect on the story of the baptism told in this reflection… Were you aware that around the world it is often the very poorest who pay most for their water? This is because they do not have access to any public water supply with regulated tariffs but rather rely on informal private water vendors. It is also these most vulnerable who are suffering most from water scarcity and lacking access to water and sanitation.

• To talk of access to water as a “human right” means that we hold our public authorities on all levels of decision-making and implementation responsible to prioritize the drinking water needs of the poorest and most vulnerable - and to ensure an accountable use of the available (water and financial) resources to this end.

• In preparation for World Water Day, consider writing to your government or local authorities. Speak to them of our shared responsibility to respect water as a gift of God as well as a human right. Ask for information about the actions they are taking to guarantee and implement the human right to water for all people, locally and internationally.

Links to further information:

• Stirring the Waters (Women magazine No 57 / 2006)

• Waterholes Restoration Project (Maasai Association)

• Global Warming Is Real: We Must Do Something Urgently (Wangari Maathai)

Reflection by Chip Andrus

Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life.
      Romans 6:3,4

Water has always been an instrument of both death and life.  In the beginning the Spirit of God moved over the water, calling forth creation and life. Death came upon the earth in the form of a massive flood during Noah’s time.  Hagar found a well in the wilderness that became saving water for her and her child Ishmael. Life and death, dying and rising, water and Spirit are foundational to the life of faith we share as baptized children of God.

The biblical stories of water reflect our present day reality and engagement with this basic element of life and death. Floods and typhoons today call to mind the biblical story of Noah.  The fear of death by so many who do not have clean water to drink may bring to mind Hagar’s distress and resignation to what could have been her death and the death of her child. We must also remember that all life depends on water and the beauty of the earth is sustained and nourished by snow and rain. Bountiful harvests, water to wine, sacred baths, beautiful gardens, an abundant catch of fish, reflect the life giving nature of water we experience today and also find in scripture. These are but a few examples of the sacred connections that help us understand our participation in God’s never ending drama and how water is so sacred.

The Church consists of people born of water and the Spirit in baptism. Baptism is a journey only completed in death and therefore we are called to “live wet” or practice the faith we covenanted to live with God and one another throughout our lives.

When we intentionally make connections between all water and the water of baptism, we can then find the sacredness of every encounter with this basic element of life and death. On the other hand we may find the defilement of God’s sacredness when water is polluted, deprived to humans, used as a means of wealth, or used for torture.

As we journey through Lent toward the paschal mystery of Easter, a time where baptism and our death and resurrection in Christ is powerfully engaged, we can prepare ourselves by making connections to water and all life through intentional practices in worship.  These connections then can help us “live wet” and be opportunities to practice our baptismal faith.

In the community where I live and practice the faith we use water in different parts of the liturgy to make connections between the baptismal life and the water we encounter each day. The prayers of thanksgiving for water include local creeks, rivers and streams by name. We pour water as we gather, to remind us of the sacredness of other places where we gather around water such as rivers, lakes, city fountains, and the waterfalls that are a beautiful part of our local landscape.  Water is always poured during the confession rite as a reminder of God’s constant call to repentance so that destructive practices are put to death and where God’s Spirit is gracefully calling us to rise to new life.

During offering water poured and words spoken remind us to live into our baptism as living and holy sacrifices. We are reminded of how our most precious offering is a life that reflects God’s love and justice in the world.

As we are sent out of worship into the rest of our lives, we are encouraged to let every encounter with water remind us of all these things, making the deep connections to sacred living and being reminded of the sacredness of all water and all creation, for it is a matter of life and death.

Chip Andrus
Chip Andrus is a liturgical theologian and a singer/song-writer who is currently the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Arkansas.

Together we can make a difference:

• Name the different sources of water and water bodies close to where you live. Give God thanks for them.

• Next time you see water—like when it rains or you go to the river—remember God’s beauty and sustaining love all around us, and remember that you’re a baptized child of God.

• Is it possible for you to organize a visit, e.g. with your Bible study group or a confirmation class, to one of the water sources, rivers, or lakes where you live? Consider going to a local water place and having a short service of thanksgiving for water.

• Maybe there is also an opportunity to combine reflection with practical action, like a river clean-up?

Links to further information:

• Read more about what it means to “live wet” and find many more ideas on how to integrate water as a constant reminder of our baptism in your own and your community’s life: www.calvin.edu/worship/stories/remembering_baptism.php (in English)

Photograph by Steven Huyser-Honig, courtesy of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

Reflection by Lic. Elias Crisostomo Abramides

And when Jesus had been baptised, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”

Matthew 3:16-17

In Holy Tradition and in the Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Churches water has a profound symbolic presence. Water in the sacrament of baptism is intimately related to the Feast of the Theophany. Celebrated on 6 January, Theophany (from the Greek theophania, meaning "appearance or manifestation of God to the world"), is one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church. It reveals the most Holy Trinity to the world through the Baptism of the Lord in the waters of the river Jordan by John the Baptist, the forerunner.  It marks the end of one of the holiest times in the ecclesiastical calendar, the “Holy Twelve Days” between the birth of the Logos, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, on 25 December, and Theophany, when the three persons of the most Holy Trinity are present during his baptism.

The celebration begins on 5 January, the “Forefeast of Theophany”, when the service of the first Blessing of the Waters is conducted (mikros agiasmos) following the Holy Liturgy.  On 6 January the Holy Liturgy is followed by the second Blessing of the Waters (megas agiasmos). In the Southern Hemisphere the ceremony takes place in summer, but in the Northern Hemisphere in winter. In either case, it is a traditional and joyful ceremony that affirms Orthodox Christian identity.

The ceremony of the Holy Water is conducted inside the church but if possible, across  the world, it mostly takes place near open bodies of water: a river, a lake or by the sea. As a sign of blessing just as Christ blessed the waters of the Jordan, Holy Water is poured into a body of water (a lake, river, pond or stream) and a cross is plunged into the water (being retrieved later by divers who in this way are blessed).

Holy Water blessed at the Feast of Theophany is given to the faithful to drink for health, and for the blessing of the body. In the weeks following Theophany, the clergy may visit the home of the faithful and conduct a ceremony of blessing using the Holy Water that was blessed at Theophany.

We have been baptized in Holy Water: holy because it was blessed, holy because it sustains life, holy because it is the cradle and essence of all life. Through baptism we became Christians, having been baptized in the Holy Spirit of God. The central message we receive from the Feast of Theophany is this: Jesus is baptized but we are also, baptized in His name and in the name of God the Father and of the Holy Spirit.

The blessing of the water at the Feast of Theophany is a visible sign that all creation is to be filled with the holy-making presence of God. Even when polluted water is thus blessed, the Orthodox Church must still regard it as “holy water”. This anomaly—or antinomy—points to the scandalous difference between the Orthodox view of the holiness of creation and the human desecration of this gift of God.

To conclude, I quote His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s message when in 2005, he stated:"... Water, then, signifies the depth of life and the calling to cosmic transfiguration. It can never be regarded or treated as private property or become the means and end of individual interest. Indifference towards the vitality of water constitutes both a blasphemy to God the Creator and a crime against humanity".

2010 is one of the years when all Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, on the same day. As we meditate on the message of Theophany during these Seven Weeks for Water and through this holy period of Lent in preparation for Easter, may our common celebration of Easter this year be a symbol of unity among Christians and also of our common concern for the holiness of water.

Lic. Elias Crisostomo Abramides of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and South America lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also a member of the World Council of Churches’ Working Group on Climate Change.

Together we can make a difference:

• Contemplate the richness of water as a liturgical symbol in our different Christian traditions, and other religions, while taking in the photo story showing the celebration of Theophany at the Orthodox Monastery of New Valamo in Heinävesi in Finland: www.keeping-the-faith.info/fi_valaa.html

• Consider organizing a discussion or a workshop on the meaning and use of water providing a space for exchange among the various Christian traditions where you live, maybe also with representatives of other religions?

Reflection by David R. Holeton

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"  Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.”

Matt 3:13-15

Jesus’s baptism by John in the River Jordan is a fundamental image invoked at virtually every Christian baptism today. But Jesus’s baptism by John could not have been without embarrassment for the first Christians.  John, after all, was seen by many at that time as a rival to Jesus.   There were those who believed that John was God’s last word of revelation to humanity and there are groups who hold such beliefs to this day.  Thus, Jesus coming to John for baptism could have served to substantiate the claims of John’s followers.

The retention of the account of Jesus’s baptism in the New Testament is, perhaps, less important as a piece of biography than as a paradigm for every Christian baptism.  John’s baptism, like Christian baptism, was unique, was administered by another, involved a commitment to a new way of life and signified a self-identification with the in-breaking of God’s reign into the affairs of this world.  Most significant of all, however, is that at his baptism, Jesus was gifted with the Holy Spirit and the heavenly voice announced the special relationship between Jesus and his Father.

In their practice of baptism, Christians claim that God gifts the newly baptised with the Holy Spirit.  As at his baptism, Jesus became “Christos – the anointed one”, in baptism, each new Christian also becomes “Christos – anointed one”.  And as the particular Father/Son relationship was announced at Jordan, the newly baptised is incorporated into a filial relationship with God. Of the many initiation rituals which use water in the religions of the world, only Christians claim that God gifts the Holy Spirit in their baptism.

It should not be surprising that, for centuries, all Christians wished to baptise in “living” (that is copious, preferably flowing) water.  This generous use of water in baptism evokes its death-dealing as well as its life-giving qualities.  When water is used in this fashion, the claims Christians make of baptism become clear before the eyes of the community that celebrates this death-dealing and life-giving act: it is a participation in Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12); a washing away of sin (1Cor. 6:11); a new birth (Jn. 3:5); and the experience of salvation from the flood (1 Pt. 3:20-21).  

Over the centuries, however, most churches have become accustomed to using water in such a minimalist fashion that the powerful symbolic realities behind it are all but impossible to see.  The few drops that are sprinkled or poured on the candidate say little about death or new birth – either to the candidate or the community present.  As such, water’s symbolic qualities must be explained as they can no longer speak for themselves as they would if water were used generously and lavishly. 

Today, many churches are renewing their practice of baptism so that the baptismal symbols speak for themselves.  As we journey through Lent to Easter it is a good time for churches to reflect on their baptismal practices and to ask whether they speak clearly of the realities which lie behind them.

David Holeton is Professor of Liturgy teaching at the Charles University in Prague and is also priest-in-charge of the Old Catholic parish of St. Mary Magdalene on the banks of the Vltava.

Together we can make a difference:

• Reflect on how you use water during baptisms in your own congregation – do you use as little as you can, or as much as you are able to? Does it allow for the symbolism of water to speak to you?

• If the thought of using water more copiously in your prayer and worship experience makes you feel uncomfortable, it might be a good idea to find out which are the greatest water users where you live and compare their use of water with your congregation’s use of water in liturgical practices and other activities.

• Instead of saving water during baptism, you can find out about other ways of improving the environmental and water footprint of your church. For example, Eco-congregations.org offers various modules with guidance and ideas for congregations on how to cut down on energy, recycle more, water and be generally a great deal kinder to the planet than we are already. The National Council of Churches in Denmark has identified 48 points for becoming a "green church". Remember that saving energy and reducing waste also protects our water resources.

Links to further information:

• People use water for drinking, cooking and washing, but much more for producing things such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. Learn more at www.waterfootprint.org

Photo: Children crossing the "waters of baptism" at the entrance of the chapel in the ecumenical center in Geneva. In the background the copy of a mosaic showing Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, given to the World Council of Churches by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinopel. (c) Peter Williams / WCC

Reflection by Anne Louise Mahoney 

With joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah 12:3

My parish church features a large baptismal font where infants and adults alike are baptized. During Sunday liturgies for most of the year, the soft sounds of flowing water provide a peaceful backdrop during moments of silence and prayer and remind us of our baptism.

But on Ash Wednesday, things change. The font is drained and then filled with sand and rocks – dry, lifeless, muted. It always catches me by surprise. We are now in desert time, whether we like it or not.

For seven long weeks I pass by the sand-filled font each Sunday. I miss the water – its moisture, its gurgling, its cooling presence. I am prompted to face the desert areas in my own life – dried-up relationships, destructive habits, empty prayer, selfishness, pride, lack of compassion. I linger reluctantly in that barren place, trying to rediscover what is life giving.

As the anticipation of Easter builds, I begin to imagine the water’s return. I feel hope stirring during Holy Week, knowing that when I enter the church for the Easter Vigil, the water will be flowing once again, music to my ears and my spirit.

It is always worth the wait, worth the deprivation, to experience the water anew on this night. Before we even get to the glorious moment of baptism, the readings overflow with references to water. God’s spirit swept over the face of the waters of creation. God makes springs gush forth in the valleys. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

From the moment our lives begin, water is key to our future. Without it, we will die. We drink it, cook with it, bathe in it, wash clothes and dishes and floors with it, nourish animals and plants with it, and use it in manufacturing of all kinds. As Christians, we are baptized in it. Water is a primary force in our lives that is often beyond our control. When it unleashes its full strength through hurricanes or floods or blizzards, and when it dries up completely, we recognize its true power over us.

Today, we stand accountable for our mismanagement of water. We face the shameful fact that this essential resource is not available to all people. We watch passively as Arctic ice melts, threatening the precarious ecological balance of our planet. As Christians, reborn in Jesus through the baptismal water, we are called to restore the balance.

Each year, the Easter Vigil offers us a stark reminder that water is God’s gift to us – in baptism and in our everyday lives. Indeed, water is life. In baptism, Christians touch this source of life in a way that has the potential to change our lives completely. We rise with Christ to newness of life. As we go forth in Christ, we must remember that water is a blessing to be treasured, to be shared with all people, to be protected for future generations.

Anne Louise Mahoney

Anne Louise Mahoney, a Roman Catholic lay person, works as a freelance editor for various Christian and secular organizations. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Together we can make a difference:

• Reflect on the ‘desert spaces’ in your own life, those aspects of your life that make you feel vulnerable and thirsting for something. Remembering that the desert in the Bible is also a place of ascetic meditation, think also about those situations and places that make you feel closer to God.
• With your family of faith community, list three ways to use water more respectfully or efficiently and put them into action.
• Think about the ‘deserts’ in the community or city where you live, in the sense of places affected by the misuse and mismanagement of water, or lacking access. Can you find out which networks or organizations address this issues and how you could support them with your prayers, time or other resources?
• Help the Ecumenical Water Network address crucial water issues. There are many ways of getting involved...

Photo: © PETER WILLIAMS/WCC

Liturgical resources for the Seven Weeks for Water 2010:

“Water in the desert” – Order of Service for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (21 March 2010)

“Water, Passion and Betrayal” - An order of Communion for Maundy Thursday

Please also download our World Water Day tool kit with more ideas and resources for activities around World Water Day on 22nd March.