Sermon for Sunday 6th September 2026, Trinity 14

Rev Petra Elsmore

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FIRST READING

 

Ezekiel 47.1-12

 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

 

 

Gospel Reading

John 7.37-39

 

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, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ 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.

 

TALK

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Today we are starting the Season of Creation, which this year has a theme Living Water, and it’s inspired by the vision from Ezekiel, Chapter 47, which was read to us by Kate.

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Ezekiel speaks to people who knew what it was to lose almost everything. Jerusalem had been devastated, the Temple was destroyed, people displaced and taken into exile. But in this part of his prophecy, we hear the words of restoration and promise. The people who knew something about desolation and about wondering whether there could ever be a future again for them, now receive the words of hope and new beginning. Ezekiel is given this extraordinary vision. Water begins to flow from the Temple — first a trickle, then ankle-deep, knee-deep, waist-deep, until eventually it becomes a river he cannot cross.

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And wherever the water flows, things live.

The barren and desolate land becomes fruitful.

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Ezekiel says that multitude of living creatures and a large numbers of fish will be wherever the river flows, trees will bear fruit to eat, and the leaves will be used to bring healing. What Ezekiel offers is a vision of restoration and healing, a vision of promise and abundance…

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He speaks to people who know desolation and hardship, offers them the contrast of two landscapes. After the years he prophesies judgment, come years, when he offers hope and restoration.

Can you recognise something of these two pictures in your own life?

 

The landscape which feels desolate, the times when life can feel hard, when something has been lost, when circumstances become difficult, when hope seems to have dried up.

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And there is the landscape which is filled with life, the times life begins to flow again: when it feels more hopeful, we enjoy our friendships, we rejoice in achievements, our own or our loved ones, times when we feel happiness and contentment, perhaps when we feel close to God.

Landscapes where life is flowing and landscapes which feel barren.

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We witness it in the world around us, when we listen to the news, when we observe God’s creation changing in front of our eyes. We have had a glimpse this summer of how quickly a landscape can begin to change when water disappears. In our gardens, in the fields around us, grass turning brown, soil becomes hard, the level of water in rivers fall, reservoirs shrink. What for us has been unusual this summer is already a much more permanent reality for many parts of the world. The climate is changing, pattern of conditions we can expect in the years to come.

 

Robert shares with us his experience, as a farmer, of the impact this hot summer had on farming.

 

Another example of desolation, we see is when we look at the oceans,

The contrast of the landscape of the beautiful reefs in Indonesia, and examples of ocean waters polluted by waste and plastic. We have seen landscapes of desolation and landscapes where, using Ezekiel’s words, where the river flows everything lives.

 

Ezekiel gives us, in his vision, a picture of the generosity of God. 

 

Life flows from God, and where that life is received there is healing, and abundance, life flourishes. And we are not separate from God's creation. 

 

We belong within it. We depend upon the same water, the same soil, the same air and the same delicate balance of life as everything else. 

 

We all have some favourite places, that speak to us of God’s glory in this creation. For me, and our family,  it is Northumberland landscape and Trevone Bay in Cornwall. Those places remind us of God’s amazing gift to us, of his majesty and grace reflected to us in the nature.

 

We all know desolation, whether we have experienced it deeply within our own lives, or if we continue to witness it in the world around us, we all have seen pictures of desolation more disturbing that the images I have chosen today.

 

These landscapes of desolation are a reminder that we are no longer in harmony with God’s creation, to a point where God’s creation suffers, when we suffer.

 

The Living Water as described by Ezekiel, is God's own life and grace flowing into the world, and Jesus in John’s Gospel, is the reminder that our lives and actions are shaped by the generous grace of God, that was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We in our relationship with Jesus, have received that generous love of God, our lives have been forever shaped by it.

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And the calling for us is to participate in God’s purpose for his creation, in the process of healing and restoration, in the call of justice and renewal. 

 

Ezekiel sees a river flowing into what seemed lifeless — and wherever the river goes, there life returns.

So as we go through the Season of creation, we should carry with us  a vision of what God desires: life, healing, justice and flourishing.

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We witness many attempts of people joining in such work. The river restoration projects, charities such as WaterAid working with communities to ensure that people have access to clean water and improved sanitation.  A change, starts with a vision, with determination, with resolution to allow God’s grace to shape our own lives, habits and our actions. It becomes with decision, not to be just witnesses but to join in action;

Where can we become part of the flow of God's healing and renewal? That’s the question I will leave you with as we travel through the season of Creation this year.