It is an amazing thing, the outpouring of God’s love. It is abundant, free-flowing. Water certainly is the metaphor that comes to mind. It is cleansing, even if it comes in flood-like fashion (Noah). It can come from a rock once it is struck (Moses). In a river like Jordan, it cleanses yet again (John the Baptist). It even becomes wine (Jesus) and is more life-giving than that which comes from a well.

Far more than water, it is the love of God that is the outpouring. The blood of Jesus, freely shed and spilled for the sake of our very souls. When I pour the wine into the chalice at the Lord’s Table, I am sometimes overcome with the simple yet profound, the ordinary becoming holy. We are healed in body and spirit. There is a flowing, an outpouring of the love of God.

This past Sunday we heard the words of Paul to the people of Rome, “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (5:5). When you pray, seeking the guidance, opportunities, and possibilities that our Master lays out for us, how can His love not be felt? In us, in the people we connect with? The riches that are lavished upon us can’t be counted or measured. They are not to be kept or hoarded. We also heard, in Jesus’ initial commissioning of the disciples, that they were to give without payment as they had received without payment. “Come, buy without cost.” I’m talking not about the outpouring from a slot machine or a stock dividend. Those bring a temporary “buzz” but do not satisfy eternally. Thanks be to God for the outpouring of unconditional love that is as life-giving as water and wine.

Pastor Art