I had the awesome opportunity of engaging in conversation with a dear friend this week. Our conversations are deep and insightful and theological. This dear friend makes me think broader and deeper about issues that appear to be, on the surface, simple. As we gathered our thoughts this week around a blog series that I’ve been asked to curate for Next Church, my friend shared an obvious observation. As she and her husband drive around our growing city, they realize that Charlotte is thirsty.
Why do they think Charlotte is thirsty? Because there are now more than 47 breweries in the Charlotte area with half a dozen more set to open in the next few weeks. (At the end of 2018 there were more than 7000 craft breweries fully operational in the US. North Carolina boasts the largest number of craft breweries in the American South, with more than 300 breweries and brewpubs.)
Dare we say, the world is thirsty!
I have always been fascinated with the imagery of thirst and water in scripture. (I even wrote a song about it in the early 80’s titled “Back to the Well.”
The lyrics to the chorus go like this:
“Back to the well to drink the water that the master has supplied,
opened up in the House of David when the lamb was crucified.
It’s a cool-refreshing water that you can’t buy or sell.So, come you thirsty people, and drink from the Master’s well.”)
In scripture we find the “waters of baptism,” the parted waters, the water in the desert, the River of Life, the water that flows from the pierced side of the crucified Savior…and probably the most well-known story about thirst and water in scripture is the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well. Jesus tells her that whoever drinks of the water he gives will never thirst again.
I love how God speaks to us from different sources. The One Year Bible readings this week come from the Gospel of John. And in this passage Jesus talks about thirst and water. In John 6:35 Jesus replies to a crowd of listeners saying, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.”
Websters Dictionary defines “thirst” as a sensation of dryness in the mouth and throat associated with a desire for liquids; a desire or need to drink, an ardent desire or craving and longing.
As I witness people gathering at one of the many breweries in our area, I recognize that there is an ardent desire or craving for something. I surmise that it’s more than beer people are craving. I am confident that there is a thirst for community; there is a desire to share their stories; there is a craving to know and be known; there is a longing to connect with other human beings and there is a desire to be affirmed and recognized and loved.
It’s a thirst. We are all thirsty people.
But, it is a thirst that the crafty creation of a master brew-mister cannot satisfy. It is a thirst that only a relationship with the Divine Creator can satisfy.
My friends, that’s why M2M Charlotte exists—it exists to proclaim we’ve found bread and water that satisfies all hunger and thirst—come taste and see. Rachel Held Evans, one of the most prolific contemporary theologians who died this week said it most poignantly: “But the gospel doesn’t need a coalition devoted to keeping the wrong people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting, “Welcome! There’s bread and wine. Come eat (and drink) with us and talk.” This isn’t a kingdom for the worthy; it’s a kingdom for the hungry (and thirsty).”