CMLC 2026-03-11 Sermon (Lent 03)

Houston began with a bold idea. In the 1830s,

two brothers, Augustus Checkman Allen and John

Kirby Allen, decided to create a city along Buffalo

Bayou. They promoted it as the perfect location

for commerce and growth. People came, homes were

built, businesses opened, a city was born. But

there was one small problem. It was a swamp.

A literal swamp and crumbs and flooding. From

the very beginning, Houston has wrestled with

how to live with the land underneath it. And

over time, developers have tended to react in

two very different ways. One reaction says, just

accept it. This is a land we have, floods happen,

that is simply life here, and we should hold

off on building new homes in too many places.

But now there is a lack of housing that is needed.

The other reaction says, no, we can control it.

Build more, pave more, cover it with concrete.

Force the land to cooperate with what we want,

even as the flooding gets worse and worse. Both

responses have brought their own difficulties.

Ignore the land and the people remind you of

what they need. Try to overpower it, and the

consequences come back in unexpected and expected

ways. The challenge has always been learning

how to live wisely with the reality that we are

given. And in a strange way, that struggle mirrors

something deeper about the human heart. When

we face the world around us, people often choose

between two similar responses. Some simply accept

whatever the culture around them says. Others

try to force the world to bend to their will.

But the word of God points to a third path. We

hear that invitation today in the words of the

prophet Isaiah. When these words were first spoken,

God's people were living far from home in Babylon.

Jerusalem had fallen. The temple was gone. The

people had been carried away into exile. And

yet, by the time Isaiah's words were heard, something

interesting has happened. Life in Babylon has

become normal. After decades, Babylon has become

their new home. The people have houses. jobs,

routines. They know how the system works. They

know how the culture operates. But they are also

surrounded by Babylon's gods, Babylon's values,

Babylon's way of seeing the world. And into that

situation, God speaks a question that cuts straight

to the heart. Why do you spend your money for

that which is not bread, and your labor for that

which does not satisfy? In other words, why are

you trying to satisfy your soul with things that

you never should be feeling? And when we look

at life in Babylon, we begin to see three different

responses that people can have. The first response

is simply to blend into Babylon. When you live

in a place long enough, it begins to shake you.

The culture, the customs around you start to

feel normal. The values around you begin to seem

obvious. So the temptation is simple there. Eat

and drink whatever is handed to you. Accept the

culture. Adopt the assumptions. Go along with

the flow of things. But the prophet asks, does

that truly satisfy? Just because something is

common does not mean it gives life. Just because

everyone is drinking from the same cup does not

mean the water is good. Even as Daniel showed

us to step away even at the risk that it may

carry and to refuse what is given is often what

it is that we wonder the most. In a world where

gender doesn't appear to mean anything to people,

sexuality is whatever people think feels good

at the moment, and all religions are treated

as equally valid ways to find a way to God, it

is easy for many to just go along with what the

world reasons and think that that makes sense.

But you see, there's also a second response that

we need to ask about that goes in the opposite

direction. Instead of blending in, some people

try to dominate that mindset. They think the

answer is control. If we just had enough power,

enough authority, enough influence, then we could

force the world to follow God's ways. In that

mindset, the question becomes, who should pay

the price for our suffering as Christians? And

the answer becomes, well, the world should. The

unbelievers should suffer. Those outside our

circle should pay the price to create a world

that follows after Christ. Make them deal with

what we've dealt with before. But that was never

the way of Jesus Christ. The apostles never seized

power in the Roman Empire. They never tried to

conquer the culture around them. Instead, they

preached the gospel of forgiveness and restoration.

They served their neighbors, all of them. They

endured hardships. whenever they came along,

without wondering who should suffer for revenge.

And through that witness, the Word of God spread

like fire. The Kingdom of God does not advance

by domination. Which brings us to the third path.

Faithful living before God in the middle of battle.

That was the path of people like Daniel and his

friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They

worked in the Babylonian government. They served

faithfully in their roles. They never gave in

to the false gods, even when the king commanded

them to worship. They refused, even risking their

own lives. They did not surrender their faith

to any leader, and they did not stage a rebellion

against them either. They simply remained faithful

to the Lord each and every day. Asking each day,

how best to serve God, not mocking the world

around them, but confessing the truth of who

God is. They lived in Babylon without letting

Babylon live inside of them. And that kind of

faithfulness requires something deeper than slogans.

It requires asking again and again, Lord, what

does faithfulness look like right now? And this

is where Isaiah returns to the image of the center

of the passage, water. God says come everyone

who thirsts come to the waters Because the truth

is that human beings are always thirsty We are

always looking for something that will satisfy

the deeper hunger of the soul And we see that

even in something as ordinary as what we drink

Think about the different ways that people approach

beverages even today Some people drink whatever

is available sodas energy drinks wishing that

the unsweetened tea had sugar in it, anything

that is there. But the sweetness fades, the caffeine

wears off, and the thirst comes back again. Other

people try to improve the situation by creating

something that is healthy, but also controllable.

Premium water, sold in the bottles, special brand

of purity and perfection. But it's so interesting

that time and time again the ordinary tap water

is either just as safe or even safer because

it's much more regulated than anything bought

on a bottle, far cheaper and doesn't have all

the microplastics sitting inside of it. All the

chemicals leaching from the packaging. But what

looks better is not always better. Sometimes

the simplest water is the purest water and is

what is free. Providing something that claims

to be pure and healthy is not always what is

best, but Isaiah's question suddenly sounds very

important to me. Why do you spend your money

for that which is not great, and your labor for

that which does not satisfy? Human beings have

always chased substitutes. Approval, success,

comfort, control, sometimes within the hands

of the world, sometimes within the hands. of

ourselves. Things that promise life believe us

thirsty again. But then comes the most satisfying

part of the invitation. God says, come buy and

eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and

without price. What? Come and buy? Come and eat?

After all of that? But without money? Without

price? What is this? Food, what is this drink?

Which raises an obvious question. If we are not

paying for it, who is? The answer comes when

Jesus Christ stands and declares, if anyone thirsts,

let him come to me and drink. Because the living

water that satisfies the soul flows from the

cross. Because it's Christ who bears the cost.

It is Christ who bears the cost. It is Christ

who bears the price, as Christ pours out forgiveness,

mercy, and new life for a thirsty world. And

so the invitation still stands, not just for

the people in battle water, for us. Come to the

waters. Come without money. Come and live. Because

the living water of God is not something that

we may be sanctioned. It is not something we

force the world to accept either. It is a free

spirit. free for us, free for the world. A gift

poured out through Christ for sinners, a gift

for the thirsty. And that means the doorway into

the kingdom of God is not strength, it is thirst

that is willing to be honest. The one who knows

their need, the one who comes empty handed, the

one who hears the voice of Christ and comes to

drink what he alone provides. In the name of

Jesus. Thank you.