Deo Gloria
May 24, 2026
Sermon for Pentecost
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: John 7:37-39
Theme: Drink from Jesus and Refresh Your Soul!
It was the last and greatest day of the Feast, John tells us. The feast John is referring to is the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes also called the Feast of Booths. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the 3 major festivals celebrated by the Jewish people every year. It typically fell in mid to late October shortly after Yom Kippur, the Great Day of Atonement, and lasted for 7 days. During that week the Jewish people did a bit of camping, so to speak. No, they didn’t pack up their campers and head out to one of the state parks for a week’s vacation. It was more like a stay-cation. They set up camp at home—maybe in their backyard or maybe on the flat roof of their home. They would cut down branches from palm trees and willow trees and other leafy trees and use those branches to make little shelters or “booths” where they would live for the week. They did it as a way to remember what their ancestors went through during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. They remembered how their ancestors lived in tents, in temporary shelters, for 40 years. They remembered the hardships their ancestors experienced in the wilderness—how they often were hungry and thirsty due to a shortage of food and water. And yet, how God provided for them too, miraculously provided for them—manna from heaven, water from rocks. It was also a good reminder for themselves and their children that this was not their real home. This was only their temporary home. It was a way of causing them to look forward to a different home, someplace far better than this dry and dusty and life-sapping world of ours, a place of perfect rest and peace and joy in heaven.
On the last day of the feast the Jewish people would gather for a special ceremony in the courts of the temple. While the morning sacrifice was being offered, two priests would approach the altar, each with a pitcher in his hand. The first would pour out a pitcher of wine as a drink offering on one side of the altar. The second would pour out a pitcher of water as a drink offering one the other side of the altar. They then would sing the verses of Psalm 118, a psalm of thanks to God for his enduring love and a psalm that spoke about the coming Savior. At various points throughout the psalm the people would respond with phrases like “O give thanks to the Lord” and “O, work salvation now, Jehovah” and “O Lord, send now prosperity.”
On this particular day as the psalm came to an end and the music and the singing quieted down, the people at the temple heard another voice, a loud voice, an unexpected voice. It wasn’t the voice of someone calling out in distress. It wasn’t the voice of a beggar, crying out for money. It was the voice of Jesus. In a loud voice Jesus called out, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”(v. 37). To the people who had just spent a whole week living in temporary shelters to help them remember what their forefathers experienced during their years of wandering in the wilderness…. To the people who had just spent a week reflecting on the hardships their forefathers had experienced in the desert—the hunger, the thirst—and at the same time, God’s faithful and miraculous care…. To the people who had just been reminded of the temporary nature of our earthly dwellings and the longing for a better and more permanent home in heaven…. To the people who had just sung a hymn about God’s unending love and about the Savior who was to come and had asked God to bring them salvation and prosperity…. To this group of people Jesus called out in a loud voice so everyone could hear, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”
Jesus couldn’t have been speaking physically, right? I mean it’s not like he was selling those little bottles of water that they often sell at the county fair for a dollar a bottle. He didn’t have a pitcher of water and stack of dixie cups for those who might like to wet their whistle. No, Jesus was speaking spiritually, wasn’t he? He was inviting them to come to him to quench their spiritual thirst, to satisfy the longing of their souls, their thirst for God’s love and care and blessing in an often dry and arid world, their longing for a better life in a better place; their longing for the Savior and the blessings he would bring them, the blessings of forgiveness and peace and salvation. This is what Jesus was offering to give them—water, spiritual water for their thirsty hearts and thirsty souls.
And how would he give it to them? Not by pouring some water from a pitcher into a glass, but by pouring his Spirit into their hearts, which would then become like a spring of water, overflowing into every part of their lives. Jesus continued, “’Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive”(vv. 38+39). What an amazing promise! All the refreshment your soul would ever need; all the assurance of God’s love and care; all the comfort and peace of forgiveness; all the longing and hoping for a better life, a better home, a perfect place with God—it’s all found in Jesus. “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”
Can you relate to the people of Israel? Are you longing for something better too? Do you have a tired and thirsty soul? Maybe you’re kind of like my mom. She lived in the same house for over 40 years. But now because her illness she is living in a memory care facility. This isn’t how she planned to spend the final years of her life and isn’t at all where she wanted to be. Or maybe you’ve been working for the same company for past 30 or 40 years. And you’re ready to hang it up because you’re tired, tired of the daily demands, tired of the constant deadlines, tired of trying to prove yourself over and over and over again. There’s got to be something better in life, right? Or maybe you just finished another year of high school or college, and you’re so glad to be done. Your brain could not handle another paper or another lab or another presentation or another final. You’re going to need like a week to recover. Yet as much as you’re looking forward to summer vacation, the reality is you have a summer job that starts this week. And you know in less than three months you’re going to be right back at it with more tests and more papers and more presentations. Is this really what life is all about? Ironically, this is what many think life is supposed to be all about. This is what is supposed to bring a person happiness and joy and satisfaction: education, career, money, things, a nice, comfy home in suburbs. But it can often leave you feeling rather empty, can’t it, rather exhausted, rather unfulfilled?
And then there’s the heavy burden of sin and guilt we carry around because of our failures, because of the poor choices we have made, because of the hurtful things we have said and done. And then there’s the lack of peace with God and the sleepless nights. And then there’s the lack of love and acceptance from others, and the longing for love and acceptance from God. And then there’s that sobering realization that your life may not actually get any better, that your health might not actually get any better, that your hopes and dreams may never become a reality. And you long for something better, a better life in a better place with God.
I know the one who can fulfill the longing of your heart, the one who can satisfy your tired and thirsty soul. Come to Jesus and drink. He can give you what the world cannot: real rest and peace for your soul; real comfort and forgiveness for your sins; real love and acceptance that isn’t based on your latest grade or your latest score or your latest sale, but simply on the fact that you are his own dear child. He can give you the assurance of his loving care, not just for 40 years but for 80 years, 100 years, however long your life might be. And he can give you the sure hope of a better life to come, a life that will far surpass every hope and every dream you’ve ever had, a perfect life with him in heaven.
And how does he do that? How does he satisfy our tired and thirsty souls? By pouring out his word into our hearts, by pouring out his Spirit into our hearts, by filling our hearts with Spirit-filled peace and Spirit-filled comfort and Spirit-filled forgiveness and Spirit-filled joy and Spirit-filled love and Spirit-filled hope. Come to Jesus and drink. Drink it all in. Let him fill your heart with his living water and refresh your tired and weary spirit.
And don’t forget to share it with others too. Notice again what John says in verses 38+39: “’Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” That’s exactly what happened with the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on his disciples, and they in turn became streams of living water who could refresh the hearts of others. He poured out his Spirit on them, enabling them to share the message of God’s love and peace and forgiveness with the people in Jerusalem and refresh their tired and weary spirits. And many listened to their life-giving message. And many believed their life-giving message. And about 3,000 were added to God’s family of believers.
Jesus intends the same with you and me. He wants us to come to his house every week and fill ourselves up with his life-giving, soul-refreshing Word. He wants us to spend time in our Bibles day by day and fill ourselves up with his life-giving, soul-refreshing Word, so we then can pass it on to others. So we can share with others the message of his love and the message of his peace and the message of his forgiveness and the message of his hope and refresh the spirits of those around us. So husbands can refresh their wives. Wives can refresh their husbands. Parents can refresh their children. Children can refresh their parents and their grandparents. So students can refresh their fellow students and workers can refresh their fellow workers. What an amazing privilege our Savior has given us, and what a wonderful blessing: that we can give people the one thing that is missing in their lives, the one thing that can truly bring them comfort and joy and satisfaction, the one thing that will satisfy their tired and thirsty souls: the refreshing message of Jesus’ love and peace and forgiveness!
Be sure to come and fill up often so you have lots to share. Come to Jesus. Drink in deeply of his life-giving Word. And let his Spirit refresh your soul. Amen.