A sermon for South Yarra Baptist Church
Sunday March 8, 2026
Both scenes are a bit dramatic - they move from the ordinary to the miraculous, from the secular to the spiritual. Both stories play with symbolism. Where there is water, there is life!
I love the story-telling in both of these...
"we may as well be in Egypt - you have brought us to a place of death"
And -
"you have no bucket!" classic.
[for the next section see bibleproject.com/videos/vocab-insight-dam-blood/]
The Hebrew term, DAM, means liquid life. "The DAM is the life." Deuteronomy 12:23
Sometimes, it is translated as blood, but it is more than that. The word is found within the related words of A-DAM (Human) and A-DAM-AH (ground). ADAMAH is the ground and from the ground the Human (A-DAM) is made. When DAM is outside of the creature, it means death. DAM is meant to be embodied to be life.
In the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, Jesus IS the bucket! He is the embodiment of life.
For people around the world of every age and enviornment, water is life.
Access to drinkable water means possibility. It is ordinary. It is also life.
When I travel, I often say I come from the driest inhabited continent, where we all learn to swim at an early age. As Aussies, living in a land of bushfired, droughts and floods, beaches and deserts, we are aware of how precious water is. In outback and rural settings, we are mindful of the water tanks. Even in urban areas, we can face water restrictions and we never leave a leaky tap for long.
This week, we have seen images of Katherine and the Daly River in the Northern Territory in flood.
Water can be beautiful and terrible, sometimes both at the same time. Water is delicate and powerful. A small leak in the roof will find any crack or low passage. Waters come from above and below. We need to drink water. We can also drown in it. We testify to discipleship in the act of baptism - being rebirthed in the water, dying and rising to new life. It is both mudane and sacred.
When I am in the field, moving well beyond the places where tourists go, I carry water filter bottles. In the Pacific, I see AusAid water tanks in many countries. In parts of Africa and Asia, I see wells and irrigation systems developed through partnerships with churches and aid agencies. Many of the other missionaries I travel with looj for the mission schools and hospitals.
My first question is usually about water.
With clear water, life can flourish. Without it, illness and poverty can dominate. Flowing water means it is more likely to be clearn. Stagnant water can mean all sorts of diseases - cholera, typhoid, ziki, Hep A - mosquitoes and parasites - dengue fever and malaria.
I am 61 years young. Being an Aussie, I prefer to be called by my first name, amelia. One of the programmes I run is called the Training in Mission (TIM) programme for a dozen young adults from around the world. They come together for 6 months of formation to become globally-aware mission-oriented people.
I have had to let them vall me Auntie or Aunty Amelia. They feel uncomfortable calling me by my first name. They are used to calling older people Mam or Rev or Dr... but not by their first name. Initially, I still introduced myselg as amelia, then some of them explained. At 61, I am positively ancient. Most of them don't really know people over 50, or if they do, they do not get to have conversations with them. Around the world, most developed nation leaders are over 55. Most majority world leaders are 10-15 years younger. A lot of my work is with churches developing people in their 20s and 30s to take up major leadership in their societies.
[find Tuvalu and Kiribati on a world map]
... to be continues
