From Chaos to Living Water

Water is a big deal in San Antonio. The local news focuses on our rain chances and the water level in the Edwards Aquifer. It’s a big deal in the Bible, too. From Genesis to Revelation, water flows both as a physical necessity and a theological thread—an image of creation, judgment, deliverance, renewal, and life itself.

The Bible begins with water. In Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Before land was formed, before vegetation or living creatures appeared, there was water—formless, deep, and mysterious. God brought order to these waters. It is both life-giving and, when unrestrained, capable of overwhelming destruction, as later seen in the flood narrative of Genesis 6–9.

Water’s dual nature—life-giving and destructive—sets the stage for its role in redemption. We see it displayed in the parting of the Red Sea. The Hebrews are trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the sea. What appears as certain death becomes the means of salvation. God parts the waters, creating a path of deliverance for His people while the same waters collapse upon the pursuing Egyptians. Water becomes both judgment and salvation. For Israel, it is a passage into freedom; for Egypt, it is an instrument of destruction. 

The New Testament deepens this imagery. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul describes Israel’s passage through the sea as being “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” A transition into a new identity. This concept finds fuller expression in baptism, as described in Romans 6:4, believers are “buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that…we too might walk in newness of life.” Through water, the believer symbolically dies to the old life and rises to new life in Christ. Baptism is a reenactment of deliverance, a visible sign of an inward transformation.

The birth of Jesus involved the breaking of water—the amniotic fluid that signals the arrival of new life. The One who created the waters of Genesis was Himself born through the waters of childbirth. Creation and incarnation meet. The Creator steps into creation, embracing its physical realities to redeem them. 

In John 4, Jesus offers a Samaritan woman water that will become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Unlike physical water, which temporarily satisfies thirst, this living water represents the enduring, life-giving presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Later, in John 7:37–38, Jesus proclaims, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Water becomes a source of continual spiritual vitality.

The theme reaches its climax in Revelation 22:1: “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” This final image brings the biblical narrative full circle. The waters that once covered the formless earth now flow in perfect clarity and purpose, nourishing the tree of life and sustaining the renewed creation. The invitation that follows— “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17)—echoes the offer of living water made by Jesus.

What the Bible presents theologically, San Antonio experiences physically: a world where water is both a gift of God and a reminder of human dependence. The city was founded where water could be found. Yet, as in Genesis, the waters must be managed and respected. When rainfall declines, the illusion of abundance disappears. Water is not guaranteed—it is given.

In our drought-prone region, this symbolism carries added weight. “Living water” speaks directly into lived experience. Physical water can fail, systems falter, and supplies diminish, but the water Christ offers is not subject to drought. It is not dependent on rainfall or geography. It flows from a different source. The dryness of the land is a reminder that human life is dependent, not self-sustaining. Just as the body thirsts for water, the soul thirsts for something more enduring.

The same God who brought order to the waters, parted the sea, and offered living water remains the source of life today. Life is sustained not by what we control, but by what we receive. The deeper promise remains unchanged: the source of life does not run dry and satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul. 

Tending creation was the first job God gave us

Baptist Temple's solar array

The Lord God took the man

and put him in the Garden of Eden

to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

God made the world and it was good. He gave it to humanity to tend. A task for which we get mixed reviews.

On this 48^th Earth Day I reflect on the environmental impact of Baptist Temple on our community and our planet. Our campus has 80,000 square feet on almost 3 acres of inner city property. That is a lot of concrete, brick and asphalt.

Certainly we have high energy bills. First we attempted to reduce energy use by turning off lights that weren't in use and shutting off the AC during the week. That turned out to be very difficult. CPS Energy performed an audit and determined that replacing the lights with more energy efficient models would be cost prohibitive. Instead we decided to make better use of our building by sharing our facilities. While this did not reduce our actual energy usage, we became more efficient by hosting multiple entities on our campus. Six churches that might otherwise be using up energy in a building used only a few hours a week, share space instead, on a campus that is busy all week. We all contribute towards expenses.

All this activity created a lot of garbage, so we received a second dumpster for recyclables that is picked up once a week. This is a cost savings for us and keeps a dumpster load of cardboard, plastic and metal out of the landfill.

Our thrift store also helps to keep items out of the landfill. We offer gently used clothes at nominal prices (.10 – 2.00) to everyone. Proceeds help support our food pantry and other community ministries.

While we can't replace all of our lights at once, we upgrade whenever our lights need to be replaced. Our new exterior lighting uses less energy while producing more light. This saves money and makes our parking areas safer

The move that has made the biggest environmental impact on our community is the solar panels on our rooftops. We leased roof space to a company that sells the collected energy to CPS. We are compensated with a modest credit to our energy bill. While not financially lucrative for us, it carried no risk for us and helps make San Antonio less dependent on fossil fuels.

Another recent earth friendly project is our community garden. Sixteen 4x8' raised beds produce vegetables for our food pantry. Additionally we have an orchard with four grapefruit trees, three tangerine trees, three pecan trees and a peach tree. Our primary goal is to teach people of all ages gardening techniques that are sustainable in an urban environment. Growing some of our own vegetables improves our health and reduces the need for industrial farming.

Future plans include changing our suburban style landscaping to a low-water-need xeriscape, a water catchment system and increasing our composting. It our hope that we can model practices that are both earth-friendly and money-saving to neighborhood churches, businesses and families.

To the Lord your God belong the heavens,

even the highest heavens,

the earth and everything in it.

Deuteronomy 10:14

Water Holds Life and Death

We prayed for rain at my first prayer meeting in San Antonio. I soon learned that water is serious business in South Texas. Drought magnifies the knowledge of our reliance on God for all things. Even for water, a substance so abundant that it covers 71% of the earth's surface. However, like most things, water is not evenly distributed. In San Antonio rain generates as many tweets and texts as a Spurs win.

Conservationist, Andrew Sansom, Executive Director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, reminds us that, while most of us get clean water from a tap, it is not so easy for others. On a global scale, a woman will walk an average of nine miles daily to get water for her family. The water itself can be of questionable quality. Every 20 seconds someone in the world will die from a waterborne illness.

Sanson says that, in Texas, there is a tension between environmental protection and economic development related to urban growth. Part of the problem is that the majority of the population lives in urban areas and lacks a spiritual connection to water. They have rarely seen it in the “wild” nor have suffered from it's scarcity.

Water is essential to life. It composes 57% of the human body. We could not live more than five days without. We seek it in space as a sign of extra-terrestrial life. Yet, we fail to show it appropriate honor.

Professor David Jensen (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary), provides a theological perspective on water. He points out that water is present at creation. God's activity made it useful.

In the Genesis flood we see the destructive power of water. We see it again in the parting of the Red Sea. In both cases one's relationship to God made the difference between life and death.

Through the act of baptism, Christians use water to symbolize the death of the old self and rebirth.

Water has some awesome qualities that point to God. These include the vastness of the oceans, the pristine stillness of a mountain lake and power of a white water river. At the micro level, water is found in every living cell.

Jesus identified himself with life giving water. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38)

Water is a source of blessing. Jesus said that giving water to the thirsty was ministry to Himself and that a cup of cold water given to a disciple shall be rewarded.

It is difficult to be thankful for something that seems as abundant as air but, if we are mindful of the scarcity of clean water for some people and the power of life and death that water caries, we can drink to our health with gratitude.

Managing Creation

I remember the first Earth Day in 1970. I know that there were protests and such but at my elementary school we focused on pollution and littering and what we children could do keep our planet clean. Since that time there have been lies and exaggerations; crimes against nature by industrialists and crimes against society by environmentalists. There have also been terrible disasters, both man-made and natural, but the planet is a cleaner place than it was when I was a child and I have hope for the future.

In the first chapter of Genesis, God gave the management of creation to humanity (1:26-28). He looked down on the world He created and declared it good (Genesis 1:31).
 
Nature is indeed good. It provides balance between predator and prey. Bacterium breaks down waste and provides nutrients even as it feeds. Plants filter our air and provide us with oxygen.

It is also beautiful. There is a wonderful variety of species. The colors, textures, sounds, tastes and smells are unparalleled by human structures. Martin Luther wrote, “God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” God put them here for our enjoyment. Our world could have been created black and white and tasteless. Would we have known the difference?

God cares about nature. Jesus said, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care (Matthew 10:29).” The earth and all its resources belong to God. Psalm 24:1 tells us, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” The Bible teaches us that we are to care for the earth (Genesis 1:27). It is God’s will that we enjoy the earth and manage it well.

When we fail in our care and abuse the earth we upset the balance of nature and things begin to go wrong. Sometimes our poor management of the earth is due to greed. Other times we don’t want to be inconvenienced. Whatever the reason for our failure, the results are the same. We stand outside of God’s revealed will and we endanger our ability to live on this planet.

Laws have been passed, polluters have been punished and disasters have been cleaned up but individuals can have the biggest impact on the environment. About one third of household garbage comes from packaging. Recycle, reuse, and reduce are the watchwords for those who take the management of creation seriously. Environmental friendly acts can also save you money (another resource that needs preservation).

Happy Earth Day!