“The Only Requirement is Thirst”

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“The Only Requirement is Thirst” (John 7:37-39)

Series: What Difference Does It Make?

by Pastor Nate Walther

The Festival of Pentecost, 05/24/2026

            Happy Pentecost!  Today we celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church.  It’s a day that gets us thinking about the church growing with all those amazing events in our reading from Acts.  It’s a day that especially gets us thinking about the work of the Holy Spirit…  How does all of this compare to us and to our lives?  How does it compare to Eastside and whether our church growing like it should be?  Finally, how can we be sure we have the Holy Spirit, and that our faith is in the right place? 

            In answer to those questions, some churches pour everything into programs that promise to transform your life, or into numerical growth, or into miraculous signs like healings or tongue-speaking.  It’s a tangible way to say, “My faith is solid! We’re doing something right as a congregation! We’ve got the Holy Spirit!”  It’s why some of these churches even emphasize that they are “Holy Spirit”-driven, or “Pentecostal” churches.  But what’s really important for our faith?  What are the true requirements for faith? 

            Today in his Word, God shows us that faith isn’t really about what we see physically in our lives or in our church.  Nor is it even about some obvious, outward way we can see the Holy Spirit at work.  We certainly adore and worship the Holy spirit as a member of our Triune God—it’s why we have a special day like today to focus on him!—but at the same time, we don’t focus on him like some churches do, often to the exclusion of other members of the Trinity.  In fact, today we hear something curious from Jesus himself: the only requirement for our faith is thirst.

            That’s what Jesus effectively says in our sermon text from John chapter 7.  Like he often did in Parables, here Jesus uses physical images to describe spiritual realities.  Particularly, Jesus uses “thirst” as picture of spiritual need.  And did you notice how Jesus encourages us to resolve our thirst?  It’s not a matter reforming your behavior or doing things a certain way, nor is it a matter of how your life looks.  Instead, it’s simply a matter of drinking deeply from Jesus, and that’s where Jesus also says you can find the Holy Spirit is at work.  Granted, by this point Jesus hadn’t yet sent the Spirit to the Disciples—that’s because he was still with them at this time, and they didn’t yet require additional help from the Holy Spirit—but Jesus was prophetically looking ahead to that time after his Ascension when the Holy Spirit would come upon the church at Pentecost.

            As for us, we tend to think of thirst as a bad thing, because thirst is a lack of what you need.  It’s why we naturally long to resolve the thirst of our souls.  But how do we do that?  Some people look for “signs of the Spirit” – something big or powerful to assure them they’ve done so.  Others try to work harder to be better people and overcome their problems – all in an effort fill them up! But does that fill us with the right thing?  For example, when you’re thirsty there’s nothing quite like water to quench your thirst. Sure, you can get out of the heat and stop sweating, but you’ll still be thirsty.  Or you can have a drink of iced coffee or a cold beer as a substitute to quench your thirst, but you’ll only end up dehydrating yourself further in the end. Or you can try to work even harder to overcome your thirst and push through it, but you’ll just get thirstier… OR you can drink water and actually quench your thirst.

Don’t miss the simple lesson in that picture. Jesus offers the only thing that overcomes the thirst of sin.  Jesus once said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  We can be so quick to move past thirst that we don’t realize there’s blessing in it.   That’s what we mean today when we say the only requirement is thirst. Spiritual thirst leads us to the one thing that will satisfy our spiritual needs: Jesus, the “water of life.” Because you can have the biggest, best church yet still have problems.  Or you can avoid all sorts of sins yet still struggle under the burden of sin.  Or you can enjoy all sorts of gifts & blessings yet still face depression because it’s never enough…  That’s because you’re still dehydrated.  You still need forgiveness as only Jesus provides it from the cross, meaning that is uniquely found in the resurrection of the dead that will be ours someday as well, and a sense of contentment like no other that is found in Word & Sacrament in a restored relationship with the Lord Almighty of the Heavens. 

            That’s what Pentecost is all about. And that’s what the Holy Spirit is all about.  He’s all about leading people to Jesus as the water of life.  Or, to put it another way, think of the Holy Spirit like the operator behind the spotlight in a big Broadway production.  If he’s doing his job, he doesn’t want anyone looking at him–in fact, he doesn’t want anyone thinking about him at all!–he only wants people looking where he directs their attention. Similarly, the Holy Spirit intends to make a difference in our lives, just maybe not the one we think.  Sure, on Pentecost that resulted in tongues of fire and miraculously speaking in languages.  But if we read farther in Acts 2 we realize it was all about putting Jesus in front of others.  Peter used all these miraculous signs to call the Pentecost crowd’s attention to Jesus.  And today, the Spirit makes that same difference through whatever means ot may be–miraculous or mundane–all to connect more people to Jesus.

            Thirstis the only requirement.  You lack nothing if you have a thirst that drives you to Jesus as the water of life. As Jesus said in our sermon text, that’s where the Spirit is at work.  The Spirit is not found in those obvious things that fill our lives (that’s just the spirit of this world).  He’s found absence of something so important in our souls that we’re driven to the only one who can fill it (that’s truly a Spirit that comes from God).  Yes, he may be accompanied by other things too—the disciples were able to speak in tongues and perform miracles–but in the end it’s all about more people finding good news in Jesus.  Then, like Jesus said in our sermon text, we become springs of water: where these things in our lives point other people to Jesus as the water of life.  On the other hand, when the focus turns to those gifts and those signs and the measurables themselves, it’s no longer about Jesus and we’ve completely lost his Spirit.

            As we return to our sermon text once more, I want you especially to consider the background of these words.  Jesus is celebrating the Festival of Tabernacles for the last time during his life on earth.  It was a holiday that recalled how the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years after the Exodus, relying on God to care for them while they dwelled in tents.  Additionally, by Jesus’ time the priests celebrated each day of the festival by going down to the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem and drawing water, which they would then return to the temple and ceremonially pour out.  It became a powerful image of God providing for his people as they were about to enter the rainy season and prayed that God would bless the crops they had just sown…  Now, can you imagine Jesus watching all of that, then crying out—as our sermon text describes him doing on the final day of the festival—saying something like, “Don’t you see?  This is all a picture of me and what I can do for you!  I am the water of life!”  So also, Jesus cries out to us in his Word and says, “Don’t you see?  As you sojourn on this earth, as you thirst for something more, as you pray that the Lord to bless your labors as a congregation… it’s all about me and what I can do for you!  I am the water of life!”    Never forget that.  Your lives, the work of this congregation, everything about our faith… it’s about Christ filling us up.  If we have that, we’re doing everything right.  If we have that, we have the Holy Spirit in full measure.  Amen.

“The Ascension Difference”

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Series: What Difference Does It Make?

by Pastor Nate Walther

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Ascension), 05/17/2026

            Today we celebrate that Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after rising from the dead.  It sounds pretty important!  We’d probably all agree this is a significant event… But why?  Yes, Jesus is in heaven, that’s great!  At the same time, what different does his Ascension really make for our lives here on earth? 

            It’s interesting that Ascension always used to be celebrated with a special Thursday night service, 40 days after Easter – separate from our regular Sunday service, which would have a different focus.  These days we’re still willing to go to extra midweek services during special seasons, but like us most churches don’t really have a dedicated Ascension service anymore.    By the way, that’s OK.  We don’t have to worship on any particular day, Christ has given us that freedom in these New Testament times!  Yet if we’re honest, we might admit this has happened because Ascension feels like a lesser holiday.  Lesser certainly than those great festivals like Christmas or Easter.  Probably even less significant than something like Pentecost, which we’ll celebrate next week when the Holy Spirit came upon the church.  Perhaps even less significant than something like “Good Shepherd Sunday” a few weeks ago.  After all, at least that’s practical, we can relate to it as we think about our needs on earth and how Jesus meets them as our shepherd.  But how can we relate to Jesus going to heaven while we are left behind?

            What’s not OK is if we’ve lost the striking difference Christ’s Ascension makes for our lives.  That’s the blessing of our sermon text today from Ephesians 1.  Paul wrote these words while he was in prison in Rome, awaiting trial for testifying about Jesus.  Yet, what’s remarkable about these words is that they contain a joyful (almost hymn-like) tone. Why?  It’s because Paul saw that Jesus’ Ascension made that kind of difference in his life.

We see that in a number of ways in our sermon text, which focuses on Christ’s Ascension, and notice that it is something Paul wants his readers (us!) to experience as well.  It’s why in verses 17-18, Paul prays that we would understand what our Savior has done more fully.  That’s no easy task.  As Paul describes Jesus’ power in verse 19, for example, he uses words that contain the idea that all of this is beyond our ability to measure it.  To put it in another way, Paul says that God’s power is “off the charts!”  Our translation makes an effort at saying that: “Just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe…”  In fact, it’s so powerful that, verse 21, “God worked (his mighty strength) in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”  What Paul pictures for us in Jesus is a human body that not only rose from the dead, but which rose to heaven to the highest seat at God the Father’s right hand.  In a few minutes we’ll talk about the difference it makes to have someone like that on the throne.  Especially when, notice in verse 22 where his attention is focused from his throne: not on kings, nor is it on nations; rather, he’s focused on the church, on us!  If all that weren’t enough, notice what Paul calls us in verse 23:  “The church is his body—that means we’re connected to him; again, that will make a difference for us—and then notice what else we’re called: the fullness of him who fills everything in every way…” Let that sink in…  The one who fills all things—the one who requires absolutely nothing from us—is the one who chose to be filled by us. Which doesn’t make any sense.

            Not when, at our best, we’re still so far below God.  I mean, our understanding absolutely pales in comparison to his!  Us trying to understand the Trinity, for example, is like our Preschoolers trying to understand Calculus.  Meanwhile, he’s in charge of all nations, and he does that so capably, which must make our concerns seem so trivial by comparison.  Yet he focuses his attention especially on us, his church?…  Again, that’s looking at it from our best.  At our worst, we throw God’s affection for us in the garbage with every sin we commit – with every regrettable outburst where we cause our kids to shut down, with every time we see pain in the eyes of someone we have just pierced with unfair comments, with every excuse we make for our pathetic sin… Why would the Lord of the Universe want to be filled by that?  And then, as we heard in our other readings, why would Jesus additionally leave his beloved church behind in the hands of sinful men like the Disciples—sinful people like us—and entrust the most important work there is (eternal work that gets souls to heaven) to people like that!? 

It doesn’t make sense.  It’s not meant to make sense.  In fact, it’s precisely what makes Jesus’ death and resurrection so meaningful.  Because this really is love, unconditional & unearned.  Because it wasn’t just enough for Jesus to stand supreme, he genuinely longs for a real relationship with you.  And that explains everything Christ did for you.  It’s why Jesus lived for you on a sin-torn planet, even though it meant leaving the perfect comforts of heaven.  It’s why Jesus suffered for your sins on the cross, including hell itself – think of it, the God who created hell for the opposite of everything he stands for, he suffered everything he detests for you!  It’s also why Jesus died for you on that cross – think of that, the Living God (who had never not existed) actually died for you, never cease to marvel at that!  And finally, it’s why he ascended, to direct all things—to make a real difference—for you and for others.

            Let me ask you, what difference would it make if your dad were the president of the United States, or if your best friend were the richest person on earth?  I asked my 10-year-old those questions, and he quickly said we’d probably get someone to drive us everywhere and we could just order people to finish our basement project – though, he quickly added, I’d still find something else to stress about.  How well he knows me!  Likewise, can you imagine the difference it would make for you if someone close to you were the president or that rich?  You would get the best protection from the secret service, you would eat the finest foods prepared by a personal chef (and it would probably be good for you too!), and you would get world-class medical care for whatever situation you’re facing (can you imagine not having to wait months for a test?)!… Now, let me ask you this, what difference does it make that Jesus Christ, your brother, is the king of the universe? Yeah, no matter what I’m going through, I’ve got someone on it – literally directing all things in all creation for my good.

            The Ascension Difference.  Get used to thinking in those terms.  Maybe it helps to think of it like this: the Ascension means there is literally human flesh and bone on the throne in heaven right now.  You see, where other religions talk about casting this flesh off—freeing ourselves from our bodies in death, which ultimately makes them and what we do with them meaningless—Christianity is meant to make a difference for our whole selves–body & soul alike–including our real lives and real struggles here also.  Jesus didn’t ascend to distance himself from all of this, but to bring it closer to God and to his own control.  So much so that he’s filled by it; He’s filled by you.  Finally, you are as much a part of Jesus as your own hand or your foot belong to your own body.  And just as we will instinctively, without question act in self-preservation for our body and seek to remedy its maladies – longing to get that splinter out, seeking medicine that will sooth us, curling up and covering our heads in a moment of danger – Jesus will instinctively, without question act in our interest as the members of his body.  It’s not a matter of us being worthy or being good enough.  Rather, just like your arm is attached to your torso or your leg to your hip and that’s why you care about them, it is a matter of being connected to Christ our head by faith.   That’s why we can live with joy every day, knowing Christ will take good care of us here.  (How will he not when he is attached to us?) And it’s why we live with hope every day, knowing the best is yet to come.  (He’s not just going to forget someday that we’re attached to him!)

            So… what a Sunday!  What a celebration!  What a great day to sing rich praises to God, as we do so in orchestral form today!…  Granted, we will still face stress when we leave this joyful celebration behind, just like I would still stress even if my dad were the president or my best friend were rich.  But in those moments, keep going back to the truth we heard today.  We don’t have to solve all of our problems, not when our Savior is in a unique position to do just that.  It’s the Ascension difference he wants for you too.  Amen.

“The Answer is Always Jesus”

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(1 Peter 3:13-21)

Series: What Difference Does It Make?

by Pastor Nate Walther

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Confirmation), 05/03/2026

“13 Who will harm you if you are eager to dowhat is good? 14 But even if you should happen to suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed. Do not be afraid of what they fear, and do not be troubled. 15 But regard the Lord, the Christ, as holy in your hearts. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 But speak with gentleness and respect, while maintaining a clear conscience, so that those who attack your good way of life in Christ may be put to shame because they slandered you as evildoers.  17 Indeed, it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil, 18 because Christ also suffered once for sins in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in flesh but was made alive in spirit, 19 in which he also went and made an announcement to the spirits in prison. 20 These spirits disobeyed long ago, when God’s patience was waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In this ark a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. 21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the body but the guarantee of a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” 

            It’s the basic Sunday School answer.  Every child knows it. THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS JESUS…  As you get older, you realize there’s a bit more to it than that.  Otherwise there wouldn’t be any need for confirmation classes, nor would we need Bibles as thick as they are, and the catechism could just be a single page long!  Except, today as we think about what we confess as Christians, and as this week causes us to consider what adult membership in a church is all about – as we look to the past to our baptisms, and as we look to the future to what that has in store for us – we see that everything in a Christian’s life – as varied and as confusing and as rich as it may be at times – it does all boil down to Jesus in the end.

            That’s especially evident in our sermon text today from 1 Peter 3.  As we go back to our sermon text, there are lots of deep topics worthy of a confirmation Sunday.  There are the basic topics in the first few verses: There’s justification – that hope we have as Christians that we are righteous before God.  There’s sanctification too –this talk of living our life differently and doing good because we are Christians. There are more in-depth topics too: When Peter talks about Jesus being “put to death in the flesh” but “made alive in the spirit” in verse 18 – it is in reference to Jesus two states of humiliation and exaltation: his state of humiliation where he didn’t make full and frequent use of his divine powers in coming to earth, hence resulting in his death; but then his state of exaltation where he resumed full and frequent of his divine abilities, starting with the resurrection. There’s also reference to Jesus’ descent into hell, which we confess every time we speak the Apostles Creed.  When Peter says in verse 19, “(Jesus) also went and made an announcement to the spirits in prison”, this was language they used back then when a conquering general would march through a captured territory & announce victory over them – so also, this brings to mind quite a picture of Jesus marching down the streets of hell, alive & victorious even after his death!  Additionally in all these verses, there’s an emphasis on following the Word, which tells us these things.  In verses 20-21 there’s also emphasis on Baptism, which helps secure these gifts.  After all, when Peter talks about the “guarantee of a good conscience before God”,it reflects the fact that they understood back in those days that you couldn’t just come before a king whenever you pleased.  Rather, this was language they used to describe when a king sanctioned someone and granted them the right to come into his presence.  So also, God says that we are able to come into his presence through washing waters of baptism. 

            And yet, despite everything that is discussed in these verses, did you notice a common thread?  It’s ALL. ABOUT. JESUS.  Peter says that again and again.  Verse 21: Baptism saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Verse 18: Christ suffered for sin to bring us to God.  Verse 16: Our good way of life is always found in Christ.  Verse 15: The Lord, the Christ is the reason for the hope that we have…  In other words?  The answer is always Jesus!

            We forget that.  Too quickly for you confirmands – too quickly for the rest of us who were long ago confirmed – confirmation becomes a graduation where we think, “Now I can move on.” Statistically that’s a strong temptation for all young confirmands.  Whether it’s that they think, “I’m set, I’m saved; I know this stuff, I don’t need to keep coming!” – or it’s that life gets busy with school and coursework,  sports and extracurriculars, jobs and starting a career – many young confirmands will stop coming to church.  But that’s not good.  Every pastor has stories of people who have been out of church for just a couple of years (that’s all it takes), and when he reconnects with them and asks them about their faith and whether they still feel like they’re on the right path – the path to heaven! – they will almost always respond, “Oh thanks Pastor, but I think so, I try to be a good person.”  That’s what happens even after we spend so much time in confirmation class studying the Bible’s teachings that we cannot be good enough people for the Lord God Almighty.  It happens because our sinful nature is hard at work, and Satan is working furiously to snatch salvation away from us.  It can happen to you too!… By the way, that “graduation mindset” is not just a temptation for our young confirmands. It’s a temptation for us old confirmands too – yes, even if you have been going to church for decades!  Still, do we see the importance of being in Bible Study every week?  Do we see the need of being in Scripture & in devotion every day?  Or have we settled for the basic truth, “Jesus loves me this I know, and this is all I ever want to know”?  That’s not the kind of strong faith Peter describes here.  Then, is it any wonder that we can grow so loveless as we follow our loving Savior?  Sure, we may still hold to the teachings – maybe we even are in church and Bible Study regularly, we may be adamant about the Lutheran beliefs we confess! – yet do these teachings become a club to use that we wield against others, and then we lose Christ at the heart it of? 

            It’s why the answer must always be Jesus.  That’s because of the answer he uniquely gives to every situation:  Jesus became weak like us to deliver us from such weaknesses.  Jesus went to the cross to earn such a complete & total victory over the dominating forces of sin & Satan that he was able to go down to hell itself – body & soul alive reunited as a sure sign of victory over eternal death – then march down that street and declare, “I OWN THIS PLACE!” as a conquering general… Then he connected us to this new life in baptism.  He washed you of your sin through the working of the Holy Spirit, and he gave you that pledge of a good conscience so that you could come before God the Father, fully sanctioned as he extended his divine scepter to you.  That’s the hope Jesus gives us.  That’s what we confess.  That’s the life we now live.

            And that’s why we keep going to church.  In fact, it’s why we’re never done with catechism – that is, with studying God’s Word.  Because this isn’t a graduation.  How can we ever be graduated as long as we’re still in a struggle with sin and death?  That’s what heaven is for, we’re not there yet, let’s not pretend like we are!  No, this is confirmation – being confirmed in something – which is all about remaining in the Christian faith.  So stay in Jesus and remain in his teachings.  Confess it and live it, even when others speak against it or it isn’t easy.  As we do so we’re in really good company: the company of our Savior who confessed it and lived it perfectly, even when we didn’t.  Again, it’s all about Jesus even when we think it’s not.  In fact, it’s all about Jesus especially when we think it’s not. Because that’s when we need him the most.  And that never stops being true.  Amen. 

May 2026 Newsletter Article

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13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. 16 The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers.

(Psalm 104)

If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to feel upbeat during this time of the year. Even all the rain and severe weather can’t dampen the welcome change from  winter as the world turns green around us.

We can explain it, of course.   As the earth revolves around the sun, the earth’s axial tilt slowly causes the sun to rise higher in the northern hemisphere, which causes warm, moist air to move north from the Gulf of Mexico and displace cold, dry Canadian air.  This battleground of low pressures brings storms to our skies and water to our fields.  Combined with the rising temperatures and longer days, it also prompts the plants to do what they are designed to do. (And we could say so much more about the wonders of biology and photosynthesis!)

All of which is very true… but can we see something greater in it?  For all the    wonders that science reveals to us, it cannot remove the miracle from the      equation.  As our Psalm reminds us, it is truly amazing what God has done, putting this system into place and providing for us as only he can do!  

That is especially true when you consider it doesn’t have to work out so well.  We see plenty of things fall apart in a fallen world.  Whether it’s an issue with your kids, your job or your health, or one of those dreaded home & auto issues, our lives can feel so broken at times.  Similarly, what’s to stop sin from causing the world’s hydrological cycle quickly to spin out of control? If that happened, life would quickly cease on this planet!  But God steps in, God stops sin, God keeps it all working.

All of this is anchored in the greatest miracle God ever performed.  We can similarly explain our salvation: there are fancy theological terms like propitiation or vicarious atonement, and we could calculate our sin & Christ’s sacrifice in almost mathematical terms.  But more than that, take a moment right now to think about the miracle that Jesus accomplished for us at the cross and empty tomb.  Then, as this Psalm bids us to do, simply marvel: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  Amen.    

May Newsletter

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Pastor Nathaniel Walther

13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. 16 The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. (Psalm 104)

If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to feel upbeat during this time of the year.  Even all the rain and severe weather can’t dampen the welcome change from winter as the world turns green around us.

We can explain it, of course.   As the earth revolves around the sun, the earth’s axial tilt slowly causes the sun to rise higher in the northern hemisphere, which causes warm, moist air to move north from the Gulf of Mexico and displace cold, dry Canadian air.  This battleground of low pressures brings storms to our skies and water to our fields.  Combined with the rising temperatures and longer days, it also prompts the plants to do what they are designed to do. (And we could say so much more about the wonders of biology and photosynthesis!)

All of which is very true… but can we see something greater in it?  For all the wonders that science reveals to us, it cannot remove the miracle from the equation.  As our Psalm reminds us, it is truly amazing what God has done, putting this system into place and providing for us as only he can do!  

That is especially true when you consider it doesn’t have to work out so well.  We see plenty of things fall apart in a fallen world.  Whether it’s an issue with your kids, your job or your health, or one of those dreaded home & auto issues, our lives can feel so broken at times.  Similarly, what’s to stop sin from causing the world’s hydrological cycle quickly to spin out of control? If that happened, life would quickly cease on this planet!  But God steps in, God stops sin, God keeps it all working.

All of this is anchored in the greatest miracle God ever performed.  We can similarly explain our salvation: there are fancy theological terms like propitiation or vicarious atonement, and we could calculate our sin & Christ’s sacrifice in almost mathematical terms.  But more than that, take a moment right now to think about the miracle that Jesus accomplished for us at the cross and empty tomb.  Then, as this Psalm bids us to do, simply marvel: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  Amen.