In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

NASA’s ongoing mission to the Mars seeks to find signs of life on the red planet. To determine if extraterrestrial life ever existed there, the robotic rovers scour the rocky surface for one essential element: water. Water and life are inextricably linked even as we move into the outer reaches of space.

Back here on earth, the most enduring human societies throughout history owe their expansion in large part to the rivers, lakes and sources of freshwater that cradled their development.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tsu once said “The highest motive is to be like water. Water is essential to all living things, yet it demands no pay or recognition. Rather it flows humbly to the lowest level. Nothing is weaker than water, yet for overcoming what is hard and strong, nothing surpasses it.”

Today’s global society is even more dependent on this finite resource. Unlike our addiction to fossil fuels, our need for fresh water is unavoidable for we can survive for only about 5 days without it. But the earth’s fresh water is finite and small, representing less than one half of 1 percent of our planet’s total water stock.

As Canadians we live in a country where the fresh water supply is abundant, 20-25% of the world’s fresh water is in Canada. And we use, on average 343 litres of water per person, perday in our homes with most of it being used in the bathroom.

And yet our blessings are taken for granted. We take water for granted. We turn on the tap and there it is. We turn on the shower and there it is. We want coffee after our worship service and there it is.  On a daily basis we give little thought to this common substance only expecting it to be there when we need it.

But during periods of drought or with water tragedies like Walkerton, North Battleford or the native reserve in Northern Ontario, the scarcity and quality of  water has taken on a whole new importance in our lives. Even now 1 billion men, women and children around the world lack safe drinking water and sanitation services. 

In 1995, the vice president of the World Bank declared, “if the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.”

Water is life. So powerful is this truism that it courses through the Bible like a mighty river. A river flows out of Eden, our mythical birthplace, and yet it runs through the new Jerusalem, our eternal home. Baptized in the river Jordan, Jesus begins his mission to bring good news of the kingdom of God. He welcomes the thirsty to drink from the river of life. Crucified on the cross, his side is pierced and there flows blood and water transforming the wood of death into a tree of life.

So powerful is this current of water that it courses through our whole faith story, right from the very start.
 
 â€œIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good...”

This portion of scripture is probably one of the best known but unfortunately it has become a battleground. When it comes to the story of creation, Bible literalists want to argue that we are listening to an actual record of how the universe came to be. Scientific minds laugh at such a simple view and dismiss it as naive. I think both views misunderstand the basic message of Genesis-it is a myth- a story that is seeking to describe a foundational truth about our lives and our world.

This familiar story begins with God. It does not seek to prove the existence of God. God is.... And God creates the heavens and the earth. God creates simply by speaking the divine word, he commands worlds into being. All of it is sheer gift from a gracious and loving God. Water is a sheer gift from a gracious and loving God. It is in us, around us, sustaining us. It sanctifies what it touches and connects us with the earth.

But in our world “come of age” where God has no place, there is a new attitude which no longer sees or understands water as gift. No, water is now a commodity. A commodity to be owned, to be bought, and to be sold. They argue that water should be treated like any other tradable good, with its use determined by the principles of profit. Allocation of water would center then on commercial considerations, not enviromental or social justice.
Right now, there are ten major corporations delivering freshwater services for profit. The two biggest are Vivendi Universal and Suez. They are considered to be the General Motors and Ford of the global water industry. Between them, they deliver private water service to 200 million customers in 150 countries.

The performance of these companies has been well documented: huge profits, higher prices for water, cutoffs to customers who cannot pay and reduced water quality. But performance aside, the commodification of water is wrong. It is wrong ethically, enviromentally, socially. It is wrong theologically.

Water is life. Water is the gift of a gracious God. It is not ours to own, we are stewards of this gift for the sake of all creation no matter how down to earth the pipes that carry water might be. Now the privatization of water may sound a bit irrelevant if the city is not considering it but it is an issue that should be monitored closely and debated. In fact it is being debated and monitored.

On the whole the Canadian churches have favoured a “public” approach to the issue believing that the common good must take priority over profit making and the churches have taken a stand against forced privitization, which takes place without public consultation or against the will of the community.

Another intiative has been launched by Kairos (information in the bulletin). Since last fall Kairos has been running a campaign, “water: life before profit. The campaign calls on the Canadian government to support, public, community run water systems both here and abroad. The campaign also seeks to raise awareness and is a call for us as Christians to think and act theologically concerning our use of God’s precious gift of water.
Today marks the start of this campaign here at Elmwood. Each month until May we will explore a different water theme and a mission project will be introduced next month which also draws on the issue of water. I encourage you to particpate and to begin to think and act theologically about water.

For it is water that reunites heaven and earth and unleashes the Holy Spirit in us all. By stepping into that water, Christ made holy the earth. All was created through him and belongs to him. All is for his service. The waters have seeped into all, binding us together, giving us life. We never live far from the water.
THANKS BE TO GOD, AMEN.