What good is a vision statement? It seems like everyone wants one these days - from businesses, to churches, to city governments. It's popular, trendy, but is it worth spending all that time sitting around thinking about what our ideal community could be rather than putting in the effort to do something right now? Are we really that aimless? Are we really the cats who cannot be shepherded and who chase after any fuzz ball or moth that flies into our line of vision?

It seems like a harsh criticism to think of ourselves as that flighty. Or else it seems like a bunch of foolishness to chase after the elusive common goal when our society is so individualized anyway. Why would we spend the Session's valuable time in reflection when there's work to be done? What possible good could come out of scribbling thoughts on dozens of sheets of flip chart paper?

Truth be told - sometimes I'm a believer, other times not so much. Sometimes the discussions that come from standing in front of a flip chart with a marker in hand lend themselves to epiphany moments. Sometimes getting an observation down on paper clarifies our perception in ways we cannot do when we're caught up in the middle of a task we've done for years. But other times it seems as though we simply are reciting that which everyone in the room already knows. It only takes one naysayer to cast shadows on a process that most of us are afraid to do. Setting out a grand vision that we may or may not meet is scary. What if we fail? What if we got the wrong idea? What if we are actually held accountable for getting this "thing" to happen? The methods for getting to this point may be madness, and yet, there's a spiritual value in seeking vision and direction from God that takes us so much deeper. When we prayerfully engage in that effort, unity is possible, and the Spirit nudges us with creative ideas we may never have thought of otherwise.

A clergy friend of mine reminded me recently that really all the things we do as pastors have a "ridiculous" factor, flip charts aside. We preach from an ancient text expecting to reach modern people. We pray for peace and healing in a war-torn world filled with disease. We spend our time in ways not "approved" as valuable in our work-driven culture - sitting by hospital beds or sipping tea in someone's living room to share hurts we cannot alleviate and we may never fully understand. We push people toward mission projects that are no more than a drop in the bucket for alleviating the world's need for clean water, or food, or medicine. We prophetically cast a vision for what it means to be the church, in a time when claiming God's voice seems outdated, suspect, or completely arrogant. And to make matters worse, those of you gathered here today are with me for the ride on this ridiculous journey.

You see, in working with the leaders of this church, together we have prayed and wondered about what God has in mind for us as this particular group of God's people. You may have noticed some words on the front of the bulletin for several months now that attempt to capture the vision for what God is doing in us and through us. Is this vision perfectly handed down word for word from God's lips to our ears? No - not really. And if any of us starts to believe that - we're probably in for some trouble. And yet, this vision has been an inspiration, a working metaphor, a touchstone for many of the things we've been doing lately.

You can probably pick out the tangible "Living Waters" part from the words on your bulletin cover. We have found inspiration and excitement in the congregation through renewing a long-time connection to the mission begun in this Synod that became "Living Waters for the World." Again today, we share our support for clean water for all people as we collect donations for the program that continues to launch clean water sites all around the world. We've been energized by doing water projects in Belize and Appalachia. There's no secret there. For those who have engaged directly in those efforts, eyes have been opened to needs both in our backyard and in a whole other environment in such a way as to only have been changed by God's Spirit alone. And yet, not everyone goes to work directly on these projects. Some of us have helped in various other ways to be sure, but this is only one slice of how articulating a shared vision has made a difference for the leadership and for the direction this church has taken.

Being able to do something that produces testable and life-changing results is a fantastic thing. Clean water mission projects are something we can definitely continue, and yet there's a deeper connection to Christ - the Living Water that is being expressed through the words of this vision. We have stepped back to take the long view at both the gifts and the struggles of being First Presbyterian Church, Oak Ridge and from this point we know it has been Jesus all along who is washing us, healing us, and satisfying us with the thirst-quenching living water that was as much a mystery to us as it was to the woman of Samaria. How do we get this water? How are we filled when it's not absolutely clear what it is we're even talking about?

In John's gospel, the living water imagery runs throughout the text. It may begin with the woman at the well - but in John's telling, Jesus is frequently cleansing, forgiving, healing, and bringing people to a new joy about their lives. The healing at the Sheep Gate is just one more example. The paralyzed man has been ill as long as I have been alive. He was lying there, hoping someone could get him into the pools for some relief. Jesus goes one step further and asks him if he wants to be made well. It is interesting to me that he doesn't say "yes" right away. He makes an excuse. "People keep cutting the line ahead of me."

We might think at first that he would jump at the chance to be healed, and yet I'm not all that surprised that he hesitates. Welcoming healing into our lives means change. Even our worst pain, our deepest rut can begin to feel familiar to us after a time. Doing something about it is scary. As wonderful as it might be to be able to walk, it drew strange amounts of attention to the man - especially since Jesus broke the rules and healed him on a Sabbath. John says this was the start of Jesus' persecution - for healing someone on the wrong day.

Tasting the living water does lead us to do harder and harder things - the washing of forgiveness, saying "yes" to healing, and permitting joy and satisfaction to be more a part of our lives than our familiar pain. We are doing these things here - every day - sometimes in small steps, sometimes in big steps. It is our spiritual work. Now, could we do that without a vision? Without some repeated words on the front of a bulletin cover? Maybe we could. But the vision helps us identify even the small successes. The vision reminds us who we are, and even more importantly reminds us of how we can be who God wants us to be.

A water system is something you can build, and touch, and see working. A healing moment - not so much. But over time, the connections get made. Caring for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ becomes more important than following rules like Sabbath-keeping or practicing perfect polity. Healing happens through words of forgiveness and simple acts of kindness like saying "thank you" for a blessing you receive. Then, our community grows and grows through a sense of inclusion and welcome that comes from joyfully drinking deep of the living water. At least that's the vision I have in mind when I read the words that the Session adopted.

Living Water. Clean water. Washing water. Healing water. Satisfying water. The Spirit of God is washing over us, healing us, changing us, growing us, giving us joy. Look for it in the hidden places as well as the obvious ones. John's gospel uses such language to convey the intensity of Jesus' life and message. We borrow from that ancient language and invite it to speak to us today. Ridiculous - yes. Not very practical - perhaps. And yet - God is doing a new thing, here and now. Jesus is offering us his hand and asking us, "Do you want to be made well?"

Amen.