Pastor Vance Becker and his wife, Linda are missionaries teaching at a seminary in Kenya, Africa. One of their students, Benjamin, comes from a very dry part of Africa. Even though it is dry, there are still many animals in Benjamin’s area. Each animal had its own unique voice but there is the voice of one animal that all the other animals listen for – the voice of the frog. The other animals listen for the voice of the frog because the frog means there is water, water they need to survive.

We live in a world of many voices. There are voices of hate and violence and fear. As Christians the world is like a desert dry place for our faith so we need to focus on listening to the voice of our Christian frog, namely, the voice of Jesus, who will lead us to water.

The Holy Spirit, whose coming we celebrate at Pentecost, has always been associated with water in Scripture. In Genesis 1 before any creating was done, we are told that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river, we are told that the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus in the form of a dove.

On the very Day of Pentecost, when Peter finished up his sermon the people responded with:

“What shall we do?” Peter answered, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’” (Acts 2:38-39)

And in John, chapter seven, Jesus once again connects the Holy Spirit with water:

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now”‘ this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7.37-39)

Just as our bodies are created to need water, our souls are created to need the Holy Spirit. There is no true spiritual life apart from the Holy Spirit. As we confess in the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit is, “the Lord and giver of life who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”

I also liked the frog story from the Beckers because it reminds us that our faith is a worldwide faith. People like Benjamin from around the world have the same faith as we do. We may not have the kinds of animals they do in Africa, but frogs are common around the world just as the Holy Spirit is.

So on this Day of Pentecost let us remember to be a frog. Or at least belong to a church that is a frog, a place that raises its voice to let people know where the living water of Jesus is.

Not everyone will listen but that’s okay. Those who are thirsty will listen and we have what can truly quench their spiritual thirst.

Frogs don’t have the most beautiful sounding voices and neither do we but through the power of the Holy Spirit we can croak about the living water of Jesus.

It is always appropriate to talk about water on the Day of Pentecost. Just as physical life cannot exist without water, true spiritual life cannot exist without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a spring of water welling up to eternal life because it is the Spirit of Jesus, our Savior.