Hello again, this is Kingdom Offerings and my name is Dave Scherrer. You’ve found the podcast site for One Hundred-Fold Ministries. And before I get to what I want to talk about today, I have a couple things I want to get straight, so to speak.

The first thing is, I love story. I think that a good story told with passion and enthusiasm and dramatic flair lasts a lot longer in our memory than any even well-crafted sermon. There’s something about story that captures our imagination that raw content can’t do. It hits us in our chest, as well as our head, I think.

And so for another day, I think I’ll talk about the fact that that’s true of art and music and drama. You see, I love a good story and so did Jesus. Frankly, much of One Hundred-Fold Ministries is about letting God’s story become our story. So the first thing I want to say is I love story.

The second thing that I want to say today that, in lifting up the gospel of the kingdom, like we like to do here at One Hundred-Fold Ministries, please don’t ever hear me as though I am diminishing the reality of the good news of God’s saving redemption for us, those of us who trust in Jesus’ work on the cross. It’s a story within a story and that’s how God works.

So I want to share with you today one of my stories, and I sometimes call these stories “children’s stories for adults”. And it’s about this personal work of redemption that happens when we come to the cross. This story is about the wonder of being saved and being filled, and this gift of salvation is a very individual and personal gift. That’s what this story is all about. I hope you like it. It’s called “The Six City Fair”.

Maybe you didn’t know this, but a long time ago, things were very different than they are today. There were no cars or trucks or planes or trains. No cell phones or emails. If you wanted to talk to someone, you had to stand close to who you wanted to talk to and just talk. If you wanted to go somewhere, you would walk, or if you were wealthy, you could pay someone who could take you by horse or maybe by coach, but that’s just the way it was.

But I want to say in some ways, things are now not so different than they were back then. Take, for instance, the Six City Fair. For as long as everyone could remember, the citizens of the surrounding ring of the six cities had been gathering in the valley between them once a year. They gathered to trade fruits and fabrics to show off their cattle and buy pottery and exchange news.

They came to do what adults call “business” (whatever that means). This kind of thing happens a lot today too. Like I said, in some ways, things are now not so different than they were then.

But I have to say that this fair was special. This fair was more like one huge department store for tens of thousands of people. It seems that each of these six cities had special things that they were known for. One was famous for their fruit and another for their fish. One was famous for bread and grains and another for their pottery. Well, you get the idea. Everyone in the six cities needed what the others had to sell. And this fair was the only time they got together all year to trade. You see, the cities were hundreds and hundreds of miles from each other, separated by a huge desert. By walking or even riding a horse, it would be impossible to get to all the cities in a year to do the trading that you needed to do to survive. Trading at the Six City Fair was the only way these cities could survive. So once a year, people from every culture and color, every religion and language came together at the Six City Fair to do business.

Well, you may say, “Well, where did they meet if all around them was desert?” And that would, of course, be a very good question. As it turns out, right smack dab in the middle of the desert, in the very middle of the ring of cities, was an oasis where a huge natural spring of water bubbled up from the ground. There, in the middle of the dry, dangerous desert was this beautiful, lush, green park.

It was a long way from each city, but if the citizens planned well and were careful, they could pack just enough water to get to the oasis to do their trading and then stock up with fresh oasis water to get back home again. Crossing the desert was dangerous, but the Six City Fair was important and so thousands and thousands of people made this trip every year. Now I told you all of that so I could tell you this interesting story.

Once upon a time, a long time ago at the Six City Fair, something terrible, terrible happened. Just as all the people gathered to trade, the spring of cold, fresh water that fed the entire fair went dry overnight. Imagine the panic. Thousands and thousands of people all stuck in the hot desert, old and young alight, chickens and goats everywhere, and no water at all.

People began to threaten each other and steal each other’s water. Some even ran out into the desert to look for water, never to be seen again. They were growing to be without hope.

And then one morning, when all the thirsty people were awakening from a restless sleep, they discovered that two men had come into their fair mysteriously at night. They were water bringers. They each had water for the thirsty people. And you can imagine the joy for all the people because they were saved. But there’s much more to the story. I should know because I was just a boy, but I was there.

You see, though these two water bringers were both very mysterious and brought water to the dying people, in other ways, they were two very different men. The biggest difference was that one gave his water away for free, and the other asked a heavy price for a single drink. I mean, payment for that one drink was everything they owned.

The first water bringer who gave his water away for free, he was tall and handsome. He dressed in colorful clothes. He was outgoing and clever. He would sing songs, and he did magic tricks with coins to entertain the children while they waited in line for water. Some were suspicious of him, but he soon became real popular with the entire fair. After all, he gave his water away for free.

Now, the second water giver, he was certainly kind enough, but the price he charged for his water, it seemed so unfair. All you owned, for goodness sakes? I want to say that he was tall, but not too tall, good-looking in a plain kind of way. He was strong, though I would say he was gentle too. He wore simple clothes, just like everyone else. But one thing is for sure. If he was nothing else, he was at least the most patient man I have ever seen. He could sit quietly for hours and hours, head bowed, just thinking, I guess.

Well, not too many people dropped by to see him, so he sat quietly watching the people and waiting. When someone did stop by his booth, it usually turned into a long conversation. I’m not sure what they talked about, but his eyes were honest. And the conversation seemed to be sprinkled with laughter and deep thought.

I stood in line to get my first drink from the first water bringer, the one with the colorful clothes. For the most part, everyone was patient. After hours of waiting in line, I finally had my chance for my first drink.

“Step up, son!”, the man said, “Help yourself. This water’s going to save your life and you can’t beat the price.” And he laughed loud and long and he slapped my back. And I have to admit, I was a bit taken back. He was the friendliest and loudest person I had ever met.

“Yeah, son, my name is Balthazar. What’s yours, young man?” he said while he was handling me a tall mug of water.

“Avid,” I said, not really wanting to have much of a conversation in that moment – I was really thirsty.

As I lifted the mug to my lips, he stopped my hand. “You know, Avid, that water is a gift from my master. He wants you to be satisfied. That’s why it’s free.”

Then he looked both ways behind him like he was concerned someone might be listening in. And in fact, lots of people were listening in, but that didn’t really seem to bother him. And then he beckoned me close, and he stooped over to whisper in my ear. His long beard tickled my cheek. “You know, young Avid. That’s your name, right, Avid? I want you to have something special. My master has said I can add a magic potion to this water. You won’t feel much at first, but I guarantee you this will make the water the best you have ever tasted.”

With that, he looked around him, pulled out a purple satin pouch from this colorful coat. He reached in with his thumb and finger and pulled out some of this white powder and holding it over my cup, he sprinkled it into my mug.

“Son,” he said, still whispering, “You are really going to like this.”

Then he laughed big and he handed me back my mug, and he watched me like I was a science experiment. Well, I drank the water. And how Balthazar made that water so cold, I will never know. It was cold and clear. Maybe it was the best water I ever drank. I don’t know – I was so thirsty. But it was unbelievable.

“Please, sir,” I asked as I licked my lips, my tongue, and I didn’t want to miss a drop, “Can I have a little more?”

As soon as I asked, I knew that was the wrong thing to do. He spun around and grabbed my shoulders hard in his huge hands, and I could see the laughter drain from his eyes. He hissed. “Don’t be selfish, boy. All these others haven’t had their first drink yet. Move on. Get to the end of the line.”

And he none too gently pushed me away. I made my way to the end of the line, and across the fair, I could see the other water bringer, the one in the plain clothes, sitting quietly, watching me. He kind of smiled and lifted his head nodding at me. I thought he wanted to talk to me, but I just put my head down and walked to the end of the line.

The water that Balthazar gave me was now just a memory, and I was still thirsty. I waited hours in line. It was hot. There was no shade anywhere. By the time I got to the front of the line, I was thirstier than ever.

“Step up, son! Help yourself. This water will save your life and you can’t beat the price!” He laughed loud and long. He slapped my back. Again. It was like a rerun of the very first time we talked. It was weird.

“What’s your name, young man?” he said, while handed me another not quite so tall mug of water.

“Avid,” I said quietly. “Still, Avid. We just met a couple hours ago. Your name is Balthazar?”

He looked hard at me harder than before, grabbed my shoulders again. “Don’t talk back to me, son. I know my own name.”

He pulled the mug away from my hand, and he handed me an even smaller one. All at once, he gathered himself, and he smiled, and he said, “Hey, don’t complain. You can’t beat the price, right? Let’s get some of that magic potion for you, too.”

And he laughed at his little private joke, and he sprinkled the little white crystals in my mug a little more this time. And I drank, and it was cold, and it was clear, and it was the very best water I think I had ever drank. It was unbelievable. How did it get so cold?

“All right. Move along, boy.”

And he dismissed me, and I knew better than to ask for more. I looked across the fair and I saw the other water bringer still sitting there looking at me. He smiled and nodded. I know I’m sure he wanted to talk, but I put my head down and I walked to the end of the line. By the time I finally got back to Balthazar again, I was dizzy with thirst.

“Back again, boy? Here’s your drink.”

He barely looked at me and he handed me a small cup of water, sprinkled in more of that magic potion. I started a drink, but he stopped my hand, and several drops of the precious water spilled, and I looked up at him in panic.

He said, “That’ll be $20, boy.”

He stated that matter of fact. He held out his huge hand, palm up, waiting for the coin that I didn’t have.

“I don’t have that kind of money. I don’t have any money. I looked up into his eyes. “You said the water was free. Remember, ‘You cannot beat the price!’ Remember?”

“I said that was the first drink. Don’t talk back to me, boy. Now move on or find some money.”

I started to back away and turn then. I heard him say, “Well, boy, unless– unless– “

And we’re going to break here for today.

I think the story gets really, really interesting as this second water bringer and Avid keep on talking. Of course, as I said before, the story touches us in ways that a theological outline can’t. I hope you will connect again for our next Kingdom Offerings so we can wrap up this story and you can see the difference between this water bringer and Balthazar.

This is Dave Scherrer and this is One Hundred-Fold Ministries. Peace to you. We’ll talk soon.