According to several sources, the expression “hot water” to mean something more than heated water was first used over 500 years ago. No one is certain where the expression came from, but everyone can identify with the idea it conveys.
The Grammarist website explains that Idioms, such as this one, add spice to our speech and writing, making it easier for others to understand what we’re trying to say. Nevertheless, much like agreeing on the actual temperature when water is hot, warm, tepid, or otherwise, isn’t the same for everyone.
In an article published just this week in Popular Mechanics, Caroline Delbert noted the results of a study that discovered most of us can distinguish the difference between hot and cold water by sound when it’s poured. And most of us associate a degree of trouble when someone describes their situation as being in hot water.
For now, let’s use this expression generally for circumstances that make us uncomfortable and leave the nuances for our own life experiences.
In this week’s chapters from our companion book, Jones catches Ollie lying by noticing how he looks right as he concocts his story and scratches his itching nose. Ollie suddenly found himself in hot water. Something was bothering him, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it.
The big news around Orange Beach is that someone stole Blair Houston Monroe’s Star of Texas from her front lawn. Meanwhile, the daily meetings around the Peace Table at Jones’ Five and Dime are gaining popularity. Even Blair Houston Monroe attended until she was asked to leave after accosting Ollie. Coincidently, her Star of Texas disappeared the very next day.
Meanwhile, Keely’s finding her progress toward a better future is often sabotaged by her old self. Feelings of unworthiness draw her attention to her past, “hoping old answers will create a new future.” Jones assures her, “The new Keely does not need advice from the Keely who caused so much trouble. The Keely you are becoming should not seek approval from the old Keely.”
Along life’s way, everyone finds themselves in hot water at times. “But you don’t have to let hot water define you,” Jones tells Keely. “Instead, make something of the experience. During times of hot water . . . be coffee.”
Of course, Jones’ advice needed some explanation. What does it mean to be coffee?
The first thing I do each morning is turn on the coffee pot. I know it takes time for the water to get hot enough to make coffee. When ground coffee beans are immersed in hot water, coffee emerges from the combination. It’s “only in hot water does coffee realize its potential,” Jones explains.
In a Psychology Today article, Polly Campbell writes, “Doing the difficult or unfamiliar challenges us to manage our feelings of discomfort, and when we do, we benefit.”
Campbells shared her personal experience with embarrassment. Showing up for a class with the only red ukulele and producing sounds unpleasing to anyone, she recalled the butterflies and clammy hands that signaled her discomfort. Fortunately, she stuck it out and succeeded not only in learning how to play but also in learning a valuable lesson about the benefits of being more like coffee when she found herself in hot water.
Studies led by Kaitlin Woolley at Cornell University and Ayelet Fishbach at the University of Chicago discovered that people who embrace discomfort rather than think of it as a problem do better. They didn’t say “be coffee” while in hot water, but their studies proved Jones’ point.
Jones also said, “Sometimes a thing can seem impossible. Until it is actually done.” I detect a connection between hot water and the impossible. And both feel like rejection.
A lot like the rejection felt when turned down for a job. Even a job for which we’re not really qualified for. And a fear of rejection can produce all kinds of negative outcomes for us and those around us. Anyone looking for a job without experience knows the frustration of rejection.
Speaking of job searches, when Jesus began His public ministry, he chose a dozen or so people to follow and learn from Him. Given the magnitude of what Jesus came to do—to save the world—wouldn’t you think that His short list of candidates would be the top drawer of people who could speak, write with eloquence, and win arguments? People who have what it takes to be extraordinary?
Luke tells a story in his Gospel about Jesus selecting some of His original followers. Jesus is teaching by the lakeshore, and the crowds are pushing towards Him to hear what He has to say. Jesus notices a couple of fishing boats have come to shore. So he walks over and climbs inside one of the boats that belonged to a man named Simon.
Jesus asked them to push off, and they did. None of the men that Jesus saw return from fishing that day, I presume, were extraordinary. After all, we read that their boats were not filled with fish. In fact, we learn that they didn’t catch a thing.
Also, I’m not sure if extraordinary people simply push off when asked by a stranger who decides that it would be better to teach from their boat instead of standing on the beach with the crowds.
After Jesus finishes talking to the crowd on the shore, He tells the guys to take the boat out into the deeper water and let down their nets. “Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing.”
Jesus pushed back on Simon, James, and John, insisting they go further out into the deeper water and try fishing again. Well, these guys had already quit for the day, cleaned their nets, and were headed home. But they weren’t having fish that night.
They let down their nets and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break.
Luke 5:6
Luke tells us that they caught so many fish that the nets were about to break, and they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that they were about to sink.
Something extraordinary happens to these three ordinary men. It’s not that they were in hot water, just deeper water. As fisherpersons, this wasn’t a source of discomfort. The hot water was back on shore when they put away their gear with nothing to show for their hard work.
Little did they know that this was just the beginning. Their hot water turned to deep water and then became an invitation to follow Jesus. They were making coffee.
Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will be catching people.” Luke said the men pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.
Jesus follower is one of those want ads that say “No Experience Necessary.” Even better. If there were ads for Disciples during Jesus’ public ministry, they would say something like “We train.”
When Jesus chose the men and women who started the very first church, He went with the ordinary. He also chose people who were unlikely to have the necessary skills. Jesus invited them to experience hot water as a benefit. They learn how to make coffee.
Even if we’ve never done anything well in our lives, Jesus gives us assignments beyond us, and we succeed despite our inexperience. Not because of our own talent and capability but because of who Jesus is and the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus chooses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. The only qualification is to show up. The fisher guys didn’t come to Jesus’ office for an interview. Jesus went to their place of work.
And whether the place you hang out is top drawer or a place you would rather not be, Jesus can find you there and offer you the opportunity of a lifetime. No experience is required.
This week, rethink the view that you have of yourself. You are not ordinary at all. In God’s eyes, you are extraordinary.
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Pastor Tommy
Parts of our series are inspired by Andy Andrews. Just Jones: Sometimes a Thing Is Impossible . . . Until It Is Actually Done. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2020.
Caroline Delbert. “Our Brains Use Secret Physics to Hear the Difference Between Water Temperatures.” © Popular Mechanics, October 3, 2024. Retrieved from: link
Polly Campbell. Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. “What We Gain by Being Uncomfortable.” © Psychology Today, June 21, 2022. Retrieved from: link