| March 3, 2002 Exodus 17:3-7 + Romans 5:1-8 + John 4:5-42 |
| For three weeks, beginning today, we shall touch upon the most significant symbols of our faith. water, light, and life. With them, we shall confront a thirsty, dark and dying world. Three very unlikely teachers will lead us in these lessons. a woman who has had five husbands, a blind man, and a man who has been dead for four days. It all fits in with what we know to be true, that God uses unlikely people to accomplish divine plans, and sinner is as good a teacher as a saint. |
| The surprising setting for this week’s lesson has less to do with the woman than it does with the location. Samaritans and Jews are simply not conversation partners, and drinking from a Samaritan’s utensil is more of a violation than the conversation. Centuries of anti feminist thinking have cast all sorts of doubts on this woman’s character, and the fact is, they are unfounded, and there is nothing in the Gospel to suggest that she was any worse than anyone else in the town. Having five husbands was easily possible in those times, and living with another who was not her husband was simply a matter of survival, for a widow or a divorced/abandoned woman to come under the protection of another man was the only way she could live. She could have been any of the women in that town, a Samaritan town, and she’s in her own territory The eye brow raising surprise here is what he’s doing there, not what she’s doing there. It’s her place. She belongs there. So, let’s not make too much out of her past. We know nothing of it. What matter is what happens when she enters into this conversation with the visitor; and little by little, this conversation becomes conversion. |
| This wonderful, rich story is a great two act play. Act one features the woman and Jesus. It is the main story Act two features the nature of Jesus as Messiah and the universal character of his mission. In the back ground, while Jesus and woman are talking, there is another plot: the woman and the townspeople; and then there is the great finale, a kind of final chorus with all of them gathered together closing the story. And it’s all about water, but we can be just as confused about this water as she was. It is helpful to remember that John uses double meaning words to lead to new and deeper understanding. Being “born” is one of them. Remember how Nicodemus got all mixed up about how he could be born a second time? It’s the same thing here with Water. Jesus is not talking about H20 and the physical sensation of thirst. He has to talk her through that, just as we must reach beyond water to understand the gift Jesus has to offer”Living Water” in the context of this gospel mean the life-giving revelation of God in Jesus. In ancient Jewish writings, the Torah or “Law” was often described as both “the gift of God” and as “living water ” For John, Jesus is the ultimate gift of God. |
| On Lent’s third Sunday, we proclaim for all to hear what we heard in the Book of Exodus this morning, and what we believe from our own experience: that God has the power to satisfy every human thirst, and any substitute for God will leave us returning again and again to the well. |
| On Lent’s third Sunday, what we celebrate is the love of God and God’s gift of living water poured out in every human heart, for Jews and well as Samaritans, for sinners as well as saints, for women as well as men, In the wonder of this gift, we become like the woman of this Gospel, filled with a redeeming sense of grace that moves us to run and implore others. “Come and see!” It is not enough to move into recognition of Jesus. Accepting him as Savior is not all there is to it – you must run to others and implore them to Come and See.We are a church of zeal and evangelistic spirit at our very core. The gift of God brings with it some obligations. It is not just ours to hold, hide, and keep. It is a gift to be shared widely and broadly in a most universal way that reflects the universal dimensions of God’s plan in Jesus Christ. |
| What she finds at the well is a friend. which is someone who knows all about you and loves you anyhow Such an experience, such a gift is rare enough in this life, now and at the time of Jesus, and when people hear of it happening, they come running. As we make our way toward Easter, we do so with a friend, with a God who has chosen to include us, all of us, in the paradise of His love. It is a life that will know no thirst, no hunger, no sadness, no mourning, no fear, and for that matter no end. |
| A sinner, a woman, a Samaritan comes to teach us that lesson. Blessed are those who have ears to hear |