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Third Sunday in Lent (2008)
New Song Episcopal Church
February 24, 2008
Preacher: Judy T
Lectionary readings (Lent 3A-RCL): Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95,
Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42
Jesus and his
companions are returning from Jerusalem to Galilee. Jesus chooses to go through
Samaria, which is geographically between the two, rather than to travel around
it. The Samaritan people are outcasts in Israel and have been since the
Jews’ return from exile in Babylon. The intermarriage of the
“left-behind” remnant of Jews with the conquering Assyrians in the
years after the exile means that the Samaritan bloodline is not pure. The syncretization
of the Jewish faith with that of the Assyrians brought in to repopulate the
area is cause for further consternation. Samaritans no longer practice the
“true” faith. Many of the writings and practices that define
Judaism developed during the exile. Samaritans accept the Torah but do not
participate or accept the Exile-developed writings and practices. For all these
reasons the Jews look down upon the Samaritans. Yet Jesus travels through
Samaria, thereby deliberately exposing himself to contamination by the unclean
and impure. He chooses to step outside the boundaries of his culture.
Jesus, tired out by
his journey, sits by the well at Sychar. It is about noon. A Samaritan
woman comes to draw water. Drawing water out of the well, pouring it
into a pottery jar and then carrying it home is hot, heavy work. Providing the
water for the home is women’s work. Most women do it early in the morning
when the air and sun are cooler. Also, the morning drawing of water is a
social occasion for the women, one of few they have. However, this woman
has chosen not to join the other women. We hear in the story that she has had
multiple “husbands”, even less acceptable then than now. She knows,
or assumes, she is going to be rejected by the women so doesn’t
risk further rejection. By coming to the well at noon, she avoids being
shunned or hearing hurtful comments made directly to her or, indirectly, about
her. Avoidance is one of the ways that outcasts lower the amount of pain in
their lives.
Jesus says to her,
“Give me a drink.” In the world of that time a man does not speak
to an unrelated, unaccompanied woman except to proposition her. Yet, Jesus
greets the Samaritan woman with courtesy and respect despite her status
as an outcast. He reveals his knowledge of her personal past, yet
continues to treat her as he treats all of those whom he is healing,
acknowledging their humanity and need and offering grace. Knowing Jesus as we
do, we expect no less, but he is a stranger to this woman. She views him as a
Jewish male, who in most circumstances would have reviled her and treated her
shabbily, and she is astounded! She is not only accepted but is then offered
“living water”. She questions him, “Sir, you have no bucket,
and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” Jesus
responds, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but
those who drink of the water that I give them will never be thirsty. The water
that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal
life.” While Jesus is physically thirsty, he recognizes that the woman
is spiritually thirsty. The devastating loneliness of being an outcast, a
reject, is far heavier work than carrying earthen pots full of water. She is
eager for what he offers.
As exciting as it is
that the Samaritan woman responds to Jesus as she does, requesting the
“living water” for herself, what is even more exciting is her
desire to share her good fortune with the community that has treated her
so badly. “Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city.
She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything
I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city
and were on their way to him…Many Samaritans from that city
believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.”
When we find love and
acceptance, we want to share our wonderful news with others. Remember the giddy
days of new love! We can’t not share the wonder that is occurring
in our life! Her acceptance by Jesus is such a marvelous new experience for the
Samaritan woman that she lets go of her fear of rejection. The news of Jesus
and his effect on her is worth taking the risk to share the news with the
entire village. What a transformation—to go from avoidance of contact
with others to broadcasting her good news with people who had rejected her!
Are we similarly
transformed by the Good News, by the “living water”, by grace? Do
we run to share it with those we know—and don’t know? Do they see
the difference that the Good News makes in our life? Does our enthusiasm for
the change in our lives bring others so that they may hear the words of Jesus
themselves? “When the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay
with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his
word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said
that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is
truly the Savior of the world.’”
Who are the
Samaritans in our world— those who are considered impure,
unwanted, sinners, undesirable? Who are the lonely? Who are the rejected in our
world because of their perceived differences? I think of those who are mentally
ill, prisoners, physically or mentally differently-abled, undocumented workers,
immigrants; those who are: illiterate, people of color, homeless, poor,
physically or sexually abused, the LGBT community. Some of those
who fall outside the bounds of the community are evident due to their
appearance. But many others look like us but are different enough in
some way to be treated differently by the societal majority. Do we not all
yearn for hope? Do we not all wish to be treated with dignity, to be
accepted as we are, to be part of the community? Do we not all desire
healing? Do we not all need and thirst for the Good News?
How hard it is, when
relationships have always felt unsafe, when we have always felt ourselves the
outsider, to open ourselves to acceptance and hope, no matter how thirsty we
may be. Just as God, through Moses, gave water to the Israelites when they were
thirsty in the desert, Jesus gives the Samaritans—and us—hope, the
living water, grace, healing, acceptance, a place to belong, a place of safety,
community. Just as Moses broke open the rock and water came forth, hope comes
to us when the rocks that are our hearts are broken open and we become aware
of—and accept—the love of God.
When the diocese
considered planting a church in Coralville, it presumed, based on demographic
data, that we would be a church of middle class families with 2.3 children.
Yet, the Spirit decided otherwise, and at its second service New Song
proclaimed, “In this church there will be no outcasts.” 13 years
later God is not yet done with us!
We can never confine
our outreach. There so many people, so many groups waiting, thirsting
for the Good News of God’s love, perhaps not even knowing what they are
missing, only feeling a sense of loneliness and rejection. Jesus does not
ignore them. Everywhere he goes he offers acceptance and healing to people in
every walk of life. Jesus offers everyone a place in the kingdom of God. We
can do no less.
The “living
water”, the love of God, is a gift to be shared, not hoarded, for there
is always more. It is available in abundance. Joy is not something held close.
By its nature joy is broadcast to those around us in the way that we live. We
are called to live our lives in response to the gift of “living
water” and reflect to others God’s love. We are called, as
Jesus was, to take risks and cast aside fear in order live God’s
message. We are witnesses to the Samaritans of our world sharing God’s
Good News of love and acceptance, of hope.
Our psalm today
celebrates: “Come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before
his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with
psalms.”
We sing to the Lord
through our worship, but more importantly through our lives, as joyful
witnesses to the Samaritans in our world of God’s love for all of
God’s people. We proclaim the availability of the “living
water” to all who thirst. May we open the doors of New Song yet
further and bring in the Samaritans of our time so that they may be filled.
