Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] March 12, 2023 “Would You Give Me a Drink” John 4: 3-30, 39-42 – Common English Bible Jesus left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food. 9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.) 10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.” 17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.” “You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. 18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.” 19 The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship him this way. 24 God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”[a] 27 Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” 39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.” In a desert climate, what time of day would you normally go to the well to draw water? Probably not the hottest time of day. So why was this woman there at Noon? It speaks volumes to who she was:
At least, that’s how I see it. Because here’s the thing: We can hear the words of Jesus that she had had five husbands and was now living with a man who wasn’t her husband and think he was judging her. That’s how many scholars, male scholars that is, have written about her. Listen to these: She exhibits a “dubious lack of morals” and “aberrant sexual behavior.” What?! One wrote that she was a “five-time loser” and a “tramp.” These men reveal more about their own attitudes toward women than anything they could possibly find in the actual text itself. Let’s think about the time in which she lived. As a woman, what kind of power did she have? For example, even if she had wanted to, she couldn’t have a initiated divorce with one let alone five men. And if it had been adultery, the man would have been patted on the back in the locker room, while others were out assembling a pile of stones to throw at her. Maybe every single one of the men died and people thought she was cursed. I immediately think of the story of the woman forced to marry 7 brothers, one after the other after each man died – like a piece of property handed down. To recognize that the woman at the well had been married five times means we must realize, sympathize with, what a hard life she must have had. Imagine a life filled with such grief, a life of being abandoned, the hunger inherent in such instability, and thirst. Literal thirst as she did everything she could to survive. And what did she get for all that? Scholars calling her a loser and women who didn’t invite her to join them in the early morning as they laughed and shared stories on their way to the well. Why was she at the well at Noon? Not only her exclusion but the time of day also reveals the contrast between her and Nicodemus – a respected member of the religious establishment. In the chapter right before this, Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. He didn’t want anyone to see him talking with Jesus. To his credit, he went to Jesus with an open mind, but he couldn’t comprehend the idea that he must be born from above or anew or again. He walked back into the night unconvinced. But, by the light of the Noonday sun, this woman with no power, and not only that, a Samaritan, a person of a hated and despised people, regardless of whether she had a “past”… she not only immediately understood who Jesus was, this woman at the well raced to tell other people the good news. She was the first preacher of the gospel! Now, it wasn’t a coincidence or an accident that Jesus happened to come across her. On his trip back to Galilee from Judea, he chose to go directly through Samaria. Imagine you’re traveling from San Diego to San Francisco. It wouldn’t make sense to drive through Las Vegas to get there, right? That is, unless you’re trying to avoid Los Angeles. Not because of the traffic but because you despise the people of LA. To get from Judea to Galilee it would make geographic sense to take a direct route, but Jews avoided Samaria at all cost. They hated each other. Remember the story of the “Good” Samaritan. There was no such thing because nothing good could ever come from Samaria. It’s like hearing a story of the “good” smuggler or the “good” white supremacist. It’s going to get your attention. And why did Jews and Samaritans hate each other so much? Well, scholars don’t all agree and it’s too complicated to really go into with much depth, I tried but it took too long, so just know that it existed with intensity. And yet despite this animosity, or likely because of it, Jesus chose to travel through Samaria. Jesus explained to Nicodemus in that after-dark meeting just verses before that “God so loved the world…” And then immediately put that famous “John 3:16” passage into practice. Samaria represented “the world” and this was just the beginning. And the message was exemplified, amplified, by Jesus telling this particular woman “I Am.” It wasn’t a coincidence. She was exactly the kind of person he was looking for. Nicodemus didn’t understand. Not even the disciples understood. But as Jesus engaged in serious theological conversation with her, treating her with respect like an equal, she not only understood, again, she raced to transform the lives of the very villagers among whom she was an outcast. This isn’t just a nice little story. This story destroys the labels we attach to people, it explodes pre-conceived notions, this story tears down walls, it’s a blast that flings open the door for anyone who has ever felt judged and shut out. Anyone who has ever felt excluded is provocatively welcomed by Jesus who offers Living Water to us all. Again, the statement Jesus made about her five husbands wasn’t a dig at her past. He understood her hard life and offered a healing balm. Like the choir sang, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the wounded soul. Wait, if you’ve sung that song before, it’s supposed to be “sin-sick,” right? To heal the “sin-sick” soul. But is this the same sort of “sin-sickness” the woman was accused of? Is it the reason she went to the well alone at Noon or the reason she was called a tramp with an aberrant sex life, i.e. sin-sick? Why must people be so cruel? Right now, in legislatures across the country, the lives of transgender and non-binary people are being debated like never before. The United Church of Christ reported on Friday that as of March 3rd, there have been 385 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced,[1] the highest number ever introduced in a single legislative season, with 108 of them aiming to end gender affirming healthcare, affecting 54,000 youth, about whom the same kinds of things were said of the woman at the well. Rejected, ostracized, and wounded – but called instead, among other things, sinful, aberrant, morally dubious. And a danger to our kids. Let me introduce you to a woman in Samaria who has had five husbands and now lives with a man who is not her husband. Jesus didn’t say “if you repent I’ll offer you some Living Water.” There was no forgiveness needed. Instead of assigning labels and inciting violence, the church should be offering the water of understanding for how hard life can be when you live under judgment for things over which you have no control. Do we try to understand? Or assign some kind of moral deficiency? To me the parallels are extraordinary. As well as the cruelty. The religiously-based cruelty. But there is a balm in Gilead for the wounded soul. Not the pointed-at = sin-sick. Wounded. For all wounded by religion – perhaps because of divorce you’ve been excluded from communion, or judged because you have doubts, or you or your children weren’t baptized, or you or a loved one are LGBTQ, or because you’ve been looked down upon for whatever reason – religious people can come up with a lot of reasons. Or are you a woman who has been barred from preaching the good news of Jesus who offers the kind of Living Water which will make us never thirst again? I asked our Lunch and Lectionary friends on Thursday, what is Living Water? Marla said it’s the love of God. Others described it as having motion. Water moves. What is the opposite of living water? Stagnant – dank, smelly, unfit to drink – water. Like faith. Think of a stagnant faith or one that is living. A living faith moves and breathes and changes course. A living faith says, God is still speaking. A stagnant faith may counter-propose “God has spoken. Period.” And what does the UCC say to that? Never place a period where God has placed a comma. Is your faith alive or has your faith stagnated? A living faith, like water, is always in motion, it’s changing, always changing, often in ways you can’t control. And why would you want to control it? We are people of faith in motion, Living Water. Sometimes water can only be found in springs below the surface. We might fear it has disappeared because we haven’t seen it for a while, yet it is still there nourishing our thirst. Maybe our prayer is for God to stir the waters. The woman at the well is an inspiration. Just like our national UCC leaders said to trans and non-binary youth on Friday, you are a beloved child of God, created with intention and vibrant love. Within your body rests a sacred offering of God’s multitude. We see you. You belong. As Danielle read at the beginning of the service, hear Jesus say to you: I’d give you a drink, a warm cup of tea with lemon and mint, I’d give you a confetti cannon, roses from the garden, my favorite sweatshirt, a bed to lay in, homemade bread, a hand to hold. I’d give you my full attention. I’d give you my phone and say here, put your number in. I’d give you the melody line, a standing ovation, a sense of security. I’d give you anything and everything If it made you believe That you are enough.[2] [1] https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights?inf_contact_key=2a3609f37382a474fa1cadbeb3009123464dbfbc1801014bcbec243a32905af2 [2] Sarah (Are) Speed from A Sanctified Art
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