3 LENT A John 4:5-42 David Eck
3/27/11
Jesus said...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
What are we thirsty for?
---I'm not talking about a craving for a chocolate milkshake
---Or a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day.
I'm talking about a deep down kind of thirst
---That resides in the depths of our souls.
What are we thirsty for?
---The Psalmist cries out
---"As a deer longs for flowing streams,
---So my soul longs for you, O God.
---My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
---When shall I come and behold the face of God?
---My tears have been my food day and night,
---While people say to me continually,
---'Where is your God?'" [Ps 42:1-3]
Now, that's thirsty!
---It's the kind of thirst that's not easily filled.
It's the kind of thirst that longs for a "God experience."
It's the kind of thirst that is desperate to hear
---We are a beloved child of God,
---In spite of our mistakes,
---In spite of the wrong turns we have taken in life.
It's the kind of thirst that can only be quenched
---By the One who is all-encompassing love,
---Mercy, forgiveness and healing.
What are we thirsty for?
---This is the question our gospel lesson asks today.
---It takes place in the Samaritan city of Sychar.
It's the kind of place a good, upstanding rabbi
---Would not be caught dead in…but Jesus is there.
In verse 4 of the same chapter, John tells us
---That Jesus "HAD to go through Samaria"
---In order to return to Galilee
---From the Judean countryside.
While this is geographically true,
---Since going through Samaria is the most direct route,
---It is not historically true.
The Israelites hated the Samaritans so much
---That some would even take a longer route home
---So that their sandals would not be contaminated
---With the dust of Samaria.
---This was especially true of rabbis.
Wow! That's some deep-seated hatred and prejudice!
---Therefore, John is being a bit misleading here.
---Jesus didn't HAVE to go through Samaria.
---Jesus WANTED to go through Samaria,
---If only to encounter a Samaritan woman at a well
---Who was dying of thirst.
II. But before we get to her story,
---There is another piece of biblical geography
---That sets the stage for everything that is to follow.
There is a twin set of mountains
---Which are on either side of the town of Sychar
---Where our gospel lesson takes place:
---Mt. Gerezim and Mt. Ebal.
If we do a Bible study of these two mountains,
---We will discover that in Deuteronomy 11:29
---Gerezim is called "The Mount of Blessing"
---Ebal is called "The Mount of Cursing."
Reason why I bring this up,
---Is that these two mountains symbolically describe
---Our journey from being thirsty to being satisfied.
All of us long to make the journey from Ebal to Gerezim,
---From the Mount of Cursing to the Mount of Blessing.
We all want to travel a healing path
---From darkness to light,
---From brokenness to being made whole,
---From dying of thirst to having our cups overflow.
This is the story of our gospel lesson
---And it is good news to us all.
---The same gift that was offered
---To the Samaritan woman at the well
---Is offered to us as well.
This story serves to remind us that Jesus
---Will cross any boundary or obstacle necessary
---In order that we might have our thirst quenched
---With living water.
III. So let's enter into the story
---And see what good news it has to share.
We already know that Jesus is in Sychar,
---A place where any pious rabbi would not caught dead in.
---He is in the wrong city, in the wrong territory.
---Here, we also meets up with the wrong kind of person as well.
---There are several reason why this is the case.
First of all, she was a woman
---Which had certain disadvantages in first century society
---Where women were treated as property and not as persons.
Secondly, she was a Samaritan.
---In order to understand what a curse this is
---We need to understand a little bit of history.
After the Northern Kingdom of Israel,
---Was taken over by the Assyrians,
---Many of the Jews who lived there were deported to Assyria
---And foreigners were brought in to settle the land and keep peace.
---Intermarriage between these foreigners and the remaining Jews
---Resulted in a mixed race known as Samaritans.
Samaritans were treated as outcasts
---By the Jews who lived in the Southern Kingdom.
---They hated them and felt they betrayed their people and their nation
---By contaminating Judaism.
This hatred was so strong that the Samaritans
---Constructed an alternate center for worship
---On Mt. Gerezim (Mount of Blessing)
---To parallel the Temple in Jerusalem.
The third strike against this woman was the fact
---That she was also a freight train wreck in the marriage department.
---Vs.17-18...five husbands...currently living with another man.
IV. For all intents and purposes
---Jesus, as a rabbi, should have avoided this woman like the plague.
---He should have ran from her
---As fast as his legs could carry him.
But Jesus didn't do this.
---The remarkable thing about this story is that
---Jesus crossed several social, sexual and religious barriers
---In order to offer this woman living water.
---He risked his reputation as a rabbi
---In a way that cannot be overstated.
The first barrier is talking to a strange woman in a public place.
---In Jesus' day this was unthinkable,
---Especially between a pious rabbi and a woman.
One 1st century Jewish source stated it this way
---"One does not speak with a woman on the street,
---Not even his own wife,
---And certainly not with another woman, on account of gossip."
The disciples remarked about Jesus' inappropriate behavior as well.
---Vs.27..."When his disciples came,
---They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman."
The second barrier Jesus crossed was associating with a Samaritan.
---Even the woman herself pointed out how odd this was in vs. 9
---"How is is that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?"
The third barrier Jesus crossed was a religious barrier.
---As I mentioned earlier, the Jews saw Samaritans as outcasts,
---People who had corrupted the Jewish religion and
---Even had the nerve to build their own Temple on Mt. Gerezim.
The fourth barrier Jesus crossed was the woman's questionable reputation.
---It's absolutely amazing that a rabbi would associate with her
---Because of her torrid past and her five failed marriages.
Therefore, Jesus crossed four different social, religious and sexual barriers
---In order to bring this woman living water.
---He helped her to make the journey
---From the Mount of Cursing to the Mount of Blessing.
The result of their encounter is that the woman's life was transformed.
---At first she didn't understand what Jesus is talking about.
---She got confused about his references to living water.
Then when Jesus mentioned her past
---She quickly changed the subject to the proper place of worship:
---The temple on Mt. Gerezim or the temple in Jerusalem.
However, Jesus was patient
---And she finally understood what he was offering.
---She exclaimed, "Sir, give me this water,
---So that I may never be thirsty
---Or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman
---Changed her life forever and set her on a path
---From The Mount of Cursing to The Mount of Blessing.
---In the end she, too, became a powerful witness to others
---On behalf of the gospel.
---Vs. 39…"Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus
---Because of the woman's testimony."
V. Brothers and sisters in Christ
---If we hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people,
---Our gospel lesson contains both a blessing and a challenge.
The blessing is the good news that Jesus will do whatever it takes
---To make sure we receive the offer of living water.
Jesus risked everything to ensure that the Samaritan woman
---Felt like a person who was loved and valued by God.
---He didn't condemn her to wander the Mount of Cursing for all eternity.
---He offered her living water as well as the opportunity
---To make the journey from the Mount of Cursing to the Mount of Blessing.
---Jesus will do the same for us!
Don't let anyone tell you that God doesn't love you.
Don't let anyone tell you that you cannot be forgiven
---For bad choices you've made in life.
We are the Samaritan woman.
---Her story is our story.
---We are the ones who, at some point in our life,
---Have felt rejected and condemned by others.
They may have been family members, friends,
---Neighbors or, unfortunately, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
---But someone, somewhere made us feel less than equal.
---Someone looked upon us with disdain and contempt.
---Someone may have even told us that we were unworthy
---To receive the love and grace Jesus offers everyone.
The blessing of our gospel lesson is that
---Jesus offers all of us a spring of water
---Gushing up to eternal life.
---This water will quench whatever thirst we have
---And will satisfy all the longings of our souls.
There are no strings attached to this water.
---It is a free gift of grace.
---All we need to do is accept this gift
---And give thanks to the giver.
Therefore, if our souls feel thirsty today
---Let us not forget the living water Jesus offers us all.
---This is the blessing of our gospel lesson.
VI. However, our gospel lesson also offer us a challenge.
---The challenge is to walk where Jesus walked.
---If we think this is an easy path
---We better pay closer attention to what Jesus did in our gospel lesson.
Jesus crossed four social, sexual and religious barriers
---In order to minister to the Samaritan woman.
Are we really willing to do the same?
This is what the Reconciling in Christ process is all about.
---It is a journey we will take together as a church
---Where we ask ourselves the question
---What does it really mean to be "United in Christ. Welcoming All."?
Will we be willing to follow in Jesus' footsteps
---And go to some places we have not gone before
---In order that everyone in our community
---Will receive the invitation to drink living water?
Will we be willing to receive some flack from well-intentioned people
---Because we believe that Christ's love knows no bounds?
Will we, like Jesus. be willing to cross
---Racial, social, religious and sexual boundaries
---In order to share the love of Jesus
---With people who are dying of thirst?
---I hope so.
Make no mistake about it. This is not an easy calling,
---But I believe it is the work Christ has called his church to do.
---Let us all walk deeply this week with our gospel lesson
---That it may both bless and challenge us.
AMEN
0 comments:
Post a Comment