Lent 2010 Week 3

Lent week 3 year A

John 4:5-42.

"Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband;' for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.' The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

Just then his disciples came. They marvelled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking, with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.

Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour, others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour."

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." So 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 your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world. "

This story can be understood to be about growth in awareness of sinfulness, grace and knowledge of God. It shows how far God has come to meet us in our sinful humanity. Jews and Samaritans didn't mix. Samaritans were regarded as unclean by Jews because of their mixed ancestry. Their common heritage was a cause of division, not a cause of unity. When Assyria conquered the northern tribes of Israel in 721 AD, the Jewish tribal indentity was lost and many were forced into captivity and eventually married the non Jews. It was seen to be punishment for having turned against the Lord, their God. To be of mixed race, was to be worse than either or. Sadly, it is still a mentality that prevails today. The Samaritans, as they came to be known, developed different customs and worshipped their God in the mountains shrines, not in the Jewish Temple.

Not only though was Jesus talking to a Samaritan, he was talking to a woman, and not even a respectable one at that. A woman who had married several times and was living with a man who was not her husband! A sort of 1st century Liz Taylor figure, causing scandal! It would have been an encounter that would have ruined the reputation of a Jewish teacher, so no wonder the woman is surprised and the disciples scandalised! The woman was also cut off from her own community, going at the 6th hour, the height of the day, 12 noon our time, meant no-one else would have been there. This was a woman, aware of her sinfulness, her aloneness from her community but through the grace of Jesus, the means by which her community were to be saved. That gives all of us, in our various degree of sinfulness, hope!

  In the fourth century, St. Gregory of Nyssa said that “sin is a refusal to keep growing up.” This woman, steeped in sin according to her community, has the openness to listen to Christ and grow up, rather, to grow in grace. Grace is a dynamic movement, led by God. She recognises Jesus as a teacher, as a prophet, then finally as the Messiah. In so doing, she saves herself and others. She must have been a powerful witness, many of the people believed her. She had the courage to witness to them, outcast as she must have been, to lead them to belief. Three things about this woman seemed to put her at a distinct disadvantage from being such a witness. Firstly, she is a Samaritan. Secondly, she was guilty of sexual immorality, and thirdly, she was a woman! (Being a woman was the worse of course, go back to the disciples reaction!) What disadvantages do we have that we can turn around and be the source of grace?

This woman wanted a new start badly, she thirsted for this new life. Jesus offered her a water that would satify every thirst. We can see that water as baptism. A grace from God. In spite of our baptismal calling, we still thirst for physical things rather than for those of heaven. We are physical creatures we can say, we are not perfect, we are only human. We all use that excuse from time to time, in fact, most of the time if we are really honest. Lent is a reminder, just for a few weeks each year, to focus on things beyond ourselves, our needs, our wants, our desires for things that fill us physically. Like the woman at the well, may we respond to the grace God is offering this Lent, to drink deeply of"the water that I shall give" , "a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Don't worry if you get it wrong, choose the wrong thing today,the wonderful thing about the offer is, not unlike Tesco or Asda offers, there is no limited availibility, while stocks last etc. It doesn't mean have a good time first, then repent either. If we are really seeking God, the living water will still be there tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after....God's grace is not just any special offer, it is the best offer you will ever receive. The choice is yours...

4 weeks to Easter...