I have chosen John 4: 7-15 as the foundational scripture for my
proclamation during this service. This
scripture tells the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Regular readers of this blog may recall that
I recently preached on this text. (See my
June 28, 2014 post, entitled “Beyond the Safe Walls of the Church.”) In that previous sermon, I focused on the
relationship between Jesus and the un-named woman from Samaria. By contrast, I intend to focus this week on
what Jesus says about water.
As the story unfolds, Jesus and his
disciples have stopped at a village well to rest from a long journey they are
making from Judea to Galilee. It is the
middle of the day, as Jesus waits by the well for the rest of the disciples who
have gone to buy food in the market.
Jesus is hot and thirsty. As he
waits for the disciples, a Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water for
her household. Jesus asks the Samaritan
woman to give him a drink of water from her bucket.
It is important to understand that
there was great animosity and social strife between Jews and Samaritans at that
time. Although both groups have the same
sacred texts and share a common faith, they disagree bitterly over how to interpret
those texts and live out that faith.
Their most important point of contention concerns the correct location
of their “holy of holies” sacred site.
For the Samaritans, the correct location is Mt. Gerizim; for the Jews,
it is the Temple in Jerusalem. The
social tension between the two groups had escalated to such a heighth that Jews
had no contact with anything Samaritan due to a fear of ritual contamination.
Jesus’ request for water perplexes
the Samaritan woman because drinking from her container would mean ritually
contaminating himself. So, she asks
Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”
Jesus’ reply is unexpected and
unconventional: “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.”
Now, the term, “living water,” can
have two possible meanings in Aramaic.
First, it can refer to running
water, such as water running in a brook or gurgling up from a
spring. Second, it can refer to life-giving water. Of course, Jesus is using the second meaning
of life-giving water, but the Samaritan woman misunderstands, thinking that he
is referring to the first definition of running water, and she is flabbergasted.
She responds, “Sir, you have no
bucket, and the well is deep. Where do
you get that living water?” Given the
context and her interpretation of “living water,” we can appreciate how
astounding Jesus’ claim appears to her. Afterall,
here is a man without rope or bucket, who just a moment ago was asking for help
in getting a drink from the well. Now,
suddenly, he is claiming to have superhuman access to running water. This conversation is not coherent.
Jesus clarifies: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be
thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will 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.”
It’s at this point that we realize
Jesus is using “living water” as a metaphor for the loving grace which flows
down upon us through his life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. Living water is an especially poignant
metaphor. Adequate water is absolutely
essential for biological survival and flourishing. Water is the signature resource that
astronomers and astrobiologists focus on in their search for extraterrestrial
life because it is hard to conceive of life existing without water.
Water is also pivotal in Christian
faith:
Ø In the Creation Story contained in Genesis 1,
God begins by moving over the face of the waters.
Ø At a water well, Jacob met his future wife,
Rachel, and helped water her sheep.
Ø When the Hebrew people escape from their
slave-bondage in Egypt, God parts the waters of the Red Sea to provide an avenue of escape
from the pursuing Egyptian army.
Ø Jesus sought out John the Baptist to be
baptized by water; when he emerged from the baptismal waters of the River
Jordan, a voice from heaven identified him as, “…my Son, the Beloved, with whom
I am well pleased.”
Ø As we’ve seen already, Jesus meets the
Samaritan woman at the well and asks for a drink.
Ø On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus
used water to wash the disciples’ feet, teaching us to serve one another.
In the Christian tradition, water heals and water is sacred. In the Sacrament of Baptism, we use water as
the physical substance which points beyond itself to that inward, spiritual
grace which God offers to us from the deep reservoirs of God’s limitless
love. With the tactile substance of
water, we welcome persons into the family of Christ, while also
anointing them for ministry as Christian disciples. At Baptism, water also offers healing. Just as physical water is very effective for physical
cleaning, so also Baptismal waters point to the spiritual cleansing, forgiveness,
and healing that Jesus offers to those who truly repent from their sins and
shortcomings.
Yet, much of our planet’s water is dirty and polluted. Even more distressing, social scientists warn
that our planet is facing a water shortage challenge in the near future, if
appropriate conservation measures are not taken soon. We have grossly mismanaged our water
resources.
As the only earthly organisms created in the image of God, we have been
charged with stewardship of God’s good Creation. This is both a privilege and a
responsibility. Water, along with all of
the Earth’s other natural resources, do not belong to humans. Instead, they belong to God, the Creator, who
has entrusted humans with the responsibilities of stewardship and careful
management for a relatively short time.
Come and join us this Sunday, April 26th, as we celebrate
Earth Sunday and recommit ourselves to the task of stewardship of water and all
of the natural resources which ultimately belong to God the Creator. Our church is located at the corner of
Main and Dawson Streets in Meriden, Kansas.
Our classic worship starts at 10 am.
Everyone is welcome and accepted because
God loves us all.
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