Living Water for All

A Sermon Based on John 4:5 – 42

Rev. Deborah Troester, March 26, 2023, STHPC

This past Wednesday many people celebrated an important religious holiday: Ramadan – a month of fasting and spiritual renewal for our Muslim neighbors. I pray that they may have a peaceful and blessed Ramadan. But another day passed by almost unnoticed. Wednesday, March 22, was World Water Day. Recently the United Nations reminded us that one out of four people on the planet do not have safe drinking water and nearly half lack access to safely managed sanitation.

So our gospel today is an appropriate reminder of the importance of both literal water, which brings life to our bodies, and “living water,” which brings life to our souls. Because water cleanses and purifies, it symbolizes forgiveness of sins and salvation from evil – as the Hebrew slaves escaped Pharaoh’s army by crossing the Red Sea. Since water, in the form of rain or irrigation, gives life to plants and animals, it symbolizes new life, blessing, and God’s promise of provision. In many African countries I often heard, “Water is life.”

From the rivers which flowed out of Eden to the River of Life in Revelation, water is prominent in the Bible, so it is no surprise that Jesus chose to be baptized in the Jordan River, and in so doing, set us the example, as his followers, to be baptized as well. A bit later this morning we will baptize our newest member, Lucas, as he professes his faith in Christ. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the encounter between Jesus and a woman of Samaria, an encounter which took place at a source of water, a village well.

         Jesus proclaimed to the woman that he is the Messiah. What does that mean? Jesus came to bring us into relationship with God. Becoming human, God dwelled among us: Emmanuel – “God with us.” Jesus came to break the barrier between humanity and God, to make a way for us to approach God, to know God, to make a way for us to find eternal life.

Jesus also came to teach us to be reconciled with one other, even with our enemies, to destroy the walls that we set up to keep each other out. In Ephesians 2:14, Paul writes,

“ For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reaches across tribal, cultural, and religious barriers to talk with a woman who is an outcast, a sinner, like us all, and to reconcile her with God and with her community. The story begins when Jesus comes to the Samaritan city of Sychar, to the place known as Jacob’s well. Tired from his journey, Jesus sat down by the well. It was about noon. Now, Jesus was a Jew, and the Samaritans were enemies of the Jews. Jesus had left Jerusalem, and was headed back north to Galilee, a three days walk if you went THROUGH Samaria. If you went AROUND Samaria, two additional days of walking were required. Most Jews hated the Samaritans enough to walk the two extra days to avoid going through their territory. But Jesus decided to pass through Samaria.

Historically, both Jews and Samaritans were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but over time they grew apart. The Samaritans descended from the northern tribes,

which separated from the southern tribes after the reign of King Solomon. Gradually the northern tribes started to accept foreign beliefs and customs. Samaritans believed that their worship was the true religion of the ancient Israelites from before the Babylonian captivity, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, but the Jews believed theirs was the true religion. While the Samaritan center of worship was Mount Gerizim, the Jews held their religious festivals at the temple in Jerusalem. 

         So even though these two tribes were related, they had come to hate each other. They avoided each other whenever they could. Does this sound familiar? In some parts of the world today, tribalism is still alive and well. And no one has to tell us that our country is more divided than ever before. More and more people are saying that they would not like their child to marry someone of a different political party. People are more openly racist than any time I can remember in my lifetime. We thought homophobia was over, but it seems to be making a comeback. Common civility and just being polite to each other are also, sadly, declining.

Jesus gave us an example to follow by reaching out across a cultural divide to the Samaritans. He did not treat them as enemies, but as people who needed the “living water” of God’s love and grace. Jesus broke the barrier between people who had been ancient enemies. By purposely walking through Samaria Jesus made space for the Holy Spirit to work and for relationships to grow where there had been no possibility of relationship before. Sometimes when I see that I am not getting along with someone, I go out of my way to greet them and even have a conversation with them. This approach has helped me repair several friendships that I otherwise would have lost.

Back to our story. Another barrier Jesus broke was the cultural boundary of sexism. In that day, as is still too often the case, women were treated as second-class citizens. They could not own property or act as witnesses in court. If they divorced, their children belonged to their husband. If the husband died, all the property went to his brother. Each day, Jewish men prayed, “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, ruler of the universe who has not created me a woman.” Men would normally not speak to a woman in public, if that woman was not a family member. So when Jesus asks this Samaritan woman for a drink of water, it is no wonder she replies, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” Even Jesus’ disciples are surprised to find him talking to her. Not only does Jesus speak to the woman, he engages her in a theological discussion about faith, living water, and worship customs. In other words, Jesus treats this woman like an intelligent human being, a person who is worthy of respect, and worth having a conversation with.

In fact, Jesus often talks to women, for example, Mary and Martha, who, with their brother Lazarus, often welcomed him into their home. He spoke kindly to the woman caught in adultery and forgave her. Luke, Chapter 8, tells us that Jesus had women disciples, including Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and Joanna, the wife of an important government official, women who provided for Jesus out of their own resources.

Jesus was way ahead of his time in treating women with respect and as equals, not as property.

Do we in the church follow Jesus’ example today by treating women as equals, and respecting them as having the same rights as men? Do we treat people who don’t meet our gender expectations with respect and kindness? How would Jesus have treated them?

We also see that Jesus reached out to this woman even though she was an outcast. Why is she at the well at noon? No one wants to carry water in the hot midday sun. Usually people go early in the morning or in the evening. Some have speculated that she went at noon in order to avoid the other women of the village. They probably looked down on her as a shameful woman, one who was living with a man to whom she was not married. So she went to the well at a time when the others would not be there. And that is where she found Jesus, who treated her kindly, and offered her “living water.” Somehow Jesus knows that she has had five husbands, and the man she is with now is not her husband.

That is what convinces her that Jesus is a prophet and maybe even the Messiah. How could he know this, when he had never met her before?

The religious leaders of the day often accused Jesus of talking and eating with sinners and society’s outcasts. Jesus himself said in Matthew 9, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” In other words, Jesus came for those who know they need God’s love and forgiveness – which includes all of us, whether we admit it or not.

This story of the Samaritan woman shows us that no matter who we are – African, European, Asian, or American, male or female, sinner or saint – Jesus loves us. Jesus came to give his life for us, to make a way for us to be reconciled with God. Remember John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This story of the woman at the well challenges us to love others as Jesus did – even if they are from another tribe or nation, whether they are women or men, even if they are “sinners” or somehow marginalized.

As we Christians work together for God’s will to be done on earth, we show the world an example of unity with each other and solidarity with those who suffer. In an atmosphere of hatred and division, we should not underestimate the impact of Santa Teresa Hills’ witness of worshipping and serving together – U.S. citizens and immigrants, Black and White, young and old, even Democrats and Republicans. Such unity is a rare and precious gift of God’s Spirit, and we must cherish and nurture it. Those who seek to divide us may have the best of intentions, but we have much to learn from each other, and our community is strengthened and blessed by our example of brotherly and sisterly love for one another.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians (Eph. 4:4-6), “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Baptism unites us as one body in Christ.

I will close with a final example. When Joe and I were mission co-workers we had two collegues from South Sudan – Arik and Wal.

Arik was Dinka and Wal was Nuer. To those not familiar with South Sudanese politics, that may not mean much, but for generations these two tribes have been rivals. Both are cattle-herding tribes. They have fought over the same grazing ground as long as anyone can remember. When we dedicated a church and clinic in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, Arik, the pastor there, invited Wal to attend. But Wal was afraid, literally for his life. His people were not welcome there. Arik said, “Don’t worry. I will meet you at the airport and you can stay with me. I will be with you all the time. No one will harm you. I will tell them you are my brother.” Both men were Christians, and despite years of animosity between their people, Christ had broken down the dividing wall between them and made them brothers.

That is what baptism does. When we meet Christ, the living water, at the font of baptism, we become a part of Christ’s body, the church, and one with all Christians everywhere. Let us be witnesses to the world of this unity. As Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Amen.

© Deborah Troester, 2023