Lent 3 (Year A) John 4.5-42 24 February 2008
This is one of my favourite gospel stories – I know I say that a lot, but I have a lot of favourites! - every time I read it I find something new.
If it was about anyone but Jesus, we’d have to say that the situation in which he finds himself was highly unusual.
It would have been unexpected for a Jewish man at that time to allow himself to be alone with a woman – leaving himself open to temptation, or perhaps just in danger of gossip! And this particular woman was a Samaritan - the hated neighbours of the Jews, the ultimate ‘others’ – to the extent that Jews and Samaritans would never dream of talking to each other, much less sharing a drink.
And finally, the woman is of dubious character. Jesus himself points out that she has had five husbands, and now lives with someone she’s not married to – even by today’s standards, five husbands is quite a lot, and in those days, living with someone without being married to them was just not the done thing. She probably went to the well at the hottest part of the day when all sensible folk were indoors so that she could draw her water on her own, and not have to endure the hostile stares and tutting of her neighbours.
If Jesus had been anyone else, he would not have struck up a conversation with this woman, no matter how thirsty he was. But this is Jesus – and we know that he can survive 40 days in the wilderness with nothing to drink, so he has other reasons for talking to her. And, of course, we know all about him from the rest of the gospel stories of his life and ministry and teaching: that he was quite happy to touch lepers, to name tax collectors among his best friends, to eat with sinners, outcasts, and other misfits. We know that he said ‘the first will be last’ and made no attempt to curry favour with the influential leaders of his own Jewish faith.
So because this is Jesus, nothing in this story is really surprising at all. In fact, I would even suggest that Jesus may well have stopped at the well at noon and sent the disciples away with the express intention of seeing what outcast might turn up, and then engaging them in conversation. That would be just the kind of thing he’d do.
So what we end up with is this chance (or not-quite-chance) encounter between Jesus and the nameless woman of Samaria. And encountering Christ is what the Christian faith is about.
The woman is not looking for him, but she does seem to have a deep thirst that goes beyond the needs of her physical body, and right into her soul. Maybe her personal life and history are symptoms of some kind of seeking, longing, for meaning, for a relationship that will work, for someone who will be faithful to her.
She seeks meaning in worship, too – is it right to meet God here or there? This mountain or that temple? Again, this is a kind of seeking, but it’s one that misses the point. Perhaps it’s even an excuse – if we can’t even agree on how to go about meeting God, then maybe there is nothing of substance there to meet. Again, Jesus gently knocks this one on the head: the place isn’t important, but the integrity is – worship God in spirit and in truth, and it doesn’t matter where you’re standing as you do it.
And for that woman, encounter with God is happening right then, by the well. She did not come to find Jesus, but she encounters him, in spirit and in truth, and recognises him:
She then responds and goes out and carries the good news to others. In that act of mission, the living water that Jesus offers her starts to bubble up and overflow, and she becomes the very first evangelist to the non-Jewish world (see, it wasn’t St Paul after all!). And Jesus is so excited about it that when the disciples come back he can’t even eat. He has eyes only for all that newly revealed potential for the gospel outside his own Jewish nation – outside of the chosen people, the ‘usual suspects’.
So what about us?
This story, I think, challenges us to think about the way or ways that we encounter Christ.
When was the last time you met God not just in church, but wherever you found yourself? Even if you didn’t think you were looking for him?
When was the last time you’ve been aware of God making the first move, starting the conversation, even if he used someone else to do it?
When is the last time you had the courage to ask God to gently speak the truth to you, to see you for who you really are?
When is the last time you were aware of the hospitality that you offer to God, in your life, in your home, in your priorities, in the way you spend your time?
The answer to those things might be ‘never, as far as I can remember’ or ‘a while ago’ or ‘today’ or even ‘all the time’ – but the questions are still worth asking!
Now if we turn these questions round, we find that this gospel story also challenges us, as the body of Christ -the church - to think not only about how we encounter Christ, but about the ways that we enable others to meet him too.
What if we add to the list of questions: ‘when was the last time that your encounter with Christ made you want to go and tell your friends and family and neighbours the good news of who Jesus us and what he offers us?’ That’s a tough one for most of us.
If the church is to be ‘Christ in the world’ then we need to look for guidance not just to the missionary example of the Samaritan woman, but to the actions and words of Jesus himself. What would the church be like if it was like Christ?
I have left you with a lot of questions! But I hope that they are ones that will encourage and enthuse you.
But if all this has left you overwhelmed at the scale of the task, then remember that in the end, it is God who brings people to him. We are the messengers, but when people believe not just because of what we say, but because we have helped them to meet Christ for themselves, then, my friends, we’re getting somewhere!