Sermon John 4:5-42 Living Water

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon John 4:5-42 Living Water

March 23, 2014

There is an old story about power relationships. It was contained in a email that went viral in 1998 and still shows up from time to time. The story is probably false, but it is still a pretty good story. Here it is.

“ACTUAL transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95.
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision."
Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."
Americans: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course."
Canadians: "No, I say again, you divert YOUR course."
Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT'S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP."
Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call." ¹

Last week we listened in on a conversation between Jesus and a very powerful man, Nicodemus. Today we will look at another conversation Jesus had, this time with a person who had no power at all. And we will find some surprising things happen in the Kingdom of Heaven. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

God, my maker, hold me this day, with the same hand that shapes the mountains, with the same hand that cradles the deep. Keep my heart soft and supple, make my faith strong and firm. Renew me, re-form me, re-create me into the image of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.²

John 4:5-42 ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus has encountered a Samaritan woman. This is all you need to know about her. As a Samaritan she is a member of a despised minority. The Samaritans were people who had been forced to move to the region north of Jerusalem by the Assyrian Empire in the 8^th century before Christ. When they arrived they began worshiping Yahweh, the God of Israel. Even though they worshiped the true God, they were not accepted by the people of Judah because they were not descended from Abraham. The Samaritans were not permitted to worship in the Jerusalem temple. And when they built their own temple it was destroyed. The people of Judah and the people of Samaria hated each other so much that Jews traveling between Jerusalem and the region around the Sea of Galilee would detour through Jericho and the Jordan valley just to avoid traveling through Samaria. Actually most Jews would go out of their way, but not Jesus. On his way home after the Passover Jesus went through Samaria and encountered a Samaritan.

The Samaritan who met Jesus that day was a woman. A woman was completely powerless in that day. She could not own property of her own. She could not work. She was completely dependent on her husband or father or son to take care of her. She could not divorce her husband, even though her husband could divorce her. And this woman had lost five husbands, five men who had either died or divorced her. The only thing going for her at that moment was that a man, not her husband, probably the brother of a late husband, was taking care of her. This Samaritan widow was as powerless as you can get.

The context of this story is that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi or teacher, with all the power in the world encountered a completely powerless woman. But something is odd here. The powerful, male, Jew is thirsty, and the powerless Samaritan woman has the bucket he needs to get a drink of water. So, who has all the power? She does. The powerless have been lifted us, and the powerful brought low. Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven, where Jesus said “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11) Let's listen to their conversation.

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." ¹¹ "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" ¹³ Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ¹⁵ The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus has done a remarkable thing. He has offered a Samaritan, a Samaritan!, eternal life.

It doesn't matter if we are descended from Abraham or not, if we believe in Jesus Christ and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit then we can be assured of eternal life. All differences of ethnicity and gender dissolve in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Samaritan woman who heard these amazing words from the mouth of a Jewish man wasn't sure if she could believe them or not. They sounded too good to be true, and she had been disappointed before. So Jesus showed her a sign, a miracle, that brought her to belief. Let's listen some more to their conversation.

¹⁶ He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." ¹⁷ "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." ¹⁹ "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.

^{Jesus knew all about this woman's life. She realized that only God would know these details. And therefore Jesus must be a prophet of God. And since this prophet has brought such exceptionally good news, she was convinced that he must be the messiah, the Christ, they had been waiting for. To which Jesus answered, 26} … "I who speak to you am he."

So through a Samaritan woman Jesus has proclaimed himself to be the messiah or Christ. He has been sent by God to initiate God's reign on Earth. He is the leading edge of the Kingdom of God. The woman's reaction is to run back to village telling everyone she meets the good news that the messiah has come and that Samaritans and women are included in his kingdom.

And this is good news for us. We too are included in the kingdom. It doesn't matter who we are or the awful things we have done. If we believe in Jesus Christ and accept his transforming spirit we too receive the living waters of eternal life.

Father in heaven. We too desire to drink of the living water of eternal life. We know that we are not worthy to drink this water. So we ask for the gift of faith with the promise that all who believe in your son will have eternal life. Amen.

1http://www.snopes.com/military/lighthouse.asp

2Kimberly Long, Feasting On the Word Worship Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), 108.