John 4:5-42
In light of the disaster which
struck Japan a couple of weeks ago there has been a lot of internet traffic discussing the role played by God in
the tragedy. Some Christians have drawn what to them is an inevitable
conclusion: Japan is not a Christian nation, in fact it has by and large
rejected the Christian message. Therefore God has exercised his divine judgment
on the Japanese by striking them with the Tsunami. And those who support this
point of view find relevant Biblical passages which support this interpretation.
And they aren’t difficult to find. Read passages of Genesis and Exodus and you
encounter episodes of God exercising judgment and wrath on the godless. Sodom
and Gomorrah burned beneath fire and brimstone. Water came crashing down upon
the Egyptian army as it pursued the Israelites fleeing from bondage. Yes, there
are many passages we can find to support our interpretation of the Tsunami. But
there is a name for this type of evidence gathering. It’s called proof-texting,
which is the gathering quotations
which neatly fit the interpretation. And it is that—an interpretation, a
speculation, which may or may not be correct. We can’t say.
When
we stop and think about it. There’s a lot of that though isn’t there:
speculation about what God is doing in the world, what God might be doing—or
not doing—in these tragic circumstances.
But
our faith isn’t built on speculations. And going around telling other groups of
people that God has punished them severely for their poor behaviour is not the
basis of Christian proclamation—even if it might be true. There’s an old saying: point a finger
at someone else and you’ve got three others pointing back at you. Paul tells us
in today’s reading that we have all—all—stood under condemnation, and have been
saved by grace alone. So there is no room for finger pointing. Knowing that
salvation comes through grace alone ought to instill an orientation of
compassion, not judgment.
So then, what
is the basis of the Christian proclamation? We need look no further than Mark
16:15. Here the resurrected Christ commissions his disciples with the words: “
Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” What
is the good news? Is it saying things like, “well because you folks aren’t good
Christians God has killed a substantial number of your people?” Is it by
cracking open our Bibles to our favorite proof texts and saying stuff like, “
This is God’s punishment for your sins, and here is how I know” Is that the
gospel? Is that the good news? Very clearly, this isn’t the good news of the
gospel.
Our
faith is based on the solid ground of gospel proclamation, of good news
spreading. Christians are called to deliver God’s thirst-quenching, spiritual water. This is the basis
of evangelism—of good news spreading.
Christians
do not need to speculate what God is about. We do not confess a god of
philosophical theory or theological hunches.
Here is a
very simple rule when it comes to understanding who God is for us. Here is a
very simple guideline for when someone comes at you with one of those tough
questions. Whenever we want to understand God, we need look no further than
Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate answer to what is God like. Jesus, God revealed in
scripture, has given us all that we need. The resurrected Christ, and the great
gift of eternal life, is the basis of Christian proclamation.
Clearly,
if we want to understand how God acts in a given situation, we are called look
to Jesus.
Today’s
text gives us a tremendous gift in showing us how Jesus approaches someone who
is very different from himself—someone whose gender, religion, and culture is
different from his. It is very easy to overlook these differences as we read
this text. But they were substantial.
The
woman at the well, was, first of all, a woman. When he walked the face of the earth as a human being, Jesus
lived in a culture that was deeply patriarchal. Men held the authority. Men
could divorce their wives easily and bore none of the stigma. That wasn’t true
for women. Gender equality as we understand it, did not exist. For a Jewish rabbi to be engaged in
this kind of extensive conversation would have been unthinkable. Even the
disciples were taken aback by this conversation. John tells us, “ They were
astonished that he was speaking with a woman—and a Samaritan woman, no less.
Remember the Samaritans were
enemies and outsiders. So even by engaging in this kind of conversation
with a woman, Jesus is telling us something—telling us something about communication across social boundary
and barriers.
Jeus requests
a drink of water from a woman who, aside from her status as a woman and a
Samartian, also carries with her some significant inter-personal “baggage” (to
use a 21st century term). She’s been married five times, and we have
good reason to believe that she has been outcast by her own community.
Otherwise she probably would not be by herself, drawing water alone. Normally
she would be doing that with other women from the village.
But notice
how Jesus approaches her. Notice what he isn’t doing. He doesn’t have his
finger extended. He isn’t standing on a pedestal. He isn’t threatening, or
telling her to straighten her life out, or pronouncing the imminent arrival of
divine wrath upon her. Jesus doesn’t do what is so very tempting to do, what
some Christians have done in the face of difference.
Yes, it is
extremely frustrating to encounter resistance to the gospel. It is frustrating to see people lead
lifestyles that our not in keeping with biblical truth. Rejection can be
painful. When the gospel is
resisted and rejected by those who are even very close to us, our thoughts can
easily turn to wrath. And when
tragedy strikes a nation which has historically rejected Christianity, the
conclusion can be all too easy “They
have rejected the message; therefore they are being punished”. Those who
believe this might want to take a moment and do some reflecting, and ask
themselves some questions. “ Is
this the truth? Or is it an expression of our hurt or bitterness? “
Again, we
go back to how Jesus approaches difference. And his attitude isn’t one of
permissiveness, kind of a “I’m okay, you’re okay” approach which has come to
define humanistic psychology. Jesus is well aware of this woman’s sin and
brokenness. Jesus is well aware of her deep need of forgiveness and healing.
But Jesus
isn’t with her there on that day by that well to give her a lecture on
morality. He is there to bring her life. He is there to quench her with his
life giving water.
He does
this, first of all, by being in relationship with her—in real relationship. He
is human. His is thirsty. He has real need. And he has the grace to let this
outcast woman serve him. He allows himself to be vulnerable. Standing on
pedestals and pointing rejecting and judgmental fingers does nothing to enhance
relationship or create genuine human interaction. It only furthers division.
And, the truth is people know. Deep down they know.
When the
woman comes to the well on that day, she probably came with a lot of sadness in
her heart, a lot of brokenness in her being. She may not have even been aware
of it. We live in a time and a place and a part of the world which is wealthy.
We live in a part of the city with high incomes. Many people believe that money
is the answer to everything. Money has become their god. But the falseness of
this god is revealed when it cannot deliver what it seems to promise—heartache,
broken relationship. Material wealth cannot fill the spiritual gap, it cannot
quench the deep down thirst.
We don’t
know the specific interpersonal history of the woman at the well. But when she encounters Jesus she
becomes acutely aware of her own brokenness and emptiness. In order to receive
the living water which Jesus offers, we need, first of all, to be aware of our
need for it. That’s kind of scary, though, isn’t it? We live in a culture and
society which has taught us that we need to be self sufficient, we need to
stand on our won two feet and get the job done, we need to be somebody. To
become face to face with our own neediness can be very difficult for some
people. For some people it isn’t.
External
circumstances have made them acutely aware of their own need. Many wonder why
the church is growing by leaps and bounds in places like Africa, in the poorer
nations of the world. This is why. The people who are filling the churches
there don’t have things to hide behind, big fancy houses, fortresses to huddle
in, and avoid the truth about themselves.
But such
truth cannot be avoided in a meeting with Jesus. When the woman at the well encounters
Jesus, she becomes acutely aware of this thirst, of her dry spiritual palate.
She gives Jesus plain water, Jesus offers her the water of eternal life—water
which quenches spiritual thirst ultimately and completely, water which flows
from an endless well spring.
You might
be aware that bottled water has become popular over the last few years. People
purchase this water becomes of its special purity, it’s chlorine free, it goes
down smoothly and hits the spot. Its brought to homes in trucks by delivery
people. Christians are called to be the delivery people. Christians are called
to deliver God’s spiritual water, which is to be shared and shared abundantly.
That is what we are called to do. We are called to proclaim and testify to the
gospel. We are called to embody the gospel.
The water
which we deliver will quench that deep spiritual thirst, because the water
which we deliver will not be our water, but the water of Christ, the water of
the one who has given us the great gift of eternal life, the water which has
washed us clean, the water which enables us to carrying out our journey. This
water will be received, dry palates will be satisfied, and new water bearers
will be enabled.
But also,
we must come to terms with the fact that this water will be rejected will be
thrown out. And that is a very sad fact to come to terms with. It is a very sad
fact to have all of this life-giving water to distribute with few if any
takers. In those times, we must always go back to who is the source.
It is God
who creates faith. Faith only comes by the work of the Holy Spirit. If
Christian faith has had little or no presence in Japan or other nations or this
neighbourhood, it is because God has decided that it is to be this way. God is
in charge. But this doesn’t mean that we are to stop delivering the water. This
doesn’t mean that the spiritual relief effort ceases. What it means is that the
church is called to faithful witness under all circumstances, and the source of
our witness is he who gave himself for us totally and completely. The source of our witness is he who
quenches thirst totally and completely—the same one who quenched the thirst of
the woman at the well. Let us always and everywhere give God thanks for this
well-spring of water, which quenches our deepest thirst. And let us pray for
the courage to share this water with all. Let us make that our evangelical
priority. Let us make that the heart of our mission. Now may the peace which
surpases all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.
