“Conversation Partners”
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
Third Sunday in Lent, February 24, 2008
Text: John 4:5-42
My buddy, H.J. Thomas, is a lawyer in LaGrange, GA. He lives about a block from the college our daughter Grace attends, and he graciously opens his home to us whenever we visit. H.J. is quite a resourceful guy, always looking for a bargain. He has found a way to get a week-long stay, free-of-charge, at an exclusive resort in sunny Spain. He will eat and sleep and perhaps enjoy an occasional glass of Spanish wine--all free for a week-- in exchange for being a conversation partner. H.J. and other English-speaking professionals will be there-- morning, noon, and night for the week--to carry on conversations--in English only--with Spanish-speaking business executives who are highly motivated to learn how to converse in our native tongue. I say highly motivated because the cost of tuition for the students must cover their expenses as well has the expenses of the English speaking participants who are getting a “free ride” for the week. Such is the value of a conversation partner when learning a new language.
I want to suggest to you that today’s story of Jesus and the woman at the well tells us that God wants us as conversation partners. All of the questions and answers here-- questions about water and food and “who’s who”--raise many issues and, in my opinion, settle only one: God wants to be in conversation with us. With you and with me personally; and, with us collectively as the church, the people of God. How else to explain this long, long story from John? Look at the time Jesus devotes to this woman from Samaria. As the four gospels tell the story, this most unlikely partner is in conversation with Jesus longer than any of his disciples, his accusers, or members of his own family.
The characters of the Newer Testament are offered to us as models of faithfulness. And what a model, this woman from Samaria! Not only does Jesus persists in this conversation but so, too, does she. This woman, never given a name, leaves a remarkable legacy. She is our witness: ‘you wanna know about God, you wanna know about ultimate goodness, justice, and love, you gotta ask.’
When confronted by a stranger at the well, this woman does not ignore him, or flee, or call for help. Instead, she reacts with boldness. She wants to know why this stranger dares cross cultural boundaries. "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" That is, a half-breed pagan of the wrong gender for any self-respecting Jewish male.
For his part, Jesus sidesteps the issues raised in the question. He apparently does not want to get into the tired old debate about who’s in and who’s out--who’s right and who’s wrong--Jesus wants to offer “living water” to everyone. “If you know the gift of God--if you know ‘faith’--you know the gift of ‘living water.’” This metaphor--“living water”-- this symbolism for divine presence, originates with the prophet Jeremiah, who refers to the Lord as “the fountain of living water” (2:13, 17:13). Jesus uses this metaphor in his conversation at the well but, as is so often the case with us, the biblical allusion goes right over our role model’s head. She, too, may have been skipping Sunday school. She, too, may have been a bit behind on her Bible study. She misses the reference to scripture, but she stays with the conversation.
"Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep.” But wait a minute. Now she is catching on. “What did you say about ‘living water?’”
‘The benefits of fresh water are short lived,’ Jesus says, ‘you gotta keep going back for more. By contrast, “living water” need never be replenished. Once this source is tapped within you, the living water--the access to God--just keeps on coming--now and always.’
Listening to this speech in the hot, midday sun, I can see this woman squinting her eyes, asking herself, “Who does this guy think he is?” I can see the Samaritan woman shaking her head. She’s not ready to talk theology. ‘Just give me the lifetime supply of real water,’ she says, ‘and I’ll be on my way.’
Jesus changes tactics. “Go and get your husband,” he says. In other words, ‘Let’s keep the conversation going, let’s broaden the participation.’ The woman responds: “I have no husband.” Now we are getting somewhere. Now Jesus and the woman are getting to know one another. Stay in conversation with a stranger long enough, talk about what really matters, and folks will soon get to know each other. And so it is with Holy God.
The woman has no husband now, and Jesus knows that she has had five husbands in the past. Whether this is a “loose woman,” as traditional interpretation has it; or, whether having been widowed more than once, she has become a hapless victim of a male-dominated culture, passed from one male relative to another, as was the ancient practice . . . . Whatever the case, we can only surmise that each transition, each change, has been--for her--a loss of one sort or another--accompanied by some degree of pain and suffering.
This woman has been “through the mill”--“rode hard and hung up wet,” as the popular expression goes. This makes her a good candidate to be a conversation partner with God--the God of unlikely choices. Of course, once the conversation with a stranger gets beyond the conventional platitudes---“Hi, how are you?” “Fine, just fine.”-- we get uncomfortable, and often disengage. Not so our role model in faith. She is not intimidated, not afraid. She acknowledges that Jesus is, at the very least, a representative from God.
So, while you are here, Mr. Prophet, give me your take on the big controversy of the day. Samaritans say the only proper place to worship is’ here,’ Jews say the only worship that counts is’ there.’ Who’s right, and who’s wrong?
Boy, I love this woman! She is a woman after my own heart. If only I could get Jesus on the floor of the Presbytery, we’d settle the big controversies of our day. If only we could question Jesus directly we could find out if he is liberal or conservative, evangelical or mainstream; and, we could find out if he prefers classical religious music or contemporary Christian rock! But Jesus is not going to take the bait. He will not answer her, and he will not answer me. Jesus is not going to fuel the flames of religious bias-- my interpretation of scripture versus yours; your style of worship versus mine.
What follows next, in fact, is a commentary on worship reminiscent of a text from the prophet Amos. Here Jesus says what matters is not where you worship, but that the community worship in “spirit and in truth.” Amos says God takes no delight in our “solemn assemblies:” “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”(5:24). Or, as Jesus says, worship in “spirit and truth.”
At this point in the conversation I can almost see the Samaritan woman moving closer to Jesus. Surely her next observation has her moving closer to the truth. "I know that the Messiah is coming," she says. “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Reading between the lines, I can just see the question on her lips. “I know the Messiah is coming, and just who, Sir, might you be?” Jesus answers, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."
Astonishing! Astounding! For centuries people of faith have sought the Messiah. Astrologers have consulted the stars, and scholars have combed the scriptures. Kings and priests have led the search in all the high holy places. Then here, beside a village well in off-limits Samaria, the Holy One of God reveals himself to a lonely woman. Today, the Samaritan woman, and those of us who are with her in this story, have a God moment. We see God as God wants to be seen, open and eager to be in conversation with us. Taking questions, offering response, never stifling the debate.
Of course, what God refuses to do--shut off debate--there are always religious leaders ready to do. Back in John’s story, the disciples show up all of a sudden. You can tell what John expects of his readers. They will assume that when the disciples come upon Jesus and the woman at the well, they will intervene to cut off the conversation. We expect them to confront her: “What do you want?” Even to challenge Jesus, “Why are you talking to ‘that woman’?”
But for once the disciples keep their mouths shut. For once, the disciples are silent--and look at the results. The Samaritan woman leaves the conversation with her joy and her insight intact. She becomes one of the first evangelists. She leaves her water jar at the well and goes back to her village with the gospel proclamation, “Come and see.” And, says our narrator, many people believed in Jesus because of her testimony.
Perhaps you are one of them. You have heard her questions. You have witnessed the conversation. Perhaps you, too, are ready to confess, “My Lord and my God.”
But then again, you may want to take some time to explore your own questions. Seek your own answers. This is permitted, this is encouraged. The floor is open for debate. And, now, it is your turn. Your turn to ask. May take some time to make these inquires, may require some significant effort; but then, is not “living water” worth it??? To have this “living water”--the awesome experience of divine presence-- is it not worth a trip to the well? A trip to the well of Christian resources-- the Bible and modern biblical scholarship, plus the rich theological tradition of the church? Come, you have waited long enough. Come, experience the joy “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
To the God of all grace,
who calls you to share God's eternal glory
in union with Christ,
be the power forever!
1 Peter 5:10,11
Amen.
1 See http://www.vaughantown.com