FIRST READING Exodus 17:1-7
1All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
PSALM Psalm 95:1-9
1Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. 2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also. 5The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land. 6Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! 8Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me. 9They put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
SECOND READING Romans 5:1-8
1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GOSPEL John 4:5-26, 39-42
5So {Jesus} came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” 39Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.
ROAD TO SAMERIA
One of the benefits of marriage is that you marry into a family. I say benefits because almost every family has that special uncle. In my case, Terry has an uncle named Rudy. Rudy is one of those “salt of the earth” farmers who both farmed and worked a full-time job. Rudy has also spent his entire life in the Goldsboro area, so he knows the area like the back of his hand. One of the things I learned quickly after joining Terry’s family, is that because of Rudy’s intimate knowledge of the area, you might want to think twice before asking him for directions. I learned this lesson the hard way.
One day I was headed to Mt Olive University, which is a 20 or so minute drive from Goldsboro. You’ll probably recognize the name Mt. Olive because they’re famous for their pickles, and of course their annual pickle festival. Normally I would take the bypass around Goldsboro and head by the Fairgrounds to get to the college campus. However, we were out at mom’s house which meant back tracking some 15 minutes. So, I thought it might be a good idea to ask Rudy if he knew a more direct route. Well, Rudy has a unique way of giving directions.
Rudy’s directions start out something like, go to Dewey Daughrty’s place and turn left. Then go down a couple of miles and turn right at the old general store. I think you get the idea. My first question after receiving Rudy’s rather lengthy directions was, I don’t know Dewey Daughtry is or where he lives? His response was, sure you do. Well after some further clarification, that took the entire family, I ended up in a tobacco field headed toward Kinston. Using the new shortcut, my 20-minute trip took more than an hour. The good news is I now know who Dewey Daughtry is and where he used to live!
At this point in His ministry, Jesus was in the area of Judea. He’d been there on His preaching and teaching mission, when word came to Him that the Pharisees were hearing that Jesus’ disciples were baptizing more people than John the Baptist. (John 4:1-3) The Pharisees were greatly concerned about all the excitement being stirred up. So, Jesus decided it would be better, if He went back up to the area of Galilee. To get there, He chose the road to Samaria.
Now most Jews, in Jesus’ time, really didn’t like traveling through Samaria. They would have rather taken a long shortcut traveling east, cross the Jordan River, going around Samaria and then come back into Galilee. Think of it as choosing to go through Raleigh to get to Myrtle Beach rather than go through Charlotte. The most direct route, of course, was to go straight through Samaria. Jesus must have been in a hurry to leave, because the Revised Standard Version reads, “He had to go through Samaria.” The King James Version reads, “He must needs go through Samaria.”
We don’t know how many times Jesus passed through Samaria. But, all things considered, I’m struck by the fact that He did, because the Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews. The Samaritans were viewed as “half-breeds” and no good Jew would associate with them. But Jesus went there – “He must needs go through Samaria.”
It was about noon on the day that Jesus and His disciples come to Jacob’s Well. Jesus was tired from the journey and sits down beside the well while the disciples go a mile or so further into town for McDonald’s. While Jesus rested, a woman came to draw water. When Jesus saw her He said, “Give me a drink.” We’re told that the woman was surprised and said, “How is it that you, a Jew, asks a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and, who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
The woman then replied, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where do you get that living water?” Then Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And the woman responds, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” By looking deeper into this encounter, we can see some very basic things about the meaning of the Christian faith. First, we find the resource we need the most.
The woman who came to the well that day, came there looking for a precious resource – something no person could survive without; water. But Jesus offered her living water, from a spring which would well up into eternal life. At first, she didn’t understand what He meant. And to her credit, how could she? This was a woman who, most likely, wasn’t a pillar of the community. We can surmise this because she came in the middle of the day to draw water. The respectable women of the community came in the morning and evening when it was cooler. She said, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
As they talked, Jesus enabled her to understand the real thirst in her life – the real vacuum there – and how it could be filled up only by worshiping and serving God in spirit and in truth. She said, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes he will show us all things.” Jesus said, “I who speak to you am he.” At that moment, she found something she had never known before – the one thing she needed the most.
There’s one thing we need more than anything else – one resource – and that’s a spring of living water which quenches our thirst for meaning in life – for the secret to our existence – and for hope in the present and the future that awaits us. We need this living water that only Jesus can provide. Living water – it’s a resource that gives us faith, faith in God, the One who meets us out on the roads we travel and offers us the water which wells up into life. There’s no other resource for living which will see us through. And Jesus has more than enough of this water to give to anyone who will seek Him.
I remember reading, years ago, about a woman who lived in one of the poorer sections of New York City. She had lived there all her life and had raised her family there. They had always lived in poverty and she had never been able to provide them with enough of anything. She became involved in a community program for the elderly, and one day they went on a trip to the beach. She’d never been to the beach or had she ever seen the ocean. As she stood on the beach, she said, “Look at all that water. For the first time in my life I’m able to see something there is enough of.” There’s enough living water for all of us and more. It’s a resource that we all need, because no other resource will see us through. The second thing we see in this story is the response we’re to make.
After we receive the living water there’s only one response that’s appropriate. It isn’t enough to say “Thank you” – or, to say “My, this is good water” – or to say “I’m glad I have it” – or even “Look at me, I’ve been drinking from the well. I bet you wish you had some?” No, there’s only one acceptable response. The Samaritan woman left her jug behind and went to find her friends.
After Jesus identified Himself, John records that she didn’t say anything else to Jesus. John tells us that she left her water jar and went into the city and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be Christ?” And they left the city and went with her. She brought her friends to Jesus. And this isn’t the only time the same kind of thing happened.
Have you ever noticed in the gospels how many people found Jesus -or were found by Him – and then went to tell someone else? Andrew met Jesus. He then went to find his brother Simon and brought him to meet Jesus. Philip met our Lord. He then went to find Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus. A wild man lived in a cemetery. He met the promised Messiah. And after that encounter, he went into town and told everyone he knew about Him. Why do you think the gospel writers recorded these events?
They record these actions because they wanted future Christians, like you and me, to know that once you meet Jesus, you can not or should not, keep it a secret. As the King James versions says, we “must needs” go and tell someone about it. That’s what it means to be a follower of Christ. That’s the kind of response we’re supposed to make. That’s the response we’re commanded to have; go. John Stewart, a member of the gospel group Kingston Trio said, “God speaks to each of us a little differently, hoping we’ll tell each other.” That’s the response; go and tell “all you have seen and heard.” (Luke 7:22) We’re called to action, to tell someone in some way, to find someone somehow and share in some way what we’ve seen and heard.
A man who lived in a big city became tired of robbers breaking into his apartment. So, he started leaving a note on his door, “I may not hear the bell. I’m back in the kitchen.” He came home from work one day and found his apartment turned upside down. There was a note on the kitchen table, “I looked for you everywhere but couldn’t find you.” Go find someone.
Methodist minister Dr. Maxie Dunnam once spoke at an evangelism conference. He told the gathering that he loved the hymn, “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” He further explained that he likes to turn it around, “What a Jesus we have in friends.” A friend of Jesus helps make other friends for the kingdom. That’s our call as disciples, go and share. The third thing we need to see in this story is, that we may get to see the result of our mission.
Receiving the living water and responding to it by passing it around, always produces a result. Our mission, as the people of God, always produces fruit. Sometimes we don’t always get so see it, but it will happen. When the woman at the well reached town she told everyone about meeting Jesus. And the people responded.
John writes that “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” Then when they came out to meet Jesus they asked Him to stay there with them for a while. Jesus stayed in the town for two days. One could say that those third-class people in that second-class town gave Jesus a first-class treatment. And Jesus accepted their invitation and hospitality. He treated them like first-class citizens of the kingdom of God. And as a result, John says, “Many more believed because of his word.”
The people heard for themselves the good news of God’s mercy first-hand and because of their face to face encounter with the Messiah, they told the woman they no longer believed because of what she said, but now, they believed in Him because they heard His words. Because this woman shared her encounter, her actions bore much fruit in the kingdom of God.
The reality is, when you and I drink of the living water and start passing that cup around, some amazing things begin to happen. No longer do other people just take our word that this is good water. They begin to discover for themselves that this is the water of life – living water that wells up into eternal life. That’s why we, as the church, are here and that’s why God has called us to be persons who serve Him.
Dr. Alan Walker is a renowned preacher from Australia. He tells of a man who moved from England to Sydney, Australia back in 1810. He gained a grant of land on the Hawkesbury River. It was there that his son John grew up. But John became an alcoholic at an early age. He was greatly troubled by this and was later converted at a Methodist revival. John gave his life to God and became a Methodist preacher. John died in his 30s, but his son Aaron took over his preaching circuit at the age of 16. Five of Aaron’s sons became Methodist preachers. The son of one of them is Alan Walker, one of the world’s most respected church leaders. Alan Walker has a son who is a preacher. In all, there are 14 preachers over five generations in that family. They are all the result of what happened in the life of one man who was drowning in alcohol and dying of thirst. But all it took was one person to offer him a drink of real water – living water. Who could ever measure the far-reaching results of that one little sip?
Today’s gospel lesson is more than the story of Jesus meeting an outcast of society and changing her life. In today’s reading, we see three important things. First, Jesus offers us a resource that we desperately need, a requirement that nothing or no one else can give us; living water, the water that springs up into eternal life. Second, once we’ve received this living water we need to respond. We need to go and find others with which to share this living water. And finally, we’re to help others do the same.
Jesus provides us with the living water that gives us faith, hope and life and this living water is meant to share. We’re living in a world that’s dying of thrust and it’s up to us to go and share the good news, that God has the means to quench their thirst. And when we share this living water, it will become a well that springs up into eternal life.
Amen