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 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 4:5-30, 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.” [27Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
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.”
Living Water
As children, how many of you ever begged your parents, “Please give me more rules to keep.” The answer is obvious, never. But how often did we try to put off bedtime by begging, “just 5 more minutes.” Stories, on the other hand, seem to be a key ingredient in our identities. That’s why we, at nearly every family reunion and holiday celebration, trot out the same old stories; we do this to initiate each new generation in the tales of our ancestors. It’s by the telling and re-telling of our stories that we make our past and family history a living history, not just dead facts. Stories are how we learn who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we are going.
We have stories that teach us about our identity as Americans, the struggles we’ve been through, stories about the ups and downs of life, stories that teach us about our family identity, and for the veterans, we have our war stories. And as Christians, we have another set of tales to tell. We have the stories of the Biblical heroes and villains, we have the parables Jesus told, and we have the stories of God’s chosen people. And best of all we have the “greatest story ever told.”
For the children of God, we have the story of Jesus, which is our most basic identity as Christians. And just as important, it’s a story we must be ready to share. Our calling is to tell the story of God’s love in Christ to the world. The question is, how many of us truly know the living story of our faith? It’s a sad truth, but we Christians are woe-fully under-storied. I’ve cited this report in the past, but it bears repeating. According to a Pew study of religious knowledge, (http://religions.pewforum.org/reports), our knowledge of the Bible, world religions, and what the Constitution says about religion in public life is embarrassingly low.
Even more disconcerting is the fact that atheists and agnostics scored better than evangelicals or Catholics. And what surprised me the most was that we, here in Bible belt, scored the worst. Those who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God did slightly worse than average, while those who say it’s not the word of God, scored slightly better. Shockingly, a lot of Americans think Deuteronomy is a rock group. More Christian than you’d care to imagine, think Joan of Arc was married to Noah. It’s sad, but it seems that we spend more time on history, family and war stories than we do on the stories that define who we are as Christians.
In today’s Old Testament and Gospel texts, we hear stories involving water, or the lack thereof, of confusion, and of God’s direct participation and provision. In our Exodus reading, the Hebrew people are in the desert wandering and learning what it means to be God’s chosen people. They’ve witnessed God’s power through the 10 plagues against Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and now God’s nomadic band of Jews have come to a place without water. And understandably, to be without this vital resource caused a great deal of concern. Having grown up in Arizona and having spent many months in the Middle East, I can sympathize with these people.
Water, as you know, is a precious resource that we too often take for granted. We seldom give water a second thought, unless we know a hurricane is coming. Unlike the great majority of Americans, the Jewish people of Biblical times didn’t have the luxury of getting a cool drink of water from the fridge, or the ability to stop in at the local convenience store for a cold bottle of water. These nomadic people are, at this point in time, at the complete mercy of the desert and the elements. And as newly designated wards of God’s mercy, they were completely dependent on God for everything. It seemed like a desperate situation, that is, if they’d never witnessed God’s intervening power. But they had, and once again, they brought their complaints to Moses.
In the previous chapter, the Hebrew people faced a lack of food and complained to Moses. And just as God had heard their cries in Egypt (Exodus 3:7), God also heard their cries of starvation and provided them with nourishment in the form of manna and quail. While their lack of food had been satisfied miraculously, this passage finds them in a new dire situation: they had no water. In verse 1, the narrator states this plainly as a preface to the people’s quarrel with Moses. Perhaps taking a cue from the meat shortage, Moses interprets their quarrel with him as a direct charge against God. So Moses again responds with a protest as he did in Exodus 16:8: “Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
It’s important to note here that in neither of these events, does God or the narrator actually say their complaint is with God. The concerned Hebrew people direct their cry to Moses: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3). Again, considering the situation this would seem to be a legitimate question. Would it not have been better to live in slavery in Egypt than to face death in the desert?
Yes, the people had witnessed God’s display of power through the plagues; yes, they experienced God’s protection as they fled from a pursuing Egyptian army; and yes, they had recently received God’s provision of manna and quail. But in the face of death by dehydration, can we really be so critical and condemn these people who had lived lives of suffering in slavery and powerlessness for their lack of faith? Even Moses in this encounter displays his own short-term memory, interpreting their outcry as a threat to his life. Had not God also protected Moses? But faced with the possibility of mutiny, Moses utters his own complaint to God.
While Moses’ response centers on the conflict, God’s reaction delivers compassion. Notice here that God never condemns the grumbling Hebrews. God simply instructs Moses to gather the elders, take them to a rock at Horeb, and strike it with the staff he used to perform other miracles in Egypt. Moreover, God grants him the reassurance of His Divine Presence: “I will be standing there in front of you” (vs. 6). In response to the people’s complaints, God becomes present and provides. This passage concludes with Moses naming the place Massah and Meribah.
The term Massah reflects the Hebrew word “to test” while Meribah derives from the word translated as “quarrel.” Both terms appear in verses 2 and 7, forming a literary framework around the passage. On the surface, this linguistic framework seems to confirm a reading that paints the Hebrews as selfishly stubborn, quarrelsome testers of God. But the question we need to ask of this passage, “Is the LORD present among us or not?”, and it reminds us that these emancipated slaves faced a very real problem. Do they truly believe God is leading them and among them? God’s response of presence and provision, supply the answer needed by a fearful community.
Additionally, this passage forces us to ask, do we disregard the cries of others, passing them off as the whining of people who lack faith? This story reminds us that there are times when people, who are facing a seemingly helpless situation, will cry out. And sometimes those cries are directed at the person standing in front of them. They might also be looking for God and see Him in us, and the cries while seeming directed at us, are really a cry to God. This passage also reminds us that we, in this Lenten season, as we reflect on the human condition, need to ask how we can demonstrate God’s compassionate presence and provision to those who cry out under the burden of real, and sometimes extreme, hardships. Of course, we need to bear in mind that there are times when a person’s need is not so overt.
It might be that someone in need is quietly searching for God and unless we’re willing to share His love with others, the person could go indefinitely without ever being able to experience God’s endless grace and mercy. It’s in our Gospel reading for this morning, that we see such a person; a Samaritan woman coming to draw water from the well of her forefathers.
In today’s gospel reading, John records the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman as He rests from the heat at Jacob’s well. The meeting that day was unusual; according to tradition and culture, these two people should never speak to each other. But they do, and the story is filled with interesting information. This well-known story of the Samaritan woman at the well is the second of four encounters, that John records with Jesus this Lenten season. Each of course are important because they reveal something about who Jesus is, and the gifts He brings to us during this year’s Lenten journey.
Last week the gift emerged out of the Father’s love given in the Son; this week, God’s abundant mercy gushes forth as Jesus’ gift of the Spirit, poured into the hearts of believers. This encounter begins with a social boundary breach when Jesus asks this Samaritan woman, for a drink. She’s surprised that He’s interacting with what was considered two taboos, addressing a Samaritan and a woman. The disciples will later be particularly concerned that Jesus is interacting with a woman.
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman can actually be seen as three stories in one. The first story is all about water: Jesus’ indicates that He’s thirsty, He then explains about the living water gushing up to eternal life that He will offer, and that she will ask for. The second story is one about the woman’s private life, which is the moment on which the encounter seems to turn. The third story is the revelation about worship in Spirit and truth, which leads to her wondering about the Messiah and His revealing to her that Jesus is the long-promised Messiah.
In the first story, the reference to living water is a play on words in Greek, in that the phrase refers to water that is flowing rather than still, fresh rather than stagnant, while also actually meaning “living,” linking it to the gift of eternal life gushing up in the believer who receives Jesus’ gift. Like Nicodemus’ misunderstanding in last week’s reading, the woman here first understands Jesus to be referring to water from the well and asks how He will give her this without a bucket, which furthers the irony, by comparing Him to their great ancestor Jacob, who gave them the well. But unlike Nicodemus, who doesn’t seem to move beyond his confusion, the woman begins to comprehend.
She asks for this living water, realizing that it’s not ordinary water, but not yet understanding in what way, and she will go still further, with and for Jesus as the narrative develops. The language of the well scene, the water, water jar, and drawing — is reminiscent of the water turned to wine miracle at Cana when Jesus first revealed His glory to His disciples, with the latter two terms used only in these two passages in all the New Testament.
The word used for well in verse 6 is different than the word used in verse 12, and then for the spring gushing up to eternal life that appears several times in Revelation. Revelation 7:17 tells us that the Lamb will guide them to “springs of the water of life,” and the Alpha and Omega, echoing these words, “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life” (21:6). But the most important connection with the chapter is found in John 7:37-39 when on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” And the narrator then identifies this as a reference to the Spirit. The believer is both the recipient of living water and is also its conduit; and the explanation in verse 39 helps to interpret the meaning of the living water as the gift of the Holy Spirit (vs. 14).
As soon as the woman asks for the living water, the conversation then turns to her life, and Jesus will tell her everything she has ever done. Then, having been seen by Jesus, she sees Him differently, and the conversation turns again. She immediately understands Him to be a prophet and asks Him a question about worship which He answers. This is the only sustained story about worship in John; the Greek verb pro-sko-neh-o or to worship, occurs 9 times in these five verses, and the noun for worshippers, occurs only this one time in all of the New Testament. And it’s here that the Holy Spirit is introduced explicitly.
To worship God as He deserves, is to worship in Spirit and in truth; worshipped with the Spirit that Jesus offers gushing up from the heart, and in truth, which we will later understand to be embodied in Jesus himself (8:31-32; 14:6). Worship, as it seems to suggest, is about a relationship, about dwelling in the true vine, Jesus. The Samaritan woman, who has entered into a relationship with Him here, perhaps understands this. She suggests, in her roundabout way, that He is the coming Messiah, and for the first and only time in John, Jesus acknowledges that He is.
Although Jesus knows everything about this woman’s life, as He does about everyone’s life (2:25), there is no mention of sin or sinfulness in this text and no word of judgment or even encouragement to change her life. That will come later near the end of chapter 7 with a different woman. What’s life-changing for this woman is, that she has been entirely known by Him, and this being known has enabled her to know Jesus. The story is about her being able to begin to see who Jesus is, and being given the gift of that truth that leads to real worship and becoming a conduit for the living water. This story is about her, only insofar as it’s about Jesus revealing Himself to her, and through the sharing of stories to her neighbors and then to us. And from this woman’s testimony, a harvest is brought to Jesus.
This text also suggests that it’s not about what we know, but who we know. It’s about having an encounter, experiencing the light of Christ’s truth and love shining on our past and our future, and then having the courage to go and share what we know as witnesses to His abundant grace gushing up to eternal life in us. Pointing people to Jesus is our most important task as His people. It’s up to us to tell the story of God’s love for us and to be the conduit for the living waters of Jesus, to a world dying of thirst.
Amen