Living Water, Seen Hearts

A weary traveler meets a hidden life at a well, and an ordinary request opens a path from shame to belonging. We reflect on living water, worship in spirit and truth, and how being known becomes the start of witness and community.

Transcript

The Gospel At The Well

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Our gospel reading this morning is rather long, so you may be seated. Our gospel reading comes from John the fourth chapter. Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sikhar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. His disciples had gone to the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a man of Judea, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria? Jews did not share things in common with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is say 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 said to him, Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his children and his flocks drank from it? Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. The woman said to Jesus, Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come back. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You are right in saying, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. The woman said to Jesus, Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us. Jesus said to her, Here I am, the one who is speaking to you. Just then the disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, What do you want, or why are you speaking with her? Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, Come and see someone who told me everything I have ever done. Can this be the Messiah? They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciple urging Jesus, Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples said to one another, Surely no one has brought him something to eat. Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will and accomplish the work of the one who sent me. Do you not say, For more months than comes the harvest? But I tell you, look around you and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true: One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from the city believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I have ever done. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days, and many more believed because of his word. They 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 truly the Savior of the world. The gospel of the Lord. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Have you ever seen a well? Have you ever used one? I don't think I have ever seen a well up close in person, let alone use one. These places for drawing water are not all that common in our lives since the advent of plumbing. Water for cooking, bathing, drinking is all brought to our homes without much thought. Yet, as you might expect, drawing water from a well in first century Palestine was much more of an ordeal than it is today. Since wells can only be dug where there is a source of groundwater, they can only be dug in certain locations. This means wherever in or outside your town there was groundwater, that would be the location of your well. Because of this, people usually had to travel to draw water from the well and draw enough for their families for at least a day. If you have ever carried in packs of water from the grocery store, you know how heavy water can be and how difficult it is to carry. Drawing water was thus an arduous daily task that was needed for the survival of your family. But with this exhausting task, women, so while difficult, it also provided time for women to gather, provide for their families, and have a sense of community. Knowing this background, we can see how unusual this encounter at the well in our gospel story is. Jesus is sitting at a well outside the city of Sikar in Samaria around noon, which is a very hot part of the day. While sitting there, a Samaritan woman comes to draw water from the well. As readers, we may begin to question what is going on. Why is the woman drawing water during the heat of the day? Why is she alone? What is going on here? As the woman talks and questions Jesus, we begin to understand. We hear from Jesus that the woman has had five different husbands in the past and is currently living with someone who isn't her husband. While our modern sensibilities may creep in condemning the woman for her past, it is important to note that women in her culture and social class were not able to file for divorce. Only men could. Maybe she wants to hide, protecting herself from being loved, from being seen, and subsequently from being hurt again in the future. Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever separated yourselves from your community out of fear of being hurt or being seen in pain? Life can be fickle and traumatic. We encounter the death of loved ones, illnesses, suffering, broken relationships, hate, oppression, tragedy, all while having to keep going. Keep surviving. Amid all of this struggle and pain, it is easier just to hide, to shut ourselves out from others and to hunker down. We make ourselves into an impenetrable fortress, and when others approach our walls, we may lash out or grow cold, keeping others at a distance. We stay hidden inside, retreating into our pain because letting others in our walls, being vulnerable, could cause our fortress to crumble around us, making us susceptible to being hurt again. When we are hurting, it is easier to retreat, to hide and bear our suffering alone. But God does not leave us hidden. God sees and knows us more intimately than we even know ourselves. Like the Good Shepherd, God does not leave us abandoned or alone, but finds us, breaking down the walls we have created around ourselves and guiding us to their life-giving and mighty fortress open to all, where all are seen, loved, and comforted in their grief. His comments about the Samaritan woman having so many past husbands is not a word of condemnation or pity. Jesus is showing her that she is seen, that he knows what she has been through. He reveals himself to her using the words, I am he, the great I am, the name of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush, shows Jesus' true identity as God incarnate. How God is here for the Samaritan woman, seeing and knowing her pain and loving her alongside it. To this amazing truth, the woman can only respond to this wellspring of life that Jesus opened in her soul with joy. She runs back to her city to tell everyone what she has seen. God is here. God has seen my pain. God loves me. Come and see. God calls us to draw water from their wells, allowing Christ to work within them, bringing their waters to life and revealing to them that they are seen, they are loved, they are not alone. The well within us is always there, always available to us. But even if we know its waters, the world keeps turning. We experience suffering again, death, illness, pain, destruction. We may forget the waters, rebuilding our walls, trying to protect ourselves again. And yet, Jesus continues to come back for us again and again, refusing to abandon us. Whether the waters come from a rock in the desert, a well at the edge of town, or through a font at a church, Jesus is always before us, comforting us in our grief and guiding us back to the waters of life and into a beloved community, a community where we are loved and supported alongside our pain. Unlike the Samaritan woman, we may not have much need for a physical well today. But the spiritual wells of our soul are still there, constantly springing forth with water that will bring us into new life. This new life, brought forth by the hands and words of Christ, are always available to us, gracing us with the love and joy of our God who never never will forget or forsake us, who sees us just as we are and calls us beloved. My friends, may God continue to bring forth this spring within us and remind us of who we are. May we be God's hands in the world, drawing water from the wells of others and showing them the love Christ freely offers. And finally, when we doubt or struggle, may we be guided again and again to the waters of life and grace. May we be reminded to come and see. Thanks be to God. Amen.