I did preach this past Sunday, but did not have a scripted sermon, so there’s nothing to post 🙂 What I will do is simply post some thoughts on the reading from John 4:5-42, Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman at the well.
This reading speaks to us a lot today I think. Jesus has come to a land which is full off the despised Samaritans. And who does he speak to but a woman. A woman who is even rejected by her peers because she has had 5 husbands, and is reduced to having to go out in the heat of noon to retrieve water for the day.
Jesus should not be talking with a Samaritan, and even worse, he should not be talking with a Samaritan woman! But what is Jesus doing, exampling, by talking with this woman?
He’s spreading the Good News. He’s moving beyond the boundaries of what people would expect from a Messiah, he’s showing he’s not just for the Jews, but is indeed for all people. People of all nations, people of any gender, people of all classes of society. And, he is also able to be shared.
He offers the woman “living water.” Water which will satisfy our deepest thirst, that is our thirst for a connection to our Living God. One sip of this living water, and we will be nourished forever. Jesus is the one who alone offers this to us.
There is another revelation in this text. That is we cannot bring people to Christ on our own. This woman who left for the city and told all about Jesus caused in them excitement and curiousity about who Jesus is. But it is when they themselves encountered Christ, by bringing Jesus into their homes, to hear his teachings for themselves when they were truly transformed.
When we accept the living water that Jesus offers, we too can be truly transformed, and when we share the cup with others, they also can choose to drink the water, the water that is Jesus Christ, bringing him into their lives.