February 24th 2008 Sermon By D Vande Kieft

“For What Do You Thirst?” John 4:5-26 (27-38) 39-42 February 24, 2008 The Rev. Donna J. Vande Kieft Basic hospitality: What would you like to drink? You can tell a lot about people in their choice of beverages. Some of us are creatures of habit. A former boyfriend, Vern, had a life-long love affair with Budweiser. Then there was Tom, the tea totaler. Somewhere in between was double-shot espresso Gerry. When my friend, Randall, comes to visit, I stock my refrigerator with Mountain Dew, and for my friend, Sharon, it’s a nice Chardonnay. My friend, Sue from Boise, only drinks Diet Coke. I made a road trip to visit her and her husband last October, and she offered to keep me company and drive back with me to Seattle to see her son and then to fly back to Boise later. We made a pit stop in Pendleton, OR. After three stops at places that only offered Pepsi products, I was ready to put her on the next bus back to Boise! We know about the benefits of drinking water so I’m trying to drink more water. It’s good for our health. Eight glasses a day is a bit much, but in spite of all the selections of beverages, water is still the best thing for us. We need it to live. In fact our bodies are made up largely of water, and require water to maintain life. I have to agree with Andy Rooney who says the notion of bottled water is a little over the top in a country where tap water is safe, free and readily available. He points out that bottled water is even more expensive than gas, but it’s convenient and easy for busy people in the fast lane of life. Bottled water has become part of the American way. It’s hard for most of us to relate to the idea of people having to walk to wells or rivers to get water. I grew up on a farm where the well water was not drinkable, so we would fill up gallon jars with water when we went to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a well, an old windmill, a primitive cistern and septic system, so I have a healthy appreciation for running water and good sewer systems. The setting of today’s Gospel is at an old well where Jesus stops to rest in the midst of a hot and tiring journey. A Samaritan woman happens to come by to fill her water jar. A lengthy verbal exchange between Jesus and the woman takes place at Jacob’s well. We hear them both connecting and talking past each other—there are many layers to this conversation. Jesus asks the woman to give him a drink. She is surprised that he even speaks to her at all because it is socially unacceptable for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman. And she challenges him directly: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” Jesus says, “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.” At this point she probably thinks Jesus is clueless, or at least not very bright. “No offense, but you don’t even have a bucket. The well is deep. Just exactly how do you propose to get that living water? Do you think you’re even greater than our ancestor, Jacob, who gave us the well?” Jesus says, “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.”

2 The woman is speaking literally about water and wells while Jesus speaks spiritually and metaphorically about living water. And, so they speak past each other at first. Jesus continues to play with her—though it seems obvious that he is not mocking her, belittling her or putting her down—she seems to be quite comfortable in this conversation even though it is highly unusual in her worldview or life experience. She seems to enjoy the back and forth verbal spar as much as Jesus does. In our various faith traditions, some of us learned to read and interpret Scripture on a literal level. Unfortunately, literalists tend to miss a great deal of rich meaning. United Methodist minister, Karla Kincannon, notes that poetry and metaphor are the language of faith. She says, “Given the limitations of human language in talking about God, poetry and metaphor come closest to articulating the truth. They best describe what is indescribable on the spiritual journey.” Metaphor invites mystery and possibility that is beyond us and our limited vision. It helps us to be open to new meaning in changing circumstances. The woman is bold in her exchange with Jesus, and says, so tell me more about how I can get this water so I won’t ever be thirsty again or have to haul it back home. Jesus says, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” She says, “I have no husband.” Jesus says, “You’re right. You’ve had five husbands and the guy you’re with now is not your husband.” At this point the woman recognizes Jesus as a prophet as he seems to know things about her. It is important to point out here that she is not ashamed and feels no need to deny or defend what Jesus says about her having five husbands and now a common law husband. Over the years some interpreters have made this woman out to be a woman of ill repute because the assumption is that she’s been divorced several times and now living in sin with yet another man. But Jesus does not judge her or make any reference to immorality. We have to remember that this was a much different time. Women had few choices. They were considered property, and often trapped in the levirate tradition, in which if your husband died—and they did die young back then—you were expected to marry his brother if the brother would have you. And, if you were rejected by a husband, you were pretty much out on the street—no alimony, no settlements or welfare. We would do well to note that Jesus does not condemn the woman—in fact, she becomes a witness to Jesus as the Messiah—and when she goes back home and tells her people about this man who knows all about her, they believe her. They don’t express rejection of her or treat her as an outcast. She invites them to ‘come and see’ for themselves, and many do come to Jesus because of her testimony, and they invite him to stay for a couple of days. This is not a story of a bad woman. It may be a story of a woman who’s had a difficult life, but Jesus does not condemn or judge her. It is a story of a compassionate, caring Christ, who wants her to have a better life. He wants to empower her—not only with credibility as she brings Good News to her people and her village, but with the life-changing Spirit of God within her. He recognizes the treasure— the good—in her. Some of us have notions and old images of God as Judge—the old man with the big white beard who stands ready to strike us with lightning if we mess up. A couple weeks ago one of my co-workers put a cartoon on my desk that has a picture of a church and on the sign in front of the church, it says, “God’s Wrath Level: High.” That is the image of God that many of us grew up with. We laugh when we see it depicted that way,

3 but I wonder how many of us still believe that to be the case? I started to cross out Wrath and write in the word, Grace, and then I thought about it being Lent and I changed it to Mercy. Either one works for me these days: “God’s Grace Level: High” or “God’s Mercy Level: High.” Reflecting on the Samaritan woman, it seems she was perplexed, amused, curious, and her heart and mind were open and ready to receive what he revealed to her. She did not experience wrath or judgment from Jesus. It sounds more like she was in awe that someone knew her and wanted to know her on a deep level, and that she felt accepted and cared about—so much so that she wanted to go home and tell her friends and family. And she was so enthusiastic—so full of God and a life-changing spirit and message, that people listened to her, and they wanted to know more. She was an evangelist in the best sense of the word. David Davies, owner of Soul Desire bookstore in Omaha, Nebraska, gives this perspective. “This story involves much more than a conversation between Jesus and one woman. The central image of the story gives us a clue: a well, Jacob’s well, and the nonJewish people who claim the lands and its god. In pre-urban society, wells and springs are about divine providence, about a people’s claim to the land and relationship with the god of the land.” The source of the enmity between Jews and Samaritans was a dispute about the correct location of a place to worship. The Samaritans built a shrine on Mt. Gerizim during the Persian period and claimed that this shrine, not the Jerusalem Temple was the proper place of worship. The shrine was destroyed by Jewish troops, but the schism continued. When the woman recognized that Jesus was a Jewish prophet, she jumped at the chance for an explanation about the long-time conflict between the Jews and the Samaritans. She says, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” And Jesus responds saying the time is coming when it won’t matter where people worship so long as worship occurs in spirit and in truth. Davies concludes, “this story is not about the relationship between Jesus and a much-married woman but about the relationship between God and nonJews—the other. We are in relationship with God not because of birthright, not because of wells, not because of land or country, or places of worship but because of the Spirit. All who worship in spirit and truth are welcomed by the God of Jesus to drink of the living water. In Jesus the reign of God breaks through boundaries of race, religion, culture and gender. The risen Christ wants to give each that gift of living water, the Spirit flowing from his presence within. This is the second Sunday in Lent. For Christians Lent offers a time for thoughtful reflection and prayer, an opportunity to open our hearts and look within and discern how God may be calling us to love more deeply. There’s a little booklet out on the table in the narthex that tells about the Millennium Development Goals supported by a partnership between Episcopal Relief and Development, Jubilee Ministries and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. The Fund fights malaria and other preventable diseases and provides basic health care in Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean. There are eight Millennium Development Goals including: 1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education for Children 3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women 4. Reduce Child Mortality

4 5. Improve Maternal Health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability 8. Create a Global Partnership for Development The Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund provides:
Nets, training and education that stop the spread of malaria.
Clean water, sanitation services and hygiene education that prevent illness and save lives.
Education to prevent transmission of HIV
Smokeless stoves that eliminate acute respiratory illness.
Training for local health workers, who provide vital care to people in underserved and remote communities.
Nutrition and education for pregnant women and their babies. I invite you to pick up one of the Lenten Devotional Guides, Seeking to Serve, pray over the goals it projects and consider one small thing you might do to support the work. Reflect on the daily meditations and illustrations and see what it says to you during this season of Lent. And, give thanks for being part of a church that is involved in making a real difference in real ways around the world! I also invite you to ask yourself this question: For what do you thirst? Besides a grande no foam, no fat latte, I thirst for a lot of things on a metaphorical level? For what do we thirst? For many there is a relentless never-ending thirst for more, for bigger and better. More money, more power, more stuff, more appreciation, more recognition, perfection, more happiness, a better job, a better relationship, better health, exciting travels, vacations and adventures, more to feed our bottomless appetites for pleasure, a never-ending pursuit to fill our inner thirst. It might be the search for a perfect church, deeper spirituality, self-improvement a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life. We may think we need to pray more, read our Bibles more, have more quiet time or observe the perfect spiritual practice for Lent. Even our spiritual thirsts can be exhausting and unquenchable leading to spiritual weariness, dehydration of the soul and hardened hearts. Several years ago a wise Jesuit priest, Father Larry Gillick, a blind man who has incredible spiritual vision and insight, gave a talk to our chaplain group at Mercy Hospital in Omaha, NE, about the spirituality of enoughness. I have never forgotten it though I often fail to practice it. He said when we realize that God is enough for us—that we are enough, that we do enough, that we have enough and that there is and always will be enough—that is when we are filled with living water and we no longer thirst. The water of the Spirit becomes in us a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. And that is more than enough. May our hearts be drenched with God’s love through the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the one who gives this water in Spirit and in Truth. That is enough. AMEN.