Woman at the well
Someone once said that the role of a preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. The first part, comfort the afflicted, is nice – it’s a quality that I’m sure all of us hope to show whenever it’s needed, but the second point, to afflict the comfortable, is not so nice – and it’s also not as easy ! But we’re in Lent, a time of trial and self examination, and a time of honest God inspired appraisal of ourselves, so it seems a good time to do a bit of both !
And that’s what Jesus did in this passage that we’ve heard in the gospel reading this morning (John 4:5-14). He was, we are told, visiting a Samaritan city – strange enough by itself for a Jew as the Jews traditionally hated the Samaritans, and then as a Samaritan woman approached, he actually spoke to her and asked her for some water, and he chatted to her and you get the impression that far from judging her or hating her, he actually cared for her.
Immediately this passage would set alarm bells ringing for the Jews – they detested the Samaritans, they regarded even the water from their wells as unclean, and they would certainly not enter into any sort of dialogue with a Samaritan woman.
And then Jesus went further as he spoke about the living water that God could provide – Jesus, it seems, was actually approaching this woman with the assurance that God was interested in her – regardless of faults and failings and regardless of her background.
And eventually as he talked to her, he got her so interested that you could almost sense the desperation in her voice, so much so that she said, ‘Give me some of that water, then I’ll never have to be thirsty again !’
The comforting was so good that he actually made a relationship with this woman so that she wanted more from him…, but there was another side to this…
He had comforted this woman, he had supported her, encouraged her, and offered her this great gift, but then came the second part – the afflicting of the comfortable ! In the passage that follows what we heard this morning, Jesus questioned the woman on her relationships, and amazed at his knowledge she grew more interested and perhaps more uncomfortable as she recognised she was in the presence of someone very special.
It was an incredible meeting – one of so many that Jesus had – and it’s worth just thinking about the fact that there is more words of Jesus recorded in this personal meeting than with any other individual – we’re not told of long conversations with any religious leaders, not even with his disciples – but Jesus spent time with a woman who most people rejected and most people wouldn’t have even acknowledged – that is the measure of Jesus – searching out the lost, searching out those in need of his help – whoever they are…
It’s a great lesson for us as individuals – that whatever we have done or been Jesus loves us, and a great challenge to us and the whole Church today as we are called to seek out and spend time with those in need – even those whom society struggles to acknowledge…
And so this meeting offered the Samaritan woman some hope and some challenge. She had a way to God, but she had to look at her own life to see if she was getting there. And this raises some important questions for us as well.
Each one of us sometimes needs comfort, and there is no better to place to find that comfort than in God – either through his word or through his people, or simply through prayer, but each one of us also needs occasionally to be afflicted, because each one of us has times I suspect when we are comfortable, maybe too comfortable in our faith…
And that’s one of the things that Lent is about – challenging ourselves. And there are, I think, a number of essentials within that challenge. Firstly we must think of how well we actually know God… The most important thing about our relationship with God is just that - a relationship ! And that means growing closer together. We do that through prayer, through Bible study, through reflection and through fellowship with others.
All of us are on a journey of faith – regardless of our ages or the amount of time we have been Christians – faith is constantly changing – hopefully becoming stronger, but certainly changing…
Secondly we must think about our fellowship, both within the Church and out in the community. Our relationships with other people are an indicator, certainly to other people, of where we are in our faith. Within Church, as I’ve said before, there will be people who we struggle to get on with, and there will be people who will be difficult – but as Christians we are called to at least try and live to a higher standard than the rest of society often suggests.
It is not good enough for us to continue to hold grudges, or for us to not speak to another member of our congregation regardless of who is at fault ! Lent is a good time to look at our relationships with others – to think of who we don’t like, of who we don’t welcome into our Church, of who we find it difficult to accept, and to ask God to help us work through those barriers.
And outside Church we must challenge ourselves to ask the question if our faith is making a difference not just in our own lives, but in the lives of people who we meet... Many still suggest that faith is a private matter, and that we shouldn’t talk about it – It’s a great excuse !!! But Jesus has taken that choice away from us with those words from his final recorded statement on earth, ‘Go and preach the gospel to all nations…’
And thirdly Lent is a time to look forward. It isn’t a time to merely immerse ourselves in sacrifice or abstinence from something. It isn’t merely a period of time to read extra bits of the Bible or to attend extra Church services or Bible studies, although all of these things are important and useful.
Lent is a time to really plan our future – to see what’s wrong with our spiritual lives, and to begin to address the question of putting those things right… Above all it is the time to make a new commitment to Jesus who has committed everything for us… I began with that saying, ‘The role of the preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’
The comforting thought of Lent is the knowledge that the unchanging and ever loving God walks alongside us every moment of every day of our lives – the difficult thought though, is whether we are really allowing him to be at the centre of those lives.
The late speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas, said this, ‘Poverty was the universal way of life in the coal mining areas of South Wales during my boyhood there. Nonetheless our community culture was rich. It was rooted in our Christian faith and therefore was uninfluenced by the scale of our possessions.
As I grew in understanding I learned to look at people in terms of their potential when God’s Holy Spirit was their inspiration. There is no limit to what God can do when commitment to him is total. Changed lives are unfailing witnesses to that truth in every generation... It will be so in tomorrow’s world, for the 2 great permanents of history are the unchanging needs of people and the unchanging power and love of God.’
I think that last line is incredible – ‘the 2 great permanents of history are the unchanging needs of people and the unchanging power and love of God…’
In the example of the woman at the well Jesus cried out to someone in desperate need – he put aside any rows over nationality and anything else to show compassion… he put aside any personal feelings about her behaviour or anything else to offer his care…
In a world where it was even considered unclean for a Jew to drink from a Samaritan well or cup, this encounter was scandalous - But Jesus was never bound by tradition, and he was never prepared to accept that people couldn’t reconcile their differences with God and with other people. He showed again in this account that God’s transforming love, grace and mercy are available to all.
To the woman at the well Jesus talks of himself as being a provider of living water… And that is still what he is offering us today… Jesus saw potential in this woman, and he sees potential in every one of us – and so we are invited to be open enough to allow the healing light that he brings into our lives? Into our lives? Our churches, our world?
May it be a prayer for this Lent that God will give us the grace to hear what we need to learn; that he will grant us light to lighten the darkness which in our blindness we may not even know is there, and give us the courage of the woman at the well - courage to embrace the light and accept the gift of Living Water.
An unnamed woman of Samaria, in spite of her hesitation and misgivings, was drawn to the well to encounter Jesus, who gave her that drink of living water… So we also, whatever our hesitations and misgivings, are drawn to encounter Jesus, that we too might drink of living water and never thirst again… Wherever we are in our journey of faith, may we commit ourselves to taking a further step closer to Jesus who will provide us with the living water from which we will never thirst again. Amen.
And that’s what Jesus did in this passage that we’ve heard in the gospel reading this morning (John 4:5-14). He was, we are told, visiting a Samaritan city – strange enough by itself for a Jew as the Jews traditionally hated the Samaritans, and then as a Samaritan woman approached, he actually spoke to her and asked her for some water, and he chatted to her and you get the impression that far from judging her or hating her, he actually cared for her.
Immediately this passage would set alarm bells ringing for the Jews – they detested the Samaritans, they regarded even the water from their wells as unclean, and they would certainly not enter into any sort of dialogue with a Samaritan woman.
And then Jesus went further as he spoke about the living water that God could provide – Jesus, it seems, was actually approaching this woman with the assurance that God was interested in her – regardless of faults and failings and regardless of her background.
And eventually as he talked to her, he got her so interested that you could almost sense the desperation in her voice, so much so that she said, ‘Give me some of that water, then I’ll never have to be thirsty again !’
The comforting was so good that he actually made a relationship with this woman so that she wanted more from him…, but there was another side to this…
He had comforted this woman, he had supported her, encouraged her, and offered her this great gift, but then came the second part – the afflicting of the comfortable ! In the passage that follows what we heard this morning, Jesus questioned the woman on her relationships, and amazed at his knowledge she grew more interested and perhaps more uncomfortable as she recognised she was in the presence of someone very special.
It was an incredible meeting – one of so many that Jesus had – and it’s worth just thinking about the fact that there is more words of Jesus recorded in this personal meeting than with any other individual – we’re not told of long conversations with any religious leaders, not even with his disciples – but Jesus spent time with a woman who most people rejected and most people wouldn’t have even acknowledged – that is the measure of Jesus – searching out the lost, searching out those in need of his help – whoever they are…
It’s a great lesson for us as individuals – that whatever we have done or been Jesus loves us, and a great challenge to us and the whole Church today as we are called to seek out and spend time with those in need – even those whom society struggles to acknowledge…
And so this meeting offered the Samaritan woman some hope and some challenge. She had a way to God, but she had to look at her own life to see if she was getting there. And this raises some important questions for us as well.
Each one of us sometimes needs comfort, and there is no better to place to find that comfort than in God – either through his word or through his people, or simply through prayer, but each one of us also needs occasionally to be afflicted, because each one of us has times I suspect when we are comfortable, maybe too comfortable in our faith…
And that’s one of the things that Lent is about – challenging ourselves. And there are, I think, a number of essentials within that challenge. Firstly we must think of how well we actually know God… The most important thing about our relationship with God is just that - a relationship ! And that means growing closer together. We do that through prayer, through Bible study, through reflection and through fellowship with others.
All of us are on a journey of faith – regardless of our ages or the amount of time we have been Christians – faith is constantly changing – hopefully becoming stronger, but certainly changing…
Secondly we must think about our fellowship, both within the Church and out in the community. Our relationships with other people are an indicator, certainly to other people, of where we are in our faith. Within Church, as I’ve said before, there will be people who we struggle to get on with, and there will be people who will be difficult – but as Christians we are called to at least try and live to a higher standard than the rest of society often suggests.
It is not good enough for us to continue to hold grudges, or for us to not speak to another member of our congregation regardless of who is at fault ! Lent is a good time to look at our relationships with others – to think of who we don’t like, of who we don’t welcome into our Church, of who we find it difficult to accept, and to ask God to help us work through those barriers.
And outside Church we must challenge ourselves to ask the question if our faith is making a difference not just in our own lives, but in the lives of people who we meet... Many still suggest that faith is a private matter, and that we shouldn’t talk about it – It’s a great excuse !!! But Jesus has taken that choice away from us with those words from his final recorded statement on earth, ‘Go and preach the gospel to all nations…’
And thirdly Lent is a time to look forward. It isn’t a time to merely immerse ourselves in sacrifice or abstinence from something. It isn’t merely a period of time to read extra bits of the Bible or to attend extra Church services or Bible studies, although all of these things are important and useful.
Lent is a time to really plan our future – to see what’s wrong with our spiritual lives, and to begin to address the question of putting those things right… Above all it is the time to make a new commitment to Jesus who has committed everything for us… I began with that saying, ‘The role of the preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’
The comforting thought of Lent is the knowledge that the unchanging and ever loving God walks alongside us every moment of every day of our lives – the difficult thought though, is whether we are really allowing him to be at the centre of those lives.
The late speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas, said this, ‘Poverty was the universal way of life in the coal mining areas of South Wales during my boyhood there. Nonetheless our community culture was rich. It was rooted in our Christian faith and therefore was uninfluenced by the scale of our possessions.
As I grew in understanding I learned to look at people in terms of their potential when God’s Holy Spirit was their inspiration. There is no limit to what God can do when commitment to him is total. Changed lives are unfailing witnesses to that truth in every generation... It will be so in tomorrow’s world, for the 2 great permanents of history are the unchanging needs of people and the unchanging power and love of God.’
I think that last line is incredible – ‘the 2 great permanents of history are the unchanging needs of people and the unchanging power and love of God…’
In the example of the woman at the well Jesus cried out to someone in desperate need – he put aside any rows over nationality and anything else to show compassion… he put aside any personal feelings about her behaviour or anything else to offer his care…
In a world where it was even considered unclean for a Jew to drink from a Samaritan well or cup, this encounter was scandalous - But Jesus was never bound by tradition, and he was never prepared to accept that people couldn’t reconcile their differences with God and with other people. He showed again in this account that God’s transforming love, grace and mercy are available to all.
To the woman at the well Jesus talks of himself as being a provider of living water… And that is still what he is offering us today… Jesus saw potential in this woman, and he sees potential in every one of us – and so we are invited to be open enough to allow the healing light that he brings into our lives? Into our lives? Our churches, our world?
May it be a prayer for this Lent that God will give us the grace to hear what we need to learn; that he will grant us light to lighten the darkness which in our blindness we may not even know is there, and give us the courage of the woman at the well - courage to embrace the light and accept the gift of Living Water.
An unnamed woman of Samaria, in spite of her hesitation and misgivings, was drawn to the well to encounter Jesus, who gave her that drink of living water… So we also, whatever our hesitations and misgivings, are drawn to encounter Jesus, that we too might drink of living water and never thirst again… Wherever we are in our journey of faith, may we commit ourselves to taking a further step closer to Jesus who will provide us with the living water from which we will never thirst again. Amen.
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