Tales of a Midwest Lutheran on the East Coast

Monday, March 16, 2020

Living Water for Challenging Times


3-15- 20
(I also streamed this live on our church FB page) 

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Nearly 8 years ago, the theme for Cokesbury’s VBS program was called “Everywhere Fun Fair.” Not one of their best or most memorable, but the theme of being a neighbor to all of God’s children, even across countries and continents, is still a pretty solid theme.  That fall though, an event happened that was MUCH MORE memorable: Hurricane Sandy. Just after the power went out the evening of the storm, I shared leftovers with my Jewish downstairs neighbor. When the storm subsided, the apartment complex was still without power. Four days later, when power was finally restored, my neighbor went out of his way to call a coworker of his to tell a mutual friend to tell me that power was back on when I wasn’t home to witness it. That was VERY neighborly of him!

Jesus’ call for us to be neighbors isn’t just for kids during vacation Bibles school, or only in dire circumstances for natural disasters when the power is out, or even now, as we face a lot of unknowns surrounding the increasing stress that the spread of the Coronavirus is bringing. Jesus’ call to be neighbors is a call for everyone, everywhere, every day. Karen Gonzalez, author of the book, The God who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong, reflects: “I had never realized how much the scriptures tell the stories of people who began as strangers and then became a part of the family of God.” And we certainly heard a perfect example of what living this out means from our reading from the Gospel of John…

Jesus had never met this woman before. They began their encounter as total strangers… At this time, the common practice was “social distancing,” but not for hygienic reasons. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Karoline Lewis, is a John scholar, and this is one of her favorite story in her favorite gospel. She writes: “Jesus shares is true self with the last person on the face of the planet whom people would have thought God could love… Not to the disciples. Not to the religious elite. Not to those in power….. [but he reveals his true self to] This woman. This Samaritan. [A woman] with no name, no credibility, no respect.”

And yet… SHE is the one chosen by Jesus. She is a person whom the world sees as fallen and sinful, though she is never described by or treated by Jesus that way.

Karen Gonzalez also reflects on this encounter: “Jesus reveals his identity as Messiah to this unnamed woman, and she is the first to spread the Gospel to her own people.” After her surprising conversation with Jesus, the woman departs joyfully – practically running - even leaving her water container behind at the well. Jesus transforms her life, her view of herself, even her calling. But she remains both a Samaritan and a woman. John shares with us – pointedly in fact – her gender and her ethnicity for a reason. Her social status is an integral part of this story, not happenstance or an afterthought.

In fact, her encounter with Jesus remakes her – through this conversation, her identity and purpose are found anew, and she sets out on a journey to share her powerful encounter with other people. But not in a way that makes her gender and her ethnicity submerged, changed, or covered up. It is because she is a woman, and because she is Samaritan, that she can become an emissary, or missionary, to her people. Who she is, and where she is from, is fundamental to HER story. Her testimony – “he told me everything I have ever done!” – tells us that she experiences being deeply known and loved by Jesus, just as she is. And this changes the course of her entire life.

The story of the woman at the well deeply affected Karen Gonzalez, who came to the United States from Guatemala as a child. For a long time, Gonzales believed that to be “Christian” was to shut away or even shed the parts of herself that made her different from “American Christians” – being a woman, being from Guatemala, being an immigrant, being a multi-cultural person. But, thanks to exploring the story of the Samaritan woman, and seeing herself in this woman’s encounter with Jesus as a whole person, Gonzalez now firmly trusts Jesus’ accepting her, in all her intersections, in all her “God-Authored Complexities” – as a Latina, Guatemalan, immigrant, and woman. Gonzales was able to say “yes” to her whole self, as a beloved child of God, because Jesus says “yes,” to all of her SELF.

The woman at the well is part of a long line and long tradition of biblical women who said an wholehearted “Yes” to the difficult call of God on their lives  – women like  Hagar, Vashti, Esther, Ruth, Mary mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Junia, Phoebe, and the woman at the well, just to name a few - some of the VERY few women in the Bible we get to hear from. These words we hear from the woman at the well are part of only 14,000 words that are spoken by women in the entire Bible.

This may sound like a lot, but all of the words that women speak in the Bible can be read out loud in less than 2 hours. For reference, the Gospel of John would also take about 2 hours to read out loud. To read the whole Bible out loud take almost 72 hours…. That’s three days straight. But ALL the words of women would be completed during a round trip to and from Philly on a good day.  And so, the mission work that this woman is doing on behalf of Jesus takes on even more importance. Every word she says, to Jesus, and to her people, take on even greater significance. Especially when HER sermon – which was extremely effective, was just one sentence long – “he has told me everything I have ever done!” That’s all the missionary training this woman needed – a conversation with Jesus.

When you hear the word “mission,” we think about traveling to faraway places, not people in our own backyard.  Maybe as a youth you’ve been on a “mission trip” to another part of the country, or possibly your family have been on a work camp trip, or sponsor a child through an organization, or raise money for world hunger. These are very worthy means to spread God’s message of love and can enrich our own faith communities in many ways.

However, “mission” is not necessarily something that happens far away.  Being “a missionary” is no longer the special ministry of a dedicated few. We are ALL missionaries for the gospel, here in our very own Buckingham and Bucks County. There are people right here, in our own community, who need a word of hope in their lives…. Especially right now. They are probably right in front of you: your neighbors, coworkers, customers, and even friends and family members.

Trust me, you don’t need a specialized degree in ministry to be a messenger of the gospel.  The woman at the well didn’t. Jesus gave her everything she needed. Just as she did, you can simply let your words and actions do the talking – by going out of your way to help another in need, by comforting those who mourn, taking care of those who are sick or lonely, by carefully using your God-given resources, by taking the time to read the Bible or pray as a family, remaining calm when the world around us wants to increase our panic-buying of toilet paper. Our mission is to speak a word of hope when its hard to find some calm to hang on to, to point to the person – Jesus – to keeps us going in times like these.

Living out your life with faith can be a powerful witness to others.  And others WILL take notice. You may be asked questions. That’s ok – don’t feel that you need the “right” words to tell people of how the love of Jesus changed your life. Like the women at the well, just speak from your heart and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

This is God’s mission, after all. Our part in that mission, every day, but especially during times of stress and uncertainty, is sometimes to also let our actions be message – in being a neighbor by caring for our neighbors near AND far. We are about to leave this place for perhaps an undetermined about of time. This week has proven that we never really know what the next day will bring. But we will always remain connected – as neighbors – through our love for one another. We, like the woman at the well, can leave our jar behind knowing that Jesus is our living water, and will sustain us. So, when someone asks you – using the appropriate amount of social distancing, of course – what is getting you through this difficult time? We, along with this woman, can say, “Jesus.” Thanks be to God. Amen.

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