Sir, Give Me This Water

Meditation on John 4, selected verses, beginning at verse 5

Oct. 18, 2015

First Sunday at Merritt Island Presbyterian Church!

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   “So (Jesus) came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, 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 Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘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.’ 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 sons 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 him, ‘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 him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped 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 worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him 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, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
     Just then his 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 a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him….
       Many Samaritans from that city believed in him 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 he stayed there for 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.’”

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    I can’t believe I am finally here with you! Worshiping with you in this place! So many hopes and dreams have come true with this call to ministry. I am unbelievably blessed! I know you, too, have waited and longed for your pastor. I thank you for your warm welcome to me, for all the people who have stopped by my office to give me a hug as I was moving in, and sent cards, emails and Facebook messages. Thank you to everyone who gave us groceries our first weekend here, left encouraging notes, and whispered kind words, words every pastor delights in hearing: “We are so glad you are here!” I am very excited about ministering to you and serving the Lord alongside you! I promise to do my very best as your pastor, with God’s help.

    I have to admit to you, though, all this attention, well, it isn’t what I am used to. When the chair of the PNC asked for a bio and photos to make a brochure to hand out to the congregation and a video of myself to show at the congregational meeting, I was more than a little intimidated. Friends, I am just an ordinary person, with many flaws and weaknesses. You have only been told the “good” things about me. I actually made a list of some of my weaknesses to share with you. I love candy and all sorts of sweets. That’s a problem for me, maybe it is for some of you, too, so we can encourage one another to make healthier choices. I sometimes talk with my mouth full and eat with my fingers. I will try to be neater! I tend to worry about things more than I pray about them. We can encourage one another to pray and meditate on God’s Word more. I am a perfectionist. When it comes to my own work, I have very little grace for myself. That is something I am praying about. I work more hours and days than I should and take on more than I should. Maybe some of you also have that struggle; we can lift one another up.

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    When I was choosing the text I would be preaching on for my first Sunday at MIPC, several came to mind, but then I knew I was going to preach on the Samaritan woman at the well. My husband, Jim, asked me why I chose this text.  I said it was one of the passages that really made me want to be a Christian. It reveals most everything we need to know about Jesus’ character--and most of us will see ourselves in this unnamed Samaritan woman, a sinner, searching for truth and a deeper meaning in life. We learn that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, but he is also fully human, experiencing all that we experience. In verse 6, we read Jesus was “tired out by his journey.” He was hungry and had just sent off his disciples to go to the city and buy food. He was thirsty; it was the middle of the day in a warm climate. Jesus asks a woman at the well for a drink of water--and not just a woman, which would be scandalous enough to be alone with a woman to whom you aren’t married or related, but a Samaritan woman. Samaritans and Jews are enemies in ancient times. Further, this woman, as we read in verse 18, is not a respectable woman; she is an outcast. She has had 5 husbands and is living with a man who is not her husband. To be there at midday--the hottest point of the day-- reveals that she is trying to avoid contact with other people, who might ridicule or shun her or worse. Most who would come to the well would come in the early morning, when it was cooler, to draw the water for the household for the day.

    Through this passage, Jesus reveals to us the loving, merciful character of God who longs to forgive us, heal us, and live in right relationship with us--no matter who we are. Though we can’t hear the tone of voice in Scripture, Jesus must be speaking in a kind and gentle tone when he points out the sin in the Samaritan woman's life because she doesn’t respond defensively. She answers by asking some deep questions about religion, the proper place to worship God, and the promised Messiah, questions you might not expect of an uneducated woman of ancient times. You can tell she is searching for God, longing for her life to change, longing to hope for the future. She wants to be healed and made whole! Something about Jesus stirs her to trust Him and open up to him, though she doesn’t know, at first, who he really is. 

     In verse 25, she says, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called the Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus answers, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”  He tells the outcast, the “sinner” of her community, “If you new 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.” 

      Now people back then said “living water” when they were referring to a river or stream--water that flowed and was inhabited by living creatures. But this isn’t flowing water; this is just a well, with water that is stagnant. Jesus has gotten her full attention! “Everyone who drinks of this water,” he says of the well in verse 13, “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 Samaritan woman says eagerly, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

     Their conversation is interrupted, then, by the disciples’ return and their astonishment that Jesus is speaking with a woman -- and a Samaritan woman at that! We know the woman is excited by her conversation with Jesus because she leaves her water jar and runs back to the city, the very same city that has marginalized her. She is a changed person after talking openly with Jesus. She risks persecution by declaring the truth, beckoning people to come and meet Jesus. “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” she says in verse 29. “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

     The people of the city listen to her--see the changes in her -- and they come to hear and see Jesus for themselves.  Because of her testimony, many Samaritans come to believe in Jesus.  Then Jesus stays with the Samaritans for 2 days--something an orthodox Jewish man would never do in those days. Jesus, revealing more about the Heavenly Father, sees beyond where a person lives and their racial, ethnic, religious or socio-economic status. He doesn’t care about gender. He knows everything about us--each one of us, just as knew everything about the stranger at the well-- and he loves us all the same! He offers living water, “soul” refreshment for all who are broken, hurting and sinful! He beckons all to come to him and receive His gift of salvation. With His gift is the promise of a peace not like the world offers; a peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace found only through belief on Christ and hope in Him for eternal life.

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    Friends, I am only a regular, ordinary person, with many flaws and weaknesses. Will you have grace for me? Let us learn from one another as we seek to be the people God wants us to be. My faith is real! The God I know is merciful and loving; the God of second chances. I am not the person I was 20 or 30 years ago. I am not creature even today. The Spirit is still working in and through me, changing me into the person God can use for His purposes.

     Like you, I am learning to trust, more and more. I am learning to cast my burdens on Him and not to try to do everything in my own strength or wisdom. If you remember only one thing from this message today, I hope it will be that it doesn’t matter who you used to be. In Christ, God doesn’t hold our failures against us. Return to the Lord who loves you enough to suffer and die for a world that did not love Him. Confess your sins and turn away from them. But then be like the Samaritan woman and share your testimony with your family and community--with everyone you know. Our gracious Lord who knows each one of us intimately is the Savior for the world. He offers to all His living water--a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.

     All who hunger for a deeper faith,

       a closer walk with God,

    a peace that surpasses all understanding…

Won’t you come and drink with me-- so we will never thirst again?

     Let us pray.

    Thank you, Lord, for your offer of living water, a spring that gushes up to eternal life. Lord, please give us this water, so we may be healed and made whole. Thank you for your love, mercy and grace. Thank you for your patience with us as we struggle with sin and sometimes stumble and fall and grow weary and discouraged. Thank you for not holding our past failures against us and seeing us through the lens of your redemption--when you have completed your good work in us and we see your beautiful face. Draw us nearer to you, Lord, each day. Teach us to drink deeply of your living water--meditating on your Holy Word and seeking you in prayer--so our souls may never thirst again. Lead us to share our testimonies with our communities, so that everyone will know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior for the whole world. So that everyone will have a peace not like the world offers, but your peace that surpasses all understanding. In Christ we pray. Amen.