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ONE WOMAN’S TESTIMONY
John 4:5-42
February 24, 2008
Betty Berghaus
In the book of Genesis, after Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright, his father Isaac advised him to leave, and charged him to marry within his own people. Jacob ended up at a well where flocks and shepherds were gathering. Along came a woman named Rebekah, daughter of Laban, who eventually became Jacob’s wife and one true love. The mention of Jacob’s well in our John passage for today, harkens us back to the patriarchs. By comparison, Jesus, of course, is greater than the patriarchs. Jesus is the fulfillment of all to which the Old Testament testifies.
In the Gospel of John, today’s passage relates a second visit to Jesus. The first was with the noted Jewish official, Nicodemus, who came by night to see Jesus. As learned as Nicodemus was, he did not seem to comprehend what Jesus was telling him about being born again in the Holy Spirit. In our passage, we see Jesus in conversation with someone with whom he should not have even been talking. For one, she was a woman, and religious leaders did not talk to women in public. Second, she was a woman of ill repute, and talking with her would have made Him ritually unclean. But perhaps most important for this story, the woman was a Samaritan. The Jews and Samaritans had broken centuries before because of disputes over religious issues - the Samaritans had built for worship a temple at Mount Gerizim, and the Jews believed that there was only one true temple, the one at Jerusalem. The Samaritans, during an Assyrian occupation of their lands, had worshiped other gods. And so Jews regarded Samaritans as heretics, and would not associate with them. Perhaps many Jews did not even remember all the reasons they were estranged from the Samaritans, but they avoided them “like the plague.”
So there were plenty of reasons for Jesus not to talk to this woman, and yet He initiated conversation with her by asking for a drink of water. Even she was surprised that this rabbi would speak to her, and, perhaps like a good extrovert, she said so. Jesus immediately engaged her in a theological discussion, declaring that He could give living water. An introverted woman, or even a more proper woman, might not have pursued the conversation. But this supposedly unlearned woman wanted to know more about this living water. She showed her religious bent and knowledge by mentioning Jacob. Jesus talked again of living water that gives eternal life. The woman did not totally understand but kept up the conversation. And this is where the conversation differs from that with Nicodemus. When he could not understand, Nicodemus must have ceased to converse with Jesus, because the text then becomes a monologue, including one of the most famous verses of all Scripture, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life.” But this conversation with the woman continues, perhaps the longest dialogue in the gospels, and with someone Jesus should not have even addressed. Jesus often set examples for us that were counter to societal norms.
Then, as is more typical of the Gospel of John than the other gospels, Jesus displayed superior, and almost supernatural, powers by knowing details about the life of the woman. In this highly symbolic gospel, it is hard to determine if these facts were really about this one woman, or more of a statement about the behavior of the whole Samaritan people. Jesus knew that she, or they, had misbehaved over and over again, and were still doing so. And yet still he offered Himself to her, or them, as the Messiah. Samaritans shared a belief in the Messiah, though they still looked for the conquering warrior leader. Yet, faced with a gentle and compassionate Messiah who offered living water, the woman was converted, and went home to share the gospel with her family and friends. Many Samaritans returned and believed, the passage tells us.
Just as the woman was leaving, the disciples returned and admonished Jesus for talking to such a woman. The disciples also offered Jesus food, and Jesus talked of a different kind of nourishment, the feast of doing God’s will. Jesus was caught up in the moment. We staff members at Westminster understand this enthusiasm for ministry! We are so fortunate to be able to work towards God’s will with a congregation that also seeks to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God, that we sometimes neglect our personal needs. But the disciples did not quite get this. Later they would, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, as they established the Christian church. But for now they remained a bit clueless.
This story carried deep implications for the people for whom it was written, and it does also for us. Jesus was offering reconciliation for a people long divided, the Samaritans and the Jews. The Gospel of John was written at a time when the early Christian church had been expelled from the synagogues. The split was profound, even violent at times. To these people Jesus offered living waters.
The waters simply must remind us of the waters of baptism. And in this time of severe drought in our part of the country, we yearn for water. We need water for so many of the basic needs of life, for drinking, for cleaning, for cooking. The prospect of a long-running drought may change the very way we live. “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,” words in Isaiah (55:1), take on new meaning for us these days. But as Jesus pointed out, the meaning runs even deeper. The waters of baptism bring us into the Christian community, whether as an infant when we do not even understand what is happening, or as an older child or youth or adult who can begin to grasp the meaning of this initiation into the Body of Christ. In the Presbyterian Church, we do not use any holy water, but just the water of the region, reminding us that this is a very natural thing to do, and follows the lead of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was baptized in his region in the river Jordan. Talking of both sacraments of the Presbyterian Church, pastor Thomas Oden says, “We are cleansed through water and fed through bread. We are brought into community by baptism and sustained in the community by communion.”
This initiation into the Body requires work on our part, and, illustrated by today’s story in John, one aspect of our work is reconciliation. Jesus began the reconciliation of ancient divisions with this Samaritan woman. Many more Samaritans came to believe because of the testimony of this one woman. So this leads us to consider, what might our testimony mean to someone who does not believe in Christ as we do? Testimony is almost a dirty word in Presbyterian circles! We would rather “do” our faith than talk about it. And yet there are times that call us to share in words our faith experiences in order to share the gospel. So I advise you to not be afraid to tell of your journey, especially if it will help someone else’s walk with Christ.
Reconciliation, then, is one of our tasks as Christians who follow Jesus’ lead. There may be divisions within your family, with family members to whom you have not really spoken for years, over something you may not even fully remember. Or there may be divisions within your workplace or classmates or circle of friends. There certainly are divisions within the Body - denominations that cannot worship, or even converse, together because their differences are too vast. And there are splits within the denominations themselves, over major issues. But if we follow Jesus’ lead, we will work to reconcile those differences.
And what did Jesus do? Jesus initiated the conversation. Samaritans and Jews had been split for centuries and continued to avoid one another. Jesus took the first step. Jesus then engaged in meaningful conversation. He probably prayed before that conversation and afterwards, and perhaps even during. It was a purposeful conversation, as He sought to relay God’s will as He talked, not His own desires or needs. Reconciliation appeared to be his goal, and He was successful. May we too be so fortunate, in our personal and corporate lives.
One of the issues that continues to divide the Presbyterian Church, with many churches leaving the denomination, is the issue of ordination and who can be ordained. Both sides can well support their beliefs biblically and theologically. So there appears to be no certain right or wrong, though both sides feel they are right. And so the issue becomes how to continue as one body even with these deep and long-seated differences. If we follow Jesus’ lead, we will initiate meaningful and purposeful conversation. Whether you are aware of it or not, Westminster Church has done just that over this issue. After hearing Joan Gray, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), talk last fall, Westminster Church and the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill have initiated a series of conversations over a light dinner. We have met once and will meet 4 or 5 more times, simply for the purpose of getting to know and hear one another. We also hope to come up with a model for other churches to engage in such meaningful conversations. Church of Rec. is a “More Light” congregation, and they have ordained elders and deacons that our denomination currently says cannot be ordained. Church of the Rec. also submitted a resolution to the Presbytery that just passed last Saturday, essentially asking to give the power to ordain back to the presbyteries and congregations. The resolution does not specify who can or cannot be ordained, but gives that determination of qualifications back to the people who best know the individuals, meaning that they would be asked to serve according to their faithful qualifications. The resolution will go to the General Assembly of the PC(USA) this summer. These moves toward reconciliation may be as monumental as Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman. Perhaps we sometimes have to decide to agree to disagree, and yet still embrace one another through the living waters in which we have all been baptized.
Our work of reconciliation carries with it a certain urgency. The Second Letter to the Corinthians puts it this way:
“For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all…From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view (or, according to the flesh). Even though we have known Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled himself to us through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…” (II Cor. 5:14, 16-19).
Reconcile! Reconcile! That is the word for today’s lesson from John. Change disharmony into harmony. Reunite what has been broken apart. Make up your differences. Follow the lead and the calling of Jesus Christ to reconcile and make all things, and beings, new and well and alive in the Lord! The Bible and our Book of Order call us to be reconciled to those from whom we are estranged before approaching the communion table. So this week work at reconciliation in your own life, and consider prayerfully how we can reconcile as the whole Body of Christ.
Glory be to God! Amen.