Flirt to convert

Sermon by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
Readings: Exodus 17.1-7, psalm 95, Romans 5.1-11, John 4.5-42

Where does God meet us? And who does God meet? Who is God interested in?

 If you were here last week, you will remember Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night.  A man at the centre of society, who walked away from Jesus for the time being in confusion. But he came and sought out Jesus, outside the temple, against the opinions of the religious elite. Later this will lead to risky discipleship at the crucifixion itself.

 Today we have something quite different. It’s a Samaritan – like the famed “Good” Samaritan – the man from whom nothing is expected, who surprises everyone. The Samaritans, as she says, are routinely discriminated against. For a Jew to share a drinking vessel, as Jesus shockingly suggests, is to be ritually unclean. We could draw parallels with the American South in the 60s, South Africa in the 90s, Princess Diana shaking the hands of AIDS patients; this is a breaking of apartheid. 

 And this is a woman. A woman, who Jesus asks, for a drink. It’s not quite ‘can I buy you a drink?’ but it’s not far off. There’s a little bit of flirt to convert going on here. At the time, a Jewish man couldn’t greet women in public. Even if she was his wife. “Blessed art thou O Lord who has not made me a woman” was a daily prayer, for men; it’s not a Woke time.

Jesus is crossing all sorts of lines here. He’s been disarmingly forward. And this is a well, Jacob’s well. Wells are the night clubs of the Old Testament.  Jacob’s well is in fact where Jacob first meets Rachel and kisses her, before eventually marrying her (and her sister as well – not a Richard Curtis ending). It’s also a well where Abraham’s servant goes to find a wife for Isaac – Jacob’s father. And how does the servant determine if he has found the right girl for his master’s son? It’s the girl who responds when he asks, “Let me sip a little water from your jar!” So with all this precedent, Jesus’ “give me a drink” to an unescorted Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well appears far from innocent.

 And in the exchange Jesus continues to attack these social boundaries. So when the woman suggestively claims she has no husband, Jesus agrees but points out that technically she has had nearly as many as the late lamented Elizabeth Taylor. Normally women come together to collect water in the cool of the day, but here she is alone at its hottest. This woman has all the whisper of scandal about her. 

This is not a #metoo moment, though, as another celebrated leader is shown up. This is Jesus cutting through taboo and prejudice to get to the heart of who this person really is. Not written off as ‘just a Samaritan’ ‘Just a woman’ ‘that woman’ 

This unlikely person is whom God has sought out. Not the learned, powerful man. But a woman of ill repute. And straight away the conversation cuts to the woman’s real anxiety: The Jews having returned from exile had banned the Samaritans from worshipping at Jerusalem, leaving them to mount Gerazion. 

The woman is confused. Is she excluded by God? And why would she not think so? She was born on the wrong side of the tracks. An excluded woman from an excluded ethnic group, why wouldn’t she also be excluded by God?

Jesus’ answer is typical of what will be the calling card of Christianity, a religion which from the beginning was a place of safety and freedom for women and slaves. It doesn’t matter where you worship, It doesn’t matter your sex or ethnicity, God ‘don’t know much about biology.’ We worship in Spirit and truth.

If you can’t come to church, you can still worship God. If you’re shy, ignored, avoided by other people, different, sick, you can still worship God. If you can’t speak out loud the words you can still worship God. If you’re self-isolating, you can still worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

And this relates to the living water. Still water, such as the water of Jacob’s well is stationary, available in one place, owned by a certain group of people, and ultimately stagnant. It’s like the six jars of water at the wedding two chapters ago which Jesus turned to wine – Truly living water!

 Even the water from the rock that Moses brought at Horeb is not this living water. The Gospel writers, especially Matthew, are keen for their readership to understand Jesus as a second Moses, Moses 2.0. So you’ll remember Matthew tells us of Herod slaughtering the children, just like in Moses’ day when he’s placed in the river in his little basket. Then there’s the flight to Egypt, and the main part of Jesus’ teaching is given in the Sermon on the Mount, a reference to Moses bringing down the 10 Commandments from Mount Sinai.

 But John’s Gospel goes one step further. Not only does Jesus feed people with bread, as Moses did with the Manna from heaven, and the living water, as Moses did at Horeb; Jesus is the bread and the water. He is the sustenance of God, our daily bread; In Christ we are one step closer; We no longer need the mediating prophet. We all have access to this grace. 

But living water, which in Aramaic is the expression they used for running water (like in a stream), has a deeper resonance – in the same way that when we say that someone is full of life they are not just very alive but full of energy; living water is freely available to all and cannot be constrained by geographic and social or political borders, or respectability. It flows, gives life and refreshes. It sparkles. It’s this sparkling we see between Jesus and the woman here; The San Pellegrino of waters.

 We see in this passage Jesus’ humanity.  He’s tired; he engages with the woman on a very human level.  He treats her as another person on a level with himself, and he is in a very human way interested and attracted to her.  It’s this engagement that is honest and on an equal ground that transforms the woman in helping to see herself to be of value. And in the joyful truth of what Jesus says, the woman wants to share it; the living water demands movement and so she brings others to hear of the essential equality of human beings that Jesus is proclaiming;  that the love of God is for all people regardless of race or gender and that to deny this is to fail to see that all people are beautiful; they are made in the image of God.

And as the woman comes away feeling valued from the encounter so does Jesus feel nourished in doing God’s work.  Jesus says ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ The woman leaves behind her water-jar.  The gift of valuing people has its own rewards.

Now you may be thinking this is all very well, but what I really wanted was another ten minutes of unqualified quasi-medical advice on COVID-19; I am sorry to disappoint. I began, though, by asking where does God meet us and who does God meet? This episode I think shows us that God meets us at the point of need. This woman met Jesus at a difficult time and uses her to re-integrate her into society and meet her deeper spiritual needs. 

These are difficult and unprecedented times. We don’t know what is before us. But there will likely be a great deal of need; Not just for the sick; but in anxiety, scarcity, frustration, isolation. I will keep the church open and services running as long as I am legally allowed, and will be praying for you as long as I am physically able. But know that God is with you always; and if there’s anything I can provide or help with, then let me know. 

And we know that God meets the outsider: The isolated, the rejected, the person in need. That may be anyone of us. God be with you.

But for all of us who are able there is a need now for Good Samaritans. At a time like this a nation, a community, can turn in upon itself; It can look after number one, pinch toilet roll from a neighbour’s basket, pull up the drawbridge. It can exploit weakness, stealing, rioting, taking advantage.

But there is also that Blitz spirit, which we know we have within us. We can look after one another, protect, care for, one another. I will work this week to create a list of our most vulnerable, that we can check in on one another.  If you know people who should be added let me know. They don’t have to go to church. And especially if people are self-isolating, if they are afraid to leave their home, we can help. And if you would be willing to undertake such trips then let us know in the office. It may only be a couple of people. It may become important later.

 I have also printed out some slips which you can take and post through neighbours’ doors if you feel able. We have been able to lead our community in its care of our homeless guests over the last five months, and we should be rightfully proud of that. This is another opportunity where we can lead our community in loving our neighbours in a time of need. There may be risk and there may be difficulty. We have a number of people who are often at the forefront, who this time we need instead to protect. But if we take our faith seriously and our calling to serve, then this is a task that falls to us now.