Lent 3 (A) + Water is Life + 3.19.17

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http://cargocollective.com/emceegd/WATER-IS-LIFE-POSTER
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(Exodus 17:1–7; Ps. 95; Romans 5:1–11; John 4:5–42)
Water is life.
I love water. When I moved to Oxnard from Riverside, I realized how much I needed to be close to water. Seeing the ocean, it was like my senses re-hydrated. As much as I loved the beauty and the colors of the desert, something deep in my spirit yearned for water.
Water in the desert is a symbol of life. So when Jesus approaches this Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, and asks her for water, he is not just asking for a simple drink. He is asking for life. Something life-sustaining. And the location is not just a well, but it is a well dug out by an ancestor, Jacob, in the middle of an unforgiving desert. It is a reminder of God sustaining life, just like he did for the Israelites in the desert, for the people of Israel and for their not-so-close spiritual cousins, the Samaritans. See, the Samaritans have the same traditions as the Jews, but they did not follow all of the same laws, and that made them tricky for orthodox Jews to deal with. So tricky many Jews would take a days-long detour around the region instead of taking the route that Jesus was taking from Judea to Jerusalem.[1] But Jesus is not deterred. And here, he and the Samaritan woman meet at a well. A well of history, being a landmark of the Abrahamic faith. A source of life-giving water. A touchstone, if you will, of memory and connection. Remember that wells are where people meet in the Jewish scriptures. For example, take Jacob’s meet-cute with Rachel in Genesis, chapter 29. And this woman is longing for connection. She has experienced so much disconnection in her life, so much loss. Five husbands gone. Why, we don’t know, and in fact that is actually not our business to know. But she seeks connection. And she finds Jesus.
And, at first, she is not into it. What is this guy doing, asking me for water? Surely he knows the social rules. Jewish men would never deign to speak to Samaritan women. Too shocking. But Jesus, though still a good Jew (note the line “salvation comes from the Jews”), is playing by a different set of rules. And he asks the woman for water. It is her neighborhood well, after all.
And lo and behold, they get into this amazing discourse. And she realizes that, this connection she was looking for, she has it, but just not the way she had expected. And she realizes that Jesus is the well of living water. What is he promising her? Freedom from reliance on so many things. Freedom to live and move without the fear of thirst in the desert. She craves relationship, and while her human relationships have broken down, she is presented a love and a water source that sustains. She goes to the source and finds the true source. And he tells her all she has ever done.
Which makes me think of a movie we watched with G. this week after she read the Lois Lowry book in school, called The Giver (2014). In the story, there is a futuristic society in which all difference and emotion has been weeded out to avoid conflict and promote unity. And there is a young man who is entrusted with the job of learning the collective memories of humanity in order to be able to pass them on. As the young man learns the stories of the past, he sees how disconnected the people have become from their emotions and their history and he becomes convinced that he must find a way to break the barrier that has been set up between people and the complexity of their inner lives. He finds meaning in sharing with others memories of humanity, the good and the bad.
The woman of Samaria says of Jesus, “he tells me all I have ever done.” And she believes. Jesus roots and connects her with her past. And loves her still. And even though she still wonders what all this means: “Can he be the Messiah?” She believes. And she shares that belief with others.
It is fascinating to know that this is the first “I am” statement in John.[2] Not to a disciple, but to a woman who is completely outside of the fold. Jesus reveals himself to her and she believes. Much later, after we travel through the events of Jesus’ passion and death, on the resurrection morning, another woman sees Jesus, and is a bit unsure then, too – is he the gardener? And Mary realizes yes, this is the Rabbi whom I love. The Rabbi who knows all I have done, and loves me still.
This Lent, I invite you to approach God as this Samaritan woman, whatever your broken relationships or dreams may be. Let Jesus hold you in his loving gaze and tell you all you have ever done. And let Jesus love you and share living water with you. Water that will sustain you, no matter what life brings.
In The Giver, the protagonist Jonas must travel across a barren and then snowy landscape with a baby named Gabriel to make it to the place where he can release the peoples’ memories. And he shares how he shares all the life-sustaining memories with Gabriel in order to give him the strength to persevere.
God knows all we have ever done and gives us the strength to continue, no matter what our journey. And sometimes this comes in the form of mending our earthly relationships, too. Perhaps God is calling you to reconnect with a person who was dear to you but with whom you have broken or drifted from relationship. Sometimes feeling connected with each other helps us feel God’s love, too.
Or perhaps your relationship that needs mending may be with the earth, as we are exploring in our Lenten study. What about looking at how you use water, not just to fulfill city drought requirements, but in order to fully respect it as a source of life for us and for all humanity?
Whatever you feel led to restore and reconnect with this Lent, may you find a way to reconnect with the true source of living water, who brings life to the world.
Amen.


[2] Karoline Jacobsen, from “Sermon Brainwave #530 – Third Sunday in Lent,” (Posted March 11, 2017) https://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=859. 

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