“Going to the Well” A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett Preached at Pleasantville UCC, March 19, 2017 Lent 3, Year A Exodus 17:1-7 & John 4:1-30 Our Old Testament lesson for this 3rd Sunday in the Season of Lent comes from the book of Exodus. The Book of the Exodus is a story of liberation – it’s a story of how God liberated God’s people from slavery and lead them through the wilderness into the Promised Land. It’s a whole book devoted to people on a journey. Our text picks up with the Israelites sojourning in the desert. They have left the enslavement of Egypt, but haven’t made it to the Promised Land yet. Throughout their time of wandering in the wilderness, Israel continuously struggles “to believe and follow God’s leading.”1 In this text, “Moses comes into conflict with the Israelites because they have no water and [they] want to return to Egypt where water was plentiful.”2 (This is Israel’s “M.O.”: every time the going gets tough, they whine and complain about how great life was back in Egypt. In order to get the full impact of this story, let’s remember for a minute all that God has so far done for God’s people before we get to the moment described in this text: When they were slaves in Egypt and they cried out to God because of their suffering, God raised up a mighty prophet named Moses to lead them to safety. When Pharaoh wouldn’t release them from bondage, God strong-armed him with devastating plagues. When they didn’t know where to go, God lead them through the wilderness by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day.
1 John Shearman, [Midrash] Opening Comments Sunday March 19 2017 which is the Third Sunday in Lent. 2 John Shearman, [Midrash] Opening Comments Sunday March 19 2017 which is the Third Sunday in Lent.
-1Barrett
When the Egyptian army was bearing down upon them, God parted the waters of the Red Sea to bring them to safety. In this text, God instructs Moses to strike a rock in the desert causing water to miraculously flow from it. Let’s listen now for the word of God, as it is written in the Book that we Love. Read Exodus 17:-17 Our lesson from the Gospel is a story of healing and forgiveness. Two things from the story are important to lift up in order to get the full impact of it: 1) The woman at the well is a Samaritan Remember, in Jesus’ day, Jews considered Samaritans to be ritually impure and – for that reason – Jews would use nothing in common with Samaritans. That is why the Samaritan woman is astonished that Jesus will speak to her, let alone take water from her hand. 2) The curious detail that she has five husbands. As the story unfolds, one of the details which comes to light is the woman’s marital status. The woman has been married five times, and she is now living with a man who is not her husband. In Jesus’ day, Jews were allowed only three marriages. If the same standard was applicable among the Samaritans, then the woman’s life had been markedly immoral. By the cultural standards of Jesus’ day, this woman was clearly an outcast. The fact that she goes to the well at noon when others are sure to be indoors avoiding the heat of the day is another indication of her estrangement from society.
-2Barrett
In this story – as in the story from the book of Exodus – water has a symbolic meaning. “It represents the life of the Spirit which comes through faith. In this instance it may also symbolize the water of baptism which initiates our faith relationship with God.”3 There’s an interesting banter between Jesus and the Woman at the Well. Let’s listen closely to this story from the Book that we Love. Read John 4:1-30. +
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She didn’t want to see anyone that day. She didn’t feel up do it. Sometimes it wasn’t as bad as this, but today she felt like shattered glass. She just couldn’t stand to bump into anyone; to make polite conversation; to have to deal with their eyes, their questions, their judgments. She didn’t have to wear a veil to cover her face, but today she wished she could. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they were completely out of water, she’d never have left the house at all. As a rule, she tried to avoid meeting the women of the town. She knew they would carry their heavy jugs to the well early in the morning before it got too hot. So she had decided to wait until the very middle of the day. It was the hottest part of the day. Maybe waiting until then she could avoid seeing them.
3 John Shearman, [Midrash] Opening Comments Sunday March 19 2017 which is the Third Sunday in Lent.
-3Barrett
On a day like today she was glad to be as isolated as she was. No one spoke to her anymore. They just looked at each other and whispered. On a day like today, she was glad they didn’t even bother to be polite anymore. It was a relief to not have to deal with them. But her heart sank when she saw him there. A stranger in town. Worse than that – he looked Jewish. You didn't see too many Jews in Samaria these days. Most of the time, seems like they’d much rather avoid the area altogether. It didn’t matter to them if it added a few extra days to their journey. They were just as happy to take the long way around. Still, there was no avoiding him. They were out of water. She had to get water – again. God, how she wished she didn’t have to keep coming to this well all the time. It was strange – He was strange. He asked her for a drink of water. Didn’t seem to mind she was Samaritan. She knew they had never met, but when they spoke, she felt as if she had known him forever.
-4Barrett
And when he talked about the living waters; when he talked about the kind of water that heals; when he talked about the kind of water that quenches a thirst you didn’t even know you had – she began to feel something she hadn’t felt in a very very long time. Hope. She began to feel hope. Free. She began to feel like she didn’t have to hide anymore. Clean. She began to feel like he saw her for who she was and loved her anyway.
‘Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again.’
That’s what he said. There once was a woman so thirsty for something good in her life, she dreamed a dream that the next relationship would finally quench her thirst. But that woman is gone now. That woman is healed now. That woman knows the truth now – and she’s running back to town to share the good news with everyone she sees. Thanks be to God! Amen.
-5Barrett