Rev. Cari Pattison
Woodstock Reformed Church
Sunday, March 12, 2023
“Lent 3: When a Woman is Seen and Heard”
John 4:5-42
5So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The 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.) 10Jesus 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.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but 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.” 15The 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.”
16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’ 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27Just 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?” 28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on their way to him.
31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They 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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On the AT, the vitality of water, getting water for each other, filtering it- water was everything; on the AZT it was even more rare- remember we came to that cattle trough with green algae water
What are you truly thirsting for? What are the softer questions beneath your human defenses? In the parched places of your soul, what are you thirsting for to quench it?
Devil, then Nicodemus- contrast the Samaritan woman to this- his position and hers, time of day, outcome, status, names, what is each person seeking? What does each person gain? In looking at these stories side by side, what do you learn about Jesus?
Initial misunderstanding (like Nicodemus)
Gradual progression of recognition of who Jesus is
All the strikes against her- woman, Samaritan, outsider.
We have to remember there was a history of real conflict and violence between Jews and Samaritans of that time
Jesus did not have to go through Samaria, geographically- but he had to theologically. Because just before this, in John 3:16… “for God so loved the world,” and Samaria is part of the world. This woman is part of the world.
Her man or husband- the word used for her household partner can be ambiguous. Bereavement, abandonment, poverty- were the commonest circumstances to push a woman into an arrangement outside the law
She may have been barren- thus also having no family/children to help her with the water, etc.
“Living” here applied to water was applied to inanimate things that had power and motion, such as a blazing fire, a bubbling spring, or a flowing river. A deep well’s water, probably only seeping up through the sand at the bottom, does not seem to fit well into this category.
All the things that divide us- who’s right? This mountain or that one? Jesus says, “Neither.” That’s not what matters here.
Scene from movie, Harry Tysen, foot washing
John Powell: Meaningful bridging—like real integration—must acknowledge, respect, and appreciate difference as a starting point, not try to erase differences. Bridging requires more than just acknowledging the other but listening empathically and holding space for the other within our collective stories.
To bridge requires strength and empathy, but it does not require that we sacrifice our values or our identity. It also entails vulnerability. Bridging is so important because only bridging can heal a world of breaking, which is the dominant practice and discourse today. Breaking not only feeds off broad-scale social changes and polarization, it also propels them. By imagining together, we can use bridges to hear the other and help construct a larger more inclusive “we” where no group dominates or is left out.
Ken Ruge’s quote about attention…
Historically the archetypes for women, are only harlots, virgins, or mothers. What do we do with women who are none of the above? The women in scripture- and in real life- always defy these narrow roles.
Jesus pronounces no moral judgment on this woman; he is not concerned with the particulars. He knows exactly who she is- a beloved child of God. We put scandal on people where God does not.
“Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did”- I don’t see this as, oh here’s the guy who knows all my sin and sees through my façade- I see it as he also reflected back to her, knowing everything she ever did, that was also good and true and beautiful! That time that she helped a friend, that song she made up on the way to the well, that piece of handiwork she sewed and gave to a sick neighbor, that prayer she prayed for a revelation from God. That Jesus answers right here.
Jesus reveals himself to *her* as the first declaration of Messiah-ship)
Danielle Shroyer points out- Jesus gives us full permission here to ask for what we need. To be reminded that we need God. We need each other. Jesus risks a lot by speaking with this woman- crossing cultural, religious, and social lines- which demonstrates his willingness to be vulnerable. When he asks for what he needs, he shows that even he cannot make it alone. What a risk for the Son of God to be so openly human!
And yet it is this question- and his willingness- that leads to this woman’s transformation. Despite a long list of good reasons she shouldn’t be vulnerable to anyone, and perhaps shouldn’t trust men- she boldly asks Jesus for living water, trusting he would give it.
Karoline Lewis: Jesus’ question may have been a conversation starter, but it was essentially a request due to his human need. Jesus is worn out. He needs water, as does she. There is a mutuality of need present before the two ever utter words to each other. The reciprocity of relationship between Jesus and the woman.
Laruen Wright Pittman: “She needs to not be defined by the worst parts of her life, the number of her husbands, or others’ assumptions, but to be seen through the lens of mutual need- to be seen as one of the first witnesses of the Messiah, and now a vessel of living water herself.”
This Gospel story is a bridge-building one: a reminder to be brave enough to cross boundaries and offer a drink to those society may separate from us. It reminds us that God designed this whole world to run on benevolent connection. And that requires us to not just be charitable, but vulnerable. To sometimes ask for help or support or love.
When a woman is seen and heard, it’s not just about her! When a woman is seen and heard, she shares the good news that changes the world. This unnamed woman is the first evangelist! When a woman is seen and heard- she is blessed! Men are blessed! Communities are inspired and transformed! People walk away drinking from the living waters of Christ!
She leaves behind the jar she’s carrying, because she’s found something better. What jar can you set down this Lent? What burden can you unload?
How do we cross the barriers, politically, socially, culturally, religiously, in a context of mutual need?
I think of John in the housing units in Kingston- how he welcomed me in, gave me a drink, and prayed for me.