Both our Hebrew scripture and our gospel lesson this morning have water at the heart of their story: the miracle of water coming from a rock at the command of Moses (with a little help from God) in Exodus, and the living water Jesus talks about with the woman from Samaria at Jacob’s well in the gospel according to John.
The water from a rock could be literal, and with a little imagination, could also be symbolic, but the living water of John’s gospel is clearly metaphorical, at least, it is to me. We all know how important water is to life on earth: very few living things can exist without water for very long. Humans are made of 55-60% water, and can only survive about 3 days without it. Too little water leads to dehydration, and possibly death, and too much water dilutes the amount of sodium in our bodies, and can also lead to death. Water comprises about 71% of the earth’s surface, and 96.5% of the earth’s water is found in the oceans. That means that the remaining 3.5% of earth’s water is fresh water, the kind that we all need to stay alive. Until the last few decades, scientists believed that only earth had water. We know now that water in the form of ice has been found on the moon, on Mars, and is now thought to be present across the universe in various places. Being without water in a desert, though, is a serious situation, and the people of Israel who were following Moses in the desert were either without water, or didn’t have enough for everyone. Moses grew angry with the people’s quarrelling with him, and considered their quarrelling with him to be testing God, and God’s ability to bring them safely through the desert. Exasperated, Moses cried out to the Lord that the situation was getting desperate, he feared that the people were going to stone him in anger. God’s response was to instruct Moses to gather some of the elders, and using the staff with which he had struck the Nile and parted the waters, strike the rock at Horeb. When he did so, water flowed from the rock, and the people were saved. That sacred site was named Massah and Meribah, which are the Hebrew root words for quarrel and test. In the Hebrew tradition, when a person or place is ‘named’, it shows a particular significance, especially here. So this place, at a rock at the foot of Mt. Horeb, is now forever know as Massah and Meribah, and serves as a reminder of when the people of Israel quarreled with Moses, and put God to the test, and reminds the faithful of the lesson learned on that day. Another sacred site for the people of Israel is Jacob’s well. There, Jacob, and his sons, drew water that nourished their families, and their flocks. In our gospel passage, Jesus was resting there when he began to speak with a woman from Samaria. This is unusual for 2 reason: one, single men didn’t talk to women in public places, and two, Samarian people did not get along with Jewish people, their cultures were in conflict. For Jesus to engage in an in-depth conversation with a woman from Samaria would have been scandalous at the very least, and this explains why the disciples, upon returning to the well, were astonished at what was happening. This broke several well-known social rules, and maybe a few religious ones as well. But the importance of this story isn’t Jesus and his culture-busting behavior. It’s not even the water in the well that had drawn them there. The important component of this particular story, for this particular time is the living water Jesus speaks about, ‘a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’. Living water that quenches spiritual thirst, that provides spiritual life. We can’t get it from a rock, we can’t get it from a well, or a faucet, or from the cooler at a convenience store. The living water Jesus is talking about is for our spirits, and it comes from the Holy Spirit. For some, the living water is found in music. Sacred music. For others, it’s in prayer. For still others, it’s in the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. For some, it’s in obedience, and others it’s in faithfully asking the hard questions. Similarly, when Jesus speaks of the food that his disciples know nothing about, he isn’t referring to a secret stash of food, he’s speaking about spiritual food, that which feeds our souls. Have you ever thought about what feeds your soul? Have you ever thought about what quenches your spiritual thirst? Are those the kind of things that you actively seek in your life, or are you surprised when you suddenly experience spiritual food and living water, and the relief that they can bring? Are you aware of your spiritual hunger and thirst? Here’s an interesting thing: the 4 verses before this morning’s scripture say this: Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John”-although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized- he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. After learning that the Pharisees were aware that he was gathering disciples, that his following was growing, Jesus went to the least likely place to convert disciples: Samaria. And not only did he convert the one woman at the well, but the passage tells us that many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, and many more believed in him because of his own word. It appears that the Pharisees didn’t scare Jesus one bit. Jesus used the metaphors of spiritual food and living waters to the spiritually hungry and thirsty to describe his ministry. And even though his new followers didn’t know it, they were starving, and dehydrated spiritually. And, after interacting with him, like many before them, they became followers of his way. The people of Israel, traveling in the desert, knew that they were in a desert. But do you think the woman from Samaria knew she was in a spiritual desert? Not until she started speaking with Jesus. And not only did that conversation convert her to being a follower, she convinced many other neighbors to be followers, too. So many of our neighbors are in spiritual deserts. The cultural food and drink that we all can get from the media, from celebrity, from acquiring material possessions is spiritually empty, and ultimately not satisfying. Who do you think should be telling our neighbors about this spiritual food and living waters? I think maybe we should. I think that in this story, in the gospel lesson this morning, you and I are the woman from Samaria. And we are called upon to act on our beliefs and to share the good news with those who haven’t yet heard it, or have heard it, but aren’t yet ready to believe it. Something about our gathering, something about our singing, something about our praying, and our fellowship feeds our souls. The spiritual food and living waters found in our worship, our mission, and our stewardship, are meant to be shared. The Holy Spirit feeds us when we’re together, and when we are apart, but especially when we are intentionally living out our faith lives. The water Moses brought forth from the rock at Massah and Meribah with God’s help was in response to an emergency. The people of Israel followed Moses out into the desert, and without water, they would have died. They marked that spot as the place where they quarreled with Moses and tested God. The water Jesus talked about with the woman from Samaria at Jacob’s well is in response to a different kind of emergency. A spiritual emergency. Would the Samaritan woman have died with without it? Probably not. Spiritual food and living water lift and sustain our spirits, and it is available to anyone who needs it. I believe we need both types of water in order to be fully ourselves. And when we understand how and where we can get the living water Jesus offers, we are more spiritually whole, as well. Sometime this week, consider reflecting on where you receive the spiritual food and living water that Jesus offers, and what you do with it once you’ve partaken. And, if you are really bold, maybe you would consider telling one other person about it. Amen.
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The contrast between our Hebrew Scripture and our Gospel Lesson couldn’t be more stark: Abram’s response to God’s call was to immediately obey. And, we know from other stories, that Abram, or Abraham, obeyed God’s call time and time again throughout his long life. He was ready to sacrifice his son for God, if that’s what it was going to take to be obedient.
Nicodemus, on the other hand, has a few questions! Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a church leader, and, he was taking a great risk going to Jesus to ask questions. It would not have been good for him to be seen with Jesus, but something compelled him to go and speak with him. Other stories about Nicodemus have him defending Jesus after he is arrested, pointing out that Jesus should have a fair trial, and finally, Nicodemus shows up after Jesus has died to help with his burial. Both faith responses, absolute obedience, and healthy skepticism are represented many times in the bible, and in real life. At one time or another, we’ve all received a call from God. We may not have heard it, it may have been a still, small voice, or it may have been a booming commandment. But as God’s children, God calls us to live faithful lives, to love our neighbors, even love our enemies. Looking inside ourselves for a moment, how have we responded to God’s call? More like Abraham, or more like Nicodemus? I’d hazard a guess that the majority of us are more like Nicodemus! Drawn to God and to Jesus, but needing some logical answers before we commit. I believe very strongly that while there is an obvious difference between Abraham and Nicodemus in their responses, both are acceptable to God. Of course, God would appreciate all of us acting as quickly and as faithfully as Abraham, but I also believe that God patiently tolerates our questions. God is a big enough God to handle any question we could come up with! Jesus wasn’t afraid of Nicodemus and his questions, he wasn’t even annoyed. Given enough time, the Nicodemus in all of us will come to the conclusion that obedience to God and God’s son is the way to go. Nicodemus had heard enough from Jesus to take a public stand after Jesus was arrested, and he was strong enough in his faith to publicly assist with our Savior’s burial. Given that Lent is a journey, the challenge I have for you today is this: I’d like us to reflect on whether we are more like Abraham, or more like Nicodemus in our responses to God’s call. Over the course of our lives, have we responded with obedience, or with questions? If you have examples of how you are like Abraham, what did you do in obedience to God’s call? If more like Nicodemus, what questions did you need to have answered before you were willing to act? In my own life, having felt a call to ministry even as I was in high school, and at first I responded more like Jonah! I went in the other direction! I felt very strongly that my ministry was serving the developmentally or intellectually disabled, and so I set my course on learning psychology, on getting jobs serving people with disabilities. But God’s call was persistent. And there came a time when I couldn’t hide from it any more. The call to go to seminary was strong. Do you think I simply packed everything up and showed up on the front steps of Colgate Rochester Divinity School? Nope! I asked questions! A lot of questions! Betsy and I attended a conference for potential seminarians, where we could ask students and professors and administrators all the questions we wanted, to our hearts content. Of course, everybody there was prepared to answer questions about how I could go to seminary. Nobody there was prepared to answer questions about if I should go to seminary! I was expected to find that answer on my own. That was a question better addressed to God. The God that expects obedience, but patiently tolerates pesky questions! While the bible tells of people like Abraham, those who hear God’s call clearly and immediately obey, most of us will hedge toward Nicodemus in our responses. As modern children of God, we have more information, more knowledge about the sacred, and about life in general, than people like Abraham ever did. But some will argue that in the end, the only thing that matters is whether we faithfully obey. The path we take is less important than our ultimate response. The faith world needs Abrahams, Naomis, Esthers, Jonah’s, Isaiahs, Elijahs. All with their own way of answering God’s call. And the faith world needs us, reflecting on how God is calling us to act today, and tomorrow. It doesn’t matter if we are 4, or 94, the God that is Still Speaking speaks to us, calls to us, beckons us. And I want to reassure you that it’s OK to ask questions! It’s not considered unfaithful, disrespectful, or impertinent. Of course, like Nicodemus, we may not get the answers we are hoping for, we may not understand the answers, it may not help us make decisions about our obedience, but it’s OK to ask questions! In the Spiritual Direction leadership program I’m in, we’re learning to ask questions about the possible fruits of an action: ‘what would happen if I did this’, or, ‘what benefits will occur if I do that’. ‘What would God want me to do, and what are the possible fruits of that action?’ ‘Who gains from my actions, me, or someone else?’ Human-kind has spent the last 2 millennia developing its intellect, its logic, its collective understanding of the universe. And the more complex the thinking about the universe, the harder it is to respond to God like Abraham. But if we’re going to ask questions like Nicodemus, at the very least we might want to ask the right questions! I take it on faith that God calls to each of us, in some unique and special way. Do we hear it? Every once in a while, we might hear something, maybe a faint whisper. But our faith tells us that the call is there, whether we hear it or not. The first step is to start listening. Nobody can say, I’m too old, or I’m too young, or I’m a lost cause….God reaches out to all of us, calls to all of us, loves all of us… And God aches for our responses. Imagine a world where God’s faithful children put extra effort into listening for what God is saying: we can make that world happen simply by listening for God in our own lives. And the beauty is that we can ask all the questions we want! The story of Jesus needed an Abraham at the beginning and the story of Jesus needed a Nicodemus at the end. The key to hearing God’s call, and being able to respond faithfully is no surprise: it’s prayer. It’s being in prayer, not just on Sunday mornings when we gather to worship our God, but being in prayer in the morning, or during the day, or in the evening, or whenever we have a quick moment. And prayer often takes the form of a question, doesn’t it? Asking God questions is really just praying! Who knew? Asking the questions we need to ask is really just prayer. And the more we ask, the more we pray. And the more we ask, the better the likelihood that we will hear an answer. An answer from the patient God who aches to be in contact with us! I don’t believe God interacts with us like God did with Abraham: very few of us will ever be asked to do the things God asked Abraham to do. But many of us will find ourselves asking questions like Nicodemus did. Many of us will feel like we need to be private, discreet about our questions. We may feel insecure, or unfaithful. Let’s not worry about that. Because if we’re asking questions, it means we’re engaging our faith, engaging our God. And that is a good thing! We can learn a lot from the persistence and temerity Nicodemus showed. And while we can’t know the details of what he learned from his questions, his behavior tells us that he was convinced enough to act faithfully, in public, at great risk for his safety and his standing in the community. He asked the questions, he engaged the sacred, and he acted. I pray we can do the same. Amen. |
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