The power of water

Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42

Our texts today are about water, in wells, or gushing or splashing or flowing living water. The Israelites are thirsty, and not happy about it. Moses asks God what can be done. God responds, “Go to this place, touch the rock with your trusty staff, and I will make water flow out.”

Paul doesn’t specifically mention baptism, but it is through faith, symbolized by the water of baptism, that we are made righteous, right with God.

… Before we talk about the Gospel story, I want to give you a brief explanation of the Samaritans and the Jews. The Exodus was most likely either 1446 BCE or 1225 BCE, according to the experts. When the Israelites finally moved into Canaan, each tribe claimed a region of land. King David united them into one kingdom named Israel in about 1,000 BCE, but it didn’t last long. There were wars, resulting in two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

The ten tribes in the north lived among people of many cultures, and they eventually intermarried with them. They believed only the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, were holy and claimed Gerazim as their holy mountain. Eventually, they became known as Samaritans.

 In the meantime, the two southern tribes, Judah and Simeon, called themselves Judah and still claimed Jerusalem as the holy mountain. They mostly avoided marrying outside the Jewish faith. For Judah, the holy scriptures included the Torah, the writings, and the prophets.

These differences made the Jews and Samaritans disrespect each other so much that they avoided contact with each other. By Jesus’ time, Judah was called Judea, and Samaria was a land mostly between Judea and Galilee. Jews walked longer distances to avoid traveling through Samaria. But, Jesus didn’t avoid it. Instead, he intentionally crossed boundaries to interact with Samaritans and other folks thought to be “other” at that time.

Today we have this story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. When Jews hear this story, told later by the disciples and reported by John, they know something special is going to happen, because lots of things in their history happened at a well.

Isaac’s servant finds Rebecca at a well. Jacob meets Rachel at a well, at noon. Moses meets Ziporah at a well. In all these stories, a man travels to a foreign land, meets a woman at a well, and they discuss water. Once water has been drawn, the woman leaves the well to tell her community about the man. Her community offers hospitality to the man, and the encounter concludes with their marriage. … In another well story, Hagar and her son Ishmael meet God at a well. Such scenes set up expectations for what is to come. 

Tradition has given the woman a name – Photina in Greek, referring to her enlightened status after this encounter. I’d rather give her a name from the Torah, so let’s call her Miriam.

… Jesus sends the disciples on an errand so he can talk with the woman without their interference, and their disruptive presence as Jewish men. Miriam herself is stunned that a Jewish man wants to speak with her. She, too, knows the stories about women and men meeting at a well. She is cautious for many reasons!

Jesus approaches her respectfully, and asks her for some water. This gives her a chance to respond. Which leads to the surprising theological conversation: Miriam knows her stuff and shares with Jesus her beliefs and even challenges his beliefs. In response, Jesus offers her an even better answer. He tells her that he knows who she is and what her life has been like. And he offers her not just well water but living water.

It’s important to notice that Jesus doesn’t judge Miriam for being a Samaritan. He doesn’t judge her for her past and present life situations. He doesn’t insist she become a Jew. He simply invites her to accept what he offers, living water. With that, she runs to tell the people in the town all about Jesus.

The people in the town – likely a mixture of Jews, Samaritans and other Gentiles – heed her invitation. Jesus stays there for two days teaching them about the reign of God in their midst and his role in it. The townsfolk believe Jesus, and that he is the savior of the world. There is a legendary tradition that Miriam became a key evangelist, in Nero’s household and was martyred.  

… There is power in water. Water that moves, like rivers and creeks, is called living water, compared to still water in wells or swimming pools. The waters of Niagara Falls have mighty power. Over time, even creek water carves a new or wider pathway.

[This is not me! I love how the image shows the spray of water!]

There is power in baptismal water, too. When I throw it at you-all, you tend to either duck or reach out for it. When we remember we are baptized, we have divine power to do mighty things. Baptismal water is living water, and it never stops moving, giving us Holy Spirit power to do amazing things: We can dig deeper into our pockets. We can serve on council or a committee. We can invite a friend to an event, and introduce them to other members. We can dare to try new things – like the maracas that show up when we are moved by the music to add them! We can pray, and trust that God hears our prayers, even when the answer seems to never come. …

I wonder, how God’s living water will move through you this week. Amen