“God’s Promise is Sure, In Hope We Trust”

Exodus 17:1-7            John 4:5-42   2014

 

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

John 4:5-42

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The 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.) Jesus 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but 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.” The 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.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But 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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”  Just 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?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do 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. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They 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.”

 

     When Kathy and I first moved to Sneads Ferry, it was just

            a tiny fishing village, not even listed on state road maps.

It was so small and remote, that no matter how hungry you were,

        Dominoes wouldn’t deliver a pizza to Sneads Ferry…

                                       … it was too far and outside their delivery area.

 

In the ancient world,

    the gods were thought to be something like Dominoes Pizza –

                         - their delivery area was only

                                    within a certain limited geographical region…

            … and outside that area

                        they had no influence,  they couldn’t deliver a pizza.

 

    In the Exodus passage, the former slaves from Egypt were

              following Moses through the Sinai desert wilderness.

They had seen the mighty power of God all along the way,

    but now they faced another life-threatening problem, vs. 1, 2a

                From the wilderness the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”

 

Yes, they had seen the power of God vanquish the Egyptian army,

      time and time again God had demonstrated his faithfulness,

                            but if you have ever been out in the Sinai desert,

                                    you can understand and appreciate why the prospect

                                           of no water to drink might make you a bit cranky.

 

                In addition, there was the question and concern, had theyà

                        traveled into the wilderness beyond the range of God?

Was their God still with them, even out in that remote place,

  was God present and powerful enough to provide for them?

 

Many Bible commentators condemn the Israelites for forgetting

            so quickly all that God has done for them along the way.

 

But imagine you are truly thirsty in a totally desolate Desert,

     and the lives of your children and livestock are at risk…

 

      … for aren’t we too  overwhelmed, anxious and fearful at times,

                                    though in our own life experience,

                                        God has always been true, steadfast and faithful?

 

In addition, when they turned to Moses, his response does

     little to alleviate their thirst and frightened concerns.

vs. 2b

            Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"

                        or  "Why are you hassling me   ---    how dare you question God!"

 

And so, in their fear and thirst, they turn sharply on Moses, vs. 3 

            But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?"

 

Consider their situation and condition of feeling powerlessness.

            They are feeling  afraid, alone and abandoned in the desert.

If God really is powerful and present out in the wilderness,

            and if Moses is really leading according to God's will,

**                                              then why aren’t things going better for them?

 

Is it really better to die of thirst in the desert wilderness,

            than to have remained and lived in Egypt   even as slaves?"

These are the words of some very frightened and thirsty people.

 

Despite their long history

     of God 's unfailing love and faithful provision for their needs

            in crisis they question & doubt, "Is the Lord among us or not?

Isn’t this a question we have all asked,   “Is God really with me?”

 

* Is God, powerful enough and to actually be present with me,

      to guide and strengthen me,  and bring me through   even this?

Can God really heal my sickness, and provide for my needs?

            Can God comfort my deepest grief, regret and loneliness?

 

Can God truly make a difference, even now, in the 21^st century?

    Can God really effect the difficult circumstances of my life?

                        Does anything actually change or improve  when I pray?

 

                  How about when I’ve made a total mess of things,

                     and the wilderness I’m in,  is of my own fault and making?

 

            And have I strayed so far from God, from God’s will and Law,

                that now  I am so lost, that there is no going back home?

           

Listen to what God has to say to the grumbling Israelites  vs. 5~6 

            The LORD said to Moses, "… I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.”

 

This is pure grace, despite all your doubt, grumbling & griping,

    I am out in front of you providing the water you need to live…

                                    … you are most certainly not too far or distant,

                                           or outside the delivery area of the Lord’s love.

 

That same message of promise and hope is also

    the point and lesson of the woman at the well passage.

 

As John tells the story,

            Jesus is alone, tired and thirsty waiting at a well in Samaria

                        while his disciples have gone off to buy some food.

            It is noon, and a woman comes to the well alone, 

                        to draw water though it’s the heat of the day,   

                                    and Jesus asks her for a drink.

 

Typical of John’s gospel, there is a great deal more going on

            than just the literal meaning of the words …

… and more than just a simple historical account, ratherà

      it’s like a parable  with symbolism and theological teaching.

 

Culturally, Jews didn’t willingly travel in Samaria,

            women normally didn’t draw water alone in the heat of the day,

               and religious teachers didn’t look at or acknowledge women,

                                        usually not even a family member in public other,

                                                much less ever speak to a woman  he didn’t know.

 

To ask for a drink of water in that situation

            was an unheard of breach of protocol ---

 

- and at that time   in that Middle Eastern culture

            it was even more shocking to acknowledge a Samaritan woman

               as someone worthy of respect and conversation …

                                                            … and she is stunned by his request,  vs. 9

            The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”

                                   

Then Jesus answers by offering her,  “living-water”,

            and thinking in literal terms   she is confused,

                        for as she points out, he has no water bucket with him.           

 

Through her misunderstanding,

            we realize that Jesus is offering her grace, vs. 13-14

                        Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but 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.”

 

            Then the conversation shifts

                        when Jesus instructs her to bring her husband,

                                    and she replies that she is single.  vs. 17-18

            The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”

 

The text itself doesn’t explain why she has had five husbands,

            and also, Jesus never says to her, “go and sin no more.”

 

     Jesus saw someone trapped in an all too human situation,

            so he invites her to share her secret - to get it all out,

                    and don’t allow that to hinder you from coming to grace.

 

The message:            God delivers grace to wherever and whoever we are.

 

From Jesus the woman senses and receives

    compassion, kindness, respect as a human being,

                        which perhaps she hasn’t seen, received,

                            or felt from anyone for a very long time.

 

Jesus reached out to her by asking for a drink of water,

                            which led to a conversation with the Lord,

                            that changes and redirects her life …

            … for when Jesus told her he is the Messiah, she believed him.

                                   

Jesus connects with her, she is a fully worthwhile human being:

            her low status as a Samaritan,  that doesn’t matter

                 her low status as a women,    that doesn’t matter

                           her marital history and moral situation, don’t matter.

 

God’s love and grace extend to wherever she is,

    to whoever she is,   and even after whatever she has done.

                She was lost, but by grace  the Good Shepherd has found her.

 

Continuing, vs. 28-29  

            Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

 

“she left her water jar” --a specific detail and intentional phrase,

            that may symbolize   the old life that she is leaving behind,

                        and having received grace,  the living water of grace,

                            she herself has become a clay-vessel  figuratively,

                                    that will carry the living water back into the city.

 

In the Greek, “she left her water jar” is the same language

            as when the disciples left their nets

                to follow Jesus and become fishers of men.

And the language, in vs. 29,   “Come and See”, is the same as was used    

    to describe the call of Andrew and the call of Nathaniel.

                       

The point is being made that

    she will serve as an evangelist to the people of her city,

              by carrying the living-water, Gospel of grace  back to them.

 

This passage describes

            the process and ongoing story of the Christian Church…

… the Samaritan woman is a model of those responding to Christ

            then telling others about how that grace changed their life,

                        and then inviting others  to come and see for themselves.

 

It’s no great mystery or secret   that the task and purpose,

            that the continuing mission of the Church of Jesus Christ

                        is to reach out into the world,

                                    and invite them in  to receive God's love and mercy,

 

            and at the same time,

                        to minister and equip those already within the Church,

                                    by helping them grow in their walk with the Lord.

The Church's task, call and mission is to reflect God's love

            and to carry God's message of grace to the ends of the earth.

 

In the text of John we read,

            Jesus is explicit in challenging the church to fulfill

                        its ongoing mission to our world in need: vs. 35, 38

            But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. I send you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, you have entered into their labor.

 

As Christians we know and believe that the Lord is among us,

            even amid our most frightening and remote desert wilderness,

                                        and the grace of God in Jesus Christ

                                                  is the living water to quench our every thirst,

                        and no one is too distant or beyond

                            the reach and welcome of God’s grace … …

            … which we are called to live and reflect,

                        and make disciples of all, to the ends of the earth.

 

            Consider your own journey of faith,

                and why has the church been important to you?

What were some of the times of your life

   when the church has been most meaningful to you?

 

What were some hours of difficulty and struggle

   when the care and faith of Christian friends proved helpful?

                 Who were some of the people who helped

                        guide and encourage you along your spiritual journey?

 

 

**  Who could you speak a word about grace, and hope, and our Lord

             from your own real-life  experience of faith,

                        and say, like the woman of Samaria,    “come and see”?

 

                 Next week we are celebrating   “Bring a Friend Sunday”,

                        sponsored by our Congregational Life Ministry Team.

 

Statistically, probably more than half the people you know,

            friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, etc.

                        have not been to worship other than a wedding or funeral

                                    in at least the last six months…

            … and according to surveys,

                        many would be willing to come   if someone would ask,

                                    if they were invited  by someone they already know.

 

So, here’s our challenge this week:

            go through the contacts list on your cellphone or Facebook.

                                    One by one,  pray for each of them, and ask the Lord

                                                to show you who and to create the opportunity

                                                            for you to invite them to worship with you…

 

            … as in the words of Jesus:

                             I tell you,  look around you,

                                    and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.