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. 2 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?” 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?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 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. 6 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. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A 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.) 9 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.) 10 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.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.” 15 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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27 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?” 28 Then 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?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 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. 36 The reaper is already receiving[e] wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 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.”
Raise your hand if you have ever been dehydrated? When your body had lost so much water as to make your lips stick to your gums, your eyes get itchy, your lips chapped, and your tongue pasty and dry. Your body is screaming for hydration! Sometimes no matter how much water you drink you cannot get ahead of it. My first hospitalization I was admitted for dehydration because my body was trying to fight the infection and all my systems were off. But we can get dehydrated after a long day of activity and very little water or because we do not have the right electrolytes. All of these are signs of physical dehydration.
We can also thirst for things beyond water. In the beginning of the week I was thirsty for sleep after the time change with my sleep patterns disturbed. Right now, with this coronavirus we thirst for answers, like what should we do, how long should we cancel events and stay home? How will my daily life change? Will I have enough toilet paper? We thirst for stability in the stock market especially when your fixed income is based on this performance. We thirst for an antidote for the fear that this novel virus has created. We thirst for leadership that provides tests to all who need it, and reliable information about how best to protect ourselves and our communities. We thirst for hope for the future. These are emotional or existential thirsts, yet we long for them just the same.
This week the reality of this virus hit home when cases were confirmed at our local elementary school. When a Supper cluster was cancelled for Saturday night. When Tom Hanks a beloved actor contracted the virus. When Cabrillo College canceled classes and moved to online classes. When the Governor mandated every gathering over 250 people be canceled within the state and no gatherings of older adults of ten or more. Given this new reality we will be cancelling worship for the next two weeks, at least. I will be redirecting my energies to calling members and checking in. If you would like a call or to chat please reach out if I have not gotten to you first. We will get through this challenge together and are seeking to use an abundance of caution. I trust that we will all start limiting our movement for a short period of time to reduce the risk and protect each other.
Both of our passages address thirst- the physical thirst and need for water. In Exodus, their thirst was so tremendous that it was life or death matter. So much so they were wanting to return to slavery rather than die in the desert. Wanting to do what is familiar rather than facing a challenge even when headed for the promised land. I think we can relate to that right now. We can be slaves to our daily activities wanting to continue going to our book clubs and our social gatherings, we want school to be in session, even wanting to work and be productive, when right now it truly is a life or death situation. Our nation realized the severity of the situation this week cancelling the NBA and other sporting season, closing Broadway, and schools. Our best course of action is to limit our movements, take care of ourselves and check in with our neighbors. So, in this time when we are not meeting as a congregation, I ask that each one of you dedicate an hour to be in communication with people in our congregation checking in, being neighbors and listening for ways to be supportive. Please share any pastoral concerns with me. Also, without our corporate time in worship I encourage you to make use of the Lenten Devotionals most of you already have in your home, to spend a few minutes every day in devotion to God. Our gracious God provided for the Israelites need by manifesting water out of a rock. Our same gracious God will journey with us through this uncharted territory. Lean into God’s care when the world seems to so chaotic.
The Samaritan woman went to the well in pursuit of water, to quench her thirst. But unlike the other women she came at high noon so that she would not interact with the women who would come in the cool of the morning. Hey, she was practicing Social Distancing, not out of a need for hygiene and safety, but out of shame. Jesus asks her for a drink and very quickly sees her pain. He is moving beyond the physical need for water to a more spiritual need for living water- the priceless gift he is now offering to her. The woman is alone in her pain at the source – at the well she will use to satisfy her thirst. Jesus then asks her about her weakness, her husband, hoping to get her to see her own spiritual need. The fact that Jesus knows she had 5 husbands shatters barriers, opens up her heart and her vulnerability and gets her to look in the mirror. To see her need for living water, her need to satisfy the thirst of her soul.
That is the beauty of our weaknesses. We can try to hide them, but it is when our weaknesses are brought into the light that Jesus’ love can heal them. So what is your weakness? What is the one thing you try to hide from God or the thing that keeps you thirsting for God’s love? Sharing your weakness can remain intimate just between you and Jesus. But it is in that intimate moment when her weakness is shared that her thirst is quenched, her life is changed. Much like when your sins are forgiven, and you are given new life in Christ.
Right now we are need of living water, healing water from Jesus because our world is so uncertain. This water will not come from a well or a faucet, but from Gods’ love for us through Jesus Christ.
Jesus knowing her weakness empowers her sharing of the gospel, telling others he is the Messiah. Admitting our weakness to God today also helps to quench our thirst for healing and grace.
Did you notice they never drank any water? Because the water Jesus was offering her is spiritual water, not physical. It is water that satisfies the soul and our existential needs.
Today we were going to have Meditative Communion- a time of silence with God within worship. Trying to address the corona virus, this idea came from the Enrichment committee and reminds us that the moment of communion is about our common union with God. We have used the bread and wine as a way of entering this space of common union, but it can be done on a spiritual level rather than a physical one. Much like when Jesus was talking about living water with the woman at the well. There are two main definitions of communion. The first we know focuses on the elements, “the service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consecrated and shared.” The second one is “Communion is the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.” I invite you to have a common union with God even in your own home. Share your feelings of fear and anxiety. Share with God your thoughts about how we will get through this. Share your panic about being isolated during this time. Our feelings can be seen as a weakness. But remember it was only when the woman shared her weakness, her shame, that she was connected to Jesus and offered living water.
I so wish we could be worshiping and communing together, but that is not meant to be right now. But we can sit quietly, focus on God and find unity with our divine.
Concluding Thought: Brian McLarin writes, “We all need wisdom to know our limits and keep our balance, to know when to say yes and when to say, “That’s enough” or “That’s unwise” or “This isn’t the right time.” We need wisdom to know when to ask for help- from a friend or professional- when we are in over our head.” Then he wonders if “the central purpose of religion and spirituality is to multiply contagious examples of maturity.” He concludes this daily devotion with “Aspire to be a “contagious example of maturity” (Seeking Aliveness, p. 328). Let us meet this virus with our own contagious examples of maturity seeking to quench our thirst with the living water of Christ. Amen
