John 4:1b-26, 39-42
he [Jesus]left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. 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 worshipped 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 worshippers 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.
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 for 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 Saviour of the world.’
Sermon
Today we continue our series the gospel in glee where we are looking at the variety of ways the good news of Jesus Christ appears in what seems to be a completely irreligious tv musical program. One of the main story lines in glee is the relationship between Quinn and Finn. During season one they were romantically involved and Quinn winds up pregnant. Both Quinn and Finn carry the burden of the pregnancy in secret until she begins to show and Finn decides it’s time to let her parents know, which he does in song. You can imagine the intense feelings of both parent and child at the revelation. Quinn’s parents respond by kicking her out of the house. She becomes an outcast. That’s when her friends from the glee club step in. Something gets triggered inside them. They get the feeling. They have the intuition. They feel the prompt to reach out to Quinn and Finn. And in the end they express their solidarity with this song.
http://www.wat.tv/video/glee-cast-lean-on-me-latino-2fc6z_2jz7p_.html
You know as well as I know that there are times when being alone is too much. You know as well as I that there are times when you fell like an outcast, like an outsider to much of what is happening in the world around you, and it is just too much. You need someone to stand with you. To reach out to you. To comfort you. To strengthen you. To encourage you.
That is precisely what we see Jesus doing today in John chapter 4. Jesus gets the sense that there is someone somewhere who needs him. And he goes. The way the Bible says it is at the end of verse 1: “he [Jesus]left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria.” Jesus and his team are headed back to Galilee from Judea. And the Bible says they have to go through Samaria. Let me give you a quick geography lesson. It really is not true that you have to pass through Samaria to get from Judea to Galilee. Not one bit necessary. It’s like saying you have to go through Greenwood to get to Indianapolis. Or you have to go through Martinsville to get to Bloomington. Or that you have to go through Franklin to get to Columbus. You can if you want to, but you don’t have to.
But the Bible says that Jesus “had to go.” How so? You all know that Butler advanced to the Final Four again this weekend. Go dawgs! Butler has more going for it than a premier basketball program. It also has a great music program. In years past, before we had the music program that we do now at Risen Lord, we used to go to Butler to find singers and worship leaders. One of those worship leaders once told me that she and her sister were so close and aware of each other that no matter how far they were separated geographically, if one was down the other knew it. If one was depressed or distraught, it registered on the other sister’s mind or heart. If one of them needed support they knew it and called.
Jesus is so aware of people around him that no matter how far away he is geographically if there is a need or someone has been cast out or is distraught, he is there to lean on. He “had to go through Samaria” to meet someone who needed him.
My friends, you’ve gotta know that no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus is aware of it. You and he are connected in very deep and mysterious ways so that your hopes, your dreams, your hurts register in his heart. You’ve gotta know that no matter where you are, he’s going to be there.
The rest of the story completes the picture.
First, he knows precisely where to find you.
The Bible says that Jesus was headed through Samaria to cross paths with a woman. On foot, that could mean just about anything. Pretty general directions. It’s like my mother and father-in-law who were here a couple of weeks ago. They wanted to go to the Antique Mall in Edinburgh. I said let me draw you a map. My father-in-law said “No. We don’t need a map.” I said, “Really, I don’t know the address and your Garmen navigation won’t get you there.” Again he said “That’s ok.” I said “Do you know where you are going?” He pointed with his finger to the garage, kind of south and southeast and said “That way.” Typical man. He just wanted to get in the car and go and feel his way along.
Jesus and his disciples “went that away.” And came to the exact location at a well outside the town of Sychar: Jacob’s well to be precise. The disciples had gone into town to rustle up some grub and left Jesus at the well. And then she comes. The fact that we never learn her name isn’t important. What is important is that Jesus is there when she needs him. He is there when you need him, too. There is no place that you can go that Jesus can’t find you. There is no situation you will be in that Jesus won’t appear. As you stand beside the bed of a loved one in Critical Care, Jesus is there. As you walk back to your cubicle after a disappointing performance review at work, Jesus is there. As you drive down the road, listening to the radio when reports of a gun incident at your kid’s high school is reported, Jesus is there. Jesus knows where to find you when you need a shoulder to lean on. And he is there.
Second, Jesus knows when to find you.
The Bible says that it was about noon when Jesus met the woman at the well. That’s actually a little odd. Collecting water at mid-day. People didn’t usually gather water in the heat like that. You know how this works if you have ever been to Mexico. Mexicans have been smart enough culturally to develop what is called a "siesta." They work early morning to midday, and then take off a few hours for a big meal, catching up with family and maybe a nap. Then back to work late afternoon to evening. What they have found is that you’d be surprised how much more productive you can be when you’re not about to have a heat stroke. You’d be surprised how much better you can perform when sweat is not pouring into your eyes. Hot arid cultures understand this.
The land of Jesus is hot and arid. Women in Jesus’ day would go together in the morning cool or evening to collect water. They went together, in packs . . . you know how women stick together. But the woman Jesus met came at an odd time. It was unusual. It was out of the ordinary. She didn’t go to the well with the other women. Maybe she was just not a morning person. Maybe she had a late night with a sick loved one. We don’t know. But he knew, somehow, when to find her. Jesus knows when to find you. He knows your patterns throughout the day. He knows the people you do and do not travel with and why. He knows the seasons of your life.
Third, Jesus knows all about you.
That became clear when they began to speak. Jesus speaks to her with a familiarity that is striking. Here he is at a well in public with a woman whose name is never mentioned. And that he was speaking at all to her was astounding. Men didn’t address women in public. It just wasn’t done. It was against protocol. He asked her for a drink, to share her cup. In our day and age, you’ve got to know someone pretty well in order to share a drink from the same cup. That’s getting pretty close. And for a Jew to share a drink with a Samaritan, even more so! You can see how familiar Jesus is with her by their conversation. They talk about her track record with men. They talk about religion and even politics. The question about where to worship in Jerusalem or on “this mountain” was as much political as it was religious.
To have a conversation with him about all these things, to be so familiar with her as to ask for a sip of her cup, meant that Jesus was very familiar with her already. He knew her very well. In fact he knew her so well that she got the sense that her entire life had been opened to Jesus. With him she was exposed. With him she was revealed. With him she was seen in a way that others had missed.
And she was ecstatic. She was so moved by his gesture. She was so touched by his love. She was so strengthened by his presence that when she went back into town, she couldn’t stop talking about it. When she needed someone to lean on, Jesus was there.
You might wonder “how could Jesus have known where to find her?” You might wonder “how Jesus could know when to find her?” You might wonder “how could Jesus be so intimately familiar with her life?” How can Jesus know where and when to find you? How can Jesus be so familiar and intimate with your life?
I’ll tell you how. Because, you and he are connected. You are joined together in deep and mysterious ways. What you experience, what you feel, what you think all registers on his radar. It affects him. And when you have a special need to lean on him, he is there.
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