"Living Water"
John 4:4-42
When I was entering the 6th grade my family moved to an entirely different part of the country and I, of course, entered an entirely different school.
It was a horrifying experience.
It was humiliating.
It was dehumanizing.
Why do I say that?
Because, on the first day of school not one person spoke to me or even looked my way.
When it was time for recess, all the other kids ran out to the playground to play soccer or football or whatever--and no one included me.
I just sat alone.
This was new to me.
I had never been alone before.
I had never been marginalized--at least not to this extent!!!
I felt like a nobody.
I couldn't understand why no one wanted to be my friend.
This went on for about a month.
And then, I remember the day that one child actually acknowledged my existence.
It was amazing.
It felt like a break through moment.
I went home exhilarated.
I wonder if you have ever felt like a nobody?
Or perhaps you have felt marginalized or treated as if you are "less than."
How did that make you feel?
Some people spend much of their lives feeling as if they are nobodies.
I have had periods when I have gotten a taste of this, but being raised as a middle to upper middle class white/Anglo Saxon in America really hasn't been very hard.
My parents made sure I always knew I was loved.
I went to college.
I was able to pursue whatever career path I wanted, and then, when I didn't like that path--I went back to school, got my Master's Degree from one of the top University's in the country and here I am doing what I have always felt called to do.
But what about the people who aren't born into such privilege?
At a recent minister's small group the discussion focused on race and poverty.
One of my colleagues--who serves a fairly wealthy lily white church said the following:
"If a couple who were well-dressed, well educated and making perhaps at least $175-$200,000 a year were to visit my church there would probably be about 15-20 people who would come over and greet them.
But if there were an overweight, not very well-dressed woman who came to visit no one would even say 'hi.'"
The last place a person should be marginalized, made to feel less than or like a nobody is in the Church.
And if a person is made to feel this way, one has to wonder if the spirit of the anti-Christ has not taken over the ranks of the congregation.
There can be no doubt that churches in America are on the decline.
It has been happening for quite some time, but has especially begun to speed up most in the past few years.
And it is happening in every denomination--including the non-denominational churches.
Why is this?
Could it be that we have gotten away from what it means to be people who follow Christ--people who truly love God and neighbor?
When asked in a Barna Research study to name the two main reasons why they do not attend church--Americans--especially young Americans said it is because they view churches as being ant-homosexual and judgmental.
Why was it that the church of Jesus Christ grew in the first place?
It was because those on the outside said, "Look how they love!"
"Look how they love the stranger, the outcast, the marginalized, the nobodies."
"I want to be loved like that."
"I want to love like that."
I am so impressed at how YOU--East Ridge United Methodist Church love!!!
You show the love of Christ to everyone who walks through these doors.
It doesn't matter how people dress.
It doesn't matter if they have any money.
It doesn't matter.
You treat everyone the same!!!
That is why YOU are beating the odds.
You are not in decline.
Jesus Christ is working through you.
The Holy Spirit is present.
Love is happening here.
And nobody feels like a nobody in this church.
You know, if I were to pick one story that shows us the most about Who Jesus Christ is, it would be our Gospel Lesson for this morning.
And that is because Jesus breaks just about every single accepted social and religious norm in this passage.
And in doing so, Jesus makes it clear that He is in love with humankind--no matter who they are, no matter their lifestyle, no matter their gender, no matter what!!!
And He treats everyone with dignity, respect, acceptance and love.
As followers of Christ, should we be expected to act any different toward those who fall outside the social and societal norms?
So let's take a look at what is going on in this passage.
In John Chapter 4 Jesus enters Samaria.
This is an area that most "self-respecting" religious people avoided at all cost.
Why?
One reason is that the Samaritans were what some might call "half-breeds."
They were a mixed race people.
They married people of different races.
Therefore, most Jews considered them to be impure and less than human.
Also, because they married outside of their race, they also married outside of their religion.
So, their beliefs fell somewhere in-between Judaism and Paganism.
Jews weren't allowed to socialize with them.
Another, really telling thing about Jesus in this passage is that the person He strikes up a conversation with is a Samaritan woman with a questionable reputation.
This was a major "taboo."
This alone could have gotten Jesus left hanging behind a barn somewhere by men in white sheets.
And the woman from Samaria knows this full well.
She is stunned by Jesus' most unusual and risky behavior.
We are told that the Samaritan woman said to Jesus: "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can you ask me for a drink?' [For Jews did not associate with Samaritans]."
Then Jesus does something really radical.
Jesus offers her a gift.
He calls it "living water."
And what He means by this is metaphorical.
It's a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.
He is offering her eternal life--salvation!!!
He is inviting her into the Kingdom of God.
And that is what Jesus does for everyone.
He invites everyone in.
No one is excluded.
No one is an outcast in God's eyes.
But in the eyes of the world this woman was a nobody.
She isn't even given a name.
Even the other "nobodies" in her own town don't want anything to do with her.
I mean, she is out by herself, collecting water from the well in the heat of the day.
She is all by herself.
She is the shunned person in her town.
She is the one who others gossip about and seek to exclude and push out.
In their eyes, she is a terrible sinner.
She is less than human.
She doesn't belong.
But to Jesus, at the moment He is speaking to her--she is the most important person in the world.
This Scripture lesson sure is good news for anyone who has ever felt the humiliation and pain of being treated like a nobody.
It 's also good news for people like me, for I sometimes feel like a nobody.
Sometimes I don't feel smart enough to be in the company I am with.
For instance, my brother-in-law is the Chief Financial Officer for Proctor and Gamble--one of the biggest companies in the world.
He is a very wealthy and powerful man.
He dines with presidents.
He travels all over the world in corporate jets.
He makes millions upon millions of dollars.
And, although I love him, he does have a tendency to treat others as "less than."
I'm sure he doesn't do this on purpose.
We people are so complicated.
I think, more than anything, he has some social hang-ups that cause him to behave in manners that give the impression that he is...well...a snob.
In all reality I think he is shy, and insecure...
...even if he is one of the most powerful and wealthy businessmen in America.
But forget how I might feel around some human folks.
How do I compare to God?
I am nothing!!!
I am nothing but a broken, lost, good for nothing sinner.
I sin in so many ways I can't even keep track.
But you know what?
Jesus, the King of kings--the Lord of lords...
...the One through Whom God created all that is and ever will be--loves a good for nothing nobody like me.
And that...
...that is all I really need.
But what rules are Jesus breaking to talk to a sinner like me?
What social and religious norms is He crossing in order to be my Savior, my God, my Friend?
Again, more than I could count, I'm afraid.
Do you know how many rules and laws there are in the Bible?
Do you know how many of them I keep?
I'll tell you one thing--it's a lot less than the number that I do keep.
Perhaps, I don't keep any of them.
I am a lost sinner.
Totally deprived and broken.
I am selfish, vain, and out for myself.
And yet God loves me anyway.
I sin in ways you could never imagine.
And God knows all this about me.
As a matter of fact, God knows everything about me--and yet He loves and accepts me anyway!!!
He even sees fit to allow me to be your pastor!!!
How about you?
What lines, traditions, customs, rules does Jesus have to cross to speak to you?
What are your sins?
What kinds of things do you do that only you and God know about?
We have an amazing God.
Just look at Him.
We see Him in Jesus.
And we see a lot about Jesus in our Gospel Lesson for this morning.
"The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming.
When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'
Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he.'
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?'"
"Come see a man who told me everything I ever did...and he loved me anyway!"
"Everything she ever did" is a long list of sins, and judgmental expressions from her neighbors.
"Everything she ever did" is how she has been made to feel about herself in this cruel and unforgiving world.
Jesus told her everything that she ever did and loved her anyway and that is what saved her life.
That is what saved her soul.
That is what gave her the confidence to run into that town that had treated her so bad and share the good news with her head held high!!!
She has seen God.
He knows everything about her, and unlike so many people and perhaps even herself--He loves her anyway.
As a matter of fact, He loves her more than anyone could ever imagine.
She is not a nobody.
And she becomes the first Apostle in the Bible.
She has met Christ, and has gone and told others about Him!
And the rest of the town becomes believers, at first because of her testimony, but later because Jesus gets to know them as well--sins and all--and loves them anyway.
Can we know about the sins of our neighbors and love them anyway?
Does God know about our sins and love us anyway?
Does that make us want to leap for joy and go running with our heads held high, praising His name, loving God and loving our sinful neighbors even as God loves our sinful selves--anyway?
I pray it does.
Because this is the only hope for the Church.
This is the only hope for a lost and dying world--a world filled with people who feel like they are being treated like nobodies.
