Holy Water
John 4: 1-15 March 3, 2002
Have you ever been working in the yard on a hot summer day and find yourself almost dying of thirst… I have… I’ll never forget the day I put down sod in my front yard… It must have been 90 plus degrees that day – I had bought 3 pallets of sod and once you buy it, you’ve only got about 3 days to lay it before it starts turning brown & dying…
I was determined to get through that afternoon so I was working like mad… but I was working so fast & so hard that I wore myself tired… I knew I needed to stop & rest & cool off with a few glasses of water, but I didn’t have time to stop for that – I had work to do…
So I continued working until I started seeing these little monkeys flying around – I’m serious… When you start seeing monkeys flying around, I’m afraid you’ve gone too far… Well, I had gone too far… In fact, I couldn’t even make into the house… I was so tired & so hot, & so thirsty, that I couldn’t walk… So, I just laid down on the porch to rest for a minute…
After laying there for several minutes, I heard a car pulling in the driveway & I opened my eyes just long enough to see it was Lori – but I was too comfortable to get up, so I just laid there…
When Lori got out of her car, I could hear her saying, Mike, Mike, Mike – are you okay, are you okay!!! I think I scarred her to death – she thought I had stroked out or something… I got up & walked in the house & set there in front of the air conditioning & drank about a gallon of cold water – and it was just what I needed… It literally brought me back to life…
When I finished sodding the yard, I vowed never to lay sod again – and to this day, I’ve kept my vows…
In our scripture this morning, John tells us the story of Jesus traveling from Judea back to Galilee – the Bible says that He had to go through Samaria… but it’s interesting to know, most Jews traveling this route chose not to go to Samaria… In fact, they went out of their way, adding distance to their trip to avoid Samaria – Yet, the Bible tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria…
That’s our first clue that Jesus is no ordinary Jew – He’s the messiah… Why did Jesus choose to go through Samaria? Well, according to scripture, we can assume that Jesus went through Samaria to share some Holy water with a Samaritan woman…
Verse 6 tells us that about the noon hour, Jesus, tired out by His journey, was sitting by the well known as Jacob’s well… That’s our second clue that Jesus is no ordinary Jew – Not only is He the messiah, but He is human – for He was tired out from traveling… He was tired & needed to rest… He was thirsty & needed a drink…
Our scripture tells us that a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well & Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 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.)
This is no ordinary meeting… First of all, woman didn’t usually come to the well until after sundown in the cool of the day… Yet, here we have a woman who has come to draw water during the noon hour – but of course, she is no ordinary woman – perhaps she has to come to the well at the noon hour because she is an outcast – perhaps the noon hour is the only hour that she is allowed to draw water – socially, she is probably not comfortable or not welcomed to join the other woman as they draw their water at sundown in the coolness of the day… if she wants water, she has to draw it during the hottest hour of the day…
But this particular day, as she comes to the well, she meets a man named Jesus… and she quickly discovers that this is no ordinary man… This man spoke to her… He asked her for a drink of water… And she was quite taken by this request… She replied, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”
And then Jesus does what He always does, He turns the table… He said to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked Him… and He would have given you living water…”
At first, she doesn’t understand what Jesus is talking about… For she said, “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep…” Just like many of us, she underestimated Jesus…
For Jesus wasn’t talking about ordinary water from an ordinary well… He was talking Holy water… He was talking about the Holy Spirit… water that puts an end to our thirst… water that brings eternal life…
Again, Jesus is talking about being born again – He is offering the woman eternal life – a life in the kingdom of God… Last Sunday, Jesus was telling this truth to Nicodemus & he didn’t understand it…
Today, this woman at the well doesn’t understand it either, but she believes Him & she says, “Sir, give me this water…”
That’s the key! Jesus offers eternal life to all who will accept it, but we have to ask…
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened…”
That’s the story of God’s grace… He offers it to all of us, and all we have to do is accept it…
These 3 beautiful babies that were baptized this morning don’t understand grace, but God poured His grace into their lives this morning by the Holy water & Spirit of baptism… Through their baptism, they have received the water that brings them eternal life & they will thirst no more…
The woman at the well didn’t understand it, but she accepted it… and it changed her life… She was an outcast, she was a loner, and she wasn’t accepted in her community until she accepted the living water from Jesus… And accepting Jesus changed her life…
That’s the God we serve! We are people who live an ordinary life… we go day to day doing ordinary things, going to ordinary places (like the woman at the well)… and it was an ordinary day that Jesus came to us & offered us a taste of His Holy living water… and when we accepted His offer, He transformed us from the ordinary into the supernatural…
No, Jesus had no bucket & the well was deep, but He didn’t need a bucket… for the water that He gives comes from a Holy well… It comes from above, not below…
What we need to see this morning is that we shouldn’t put limits on God… Once we encounter the power of Jesus, He takes the ordinary and makes it supernatural… He takes our lives, which are full of sin & darkness – and through His power from above, His Holy water & the Spirit, He washes us and makes us white as snow…
The real message in our scripture is that God’s grace changes the ordinary… The Samaritan woman was not even worthy enough to socialize within her own community – she was a reject to her society – she was an outcast… But look what happens when she meets Jesus…
THE ENCOUNTER: First of all, there was the encounter… She was doing ordinary daily things (going to the well to draw water) and Jesus met her where she was…
As we live our lives, doing ordinary daily things, Jesus comes to us also… It’s in our ordinary life that Jesus comes to us & He knocks on the door of our hearts… He doesn’t wait for us to do something out of the ordinary before He comes – He just comes to us in the ordinaries of life…
THE OFFER: And when Jesus comes to us – He comes with an offer… In the case of the Samaritan woman, Jesus could have just offered conversation – that by itself would have been enough out of the ordinary, a Jew speaking not only to a Samaritan, but a Samaritan woman… Or, He could have offered to draw the water for her, after all, He was the one that was thirsty & had asked her for a drink – the least He could have done was offer to draw the water… But that’s NOT what Jesus offered her… He offers her a drink of Holy water – water from the well of life… Living water – water that takes away your thirst & gives you eternal life…
That’s the same offer Jesus brings to us… He wants us to draw from the well of life – He wants us to quench our Spirit with the living water that will cause us to never be thirsty again – The Holy water that gives us eternal life…
THE CHANGE: Jesus made this offer to the Samaritan woman and in verse 15, “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water…’”
She was a pretty smart woman wasn’t she? It reminds me of the story about the 3 men who were out fishing one day & caught a mermaid… The mermaid said she would grant them each a wish if they would let her go…
So the 1st man said, “make me twice as smart as I already am…” The mermaid said, your wish is granted & immediately the man started quoting Shakespeare & had this extreme insight… The 2nd man said, “make be 3 times smarter than I already am…” The mermaid said, your wish is granted & immediately the man started quoting all these mathematical equations & explaining physics & chemistry…
Finally, the 3rd man said, “make me 5 times smarter than I already am…” The mermaid said, I’m not sure you know what you’re asking me to do – are you sure you want me to do that… The man insisted, that’s what he wants… So the mermaid said, your wish is granted – AND SHE TURNED HIM INTO A WOMAN! (Ladies, I try not to discriminate.)
Well, the Samaritan woman was smart… Jesus told her He could give her some living water – water that would cause her never to thirst again… and she called His bluff… She said, “Sir, give me this water!”
And friends, what happens next is so NOT ordinary… The woman was changed… I encourage you to go home & read the rest of the scripture… The Bible says that after speaking to Jesus, she left her water jar and went back to the city & told people about her encounter… and invited them to “come & see” for themselves… And because of her testimony, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus…
Many of them came to see Jesus & they invited Him to come stay with them… and He did for a few days… and during these few days, many more came to believe…
And it all started with an outcast Samaritan woman at the well… Because of her testimony, she became the first missionary to Samaria… and many came to believe…
That’s the power of Jesus! He comes to ordinary people, living ordinary lives & changes the ordinary into something Holy…
When Lawrence of Arabia was in Paris after WWI with some of his Arab friends, he showed them the sights of the city, but do you know what impressed them the most – it was the faucet in the hotel bathtub… They spent much of their time turning the faucets off & on… They were amazed that they could get all the water they wanted with just the turn of a knob…
As they were preparing to leave the hotel & return to the East, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches trying to disconnect the faucets… They thought if they took the faucets home with them, they would have all the water they wanted…
Lawrence had to explain to them that it wasn’t the faucets that provided the water, it was the massive reservoirs to which they were attached…
That’s the way it is with our Christian lives… Like the faucets are useless without the reservoir… Our lives are useless without Christ… we must be connected to the living water that flows from the grace of God…
That’s the offer that Jesus has for all of us this morning… “Come & drink from the well of grace – let the Holy water quench the thirst of your Spirit - and you, will never thirst again…”
These 3 babies, Garrett, Jacob, & Jacie have been washed in the living Holy water this morning – they will grow in the grace of God & become true disciples of Jesus Christ…
What we’ve seen this morning is the miracle of God’s grace… and having been a part of this miracle, a witness unto the grace of God, let us say, “Thanks be to God” & may each of us forevermore be changed as we live our lives as people of the Holy water…
This is the Word of the Lord for this day!
Amen & Amen
Rev. Mike DuBose
Newhebron United Methodist Church
Newhebron, MS
