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Pastor's Message
INTERIM PASTOR BRUCE CALKINS Changing the World - One Cup of Water at a Time John 4:5-42 Delivered on 2-24-08 by Bruce Calkins
Today's text is full of surprises - and humor - and double meanings. I think the early readers had some chuckles and smiles and tears.
¶ From the old stories, they knew what to expect when a man met a woman at a well. ?Rebekah met Isaac at a well - married him. ?Rachel met Jacob at a well - married him. ?And Zipporah met Moses at a well - married him. ? a good place to meet and exchange phone numbers.
¶ Now, Jesus meets a woman at the well. Something unexpected is about to happen.
¶ It begins at noon. A woman from the village comes to fill her jug with water. ? She's witty, outgoing, bright, self-assured, ? just the right amount of sarcasm and assertiveness - maybe too much for some folks. ? She seems to reject the role that society assigned to women back then.
¶ (THE CONVERSATION) She sees a man sitting by the well. "What is he doing there? Is he dangerous?" She can tell by his clothes that he's not from around there. Her heart starts to beat faster.
She thinks, "Maybe I should turn around and go back. No; it's to late he's already seen me. Act confident!" she says to herself.
¶ She nearly jumps out of her skin when he speaks to her. He quietly asks for a drink of water.
She says, "Why are you, asking me for a drink?" "You're Jewish aren't you? You're in Samaria now. And I am a SAMARITAN! - a heretic you say - your worst enemy! Did you forget that? "I'm not only a Samaritan, ? and proud of it; I'm also a woman ? and proud of it! "Didn't they teach you not to talk to a women in public?"
The stranger gives an unusual answer: "If you knew who it is who is asking you for a drink, you would ask, and he would give you living water!"
¶ She says, "HA! You don't have any water. You don't have a rope! You don't have a bucket! Or a cup!" She's heard come-ons before, but not like this! She wonders,"Is this guy crazy, or is he just kidding?"
Either way, she's enjoying the conversation. She's up to the challenge! She can handle this guy. She knows how to recognize a scam when she hears one!
She says "How are you going to get this living water, sir? Do you think you're better than Jacob, who gave us this well?"
¶ The stranger doesn't yell or turn his back. With a calm voice, he says, "The water I give is the source of life. If you drink it, you'll never be thirsty again!"
¶ So, she takes Jesus up on his offer, but in a mocking way, as if she's saying "Yeah, right!"
She says, "Okay, sir, give me this water. Does that mean I won't have to come back to this well every day? Does that mean I'll have running water right where I live? (Is this like one of those late night TV specials for $19.95?)"
Jesus shifts the discussion and says, "Go call your husband." She says, in effect, "What's my personal life got to do with this? Besides, I don't have a husband!"
I think her voice is saying, "I don't depend on someone else to tell me what to believe!
That could have ended the conversation. She was ready to end it. She may have started to walk away, but Jesus stuns her by saying, "You're right in saying you have no husband. You've had five husbands! And the man you're with now isn't your legal husband." ¶ (That's a record that will stand until someone named Elizabeth Taylor comes along.)
That // gets her attention! Her jaw drops! ? There's no more sarcasm. Who is this stranger?!
¶ (THE HUSBANDS) If the word "husband" meant the same thing then as it does today, then she had a lot of trouble with long-term relationships, or with husbands who died.
¶ But John is always writing things with double meanings. NT scholars say there's another explanation for those five husbands.
The Book of II Kings (17:24, 30-31), Assyria sent five tribes into Israel to takeover the land and replace the Jews. Each tribe had its own god.
? The scholars say that the gods of these five tribes were worshiped by the Samaritans. They say that the five husbands refer to those five gods.
The Samaritans also worshiped Yahweh, but the Jews thought it wasn't a "real marriage;" because they worshiped on Mount Gerizim instead of in the Temple.
When Jesus mentions the five husbands, the conversation changes.
I used to think that the woman changed the subject because it was getting too personal. But everything in the story fits together if she understands that the word means both "husband" or "a god!"
I think she does realize what this stranger is saying: The Samaritans have tried five gods. They've been bouncing around from one god to another.
This conversation is suddenly deeper.
¶ The Samaritan woman asks a theological question. It's the old argument between the Jews and the Samaritans. Where should we worship God?
This stranger speaks of a new kind of worship. It's not related to place. For the first time, she doesn't know what to say, but she keeps talking anyway.
She comes out with a nice, safe religious cliche: She says, "I know the Messiah is coming. When the Messiah comes, all these questions will be answered."
Then Jesus says, "I who speak to you am he!" She finally discovers that the conversation isn't about water!! It's not about husbands. It's not about worshiping on mountains and Temples.
All her beliefs are turned upside down!!! ? Her belief that Samaritans and Jews should be enemies is wrong! ? The belief about the second class role of women is wrong!
Her life is transformed! She can hardly wait to tell everyone! Her cup is over flowing!! Tears pour down her face.
This is more love and acceptance than she has ever know before! She has inner peace and joy that's bubbling over. She has to tell others about the Living Water - about this Messiah!
She leaves her water jug and runs back to the village. She's out of breath as she says, "I've found the Messiah!! Come and see!" And they come! And Jesus welcomes all the Samaritans! They asked him to stay, and he does! And they say, "Now we believe that you are the Savior of the world!!"
¶ Jesus has moved from being "a Jew" to "a prophet" to "the Messiah" and NOW to "the Savior of the world!!"
¶ Jesus wasn't looking for a wife at that well but for a witness ? someone who would recognize him as the Savior of the world and introduce him to the people of the world.
Jesus chose the most unlikely person imaginable to be his first missionary. - a Samaritan and a woman - imagine that! But that's how Jesus is.
¶ Jesus broke new ground on the equality of the sexes. It took society and the church a couple of thousand years to partly catch up. ? We still haven't caught up with the way Jesus' welcomes the poor.
? And every generation has created its own brand of Samaritans. Every generation finds a group to treat as outcasts. We still haven't caught up with Jesus!
¶ He says "I'm the one you've been looking for! Ask me to stay! He's not just saying this to a Samaritan village 2,000 years ago. He's saying this to you and me / right at this moment!
¶ He says "I'm the one you've been looking for! Ask me to stay! Let me give you the Living Water!"
Yes, Jesus, "Fill my cup; let it overflow with love!" ********************************************************************************* Preached 1-20-08 by Bruce Calkins. Many of the quotes are from Hold Fast to the Dream Remembering Isaiah 49:1-7 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 #379 "My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less"; #404 "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" "We Shall Overcome"
Today's sermon will different from any that I've ever given. To some it won't sound like I'm explaining the Bible. To others it will. I'll be reading some powerful words and speaking about some powerful actions. They're based on what Jesus said and did.
(AMERICA IN THE 1940's AND 1950's) Martin Luther King Jr. has change the way many people understand the Gospel, democracy, race relations, and human relations. As he was growing up, he couldn't buy a Coke or a hamburger at any downtown store. He couldn't sit at a lunch counter. He couldn't drink water at the "whites only" water fountains. He couldn't ride on the "whites only" elevators.
He said: "Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means watching your own children grow up with feelings of inferiority. It means having your legs cut off, and then being condemned for being a cripple. ..." But he never tried to go-it-alone. One of his favorite songs was,
Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light: Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
MONTGOMERY The treatment of blacks in Montgomery was terrible. It was more than sitting in the back of the bus. A black who was blind took too long getting on the bus, so the driver closed the door with his leg in it and dragged him for two blocks. A man argued about the bus fare. The police shot him for arguing with a white man.
Tensions were high. There was a meeting of the Black churches. Martin Luther King was elected to organize a response to the crisis. Here's what he said at that meeting.
"In our protests, there will be no cross burnings. No white person will be taken from his home by a hooded Negro mob and brutally murdered. We will be guided by the highest principles of law and order...the deepest principles of our Christian faith. Love must be our regulating ideal.... If we fail to do this, our protest will end up as a meaningless drama on the stage of history. ... We must not become bitter and end up by hating our white brothers. Let no people pull you down so low as to make you hate them."
They organized a boycott of the Montgomery buses. And they sang, "We shall overcome."
And there was SELMA. Voting rights ? bloody Sunday - - - On Tuesday - - - (I sat right behind Martin Luther King. I thought "Wow!")
On Wednesday, they began the long, slow, and dangerous march from Selma to Montgomery. Thursday, I returned to the Bronx and followed the progress on the news.
A member of the church, Mrs. Thelma Duany, gave me an oil painting she had made. - - - Years later, I visited the Martin Luther King memorial - - I wrote in the visitors book, "I went part of the way. Martin Luther King Jr. went all the way."
¶ And the people were able to sing. We are not afraid We are not afraid, ... Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, that we shall overcome some day.
And there was BIRMINGHAM CHURCH BOMBING ? On the way to Hattiesburg, we went by the church in Birmingham. - - - THE STAINED GLASS WORK OF ART - - -
The police commissioner in Birmingham was "Bull" Connor. ... He promised that "blood would run in the streets" before Birmingham would desegregate.
On April 3, 1963, the protest in Birmingham began, with boycotts, sit‑ins, and marches. Protesters were arrested by the hundreds, and hundreds more came. The jail was packed with over three thousand people. King was one of them. ...
He read a letter in a newspaper in which several white clergy criticized him for pushing integration too quickly. King used the backs of envelopes and other scraps of paper to write a response. It became known as the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail." Here's part of it: "You told us that our protests were "untimely" and that we should trust you and "wait." For centuries, the Negro has heard "wait;" and "wait" has nearly always meant "Never." We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God‑given rights..." Later in the letter he said, ... "We will have to repent not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
Out on the streets, "Bull" Connor had firemen turn the hoses on the marchers. Water crashed into children and adults, knocking them down, ripping their clothing, smashing them against walls. Then he let the dogs loose. You've probably seen rebroadcast of it on TV.
The turning point came when three thousand young people went on a prayer vigil to the Birmingham jail, where King and others were being held. The police threatened them and screamed at them, but all they did was kneel in prayer. Finally, one of the protesters stood up and said, "We're not turning back. We haven't done anything wrong. All we want is our freedom...."
"Bull" Connor yelled at his men to turn on the hoses! Nobody moved. The young people kept praying. Bull yelled again, but the men dropped their hoses. One of the firemen began crying. One of them said, "We can't continue to do this." Nobody spoke again. Nobody got hurt. Soon after that, the businesses of Birmingham agreed to integrate.
And the people sang: The only Chain that we can stand, is the chain of hand in hand... Keep your eyes on the prize, Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Keep your eyes on the prize, Hold on.
WASHINGTON D.C. - August 28, 1963: It was the largest civil rights demonstration ever. Our church brought a bus full of folks from the Bronx.
I still remember my skin tingling as King said: "I have a dream that one day "every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed."
Then he started naming places ? safe places, up North. "... So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let Freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!"
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain Georgia!" I stood up taller when he mentioned Georgia. You could get killed for talking like that in Georgia.
Then he said, "Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi." There was moisture in my eyes! He mentioned Mississippi by name!!! I'd been there when someone who tried to register to vote was arrested for drug possession because he had Aspirin! The crowd was cheering. I was cheering.
And the people sang: "We Shall Overcome, ... Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day.
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