Living Water John 4: 5 30; Exodus 17:1 7 Every story in scripture has a key word or a key line And the key word or line for me in this story is living water When I read this passage about Jacob s well, I couldn t help but think of Kehlson s well in Malawi. It is located in the middle of arid land but all around this well There are crops growing because they are irrigated by the water And there were children there, laughing and playing Because they had clean water to drink and bath in, And a young mother came to the well with her baby And she had a five gallon bucket on her head to carry water And I couldn t help but think of the Samaritan women Who also went to the well to get water with her bucket and I thought about the Malawi woman and the Samaritan women who were able to provide for their family because of the well. Water has the ability to give life to plants, to children, To families, to a village. And yet when our mission team went to Peru with several doctors They went to a place that had water but it wasn t clean water.
On this first visit they were very busy treating the people for parasites and they decided that a better solution would be to provide filtration buckets so families could get clean water and not get parasites from the infected water in the first place. So we know that all water is not life giving it must be clean water. And yet that doesn t quite cover the nuance of Jesus statement 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. It s the water, but it s a lot more than the water. It is the gift of God grace and forgiveness; And it is the one who gives us that grace Jesus the Christ. So who would be the Samaritan woman in our community. What would the gift of living water look like in our world. Every time I turn on a faucet since my trip to Malawi And there is plentiful, clean water at my fingertips I am amazed and a little bit embarrassed that we take This gift of life giving water for granted. And yet I know that there are people in our community of plentiful clean water who need the life giving water that Jesus was speaking about but who?
I was at a breakfast just three days ago put on by Right Turn for Re entry. It was a breakfast to get the faith community more involved in Helping prisoners who had served their time Re enter into society In the right way, after their prison time was done. It was an amazing group that included a judge, social workers, law enforcement officials, parole officers, pastors, prison volunteers And in the midst of this august body a women stood to speak. She told of being born to a mother and father who were both addicts. She told of her own journey of being molested as a young child, Raped as an adolescent and her addiction to alcohol and drugs. She was very much a part of the underside of Jefferson City And she was arrested several time for DWI And finally for a crime involving a weapon and a victim And sentenced to 18 years in jail. She was someone that society had given up on. And yet during her time in jail she starting going to worship and Bible study She became convicted of the presence of God in her life And the life giving power of Jesus Christ to change her life, Even when the rest of the world had given up on her. And as I sat a listened to her story, I knew I was meeting my Samaritan women.
And you know what she did when she got out of jail She went to a half way house, lived there and started telling her story to other women who society had given up on. She volunteered in the local jail to tell her story. And if her telling of her story was anything like the story she told us, It wasn t her story at all, but the story about her encounter with Christ And the new life he offered her, and the love of God upon her, And the forgiveness of God in her life and the opportunity To tell others, share the gospel, and to make a new beginning. Her story was the story of the life giving water that God offer in Jesus Christ. And her response to the life giving water that she was offered was Sir, give me this water so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep here to draw water. You know, sometimes we take that life water for granted when we have grown up with it, in Sunday School and church. It is a good thing to grow up with and I wish that upon everyone. I want everyone to feel the love of God all around us as the disciples did, And yet even the disciples seemed to take Jesus presence for granted. When they came back from getting food they said to Jesus Rabbi eat something.
But Jesus said I have food to eat that you do not even know about. The disciples were confused: Surely no one has brought him anything to eat? And Jesus said: My food is to do the will of him who sent me And to complete his work. One might have hoped that the disciples would have responded like the woman Rabbi, give us this food that we might also do the father s will. But they were so caught up in the material issues of life, Issues that were at their fingertips and available to them, Like enough food to eat or water to drink That they missed the life giving water And the purpose giving food. But Jesus didn t give up on them either. Later he would Feed 5000 people and teach the disciples how to feed others, He would share his Last Supper with them and challenge them To share that supper in remembrance of him; And finally on the shore of the Sea of Galilee he would share breakfast As the Resurrected Christ with them and challenge them: If you love me, feed my sheep. And it was never just about the food that he gave them, Just as it was never just about the water he shared with the Samaritan women
It was about the food and feeding hungry people; It was about sharing a cup of cold water with a stranger and outcaste; But more than that it was about sharing the life giving Spirit of God Ran With our friends and neighbors and family and even the outcast God s word does bring life out of death; God can change people s lives; God s Spirit does empower us to live according to God s purpose; And God s love and grace will not give up on us even when all others do. And that s the life giving Gospel that the Samaritan women RAN home to share with anyone who would listen; And that s the life giving Gospel that the disciples gave up everything to share after the Resurrection; And that s the life giving, life affirming, life changing Gospel that God is calling us to share in this Lenten Season. God can and does change lives. He changed the Samaritan women life. He changed the Jeff City Woman s life. And he can change our lives as we eat and drink his Word. Amen