This is a sermon in Lent, so the theme of the lessons, and especially the gospel, is Baptism. First of all. But there is something deeper than baptism, deeper than sacrament, even: what sacraments represent.
As wise commentators have observed, behind the symbol is the reality. Behind water, Spirit. And in the story of the woman at the well, we see God’s grace at work and the providence we rely on.
Jacob needed water. People do. And so do their flocks, if they have them. Jacob received the gift of sustenance for his needs. What remained and continued was the symbol and the reality that co-intwine to show us God at work.
People need water - and God provides it. And if we co-operate with God, as Jacob did, as Moses did, as the woman at the well did, we may find a deeper thirst supplied. Not just today, for ever.
The people of Israel were complaining in the desert. Did you bring us out here to die of thirst? God did not simply open the heavens. Take your staff, Moses; the staff with which you struck the Nile, and strike the rock at Horeb. I will be there before you.
The staff with which he struck the rock is the staff that Moses used so many times as it, and he, became the instruments of God. Through creation, and through the actions of this faithful man, the people received what they need - for all their anxiety, all their worry.
When we confront a lack, a profound need, we as people of God know that we are not alone. In the midst of suffering, we are not alone. God is with us. We may not pass through the trial unhurt but we will pass through it together, with God and each other.
And that is where we find grace. The story, the bread, the wine, the water, the oil, and each other these we have with us always. And behind any symbol, any gift, any lack, even, are the Word that becomes flesh and dwells among us and the Spirit that sustains us - and we will be all right.
How does this show up in John’s Gospel? In the person of Jesus, the ultimate self-revelation of the Father. “Throughout John’s Gospel, the key to salvation - and so the door to eternal life - is recognizing who Jesus is and responding with loving obedience.”
To put my theme simply, Jesus is real - and he can change your life.
It sure happened to the Samaritan woman. Slowly, and then all at once, she became rich in the grace of heaven.
At first she just thought she met a guy at a well, at the unlikely hour of noon. Then she began to interrogate him, to come closer, and to find out who he really is. It took her a while, as it does most of us.
Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
But more than that, greater than that, she could not tell, until she brought the whole town alive with the news: “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!”
A brave disclosure: they know who she is, without prophetic help. But she says it, freely, and more: she has begun to wonder if he is not really in fact “greater than our ancestor Jacob” - the one who found the water in the well the first time. “Can this be he? The Restorer - the anointed one - that we have been waiting for all these years?”
Other stranger voices will call out, “I know you son of God! When will you restore Israel?”
But the people gather here at the well, at the source, as it turns out, at the source of life itself: they gather in the presence of Jesus.
And they learn he is more than that, more than a man at a well, more than a prophet, greater than their ancestor, greater than their preconceptions of the one anointed to restore their people only: “this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Now I want some of that water. I want some of that Spirit. I want some of that Presence.
And he is present. Jesus is real and he can change your life.
You may or may not have a bucket, or a well, or cupped hands, or in fact any visible water at all. What you have is the living Word of God.
Behind symbol is reality. Yes there is a well, still, and water. Yes, there is bread - and there is wine. There is oil for anointing and there are prayers for healing. We are present together - or in a phone call, or even a text. But behind all these vehicles of grace, these visible tangible audible symbols, is a spiritual reality. Not a passive, recumbent essence, but an active power, of God.
The power is not in the staff but in the word of God, not in the symbol, however wonderful, but in the spiritual reality.
And when we remember that we are home.
Whether we are together or for a time separated, by distance or contagion, we are home, in the presence and power of God.
Here is something I learned from my college advisor, Donald Nicholl. After he served as a teacher in various universities including mine he went on to direct the Ecumenical Institute at Tantur by Jerusalem. His job was to host scholars from various traditions, and to see that they got along together.
Building community, for Christians, means gathering for prayer, for word and sacrament. But what if you cannot take the sacrament together? The problem he faced, in his time, was that Catholics were supposed to take communion with Catholics, only, and not with Protestants. The Protestants had similar difficulties. It was not something to brush aside or “power through”.
So he thought, at first, well, I won’t take communion when others can’t. So he didn’t go up to the altar when Protestants celebrated. And he didn’t go up when Catholics celebrated.
And then he realized, I’m not going up at all! And I’m the leader of this community. This won’t work. So he decided, and in those analog days tacked up a notice on the community bulletin board, announcing his decision - and our insight:
When you take communion you take it not for yourself only: you take it for everyone, especially those who cannot go up to the altar rail with you, as part of a community, …
… and as we know, that community is worldwide, and robust, sustained through place and time, carrying forward the work of the Spirit and rejoicing in the power of God.
