At the Well - Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent Year A

At the Well

Lent 3A

March 12, 2023

Christ, Preston, MN

John 4.5-42

While in seminary, I met Barb and her husband, Sam. They were members of the congregation we plugged into. Barb was a middle school English teacher and Sam trained horses. One day, Barb casually mentioned that Pr. Ralph learned that Sam, too, had a master’s degree and when doing so, she said, Pr. Ralph’s whole attitude toward Sam shifted. The clear message was that Pr. Ralph didn’t think much of Sam, a horse trainer, until then.

I remembered that lesson, to not misjudge others, as I thought of the Samaritan woman at the well. We are in the second week of a four-week series of long vignettes in John’s Gospel. Last week, we were “in the dark” with Nicodemus, and many comparisons have been made between the two. Nicodemus is male and the Samaritan woman, of course, is female. Nicodemus is a  religious leader of the Judeans and the Samaritan woman is of lowly status. Nicodemus is  named and the Samaritan woman is unnamed. Nicodemus comes in the dark while the Samaritan woman comes in the bright heat of the day. Perhaps even more telling: Nicodemus fades into the background while the Samaritan woman gives witness to Jesus to her townspeople and of course, Nicodemus is Judean while the woman is a Samaritan.

Much has been written about enmity between Judeans and Samaritans, yet little understood. We do know that they worship the same God, Yahweh, but disagree where the proper place to do that is, Jerusalem or Mt. Gerizim. Samaria is the region just north of Judea and we think that those Judeans who were left behind during the Babylonian exile intermarried with invaders and settlers from other nations. This intermarriage was infuriating to the Judeans whose major tenet was, “do not assimilate.” Furthermore, when “pure” Judeans returned, the Samaritans tried to thwart their rebuilding effort of the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem itself. Finally, in 128 BC John Hyrcanus, the high priest, destroyed the shrine on Mt. Gerizim and slaughtered many people.

So, the upshot is for Jesus to be in Samaria, talking to a Samaritan, woman no less, was beyond the pale. Yet here Jesus is engaging in a complex theological argument with said Samaritan woman. Jesus not only refuses to undervalue the woman, he sees her for who she is, wounds and all. That last observation about her woundedness is important, because in the past she has suffered indignity heaped on by preachers who mistakenly brand her as a woman of ill repute. There is no warrant for this in the text.

Though we don’t know her situation, it is safe to say her multiple relationships could reasonably occur through no fault of her own and be due to a variety of reasons. But we do know that she has been wounded and finds herself in difficult circumstances. Jesus recognizes that woundedness and, rather than condemning her, treats her with respect and dignity. Indeed, like Sam the master degreed horse trainer, there is more to her than meets the eye and Jesus acknowledges such.

I wish I could say that I’m more like Jesus than Pr. Ralph, to know people are more than their circumstances, to remember that when Jesus says God loves the world it’s everyone and everything in it. But I try to remember Barb’s gentle lesson, to learn more about people, to be delighted and not surprised when I get to know them, and to look for those who we consider on the margins to see God in them. When we can do that we are at the well, drinking deeply of Jesus’ living water. Thanks be to God. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.