3A Lent
12 Mar 2023
John 4: 5-32
Water, I learned in elementary school, is the chief component of the human body. A careful balance of not too much, not too little is one of the major jobs of your body, from birth to death. Hormones are one way the body regulates itself; like any good system there are multiple checks, balances, and duplications built in to preserve life. One hormone tells your kidneys to hang on to water when you are dehydrated and let it go when you have taken in too much. If that hormone is missing, you will die of dehydration or spend much of your life drinking water, day and night. Addison’s disease, where the adrenal glands quit working, causes dehydration and death. Uncontrolled diabetes leads to loss of water as the sugar pulls it out. If you do not sense thirst you can over or under consume water. I have always been amazed not only at the complexity and redundancy of the body’s life sustaining functions, but how infrequently things actually go wrong.
My first memories are of living near the airport on the south side of Des Moines. I was probably three years old. One of the highlights were the trips we would take to the farm where Uncle Frank and Aunt Jessie lived. Their oldest sons were grown, but they had two teen aged boys, too old to play with a three-year-old. Sometimes a couple more cousins would come at the same time and we played at farming. One of the things we were not allowed to go near without an adult was the well. I don’t remember it clearly, but I can still visualize the windmill, metal, with all the blades and the “tail” that spun in the wind. It always made a squeaky sound that I loved, not high pitched and grating, but low pitched and steady, assuring everyone that water was being pulled from the ground so that the livestock and the humans had fresh, pure water. The water was always icy cold, even in the summer. I would take it from a dipper and at first would be startled at the iron taste, but soon was enveloped with pleasure as my thirst was assuaged. If the weather was bad, there was the inside cistern pump. I would bet that water was boiled or only used for dishes and laundry. The well water, however, you could count on to be pure and fresh and cold. I was baptized, literally, with water from that farm. I suspect it was water from the cistern and not the well, but still it was “unprocessed” and unadulterated.
The Samarian woman did not have the luxury of a Aeromotor or Iowa Windmill and Pump to power Jacob’s well. Her water was obtained after a long walk and then by lowering a bucket down the well and cranking it back up. At least I hope she had a crank. Maybe not; maybe it was all brute strength. A bucket of water is heavy. She would then carry the water back to town. How many trips to get enough water for the day? In the midday, when it is hot and most of the town is at rest. Water is obtained this way in many areas of the world yet today. Water was and is precious. Wars were fought over water access; they still are.
This day something astounding happens; she meets a Jew at midday at the well. No one else is there; only a Jewish rabbi and a Samaritan woman. Both are hot, tired, and thirsty. Maybe she was thinking about how many trips to the well she would need to make. Was she there at midday, a time when most people were resting or doing minimal work to spare themselves from the heat, because of her status? For some reason she is isolated. Having five husbands, and now a sixth male with whom she has an unknown relationship, suggests she has had a hard life.
When Jesus asks for water, he initiates a startling conversation. The woman is so surprised she cannot speak; why she asks would you speak to me, a Samaritan, since you are a Jew. He doesn’t denigrate or diminish her; he reaches out and names her lack of knowing and her need, the need for living water, the kind with no nitrates or bacteria or pesticides. Then she acts just as I would have, taking him at his literal word. How can you get water without a bucket? But he does not laugh at her; he keeps the offer extended and then reveals his deep understanding when he tells her what he knows of his life. He says that, while full knowledge of the Way has been entrusted to Israel, he is here to reveal it to all people. There will be no Samaritan or Jew, there will be no need to go to the temple in Jerusalem. This new disciple runs to town, likely forgetting to take any water back with her, and people believe her. She is suddenly an apostle. Water from the well is given to Samaritans. People come; the disciples return, as confused as ever, and the woman becomes the first person to carry the word beyond Israel.
I have drunk water from taps, lakes and streams, bottles and cans. We have an artesian well near where I live that is a sure source of cold water (but sadly now contaminated with E coli). I have swam in it, bathed in it, squirted people with it, sprayed myself with it in hot weather just to cool down. I have pumped it through a filter to make it safe to drink.
But living water? Living water is to drink the Word, to drink in love and have it fill you. Indeed, when you are filled with love not only will you never thirst again but you will have Living Water to share. Jesus rightly said I am the Water and Bread of life and whoever drinks my blood and eats my flesh will never be thirsty or hungry again. I invite you to drink and eat and you will indeed be filled.