Sermon Recording

Back on Glebe Sunday, June 10, we Gathered at the Water. On that Sunday, we heard about Jesus showing amazing generosity and hospitality, feeding a huge crowd of people by the Sea of Galilee. Then, in keeping with our water theme, the young people of the church sent me splashing into a dunk tank.

Today, we are returning to the water — but, I’m happy to say, not to the dunk tank. Instead, we are Returning to the Well, and hearing about a fascinating meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman.

We are also giving thanks to Michelle Fincher for her 18 months of service as Director of Small Group Ministries. We are here to offer our blessing and support as she completes her preparation for ordained ministry. You’ll see that there is an important connection between Michelle and this Samaritan woman — something significant about the mission they have both been given by Jesus.

Today’s passage begins with Jesus walking into a Samaritan city called Sychar, and taking a seat by the town well. This is a surprising thing for a good Jew such as Jesus to do, because the Samaritans are considered outsiders and enemies. It’s true that the Jews and Samaritans share Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as common ancestors, but the two groups split apart when the Samaritans built a shrine on Mount Gerizim, setting it up as a rival to the temple in Jerusalem. For at least 200 years, Jews have looked down on Samaritans and considered them to be unclean and unfaithful to God.

So Jesus makes a bold move when he sits down by Jacob’s well. Then a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, and Jesus says to her, “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). This request shocks the Samaritan woman — shocks her for several reasons. First, Jews are not supposed to have contact with Samaritans, and second, Jewish men are not supposed to have public conversations with women. According to Jewish wise men, “He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself.”

Now … men of the church … I’m not suggesting that you stop talking with your wives or daughters or sisters. These words are from the ancient world, and Jesus clearly doesn’t endorse them. But we need to understand what is going on in this passage, so that it makes sense when the Samaritan woman asks, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (v. 9).

She simply doesn’t understand why Jesus is talking to her, a Samaritan and a woman.

But Jesus is on a mission from God, and he is not one to allow social or cultural barriers to keep him from doing the will of the Lord. “If you knew the gift of God,” says Jesus to the woman, 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” (v. 10). Jesus is hinting at his own identity as the Messiah, the gift of God, and he is suggesting that he can give her something special — something called “living water.”

But what is this special water? The Greek of the New Testament says hyd?r z?n, which can be translated either “fresh, running water,” or “life-giving water.” When Jesus offers this gift of living water, the Samaritan woman first thinks he is talking about fresh, running water. That is why she says, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” (v. 11). She knows that you cannot get fresh water from a well without a bucket.

Jesus is talking about the other kind of hyd?r z?n, however — life-giving water. Hyd?r means “water,” which we still see in our English word “hydration,” and z?n comes from the Greek word for “life,” which we have turned into the English word “zoo.” Hyd?r z?n — life-giving water. “Everyone who drinks of [well] water will be thirsty again,” says Jesus, “but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (vv. 13-14). The hyd?r z?n that Jesus gives is not water at all — it is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which connects us to God and to Jesus for all time. It flows into us and through us, and brings life to the parts of us that feel the driest and most dead.

As many of you know, I’m a runner, and one of the hardest parts of marathon training is staying properly hydrated, especially on hot summer days. Last Monday, my son Sam and I went on a 20-mile training run, and all was going well until I hit a long, hard uphill climb at about mile 17. Sam, of course, had left his old man in the dust. The sun was baking down, and my water bottle had run dry. I didn’t know how I was going to finish, until I stumbled into downtown Vienna and refilled my bottle at a water fountain.

After a good long drink, I felt that my energy was coming back. It was as though the life was returning to my aching body. I finished the run — not particularly quickly, but alive and well.

In a similar way, the life-giving water of Jesus revives us when we are feeling dried out and discouraged, downtrodden and depressed. It brings forgiveness of sins … it gives us strength and hope … it satisfies our thirst for a connection with God … it offers refreshment, renewal, serenity, and joy … it carries the gift of eternal life.

Each and every one of us needs this water. We need it when our jobs are unsatisfying, and our supervisors are more clueless than the pointy-haired guy in “Dilbert.” We need it when we try to do the right thing, but keep making the same mistakes over and over and over. We need it when we feel so alone in the world, wondering if God really loves us and cares for us and is watching out for us.

Everyone needs this water, including the woman of Samaria. “Sir, give me this water,” she says to Jesus, “so that I may never be thirsty” (v. 15).

Jesus shows his love for this Samaritan woman by giving her this life-giving water, this gift of the Holy Spirit. He begins by showing incredible insight, and telling her all about herself, including details of a string of unstable relationships with men. He then goes on to predict that the time is coming when barriers will break down between Samaritans and Jews, “when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (v. 23). True worship is not dependent upon the status or gender or nationality of the individual, but only “spirit and truth.” Finally, Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, and at this point the woman leaves the well and returns to the city, anxious to tell all the people about Jesus.

It is here that I need to make a connection between the Samaritan woman and Michelle Fincher. Now, let me be clear: I’m not saying that Michelle is a Samaritan, an outsider and an enemy. I’m not saying that she is a second-class citizen, as women tended to be in the ancient world of Jews and Samaritans.

What I am saying is that Michelle has been chosen by God to go out into the world with the good news of Jesus. Like the Samaritan woman, she has been selected by the Lord to carry life-giving water to people who are dying of spiritual thirst. “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done,” says the woman of Samaria (v. 29). “Come and see” is the invitation that Michelle will carry to others in her preaching and teaching, care-giving and counseling. “Come and see” what Jesus is doing … “come and see” the living water that is available to satisfy your deepest thirst.

The Bible tells us that “Many Samaritans from that city believed in [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony” (v. 39). Not just a few Samaritans, but many. I am convinced that the same will be true for the people that Michelle meets, in the course of her future ministry.

Michelle, you have been a member here at FPC for six years, you have been on staff for four years, and you have served us so well as Director of Small Group Ministries for the past 18 months. You have helped us to draw deeply from the well of life-giving water, and I know you have been refreshed and renewed by this water yourself. This water has flowed freely in worship services and session meetings, youth lock-ins and hospital visits, teacher workshops and meetings of the Board of Deacons, in public events and in private conversations.

The time has come for you to go out into the world, to share this living water with others. Tell them what we have done at FPC as we have enjoyed this water together, as we have developed what you call “deep spirited friendship.” Share the water you have been given with those who are thirsty for forgiveness and healing and hope. Tell people what Jesus has done in your life, and invite them to “come and see” what Jesus can do for them.

You are a candidate for the ministry from Fairfax Presbyterian Church, and we are enormously proud of you. This church will always be your spiritual home, and you will always be welcome here. Think of it as your “Jacob’s Well,” a place for you to come and sit, as Jesus did when he was tired out by his journey. Here, you will always have friends to gather and talk with. Here, you will always be able to drink deeply of the life-giving water that Jesus offers. The water of Jesus is eternally fresh and flowing, and it is always available to you. The Spirit of God can never dry up.

So today we send you out into the world, to complete your preparation for ministry and to share the good news of Jesus with others. But at the same time, we invite you to return to the well, for refreshment and renewal. Amen.