Third Sunday in Lent

Richard Davenport March 12, 2023 - Third Sunday in Lent John 4:5-26 If you didn't know it already, Laurie and I play a lot of board games. Now, most people have played a game or two, like Sorry or Monopoly, but board gaming is a hobby that has really blossomed in the last twenty years or so and has become a whole new thing. Laurie and I enjoy looking at all of the new games coming in the next year, seeing what they'll do differently, different themes, different things you need to do to win. If you like Star Wars or Marvel, there are lots of games for those, but we also have games about gardening, or surviving disasters on the International Space Station. We have games about building castles and a game about being a fisherman just seeing the sights. That means we'll periodically order a game before it's actually available. If a game designer makes a lot of games we enjoy, we may take a chance on a new one, especially if we can get it a little cheaper by ordering early. Sometimes the games can be ordered a year or two in advance, by paying in early you help fund the production of the game. Usually the game is cheaper and comes with some extra goodies to encourage people to help out. Often the publishers will send out regular updates as to how things are coming and where they're at in producing the game. At some point, you get a notice that your game has shipped and you get the tracking number to watch for the delivery. When a game isn't supposed to be done for months, it can be pretty easy to forget you had even ordered it. So a shipping notice can be a fun surprise. You can get caught up in watching the package travel around the country as you follow it through whoever is shipping it. As exciting as it is to get a shipping notice for something you had forgotten about, it's more exciting picking that package up in your hot little hands and seeing what you've been waiting for all this time. After all, it's not like I've been waiting all that time just for a shipping notice. I've been waiting for the game. I've been waiting for the chance to unpack it, to pull out all of the bits and see what's in the box. I've been waiting for the chance to try it out with my family and friends. I've been waiting for the enjoyment of having everyone together to share in the experience of this new game. You don't want to confuse one thing for another. It's not really like a lottery ticket or something like that. You buy a lottery ticket and there's only a chance that you'll win the big payout. This is different. The package is on its way. It may be a couple of days before you get it , but it will be there. There's a lot going on in the Gospel reading today, as Jesus has a discussion with the Samaritan woman. One point that comes out is that Jesus is even talking to her at all. Jews were concerned about intermingling with other nations. God had warned them not to do that. But, that's what a Samaritan was, a descendent of Jews from the Northern Kingdom who had intermingled with other ethnic groups after the Assyrians had wiped out the country. Jews were supposed to keep themselves from any impure influences, which the prevailing notion at the time meant avoiding as much contact with people like that as possible. Thankfully, Jesus knows that isn't really what God was warning them about. The main issue was avoiding the influences of foreign religions, which other people groups tended to be mired in. It was never a matter of avoiding those people altogether, certainly not when there was an opportunity to share God's Word with them. So Jesus takes that opportunity. The woman may be a Samaritan, but that doesn't mean she is completely unaware of what the Bible says. She knows the world is waiting for the messiah. Jesus could have come right out and said he is the messiah, but he doesn't. Instead, they have a conversation first about water. Jesus explains a bit about how water works. Everyone needs water to live, that's not really news. The woman is puzzled as to how Jesus is going to get the water. That's obviously why the well is there. But that isn't really what interests Jesus here. Instead, Jesus is using the well as a way to explain his point. We're talking about water. The water's right there in the well. You can have as much of it as you want. On a hot summer's day, some cool water from the well probably sounds really good. Really, anytime you're feeling parched, that water is there. Still, Jesus points out that, no matter how much of that water you drink, you'll never really be satisfied. Water can sustain you for only so long before you need more. You need it to live, but you can't live off of it. No matter how much you drink, eventually you'll still die. Jesus explains that what he has to offer works differently. It doesn't just sustain for a day, it sustains forever. The woman knew about water and knew she needed it, but this new thing Jesus offers is on a whole different level. Even from the brief description you can hear how interested she is. She wanted the water, but now this is really exciting. Jesus makes clear that we aren't really talking about water here. Water was just the analogy he was using to make his point, something she could readily understand. What we're really talking about here is life. Do you want life for a day, or life forever? This water will give you life for a day, but I will give you life forever. That's all pretty straightforward, given what we know of who Jesus is and what he's here to do. The Samaritan people in town are starting to put the pieces together as they hear about him and the discussion he has with the woman. Still, it highlights the problem. It's the same problem Jesus highlights later when he talks about the bread he gave to the thousands and how it is similar to the manna given to the Israelites in the wilderness. It's bread, but it's bread that only sustains for the day. It only gives life for the day. What you really want is bread that sustains forever. Jesus offers the crowds the true bread from heaven, his own flesh. What are you more excited about? What are you more focused on? The shipping notice, or the package itself? God uses things like bread and water throughout Scripture to tell his people things about what he is doing. They tell us about salvation. It's no surprise that bread and water are elements that God uses to share his grace in the sacraments. So what's really your goal here? Are you more interested in all of the things the world has to offer you, or are you more interested in all of the better things that they point to in God's kingdom? Water isn't bad, but it's telling you about something better. A little refreshment today can't compare, shouldn't be compared with a life of eternal refreshment. A moment of peace or joy here can't compare, shouldn't be compared, with a life that is eternally peaceful and joyful. God sends you many good things here, things you need, things that make your life better. But, in the end, they're really just shipping notices. He sends them to you to make sure you know something better is on the way. It's fine to get excited about a shipping notice, but don't forget the actual package is still coming. Here in Lent, the clock is running down. Soon Jesus will climb the hill where the cross waits for him. He'll be put there to pay for the sins of the world, everyone's sins, you, me, and everyone else. He takes all of it, no matter how much, no matter how unsightly, how despicable, how cruel, how devious those sins are, no matter who did them, he takes it all. He dies for all. He is buried for all, and then, he rises for all. Easter morning is the day that God's grace has left the warehouse. It's been shipped out to you, a giant package stuffed full of grace, love, compassion, and life, eternal life. God sends you all kinds of reminders of what to expect in the eternity you will spend in his kingdom, bits of joy, bits of peace, bits of laughter, love, excitement, and many other things, but none of those will last. They aren't meant to. They're meant to having you looking for the real thing. They're there to remind you of what to expect when you leave your life here. Those who get so caught up in those little moments, in the little pleasures of this life will forget all about the package itself and leave it sitting on the doorstep, unopened. God sends everyone the package. It has your name on it. Christ died and rose again to pay for it all and send it to you. It's there waiting for you. Enjoy those moments of peace, of wonder, of joy, of contentment, but remember too that they are a reminder of something even greater and more wondrous to come.