Who are we, really?

Who are we, really? “This is the transcript of an ACTUAL radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in 1995. Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision. Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course. Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.”i Who you think you are is important, but who you really are is even more important. On board a routine commercial flight was a counsellor traveling to a mental health conference. The counsellor was an atheist. Somewhere during the flight the pilot discovers the landing gear is stuck. Radioing for help, ground crew gave instructions. First, he flew low over the hanger so they could do a visual inspection. Then, following their advice the pilot put the plane through every acceptable procedure to shake down the landing gear. He made several nose dives. He rocked the plane back and forth. He even put the plane through a stomach-churning free-fall. Meanwhile the passengers prepared for a crash landing. Finally, in a spray of sparks and flames, the pilot cradled the craft to a safe landing a few hundred yards from the maintenance hangar. In an interview late that night, the counsellor said that this was his first time flying. He said that during the tumbles, turns, and pitches of the plane, though he is an atheist, he prayed! “ This might make me change my ways,” he concluded.ii I guess it might! Who you think you are is important, but who you really are is even more important. There are stories in the Bible of people who met Christ and then changed their ways. Such is the story of the woman at the well. We need to remember, that this story is set in Samaria. The Samaritans were a group of Jews from the province of Samaria who had intermarried with foreigners. Both claimed to be true descendants of the nation of Israel. Samaritans descended from the northern kingdom of Israel while the Jews descended from the southern kingdom of Judah. The Jews believed Jerusalem was the only true place of worship, while the Samaritans located the true place of worship at Mt. Gerizim. In 128 B.C., the Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple at Mt. Gerizim. The Jews considered Samaritans as social outcasts, untouchables, racially inferior, practicing a false religion. Any close physical contact with a Samaritan, like drinking water from a common bucket, eating a meal together, would make a Jew ceremonially unclean. The Pharisee in his prayer would say, “I thank God that I am not a woman, Gentile or Samaritan,” and would pray that the Samaritans are not included in the resurrection. Who you think you are is important, but who you really are is even more important. We may not agree with one another, we may not approve of one another, but why in this world must so many hate each other? The greatest problem in our world today is not global warming or poverty. The greatest problem is not our age, our abilities or disabilities or even corona virus. The greatest problem is the animosity between differing groups of people and one group thinking they are superior to another. Who you think you are is important, but who you really are is even more important. Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman. Jesus says to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked, and he would have given you living water.” She responds to his offer: “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” And Jesus says to her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” Uh-oh! Do we have a problem? “I have no husband,” she replies. Jesus says to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman says, “I can see that you are a prophet.” He was a prophet, all right, but he was different than any other prophet she would ever encounter. He was breaking all the cultural taboos. He was reaching out to a woman, a Samaritan woman, a Samaritan woman who had been married five times and who was now living with a man who was not her husband. And his response is to offer spontaneous grace. This is startling even to this day--not what it says about Jesus, but what it says about us. How did we as a faith community miss the Gospel so completely? How did we become so judgmental toward others? How did we allow ourselves to shut out those of whom we disapproved, when time and time again Jesus did exactly the opposite? What is wrong with us that we cannot love those for whom he died? Jesus is offering the gift of grace to this Samaritan woman. Jesus is offering us the gift of grace. Who you think you are is important, but Jesus is asking us to change who we really are. Amen