Living Water in a dry time

Sermon Notes, Lent 3, 2020 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  e water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The world is hunkered down. Our community is hunkered down. Many churches and places of worship are hunkered down. But here we are, a congregation answering the call to come together and praise God. Some would say we are being foolish. That we are not mindful as we should be about the risk facing us. To that I give you Moheb’s response: If we’re not safe in the Lord’s house then we’re not safe anywhere. But we’re not here because it gives us a shelter from the storm. We’re here because in the storm, above the storm, we hear a higher voice. A voice that tells us not to be afraid. A voice that proclaims: For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods. In his hand are all the depths of the earth, And the heights of the hills are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, And his hands prepared the dry land. O come, let us worship and fall down, And kneel before the Lord our Maker. So that’s what we do: kneel before the Lord our Maker and listen to what he has to say to us. Story of the Samaritan woman at the well speaks to us today. She is an outsider to the covenant between God and his people. Hasn’t been priviledged to receive the blessings promised to Abraham and his offspring, even though as a Samaritan she is tangentially connected. She knows who she is: 5 times married (unlucky in love or something worse) A woman ( a man’s property, restricted in movement and associations) A Samaritan (2nd class citizen) Jesus knows who she is: all of the above + A child of God In need of his saving grace In that, she is just like each one of us. Present situation reinforces our Lenten conviction that we are weak and there is no help within us. Everything we have constructed to protect us is proving to be inadequate. We are vulnerable to the tiniest form of unseen life that mindlessly consumes us. What we said on Ash Wednesday is now being acted out in our very presence. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman who she really is, a bearer of living water. 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, 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.” The means to change from a downcast Samaritan woman to a bearer of living water lies not within her. It lies with God. It is a gift, and God is offering it to her by his grace. The means to go from living in a state of fear and anxiety doesn’t lie in us either. It lies in Jesus, who offers us the same living water he offered her. Living water changes everything. It is a spring that nourishes us when we need nourishing. It wells up within us and douses every dread, every fear. Jesus says, “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And elsewhere Jesus tells us what eternal life is: not that we will never die, but that we will have knowledge of God. Now the church is a great comforter and reminder that Jesus’ living water lives in each of us. But it is not the source of the living water. So if we lose the church, or if the church needs to go underground for a while, the living water continues to rise up within us. We may not meet within these doors for a time, but the church endures because there’s living water, the very soul of the church, in each one of us. If anything, that living water is even more where it needs to be, in the worlds, welling up against the fear and anxiety of those without it. The Samaritan woman takes the living water back with her to her village and it’s impact is immediate. Many come to believe in Jesus as the Christ. “They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” Today we are called to be a people of prayer, called so by our President, and by our Archbishop. This is to be a day of prayer and fasting. Let me read what Archbishop ++Foley asks us to pray for: This Sunday, let's pray and fast for our nations: repenting of our sins and asking God's forgiveness asking God's intervention to stop the spread of this virus asking God for healing for those who are sick asking God to use us, his people, as agents of love and compassion asking God to draw people to himself through the saving power of Jesus on the cross. Bishop +Kevin has prepared a list of resources for you to use in your personal and family prayers. I have those listed on a flyer available on the table in the Narthex and will also be available on line on our Facebook page and on our Faithlife website. Use these resources yourself, and stay in touch with your clergy and with each other throughout these days to come.