December 3, 2006 UNEDITED
Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord
Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Milford, NH
“Everyone who
drinks this water
will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I
shall give will never again be thirsty.
The water that I shall give
will be a spring of water within,
welling up and bringing eternal
life.” --John 4: 13-14
Story
for all
Ages: The
Woman at the Well
Reading:
John 4: 1-42
Our
Window into
Wellsprings
This is the
first Sunday of the advent season, when Christians celebrate the coming
birth
of Jesus. We may or
may not identify ourselves
as Christians to enjoy the music, lights, beauty and human kinship of
this
season. Many
Unitarian Universalists
identify themselves as ethical Christians, if not spiritual Christians. Today, I want to offer
reflections on how our
Christian heritage offers the gift of a wellspring of spiritual
strength, as
well as guidance for right relationship and action.
These reflections are a gift from our foremothers.
The women of
this church, organized as the Ladies Christian Union gave this window
on the
north side of the sanctuary in memory of the first 10 years of the
formation of
the First Unitarian Society, as our church was named then. As we’ve already
heard this morning, the
window depicts the story of the Samaritan Woman at the Well from
Chapter 4 of
the Gospel of John. Of
all the stories
they could have chosen from the Bible, why did they choose this story? As we will explore, they
had good reasons for
choosing it, but I think they would be even more pleased with their
choice had
they had the benefits of the feminist biblical scholarship which we
have
available to us today. Or
perhaps our
fore-mothers came to their own uplifting conclusions through their
independent
reading and devotional life in the privacy of their homes and circles
of
conversation among themselves.
John is one
of the four Gospels found in the New Testament, which contain distinct
portraits of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.[1] All four contain a few of
the same
stories. Matthew,
Mark and Luke share
more of the same material and are known as the Synoptic
Gospels—synoptic
meaning “seeing together”.[2] There
has been wonderful historical scholarship about the life of Jesus of
Nazareth
through analyzing these texts, but this morning we are less concerned
about
whether the story actually happened the way we have read it together
this
morning. “All
four gospels are
attempting to bring the good news of the story of Jesus to the faith
needs of
the particular community” for which it was written. And similarly this
morning, we will look at
what the good news is for us from this story.
What is the meaning of Jesus’ identity
and mission?[3] After all, we sit each
Sunday morning in our
sanctuary as the light of this story filters through this colored glass
to your
left. And this
story is proclaimed each
night as it is lighted from inside this sanctuary to passers by.
Personally,
I’ve had a conflicted relationship with the Gospel of John. I love it’s
poetic and mystical language:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word
was God. He was in
the beginning with
God. All things
came into being through
him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and
the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness,
and the
darkness did not overcome it.[4]
But at the same time, there
is more anti-Semitic language in
this book than in the other Gospels.
In
the way the language is constructed, you could almost forget that Jesus
was a
Jew himself. Indeed,
the Gospel of John
has been used by Christians to justify horrific crimes against Jewish
people. Each Easter
week, I attend the
beautiful Good Friday service conducted by my Christian Clergy friends
in the
area. I am moved by
the lament, passion
and hope expressed in the service.
But
then comes the reading from John,
(Pilot) said to the Jews, ‘Here is your
King!’ They
cried out, “Away with him!
Away with him!
Crucify him!’
Pilate asked (the Jews), ‘Shall I
crucify your King?’ The
chief priests answered, ‘We have no king
but the emperor.’ Then he handed him over to them to be
crucified.[5]
From our monthly meetings
together, I know that each of the
ministers participating in the service is committed to freedom of
religion and
interfaith dialogue. But
during this
ecumenical service these passages are not read along with an
exploration of their
historical context. Since
John’s words
about Jews have been misused in order to support Christian
anti-Semitism, I
would feel more comfortable if they were always preceded with an
explanation of
historical context.
The Gospel
was written later than the other Gospels- about 80 or 90 years after
Jesus’ birth. This
was about the time that there was “a
break between the Jewish synagogue and those Jews who claimed Jesus as
the
messiah.”[6] Professor Gail R.
O’Day, who wrote the
chapter about John in the Women’s
Bible
Commentary cautions us to imagine what that break meant to
the community it
was written for. She
says,
It
was metaphorically, and often quite literally, a rupture in a family. These new Christians were
faced with an
impossible choice: they could claim Jesus as the Messiah and be forced
to leave
the synagogue and the community that had nurtured them and given them
life; or
remain in the synagogue and deny what they believed to be the fullness
of God’s
gift to the world. The intense language that John uses about
‘the Jews’ is
fraught with the pain of this choice.
John does not speak of the Jewish
people… but he uses (the words) ‘the
Jews’ as a symbol for powers and authorities who oppose
(the messianic view
of Jesus. This is) insider language- one member of a family speaking
in pain to another…Contemporary
interpreters can best capture the original intent of John’s
language by
applying its critique to those powers and authorities within
the Christian
community itself who oppose and do not recognize the witness
of Jesus. [7]
So now
let’s get to the particular chapter of John we are concerned
with this morning.
To prepare
for this morning, I read this
story many times in several different translation versions and sat in
front of
our beautiful window. I
had a vague
understanding that this story was another example of how Jesus welcomed
everyone into his ministry, even a woman of an enemy people. Then I read a
great number of interpretations
of the story that explained that the reason the woman came to the well
at noon,
the hottest part of the day was because she was a woman of shame,
probably due
to her sexual improprieties. After
all,
she had married and divorced five husbands and was living now with a
man who
was not her husband! Sounds
pretty
scandalous, especially during that time and place.
She needed to avoid the usual times when
women gathered at the well to avoid the gossip. And when Jesus
“outed her”…
naming all those improprieties, she changed the subject because she
didn’t want
to further expose her shameful deeds.
When she begins to see him as a prophet, she goes
back to town to tell
people about the remarkable man she met.
And they were so interested in what she had to say
that they went out to
meet him, too.
As I worked
with the scripture and commentary, something troubled me about the
interpretations I was reading. I’m
more
than a little tired of the negative and simplistic view of women as
like Eve –
temptresses, root of original sin, and causers of evil in the world. And gee whiz,
wasn’t Jesus a great guy to
talk with a lowly woman, who looked up to him from where she sat on the
ground
at his feet.
It was the last
part of the story that tipped me off to the possibility of another
interpretation:
Then the woman left her water jar and went back to
the city. She said
to the people, ‘Come and see a man
who told me everything I have ever done!
He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’
They left the city and were on their way to him.[8]
If this Samaritan woman was
so reviled for her shameful
ways, why did anyone listen to her when she brought the good news back
to the
city? Had the
traditional interpretation
sold both the woman and Jesus short?
Just this
week I discovered Professor O’Day’s interpretation
in the Women’s Bible Commentary. She
explains that the source of the bitter conflict between the Jews and
Samaritans
was a dispute about the correct location of the cultic place of worship. You remember from our
reading this morning,
that this is the problem that the woman puts before Jesus. The Samaritans built and
worshipped at a
shrine on Mount
Gerizim-
which competed with the temple in Jerusalem. Jewish troops destroyed
this shrine about 128
years before Jesus was born.[9]
The
Samaritan woman at the well provides a striking contrast to everyone
with whom
Jesus has spoken prior to this. She
is
not named, but is known only by what she is – “a
foreign woman.” So
Jesus’ conversation with her is indeed
scandalous- a scandal noted by the woman herself in the dialogue we
heard this
morning. The woman
knows that a Jewish
man should not talk with a Samaritan woman.
And a Jew should not consider drinking water from
a Samaritan
container. The
scandal is also noted by
Jesus’ disciples when they arrive back at the well. Jewish rabbis did not
speak in public with
women[10] --any woman, no matter
what her particular
life had been like.
The
disciples want to rebuke the woman and also to ask Jesus why he is
speaking to
her, but their questions go unvoiced.
Jesus will not be limited by such social
exclusions. Jesus
crosses boundaries: the boundary between
male and female and the boundary between the chosen people and rejected
people. Jesus’
journey into enemy
territory and his conversation with the woman show that the love of God
is
available to all. His
ministry challenges
the status quo by offering the water of life to a Samaritan woman.[11]
The
traditional interpretations of this story de-legitimize the woman as a
conversation partner for Jesus and as a recipient of his good news: First, by raising
questions about the woman’s
moral character; and second, many commentators express doubts about the
woman’s
ability to engage with Jesus in serious conversation.[12]
The popular
portrait of the woman as of dubious morals and guilty of improper
sexual
behavior constitutes a misreading of John.
The Samaritan woman tells Jesus she has no husband
and Jesus responds by
telling her the story of her life.
The
text does not say what most interpreters have
automatically assumed…
that the woman has had five husbands and has been divorced five times. But there are many
possible reasons for the
woman’s marital history.
Perhaps the
woman was trapped in the custom of a levirate marriage.
In the culture of her time, if she was
widowed and childless, she would have had to marry her
husband’s brother. She
may have been widowed five times and
still required to live with her husband’s family. The last male in the
family line may have
refused to marry her.[13]
You might
say that the conversation between Jesus and the woman serve to
illustrate
Jesus’ ability to see and know all things.[14] You might remember the
trend a few years ago
for people to where bracelets saying “WWJD”
– What would Jesus do? People
wore them as a reminder to do what
Jesus would do in a similar situation.
I
like that way of thinking, so I interpret this story as showing that
Jesus was
fully present to this woman. He
empathized with her lot in life, so that she felt really seen and
understood. And
that way of being with her in a sense
made her feel whole… You might say that kind of presence
“saved her.” And
as she feels seen and understood by Jesus, she sees him in a new way,
too. “Sir,
I see you are a prophet.”
Recognizing
Jesus in this way leads the woman to ask the most pressing theological
question
standing between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Where is the proper place to worship God? In traditional
interpretations of the text,
commentators have presupposed that this question was the
woman’s ploy to change
the subject away from a discussion of her moral depravity. Traditional commentators
have doubted the
woman’s intellect. In
a faithful reading
of the text, we see the woman as a character, who is not afraid to stay
in
conversation with Jesus. She
realizes
that a prophet is a perfect person to ask about something she has been
wondering about. --Just
as any of us
might be thrilled to ask questions of an expert in an area of interest
to
us. In fact the
Samaritan woman is the
first person in the Gospel of John to engage in serious theological
conversation
with Jesus. At the
end of this
conversation about worship, her faith grows again and she begins to
think about
the possibility of Jesus as the Messiah.[15]
When Jesus’
disciples return to the well, the woman leaves Jesus to return to the
city to
testify to her people. On
the basis of
her testimony, many of the Samaritan villagers believe and go to meet
Jesus
themselves. In the
Gospel of John, the
primary mark of discipleship is to see Jesus and to tell others about
that
experience. When
others meet Jesus
themselves, their own experience replaces the words of the disciple who
told
them about him. The
woman is not only
the first to engage in serious conversation, she is his first disciple
in a
land of people outside the Jewish community.
Professor O’Day
points out that the Gospel of John’s “intricate
blend of narrative and
discourse, the use of figurative language, and the extensive dialogues
between
Jesus and other characters all combine to open the story to the
reader’s own
experience.”
As I put myself
in the place of the Samaritan woman, I imagine Jesus’
absolute presence with me
in a way that makes me feel that he really knows me.
He understands the complexities of my life
circumstances and motivations. He
loves
me despite the fact that he knows I have dark moments.
I feel his spirit connecting with my spirit
and I have a sense of hope because I am not alone.
He tells me where I choose to worship
doesn’t
matter and he gives me great latitude in how I worship.
Praying and meditating in a spirit of love
and truth is what matters. There
is a
source of love available to me as refreshing as living water from a
well that
is not located in one particular place on earth, but springs eternal
through
God’s unfailing presence- Love’s unfailing
presence, if I am open to drawing
from that well and drinking from it.
Its’
Grace is offered to me, no matter who I am.
And so our
window brings the light of that teaching into our
sanctuary…God’s grace… Love’s
grace—is offered to each and every one of you, no matter who
you are. This is
indeed Good News for the season. Good
news for any season. In
faith, so may it be. In
faith, so it is. Amen.
[2]
Engaging the New Testament: An
Interdisciplinary Introduction. Russell
Pregeant. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1997. page
573.
[9]
Women’s, page 383. (quotes and paraphrase)
[10]
Women’s, page
383-384. (quotes
and paraphrase)
[11]
Women’s, page 384. (quotes and paraphrase)
[12]
Women’s, page 384. (quotes and paraphrase)
[13]
Women’s, page 384. (quotes and paraphrase)
[14]
Idea
from Women’s, page 384.
[15]
Women’s, page 384. (some ideas, quotes and
paraphrase)
Unitarian Universalist
Congregation
in Milford