So, What's Your Story?
Posted on Mar 23, 2014 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Last week, we read the story of Nicodemus. An insider, a man of power and one who thought he had all the answers. Nicodemus, was a man who was held in high esteem and someone who could go anywhere, anytime he wanted, yet, he feared being seen with Jesus in the light of day, so under the cover of night, he met with Jesus.
This week, on the other hand, we hear the story of a woman who has no name and is not welcome in most places. She is looked down upon because her personal life has been what might call immoral, or at best heartbreaking, and the community probably has shunned her because no one would want to be associated with her. Instead of coming to the well for water in the early morning with all the other women when it is cool, she is forced to get her water at noon during the heat of the day when no one is usually around.
She apparently lives a lonely life. A life dependent on a man who is not even her husband. Now, before we go any farther, as I understand this story, I do not believe this woman is living in “sin.” I believe this is a woman who has been lead a hard a difficult life. For reasons we do not know, she has been forced to have multiple husbands. Perhaps she has been widowed several times, perhaps, she is in a “Leverite” marriage, that is, she has been taken in by her dead husbands brother, but she is not technically his wife. This was a relationship intended to give a namesake to her dead husband, not about her. Jesus never implies she is living an immoral or sinful life. Unlike the prostitute that he told to go sin no more, or the rich man to whom Jesus said, repent, no in this story, Jesus just helps this woman come to understand that what she is thirsting for is a life-giving relationship in which she was seen and heard as a whole person.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for this woman who was being spoken to in public, by a man she did not know? Most likely, her initial interaction with Jesus was like all other male relationships she has had. When she comes to the well, he commands her to give him water. Just like a male to think that the woman, even a stranger, even a Samaritan was there to serve him. Unbelievable! He came to the well because he was thirsty and he did not even bring a bucket to get the water. But when she challenges him, and he tells her what he can offer her, water that will give her eternal life, something even more unbelievable, and scary happened. In hearing this offer, she wants what he offers, but Jesus once again does the unbelievable, he tell her to go get her husband, a husband, he already knows she does not have. Can you imagine how heartbreaking that must have been for her? Can you imagine how hard it must have been for her to say, “I have no husband”? The silence must have been deafening. I can hear the shame and heartbreak in her voice, can’t you?
With that Jesus acknowledges that he already knows her heartbreaking story. She is shocked and in response, she acknowledges that he must be a prophet, but she also acknowledges that she knows that he will not welcome her into his life as they worship differently. You see, worship was communal act, and she knows she can never be part of his community. She is a Samaritan! She is broken and lives in broken relationships. According to the law, she cannot be welcomed. She knows Jesus’ response, but then comes the invitation into a new, life-giving relationship. Just when she thinks Jesus will lower the boom and accuse her of false worship, he shows her a future in which true worshippers, all worshipper, will not be dependent on a place to worship, but will worship God everywhere and anywhere. Jesus does not call her into a life of repentance, but into a new life-giving communal relationship and she accepts. She leaves her old life behind and goes back to the community who has shunned her and tells them her story. Her story that includes Jesus and they, too, come to believe. In her wilderness, in her brokenness, in her loneliness, Jesus came, engages her and offers her new life.
So what is your story? Are you in a wilderness of your own these days? What is it in your life that you wish you could leave behind? Is it a divorce? Is there something you are ashamed of, or something for which you know you can never be forgiven? What is it you are thirsting for, but fear you will never be able to quench that thirst? Brothers and sisters, whatever it is, Jesus is waiting at the well for you. He knows our stories and he wants to offer us a drink that will quench or thirst forever. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, he invites us to leave our shame, our brokenness, our loneliness behind, for he already knows our story and he promises a new life. Like Nicodemus, Jesus calls us to be born anew. He desires we leave behind our guilt, our sorrow, and our pain so we might enter into a new relationship with him in which we know we are forgiven, we are loved and we are made whole in him.
What is your story? Do you know? Do you now what is keeping you from accepting God’s love and mercy? As we journey through this season of Lent, we are challenged to practice telling our story. If we are not yet willing to share our story with others, at least we can practice sharing our story with ourselves. Or maybe, in the hearing of this story, we, like Jesus can help someone else face their story.
The Samaritan woman knew her story, but she was ashamed of it. She knew in her heart that if she tried to enter into a healthy relationship that she would be rejected for her past, but instead, when her story was revealed, she was welcomed. It changed her life and that acceptance quenched an unquenchable thirst.
As I prayed with this text this week, I began to wonder who are those in our community who are thirsty and fear rejection? Who are those who have come to this well week after week, but whose stories have been hid or ignored? Is it the widow or widower who is afraid to share their grief and loneliness because they are afraid no one will understand? Is it the person who is out of work and has not been able to find a job who feels alone and worthless? Is it the person who has come to realize that they are gay or lesbian, but fears telling us, because they do not want to be rejected? Is it the teenager who struggles in school, or believes no one will understand their situation, and so they withdraw and turn away from this faith community?