Notes from the Wayside: Sermon: For All Who Are Thirsty

Delivered at Monaghan United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on March 23, 2014.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

For All Who Are Thirsty

So [Jesus] came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 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 woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" 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.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.

John 4:5-18,27-30,39-41 (NRSV)

I felt it first when I was younger

A strange connection to the Light

I tried to satisfy the hunger

I never got it right

From "Your Love" by Brandon Heath

About a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to reflect on my journey of faith as a whole. Looking back, I realized that I've always been thirsty.¹

One day, Jesus and His disciples, while traveling north from Judea to Galilee, make a stop at the city of Sychar. While the disciples head to the marketplace to buy food, Jesus sits down by a well to rest. Around noon, a woman comes to the well to fetch water for the day. Jesus asks the woman to give Him a drink, and she is surprised that He would actually speak to her. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for a man to strike up a conversation with a woman over a drink – heck, it happens at Starbucks all the time – but, in Jesus' day and time, the world is a much different place. In Jesus' culture, men do not speak with women in public. It is even uncommon for married men to speak with their own wives in public.² Of course, Jesus is not like the other men of His day.

The woman is surprised that Jesus is speaking to her not only because He is a man, but also because He is a Jew. The city of Sychar is in Samaria, the land of the Samaritans. This woman who has come to fetch water is not just any woman: she is a Samaritan woman. She asks, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" Saying that Jews and Samaritans don't get along is like saying that the Grand Canyon is a hole in the ground. The Samaritans are the descendents of the Israelites who were forced to marry Assyrians when the Assyrian Empire conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel over seven hundred years earlier. They were basically considered bastard children, claimed by neither the Jews nor the Assyrians.³ In Jesus' day, Jewish people who have to travel between Judea and Galilee will often travel around Samaria, significantly increasing the length of their trip.⁴ Of course, Jesus decides to go straight through Samaria, because He is not like the other Jews of His day.

This woman who has come to fetch water, is not just any random Samaritan woman: she is a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation. Normally, women fetch water in the morning, but this woman has chosen to go to the well at noon. Some think that maybe she waits so late to fetch water so that she can avoid the other women of the city.⁵ Of course, Jesus is not judgmental like other people.

Jesus knows that this woman is not just a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation: He knows that she is a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation who is also very thirsty. He says to 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."⁶ She wonders how He could possibly give her water when He apparently doesn't have a bucket with which to fetch it. Jesus then says, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

The woman says to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." She believes that Jesus is talking about literal water and physical thirst. She does not realize that this "living water" of which Jesus speaks is not literal H₂O, nor does she realize that the thirst it quenches is actually something deeply spiritual.

This woman is thirsty, but she has no idea how thirsty she really is.

Sometimes I wonder whether people actually seek God for God's own sake or rather for their own selfish motives.

From the time I entered second grade, through the time I graduated from high school, I attended a very strict and very conservative Christian school. Along with reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, I learned that if I did not repent of my sins and believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I would be tormented forever and ever and ever in the flames of hell. It is for this reason that I first asked God to "save me." The whole time I attended this school, I was haunted by fears and questions. I feared what awaited me beyond the grave. I feared that somehow my doubts, uncertainties, and questions might cause me to slip through the cracks, metaphysically speaking. I wondered what kind of God would torment people indefinitely. I "got saved" a number of times, but, at some point, I decided to forget about the afterlife and to focus on this life, lest I drive myself insane.

It was my fear of what might happen to me after I died that drove me to God, but still I felt that the fear of hell was a selfish motive for seeking God. I wondered, if we all took John Lennon's advice and imagined for a moment that "there's no heaven [above us]" and "no hell below us,"⁷ then who would give a rip about Jesus or anything He ever said or did? But if the fear of hell and the desire for heaven are bad motives for seeking God, what then is a good motive? Maybe we should seek God because we're grateful that God created us and provides for us. Maybe a sense of duty or altruism should fuel our striving for God. Maybe God created each of us for a purpose, and maybe our fellow human beings desperately need for us to carry out that divinely-given purpose.

I graduated from high school knowing that I needed to be a Christian, but I wasn't quite convinced that I actually wanted to be a Christian. I felt that, if I were to truly sink my teeth into the Christian faith, then I wouldn't enjoy my life very much. I left my Christian school with the notion that all things fun and free-spirited, including dancing, fashionable clothing, and music that's actually enjoyable, were somehow sinful. Plus, I thought that all the "real Christians" I knew were stuffy, puritanical, judgmental, and self-righteous. I didn't want to be like them.

My outlook on Christianity changed completely during my junior year at Furman University when I discovered the Wesley Fellowship, the United Methodist group on campus. To be completely honest, I initially joined the group to meet women, but, though I never found a girlfriend in the group, I did find something I never had before. I met Christian young people who were serious about their faith but didn't exhibit the negative Christian stereotypes I saw years earlier. I began to see that a Christian life could indeed be very enjoyable and that following Christ was not about rules or pious stuffiness. The Wesley Fellowship introduced me to both the joy of mission work and the fun of dancing. This group meant so much to me that, after I graduated, I stayed involved for a few more years.

With the Wesley Fellowship, I went on retreats, participated in Bible studies, served my fellow human beings on mission trips, and gathered weekly for worship and fellowship. Truth be told, my primary motive for doing these things was not to serve God, to serve other people, or to grow spiritually. I did serve God and others, and I did grow spiritually, but I did all these things, first and foremost, to be with my new friends. This group would see me through some difficult times.

In 2007, I graduated with a bachelors degree in computer science, and a few months later, I was offered a job as a computer engineer with a small company in town. This company just happened to be a casino vendor that leased video poker machines and video slot machines. Accepting that job was a choice I would live to regret, for I did not find satisfaction in my work, but rather shame. I hated telling people what I did for a living, and I hated the fact that I worked for a company that benefited from the sickness of compulsive gamblers. I couldn't take my job seriously, and, after my first major crunch period, I came to realize that my employers wanted more from me than I wanted to give them.

I desperately wanted out, but simply quitting a job is not exactly something one would want to put on a résumé if he ever wants to work again. With my back against the wall, I turned to God. Every day before work, I prayed that God would call me away from my job. In the meantime, I began to flirt with a new vocation. I was unsure that I wanted to be a computer programmer any longer, and I began to wonder if I had actually been dodging a call to ministry. To explore my potential new calling, I became more active in the Church: I began preaching and teaching Sunday school at my home church, and, in a very small way, I helped with the start-up of a Iglesia Esperanza, Spanish-speaking church in my area. I also started blogging so that I could continue writing when I didn't have the opportunity to preach.

Months passed, and my prayers were finally answered. The company for which I worked bought another company, consolidated offices, and moved all operations out of state. I was unwilling to relocate, so I was laid off. I still hadn't determined whether or not I was called to ministry, so I looked for another job as a computer programmer. This time, I was more intentional about my job search. I was offered another programming job at Greenville Technical College, the first place I applied. God delivered me from a job that brought me shame and gave me the opportunity to use my skills to serve other people.

When I took the job at Greenville Tech, I had been out of college for nearly two and a half years, but I was still involved with the Furman Wesley Fellowship. I never really felt unwelcome, but I had this growing feeling that I no longer belonged with the group. Over time, the community that once felt like a home to me began to feel more like an exile: there were times when I felt lonely in a room full of people. When I could no longer bear the growing rift between myself and others, I decided that it was time for me to leave. I was aware of a young adult Bible study group at a large church downtown, so I decided to check it out. I walked into the room where the group meets, and I was immediately at home. What I lost with my college community, I found once again with my new community.

In the years that followed, I became more and more aware of a feeling that I was about to break under the burdens that weighed upon my soul: the expectations people had for me, the expectations I had for myself, frustration that I constantly fell short of these expectations, and anger that I couldn't just enjoy my life like everybody else around me. I felt as though I had a greater weight to bear than other people, even other Christians. I was tired of "saying 'yes.'" I was tired of "dying to myself." I was tired of "taking up my cross." Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light,"⁸ so why did I have to bear the weight of the world on my shoulders?

I was invited to go on a retreat last year where I heard a talk on priorities. In a moment of personal reflection afterward, I took stock of my own priorities, and I realized that my number-one priority in life was what people thought of me. I realized that my obsession had to die or else it would be the end of me. I came to realize that accepting God's grace is to accept that I am already loved and accepted by God.⁹ I was reminded that, even though I didn't live up to anyone's expectations, God loved me and believed in me, as did all the important people in my life. I gave up on the idea that I should try to meet everybody's expectations of me. I disappointed other people; I disappointed myself; and life went on.

I tend question other people's motivations for seeking God, as I stated earlier, but, ironically, every stage of my own journey of faith has been marked by a need of some sort.

In the book Selling Water by the River, Shane Hipps suggests that within each of us is a longing "as innate to us as our thirst for water," a longing that motivates us to do everything we do, from choosing a career path, to getting married, to eating ice cream.¹⁰ When the Woman at the Well asks Jesus to give her the living water He described, He tells her to find her husband and bring him to the well with her. She replies that she has no husband, and Jesus says, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" Our first inclination is to read judgment in Jesus' response and conclude that Jesus is calling the woman to repent of her promiscuous lifestyle, but perhaps Jesus is simply trying to make her confront her own spiritual thirst. Perhaps the string of broken marriages in her past is the result of her own failed attempts to quench the thirst of her soul.¹¹

Hipps defines living water as the "the experience of deep joy, boundless love, and indestructible peace that Jesus promised."¹² In other words, the living water Jesus offers the Woman at the Well is the life He describes later on when He says that He came into the world "that [we] may have life, and have it abundantly."¹³

It's interesting that Jesus uses water as a metaphor to describe what He offers us.

Not long after the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they came to a part of the desert where there was no water. They grew thirsty and began to panic, fearing that they had come so far only to die in the wilderness. At least they had water in Egypt – after all, they couldn't labor for the Egyptians if they died of thirst. The Israelites complained to Moses, and Moses went to God for help. At God's command, Moses took the elder Israelites to the foot of Mt. Horeb. There, he struck a rock with his staff, and, out of the rock, God provided water for the Israelites to drink.¹⁴ Centuries later, St. Paul calls this miracle to mind when he writes that the Israelites drank spiritual water in the desert and that the spiritual rock from which it came was Christ.¹⁵

Earlier I said that sometimes I wonder whether people actually seek God for God's own sake or for other motivations. Christ said that He came into the world to offer us living water.

Nobody drinks water for its own sake.

Nobody drinks water because it's the right thing to do.

Nobody drinks water because it will make the world a better place.

People drink water because they're thirsty.

People drink water because they need it.

People drink water because they'll die without it.

Maybe there is no selfless reason for seeking God, because maybe we all need God like we need water. Christ came into the world to save a spiritually thirsty humanity. Christ came into the world because we need Him and the living water He offers us.

We all thirst for lasting love, joy, and peace in our lives. Are these not the first of what St. Paul calls the "Fruit of the Spirit"?¹⁶ Are these not what results from the presence of God in a person's life? Perhaps at the heart of all our longings is a longing for God. Perhaps any pursuit in life is ultimately an attempt to fill what people sometimes call a "God-shaped hole." The Woman at the Well has left a trail of broken marriages in her path because she has tried over and over again to satisfy her thirst for unconditional love. Like so many others who meet Christ, she walks away from her encounter a changed person. The woman who once went out to fetch water hours after everyone else because she was too ashamed to face her peers, immediately goes out to tell other people about Jesus. Because of her, many other thirsty people in Samaria find living water for themselves.

I cannot look back on my own journey of faith without seeing my spiritual thirst. When I asked God to save me because I was afraid of going to hell when I died, I was thirsty for security. When my loneliness drove me to participate in Bible studies, small groups, and mission projects, I was thirsty for friendship. When I prayed for God to deliver me from a job that brought me constant shame, I was thirsty for dignity. When the meaninglessness of my job drove me to begin exploring a future in the ministry, I was thirsty for purpose. When I grew weary of carrying the heavy burdens of people's expectations, I was thirsty for the peace that comes only from knowing God's grace. Whenever I was thirsty, God was there to offer me clean, cold, refreshing, living water. I cannot say that I've gotten everything I ever wanted in life, but I can sing with the hymnist Thomas Chisholm, "All I have needed Thy hand hath provided."¹⁷

I've always been thirsty, and, if my thirst is what draws me closer to God, then I hope that I'll always be thirsty.

According to Shane Hipps, if we want to receive the living water Christ offers us, we must meet a single requirement: we must be thirsty for it.¹⁸ Right now we are in the middle of Lent, a time of self-examination and repentance in preparation for Easter. Perhaps, amid our introspection, we should consider the ways in which we are spiritually thirsty and then bring those thirsts to Christ. Hipps notes that if we want to feel our thirst, then we need to pay attention to our emotions, particularly the ones we typically consider negative. Anger, for example, is a thirst for justice. Loneliness is a thirst for companionship, connection, and love. Anxiety is a thirst for peace. Fear is a thirst for security. Guilt is a thirst for forgiveness and mercy.¹⁹

I have heard it said that, in the Church, we are all like "beggars who found some bread."²⁰ The story of the Woman at the Well is our story, for we too are spiritually thirsty, and Christ meets us right where we are and offers us living water. We live in a world full of thirsty people, and, if we have truly tasted the living water Christ offers us, then we would naturally desire to help other people find that same water for themselves as the Samaritan woman did. Of course, we would also do well to remember that not all hunger and thirst is spiritual. The psychologist Abraham Maslow, who is known for his hierarchy of human needs, argues that physiological needs dominate emotional and psychological needs.²¹ That said, there are many people in the world who cannot even consider their spiritual hunger and thirst because of their physical hunger and thirst. My friend George Donigian, in his new book A World Worth Saving, suggests that we give up apathy for Lent and seek out ways to help the hungry and thirsty people in the world.²²

Don't be afraid to admit that you are spiritually thirsty, for it is only natural that we as human beings would have certain spiritual needs. Acknowledge your thirsts, and take the advice Christ offered the Woman at the Well, and ask for the living water to satisfy those thirsts. Don't forget that Christ called hungry and thirsty people "blessed," "for they will be filled."²³ "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is [God's] faithfulness."²⁴

Amen.

Notes:

This sermon is a reworking of my introspection "I've Always Been Thirsty."
Wikipedia: Jesus' Interactions with Women
Shane Hipps. "Troubling Love." Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast, 03/21/10.
Adam Hamilton. The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. 2012, Abingdon Press. p. 124
The Way, pp. 127-128
emphasis mine
From John Lennon's song "Imagine"
Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV)
Grace according to Paul Tillich
Shane Hipps. Selling Water by the River: A Book About the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way. 2012, Jericho Books. p. 3
Selling Water by the River, p. 142-146
Selling Water by the River, p. 7-9
John 10:10 (NRSV)
Exodus 17:1-7
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Galatians 5:22-23
From the hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
Selling Water by the River, p. 144
Shane Hipps. "From the Belly." Mars Hill Bible Church Podcast, 04/18/10.
I know that I heard Rob Bell say this, but I doubt that he's the only one to use this analogy.
Wikipedia: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
George Donigian. A World Worth Saving: Lenten Spiritual Practices for Action. 2013, Upper Room Books.
Matthew 5:6 (NRSV)
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NRSV)

The photographs featured in this post are public domain.

Notes from the Wayside

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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Sermon: For All Who Are Thirsty

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