3rd Sun Lent, Year A March 19, 2017
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
Will you marry me? This is the question that Jesus asks the woman at the well today. Jesus sits by Jacob’s well and talks to a woman. The last time scripture shows a man talking to a woman at a well is Moses talking to his future wife. Before that is Jacob talking to his future wife by a well. Before that, is Abraham’s servant who goes to a well to looks for a wife for Isaac. When Scripture shows a man talking to a woman at a well, you can usually expect a wedding to follow. The Samaritan woman doesn’t realize it at first, but Jesus is expecting that very thing.
A Samaritan is basically half pagan, half Jewish. The woman is also a serious sinner, an adulterer who goes to the well in the heat of the day to avoid running into other people who go when it’s a bit cooler out. But none of that stops Jesus from seeking her out. None of your sins stop Jesus Christ from seeking you out.
“Give me a drink.” She thinks he wants water, but he doesn’t, he wants her soul. Mother Teresa often told us that when Jesus is thirsty, he wants souls, not mere H¬2O. But, like so many of us, the Samaritan’s first response is surprise… surprise that Jesus would cross that boundary of shame and division to talk to someone so… unworthy. But she does respond, she speaks back to him, looks at him, and pays attention… Jesus seizes the opportunity. No matter your sins, no matter your shame, no matter how angry you are with God, if you will at least talk to Him, he can work with that.
“He would have given you living water… a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jesus does not start with the commandments, he does not start with her adultery, he does not start with the division. He simply makes his offer, he appeals to her desire to have a drink and he uses it as a sign, a symbol of a much deeper desire. If you see God as the rule-keeper, you may have missed this step, you may have missed his offer, and you might have this whole thing upside down.
“Sir, give me this water.” She misunderstands Jesus’ offer, but she was willing to ask something of him, which is the opening he was looking for. Even if we ask God for the wrong things, he will rejoice that we thought to ask. If your own children were to ask their friends for something dangerous, they might actually get it. But, when they ask you, you know they trust you enough to ask… there is some hope they will respond to your guidance, that they will trust you to give them what they truly need even if they don’t get quite what they asked for.
And now… the part that most of us jump to right away. She has asked for water, so Jesus wants to give it to her, but there is an obstacle and he has to address it. “Go call your husband.” He wants her whole life, not just mere words. He isn’t trying to trap her or to shame her. He could have said “you adulterer, stop living and sin and I can give it to you.” No, he invites her to bring the truth to light, even if it’s only a small part. “I have no husband.” That is enough for Jesus to draw her guilt out into his healing light. “You have had five husbands.”
Like most people, when her sin is stated clearly, she changes the subject. So often we pretend to have a problem the Church’s teaching on this or that, but, really, we focus on that fight because it calls attention away from our real concerns. And this is perhaps the most interesting part in the whole conversation. Jesus Christ would often avoid or redirect challenges to doctrine. Someone would try to zero in on some theological nuance, but Jesus would sidestep it and cut to the heart. But this time, he actually answers her. Without losing sight of the real goal, Jesus Christ is careful to affirm the truth. Salvation is from the Jews, the Jews do understand what they worship. For the second time he uses that accusatory “you.” “You people do not understand.”
Jesus wants her soul, wants her to know him as a savior, but he knows that accepting the Truth is a part of that. And yet, even while he sets her straight, he never loses sight of the goal… the fact is that the debate between the Jews and the Samaritans is in the past and there is a larger Truth that both of them need to accept now.
“I know that the Messiah is coming.” There it is; real thirst and looking to the future. Jesus had to draw it out of her, had to confront her sins, had to correct her theology… all in order to lead her past her blinders to the real question. When and where will God lead his people? Who is the Messiah? “I am he.” He even says it an odd way so that he can say “I AM” like the divine name of God given to Moses.
All at once, the woman realizes what has happened. She lets go of her objections, she accepts Jesus’ word, and she flings aside her shame. Disregarding her past, she runs into town to proclaim to her neighbors that this man, this prophet, this reader of souls is the messiah that we all are waiting for. Such reckless abandon, such lack of concern for her reputation is enough for the town to come and see. They come, they see and hear, and they believe “that this is truly the savior of the world.” And what does he save the world from? From sin and death.
“Look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.” Jesus wants his disciples, he wants you and me to harvest the nations, to convert the world, to evangelize. The field is ripe for harvest, but we keep using the wrong tools, the wrong approach. It is too easy to start by fussing at people about their sins; too easy to worry about the government making people agree with us. We tend to start with guilt and then offer them Jesus, but that is not what the Master shows us today.
“Will you marry me?” That is what God asked of humanity in his covenant, it is what Jesus wants from the Church, which is meant to include all humanity. It is the question he asks of you. He starts by coming to you, by wanting to spend time with you. Then he offers you something you want, he encourages you to ask him for something. When you ask, when you draw close, it is your own heart that gets in the way. Sin is not an obstacle for him, but for you. Yes, you do need to repent in order to actually receive the living water, a sign of baptism and of grace. It can seem sudden, but he will make us face our sins, not to condemn us but to invite us to set them aside so that we can drink.
But we are arrogant creatures… We don’t want to admit that we’ve been wrong about something the whole time. Just because the Samaritan believed something first doesn’t make it right. It’s not her fault she was born into the wrong religion, but the religion was still wrong. Jesus knows that, so he corrects her, he draws the partial truth out of the her faith and expands it, but only in order to point her forward… to worship in Spirit and in Truth. It means we need to free our spirits from sin and our minds from lies. How hard was it for that woman to stop her adultery? To admit she was wrong? It doesn’t matter… it was… it is worth it if that’s what it takes to drink the living water, if it means receiving God himself.
So, open your eyes. Do not think just of some kind of moral checklist; let Jesus Christ ask you the big question. Let him include you in the Church, which is the bride of Christ. Then, spread the Gospel – not just condemning the world’s sins, but by pursuing the people lost in the world. We have to want to spend time with those souls. We should be glad when a person asks us for something, even when it’s wrong. It is then that we can offer them something they didn’t realize they wanted, we can show them repentance, show them the Truth, but most of all, show them the Messiah, the savior of the world.