March 27, 2011, Third Sunday in Lent, Yr. A

Sunday, March 27, 2011, Third Sunday in Lent
John 4:5-42, Romans 5:1-11
The Rev. Jo Miller

If there can be one over all, prevailing theme in the Bible, whether in the Hebrew
Scriptures or the New Testament it is relationship with God. Religion through many, many centuries has mucked it up. I think our human nature just relishes making something simple more difficult because difficult is better. My personal theology is that our relationship with God is a long Spiritual journey which requires faith. Paul Tillich wrote, “He who enters the sphere of faith enters the sanctuary of life.”

We have in our readings today in Romans and the Gospel of John two great
examples of what relationship with the Triune God means. Keeping in mind please, last
weeks story of Abraham who demonstrated his righteousness through faith - aka his
relationship with God.

A little digression is needed here to look at the literary devices used by the author of the Gospel of John and Paul’s letter to the Romans. We moderns often fail to appreciate the more sophisticated literary devices used in relaying important messages in the Bible. A large contingency has flattened the depth by preferring literal interpretation. At times that is the correct way, at other times the whole point may be lost.

Irony- the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning, dramatic
irony is an effect produced by a narrative in which the audience knows more about the
circumstance than a character in the story. The early readers and hearers of the Gospel knew of the risen Christ. They knew something that the Samaritan woman did not know.

Classical argumentation is the logical process of reasoning. It can be elaborate. Paul was well versed in the use of classical argumentation. Unless we have taken debate or certain classes in philosophy most of us are not well versed in the process of classical argumentation. I suspect that is why some of us can get a bit lost in Paul’s chain of reasoning as he works his way to his theological conclusions. He does eventually make his point and we hear his point today when he wriets, "we are justified by faith." Paul’s theology of justification by faith is about relationships. He learned from his own experience that following the strictness of religious law would not bring us into a joyful, empowering, free, and full relationship with God. Thank goodness Martin Luther helped to unravel the simple means to a relationship that helped to bring in the Protestant
Reformation.

What does justification by faith look like for the Samaritan woman at the well? If
the law was her only access to God she will never, ever get there. She has three huge
strikes against her. 1) she is a woman, 2) she is a Samaritan, 3) she is an adulteress. She is a total outsider. In the eyes of the people of her time she is a nobody. The Gospel writer uses this situation to show us how we gain access to God through the risen Christ.

Where is the irony? What is the Good News? Those who were early followers of
“The Way” the early Christians who were read this Gospel knew who Jesus was, knew
what was meant by living water, knew what was meant that God is Spirit and those who
worship him must worship in spirit and truth. They knew what the Samaritan woman did
not know but will be lead to see.


The Jesus she first encounters at Jacob's well is only a thirsty Jewish stranger who dares to ask her for a drink. This is quite daring because by speaking to her he crosses significant social boundaries of religion, ethnicity, and gender. Jesus constantly broke down the boundaries that humans erected between themselves, others
and God. It did not make him very popular with the ruling group. Those
who view and understand the world literally and with high walls of separation do no do well with an ironical Jesus and an ironical Gospel such as John. Irony presupposes a distinction between appearance and reality.

The twist on reality here is the Samaritan woman thinks Jesus is the one asking for
assistance, help, a drink of water. She at first fails to understand that it is not he who needs help, but she who needs what only he can give “Living Water.” Appearance belies reality when Jesus says; “I am the bread of life that came from heaven.” It is hard to see beyond the apparent, but the universe is full of objects that we can not see but are there.

It takes time and effort to develop relationships; to accept a relationship for what it is, a gift. Some never come to know this relationship with the Divine because of the boundaries of fear, distrust, or seeing the world through concrete literal eyes.
In her conversation with Jesus, the Samaritan woman slowly moves from unbelief to
faith, from darkness to light, from blindness to sight, from ignorance to knowledge, from misunderstanding to understanding. Jesus was just present with her and she began to see. Her growing faith that Jesus was the Messiah brought her justification.

It is faith over the law that brings us into relationship with the Ground of our Being. Our job is to be open to the journey as was Abraham. O God, to you our hearts are open, our desires are know, and from you we can keep no secrets and you love us anyway.


*ideas from Ward Ewing and George Stroup Feasting on the Word Year A, Volume 2