Exodus 17: 1-7; John 4: 5-29
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
March 19, 2017
Third Sunday in Lent
Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’
But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’
So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’
Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ - Exodus 17: 1-7
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!’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’
The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’
Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’
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?’ - John 4: 5-29
As we enter into the third week of Spiritual Boot Camp, you might notice that getting into a new Lenten regimen is hard. It is best to take each step in stages to build our stamina with the hope of reaching our goal. Remember that goal is to experience God bringing about a new creation in us by Easter Sunday – Resurrection Day.
The hope is to be freed from one of those old excuses or lesser habits in which we have sought to give up during Lent to experience God’s wholeness. Many of you have shared with me that you are becoming more intentional to exercise and eat cleaner. One of the challenges is committing to our modifications. Today we factor in our bodies’ need for water.
Three basic signs that you may not be consuming enough water include being thirsty, feeling fatigued and tired, and cramping easily during physical activity. We cannot reach our potential or go the distance without enough water.
God’s people of Israel were journeying along a different kind of boot camp – the one that led from Egypt’s oppression to God’s freedom. And as they followed Moses’ lead they traveled the journey in stages. Once they hit the third day God’s people hit a wall – there was not enough water for all the people. They were thirsty. They were fatigued and tired. And they were cramping Moses’ leadership with all their quarreling. This happened a number of times on the wilderness journey.
Even through Moses’ own leadership trials, he saw the people’s deep need and lifted his voice to God. The wilderness journey towards freedom was quite a test for the people. It was a test of their spiritual endurance to more fully rely on God. And God’s faithful presence and provision went ahead of the people as water gushed up from the rock to quench their thirst.
The Samaritan woman was journeying through a wilderness too. She was oppressed by her past and could only hope for the day when the Messiah would come proclaiming all things leading to God’s freedom. She was surviving one day at a time from a hard life. She rose above her deep thirst to come to the well to draw water. She came to the well every day at noon when no one else was around. Most people came to the well in the cool of the day either early in the morning or in the evening. She was fatigued with shame and she ached for a sense of acceptance and community. The woman’s thirst was simply becoming a fact of life – until she met Jesus Christ.
Jesus had been journeying back home to Galilee and stopped at Jacob’s well to quench his own thirst. Breaking through the social barriers, he asked the woman at the well for a drink. And in that conversation Jesus saw the woman’s deep need and lifted his voice. “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water” (John 4:10, The Message).
That living water is a gift of God. It is a spiritual truth about God’s generosity. The living water of God’s grace meets us where we are on the journey of faith. No matter how rough the terrain of our wilderness appears God journeys alongside of us and goes ahead of us to lead the way from scarcity to abundance.
The living water of Jesus Christ renews us and awakens our spirits with nothing less than God’s abundant grace. When our spirits are parched and dry, Jesus Christ gives us a cup overflowing with cold water that satisfies our deep spiritual needs like nothing else can.
The living water of Jesus Christ cleanses our spiritual system of what is weakening our spiritual health. It flushes out those toxins of fatigue and fear that say we do not have enough to sustain ourselves. It flushes out those toxins of worry and shame that say we are not enough and we are not worthy of being loved.
The living water of Jesus Christ brings freedom as God’s grace divides what is praise worthy in spirit and truth from the distortions of the world that oppress our lives. It empowers our faith to overcome the hurdles and go the distance.
So where do we get that living water? How are we to quench the deep thirst inside of us?
Spiritual Boot Camp tells us that we cannot allow our hearts to merely survive day by day. Survival means we reach forward with the perception that there will never be enough. And God sent his Son to us so that we may have life in abundance (John 10:10). We must hydrate our bodies and spirits in order to thrive. That means we must be intentional to make every effort to drop our buckets in the well of God’s grace often and daily.
Just think about hydration this way as we parallel our physical and spiritual health.
Set a goal to drink more water and keep your water bottle with you to drink throughout the day. If we need 64 fluid ounces daily then nourish your body in increments. Be mindful of how much you have consumed.
In the same way, set your spiritual goal to drink more of Christ’s living water daily. Keep your Lenten devotional with you through the day. Make a date with God to soak up the Word and hydrate your soul with God’s grace. An ideal measurement of time to spend in devotion to God is thirty minutes daily. You will be surprised at how much more fully alive your heart and mind will feel. At the end of the day reflect on the ways God’s Word guided your steps.
Set a goal to spice up your water to make it taste better. Add some frozen fruit, lemon or cucumber slices to add a little zing.
In the same way set a spiritual goal to spice up your prayer life. Meditate on a word or phrase of your bible devotion as you color. Praying in color decreases stress and anxiety. It also integrates the mind and body as our hearts focus in contemplation.
Or maybe spice up your prayer life with praying in motion. Make time to go on a walk as a break in your day. As you walk share with God what is on your heart. Allow yourself to step in silence too as you listen for God and center yourself within God’s presence. Feel God walking alongside you and ahead of you as you take each step fully relying on God. At the end of the day reflect on what you have heard God say.
Set a goal to challenge your friends to drink more water every day with you. Together we feel empowered to really go the distance into more abundant health
In the same way, gather at the well of God’s grace in community. Find a prayer partner so that you may pray for one another and help hold each other accountable. We feel God’s strength in community and together we are better able to take deeper steps in our faith journeys.
The living water of Jesus Christ allows us to run the race of faith in perseverance. It hydrates our parched souls with God’s covenant promises and steadfast love. Good spiritual hydration renews our weary souls, cleanses the toxins, and brings freedom that flows in the direction of wholeness.
But the greatest power of living water is not so much for our personal benefit but to follow Jesus’ example of proclaiming it.
As our spirits are nourished it is so important to ask God’s Spirit to open our eyes to see those around us who have great need and deep thirsts.
Who do you see in the neighborhood and in the wider world that may not have the resources for life giving water?
Who do you see in your circle of influence that is desperate to hear the good news that proclaims God’s steadfast love and abundant grace?
Who might God be leading you to walk beside and bring about some resurrection hope on this stage of the journey?
If water can flow from the rock and even flow from the well of God’s abundant grace, how much more will Christ’s living water flow from the cross to nourish all God’s children and quench our thirst?
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
Sermon Theme and Title adapted from "A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), p. 21, Sermon Theme "Boot Camp for the Soul," by Winnie Varghese.
[1] Mayo Clinic: How Much Water Should You Drink a Day? http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
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