John 4 (2026)
\nJesus Christ, we turn to you this day to be refreshed by God\u2019s living
\nWord in the Scriptures. Let the Holy Spirit open our eyes to your truth
\nand shine truth on the way you set before us. Amen.
\nThe woman at the well is one of the stories that is well known to us
\nHere we have Jesus talking to a complete stranger and expounding a new
\ntheological idea
\nNow to those of us who live in Atlantic Canada striking up a conversation
\nwith a stranger is not unusual We talk with those we don\u2019t know about the
\nweather, about what was on Compass last night, about community events
\nBut the expectations in the day that the gospel story happened were different
\nMen did not talk to women publicly, especially women they did not know
\nAnd the fact that this woman was a Samaritan was another reason to avoid
\nher She was an unbeliever An outcast A heretic because the Samaritans
\nworshipped other gods in addition to the one true God
\nPopular acceptance is also that this woman was not of good character
\nbecause she had had 5 husbands And the man with whom she stayed was not
\nher husband There have been assumptions that she went from one marriage
\nto another Finally moving in with a man \u201cwithout the banns\u201d
\nSuch assumptions overlook the role women played in ancient society
\nAnd the legal power they did not have
\nIf this woman had been married and her husband died The next brother
\nwould be expected to marry her This was to provide for her as much as
\nanything. In addition to this, most women did not do business
\nA widow might beg if she had no son to care for her A wife on the other
\nhand could expect a certain level of support There were laws to protect a
\nwife<\/p>\n
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\nIf a woman was widowed, and her former husband\u2019s brother was already
\nmarried, she could be taken on as a second wife Given the level of health
\ncare in the day that this story took place It would not be unbelievable for a
\nwoman to have 5 husbands if the brothers all died
\nAnd as for the one with whom she now stayed not being her husband
\nWas he a cagy brother-in-law who didn\u2019t want to marry her, given the life
\nexpectancy of her husbands? Or was he her father-in-law?<\/p>\n
There is also a lot read into the fact that this woman came to the well in the
\nmiddle of the day Apparently, there were few people out at that time
\nMost people fetched water in the cool of the day, even so Jesus was out at
\nthis time And as for this woman Was she an outcast in her household?
\nOne who went out at midday because no one wanted to be around her?
\nWas she an extra mouth to feed? A woman with no husband and no son to
\ncare for her? There is much that we don\u2019t know about this woman
\nThere is another theory on the woman\u2019s status which invites us to look at the
\noriginal Greek text Apparently, the word anar which is translated husband
\nwhen Jesus says the woman has had 5 husbands, can also be translated
\n\u201cmaster\u201d If we understand her to have had five masters, they can be
\nunderstood to be the five Baals or the 5 gods of the Canaanite religion
\nThe woman had worked her way through all of the five masters of the
\nCanaanite religion, and none of them has been her true master
\nIf we work with the translation of anar as master rather than husband, then
\nin verse 16 Jesus tells her to call her master
\nAnd her response \u201cI have no master\u201d is a recognition on her part that she is
\nstill searching<\/p>\n
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\nThis woman is a religious seeker of truth who recognizes Jesus as a prophet,
\nand she is eager to hear his teaching Whatever the reasons for her being at
\nthe well when no one else was there She was there And she was talking to
\nJesus As she spoke to Jesus She knew that he was someone who could tell
\nher everything she had ever done He cannot be the Messiah, can he? she
\nasked. The people of the town came out with her to hear Jesus
\nDid they see joy and hope in this woman that had not been there before?
\nWhat compelled them to leave their homes in the middle of the day to go
\nand talk with a man they had never seen or heard Whatever there was about
\nher story It was enough to compel them to come and see for themselves<\/p>\n
It is clear in this story that the Samaritan woman is searching for God
\nAnd in the way Jesus is with her there are lessons for us
\nThis woman is on the fringes Many people are looking down on her
\nThe Jews would avoid her because she is a Samaritan And she is not a part
\nof the crown Sometimes we may feel that is where we are
\nWe can put high expectations on ourselves as to what we should and
\nshouldn\u2019t do We can be slow to forgive ourselves when we fall short
\nWe may feel that God has no patience for someone who is so consistently
\nnot getting it In the face of whatever self-doubt or self-accusation we may
\nhave, God loves us and wants to hear from us While we may need to learn
\nthe same lesson over and over God will keep giving the same lesson until we
\nget it Good teachers do that, and Jesus is the best teacher
\nIn a pale way, God\u2019s patience with us as learners is sort of like my
\nexperience learning to knit This example is a very simplistic one, but I hope
\nit helps you get the point Learning to knit was a long road for me<\/p>\n
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\nI used to watch Nanny Renton\u2019s fingers fly, and I wanted to be able to knit
\nlike that To make socks, mitts. hats. scarves and baby sets
\nI set out to learn The path was a struggle
\nI wondered how people could possibly knit to relax when the process was
\nthe opposite of relaxing for me I dropped stitches I increased stitches
\nMy tension was too tight I carried the yarn in a way that wasn\u2019t supposed to
\nhappen If there was a mistake I made it
\nNanny gave me some tips, but still I struggled I got a book on the subject
\nAnd other good knitters gave me tips as well Eventually, I got to the point of
\nbeing a pretty good knitter Nowhere near the category of my grandmother,
\nbut I have made some garments that people have worn
\nIn the same way that it took me a long time to learn to knit
\nIt can take us a long time to learn that God loves us enough to want to hear
\nfrom us often That God wants to hear from us even when we get it wrong
\nWe may feel like Johhny Cash that we are C+ Christians
\nJohnny knew God and he knew himself He knew that he had broken
\npromises, broken hearts and had become an addict
\nOut of the midst of that self-recrimination he reached to God and found the
\nstrength to live a life defined by forgiveness and grace rather than a life
\ndefined by blame
\nI think that one lesson we can take from the story of the woman at he well is
\nthat we are never beyond God\u2019s care Jesus took time to talk to the woman at
\nthe well and he will take time to talk with you too
\nJesus offered the woman living water This living water is the source of the
\nwater of life Living water is the fulfilment of the promises of scripture Isaiah
\n58:11: and you shall be like a watered garden,\u00a0like a spring of water, whose
\nwaters never fail.<\/p>\n
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\nLater in John Jesus will say, \u201cAs\u00a0the scripture has said, \u2018Out of the believer\u2019s
\nheart\u00a0shall flow rivers of living water\u2019\u201d\u00a0(John 7:38b). \u201cThe claim, loaded
\nwith Messianic imagery, is two-fold. 1) Jesus is the Messianic source for the
\nwater of life. 2) Those who drink from the source will themselves become
\nsprings of living water!\u201d
\n(Lindsey Scott, Moravian Seminary found at Working Preacher)
\nAs the woman talks more with Jesus he talks to her about where we worship
\nGod In this conversation Jesus both shares a profound truth and pinpoints
\none of the points of disagreement between the Samaritans and the Jews
\n\u201cWoman, believe me, the hour is coming when you\u00a0will worship the Father
\nneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You\u00a0worship what you\u00a0do not
\nknow; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.\u00a0 23\u00a0 But the
\nhour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the
\nFather in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
\nhim.\u00a0 24\u00a0 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
\ntruth.\u201d
\nThe Jewish people felt that God was to be worshipped in the temple in
\nJerusalem, this was the place of gathering and of celebration
\nThe Samaritans gathered and celebrated on a mountain, but Jesus said that
\nGod desired people to worship in spirit and in truth
\nI have been talking about having the word of God hidden in your heart
\nduring the season of Lent
\nThis is one of the verses that is hidden in my heart
\n\u201cGod is a spirit and those who worship God must worship in spirit and in
\ntruth\u201d I first heard these words used as a call to worship
\nOften these were the words that Laurence Blaikie used to call us to worship
\nat St Andrews, Moncton<\/p>\n
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\nWhen I read them in my Bible as a teen that jumped off the page like old
\nfriends Worship is about spirit and truth not location
\nThis is part of the great truth shared with the Samaritan woman as she spoke
\nwith Jesus The Samaritan woman engages with Jesus and receives living
\nwater and life changing truth, and then she rushes to share it with her
\nneighbours She goes back to the city and says \u201cCome and see a man who
\ntold me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, [k] \u00a0can he?\u201d
\nAs we read further we are told, \u201cThey left the city and were on their way to
\nhim.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Samaritan woman Accepts the truth that Jesus teaches And she takes
\nthat truth to her friends and family Even so, we today have had living water
\nWill we hoard it or pass it on?
\nOne way we pass on the living water is through our support of our church
\nmissions Through Presbyterians Sharing we help provide online learning for
\nadults to help them grow in faith We support inner city ministries to bring
\nthe gospel to those who are on the fringes And we support education events
\nsuch as the clerks conference, which gives support, fellowship and education
\nto those who serve presbyteries and synods Through the giving of
\ncongregations across the country we support the work of the seminaries
\nAnd we train and equip chaplains to serve in prisons, hospitals and the
\narmed forces There is a lot of ministry that happens because we are stewards
\nof what God has given to us
\nIn addition to these worthy works we are called to share living water with
\nthose who are here close at hand
\nAt the Total Charge Annual Meeting we talked about how we might touch
\nthe lives of those who live nearby<\/p>\n
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\nHow might we partner with groups in the community to be doers of the
\nword?
\nWhen we share living water we are bringing the gift of life to others We are
\ninvited to live the words of the hymn
\nLead me Jesus I will follow
\nDown the dusty pathway all along the sea
\nTeach me Jesus to be loving, your disciple I will be<\/p>\n
Prayer
\nRevealing God,
\nwe seek to offer you our prayers in spirit and in truth.
\nWe thank you for the truth of your love
\nwhich welcomes us as we are, not as the world tells us we should be.
\nThank you for the truth of your mercy
\nwhich embraces us even when you recognize our mistakes and
\nfailures.
\nThank you for the truth of your purpose
\nwhich gives us meaning and direction for our lives.
\nAnd thank you for the truth of your vision
\nwhich gives us hope for our future even in challenging times.
\nRevealing God,
\nwe seek from you truth for our times.
\nWe are surrounded by claims of truth and much that misleads.
\nWe pray for those who feel overwhelmed by so much information:
\nGrant us all the ability to discern fact from fabrication,
\nAnd to recognize self-interest disguised as sincerity.
\nRevealing God,
\nwe seek from you truth in our history.
\nWe know that most history has been written by the winners,
\nso give us the willingness to hear the stories that have been silenced.
\nWe pray for those who have stories that are difficult to tell.
\nGrant us both the courage to speak and to listen,
\nand the wisdom to recognize truth even when it makes us
\nuncomfortable.<\/p>\n
8<\/p>\n
Revealing God,
\nwe seek from you truth in our characters and shared humanity.
\nWe hear voices that are fearful, critical and cynical,
\nso help us listen for voices of respect, generosity and filled with hope.
\nShow us the potential we have to work together,
\nto find common cause even among those with different perspectives,
\nand accomplish more than we can imagine right now,
\nbecause, together, we have been created in your image.
\nAwaken in us and among us the potential to serve you
\nin serving one another,
\nfor this is the way you revealed to us in Jesus Christ, both Friend and
\nSaviour,
\nin whose name we pray, Amen<\/p>\n
COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
\nAs we continue our Lenten journey, remember the words of St
\nPaul: that \u201csuffering produces endurance, endurance produces
\ncharacter, character produces hope, and hope does not
\ndisappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our
\nhearts through the Holy Spirit.\u201d
\nAnd so may God\u2019s love strengthen your endurance,
\nChrist\u2019s mercy refine your character,
\nand the Spirit\u2019s power enliven your hope this day and in every day to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 4 (2026) Jesus Christ, we turn to you this day to be refreshed by God\u2019s living Word in the Scriptures. Let the Holy Spirit open our eyes to your truth and shine truth on the way you set before us. Amen. The woman at the well is one of the stories that is well … Continue reading “Sunday March 8th sermon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t