Christ: Our Example in Love

A: A Samaritan man from the city of Sychar

B: The preacher

B: (reads John 4: 5-42) Today I have invited a special guest to help me with the sermon. His name is Arad, and he is a Samaritan citizen form the city of Sychar. I trust you will extend to Arad your courteous attention. Good morning Arad.

A; Good morning, Pastor. Thank you for the invitation to address your congregation. I am a bit nervous; I’ve never done anything like this.

B: Arad, you heard our Gospel lesson read a few minutes ago. Because you were a witness at this event, it is my hope that you will be able to shed a little more light on what happened that day.

A: To be honest, I was a witness to only the second part of the story. I did not actually see Jesus and Myra at the beginning of the story, although I have always known Myra. I’m truly pleased to hear the Gospel account of the story, because that means Mayra was really telling the truth from the start.

B: You had doubts about what Myra told you?

A: Initially I did. Myra’s reputation left a little to be desired, you know.

B: Yes the story account does allude to some of Myra’s past, especially the fact that she was “living with a man out of wedlock.”

A: Oh, I don’t wish to condemn the woman. Probably most of the gossip was untrue. You know how stories have a way of getting out of hand in a small town.

B: Did you have a personal relationship with Myra?

A: I knew Myra quite well. In fact, I knew all the towns folk. I was Myra’s physician.

B: Then I should have introduced you as Dr. Arad. I beg your pardon for the omission. We would really like to hear something of Myra’s life before she met Jesus.

A: She was really a victim of circumstances you know. Myra grew up in a middle class family. The only girl among four brothers. When she turned 14 her parents found her a husband. But unlike most young women Myra was not ready for marriage, especially with the older man her parents selected as her groom.

B: We tend to forget that such marriages were arranged for middle eastern girls. We also forget how young they were when they got married.

A: Myra was the right age. She could bear children, she had a dowry, and she could have a very secure future as the wife of a respected townsman.

B: But according to the gospel Myra had five husbands.

A: That is correct. Her first husband lived only a few months following their marriage, and since she was without child the law stated that the groom’s brother had to take Myra as a wife and raise up an heir. Unfortunately for Myra her first husband came from a large family and all his brothers were older than he.

B: I get the picture. Myra was given from one older man to another in marriage, then to the next, each time one of the brothers died.

A: Right. By the time Myra was 25 years old she had been married and widowed five times! And still there were no children as a result of those marriages.

B: As a woman my heart goes out to her. To be widowed so many times, at such a young age!

A: The saddest part of Myra’s story is her complete unhappiness. She resented every marriage because she rebelled against the custom of pre-arranged marriage. As the only girl among four brothers, Myra was doted upon by her brothers. She became somewhat of a tomboy, joining in with their games and helping with their chores. She determined in her heart that she wanted a husband who would be as handsome and kind and lively as her brothers.

B: And her marriages gave her none of those aspirations.

A: No, as a result she became moody and depressed. I tried to help her through this period of her life, but she had a strong aversion to “older men”, avoiding them as if they had the plague. To Myra, I was an older man.

B: So, did she turn to the women of the town for friendship?

A: Oh, no! She was considered an outcast. All those marriages and no children!

B: The poor thing. No husbands, no friends. What did she do?

A: She began to hang out at the local tavern where she could enjoy male companionship like she used to do with her brothers when she was a child.

B: It is always a sad thing when people seek companionship at such places instead of going to a church where they could meet people who would be more helpful.

A: You’re forgetting that we Samaritans did not have churches, per se. The religious of our community were looking toward the day when a deliverer would come. Then they could worship freely without condemnation by the Jews.

B: You are right. As a result, the Samaritan people fell away from the worship of God, causing further ostracization from the Jewish people … even though both nations descended from the same Jewish ancestors.

A: Myra made many friends, all of them men, and eventually lived as a common law wife with one to whom she was especially attracted.

B: So she was apparently performing her “wifely duty” of getting water for the household on the day she met Jesus.

A: Yes, but notice she did not go to the well at the time when the women of the town went to draw water. She was all alone at the well…

B: …still unaccepted by the women of the town, so she avoided them. I find it interesting that Myra had her defenses in place when Jesus spoke to her.

A: She may have been a “liberated woman”, but she was first of all a Samaritan. Jesus was a man, but he was a Jew. Yes, she was defensive when it came to Jews.

B: Because he was a compassionate man, Jesus eventually won her trust. He knew exactly how to draw her out of herself. The fact that he seemed to accept her in spite of her lifestyle was the clincher, so to speak.

He had a way of tying the ordinary areas of life with the spiritual areas. Water became a symbol for eternal life. This became a longing for spiritual truths. The truth about her living with a man became a touchstone for the greater truth about the nature of God.

A: Myra was so excited about meeting the Messiah she forgot all about her water jar. Instead she ran back to town to tell the people about what had happened. “Why should we listen to you?” asked on of the wives. “You are only a tramp!” “That’s just it!” Myra joyously replied. “He knows all about my past and still he spoke to me. How could he know about me? He must be the Messiah!”

B: Wow! Myra was willing to risk further shame and rejection in order to tell people about Jesus! She was telling the good news of the gospel that God accepts us where we are. If we would only be honest and confess our sins, God’s mercy and love would pour forgiveness into our lives. So tell me, Dr Arad, how did Myra finally convince the townsfolk to go and see Jesus?

A: Actually, her male companions from the local tavern were first to believe her. They knew Myra was basically a good woman and they were impressed by her story. So once a few people became excited, the energy spread and many people went to meet the man at the well. They were so impressed that they invited Jesus to stay in their town for a few days.

B: Doctor, I certainly appreciate your contribution to our service…

A: (Interrupting) There is still one more thing that you need to hear.

B: Oh? Very well, share it with me

A: You know, of course, that the Jews and Samaritans are hostile toward one another. In fact, they despise one another, me included. After I met Jesus and felt his love, my life changed also. The change that come over me was remarkable; I no longer hated people, not even the Jews. Because of the love of Jesus, I was able to help a Jew who had been left to die along the roadside by some robbers. I dressed his wounds and even took him to an inn so that he could receive further care, and I paid for it! Before the love of Jesus came into my life, I never would have helped a Jew, even though I am a physician.

B: Doctor, I’m so glad you shared the rest of your story with me! Jesus’ love made a difference in the lives of you and Myra and your townsfolk. Nearly two thousand years have passed and Jesus’ love is still making a difference in the lives of people. The result? We love because he first loved us! Let us pray, “Help us, Lord God, to be as open and receptive to Jesus as were the Samaritan town folk. Because of your love and acceptance of us, may we, in turn, follow this example and accept others with love and acceptance, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

In this gospel lesson we are reminded that prejudice is not a modern invention

In verse 9 we are told that Jews did not share things in common with Samaritans

While these two groups had little to do with each other by the time Jesus walked the earth, they shared a common ancestry, with the Samaritans being descendants of two of the original twelve tribes of Israel, namely Ephraim and Manasseh

Due to geographical realities, and Babylonian conquest, the northern tribes of Israel came to be separated from the southern tribes and the resulting cultural changes caused the Jews and the Samaritans to be mistrustful of each other

This in one specific example of how groups of people can draw away from one another because of differences

People must not learn to see beyond their differences to be able to overcome such bias permanently

The woman at the well was one of the Samaritans, who were looked down upon by the Jews

She was also a social outcast

As the dialogue we heard today shows, the reputation she had might have been undeserved still she had it

Not much has changed in 2000 years

There are still times that people withdraw from one another because of differences whether they be cultural, racial or educational

  

^{In one of the daily readings from Center for Action and Contemplation such biases are looked at in one of the reading this week}

^{This is the point of view in this reading,}

^{In order to overcome prejudice, we need to be in contact with those who are not like us}

^{We need to examine biases that may have been passed on in our communities about people of another race, religion, culture, sexual orientation or class}

^{It is easier to examine those biases if we know people who are of another race, religion, culture, sexual orientation or class}

^{Otherwise, it is easy for the bias to be unexamined and to be maintained}

^{Stigmas attached to those who are different and systems of bias are firmly ingrained in people’s thinking and they need to be examined and challenged to be changed}

^{(Overcoming Contact Bias. Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily )}

 

^{In the story of the woman at the well Jesus gives us an example of how to treat people who are different}

^{Treat them like people}

^{For Jesus, custom of the day protected him from noticing this woman at all}

^{Men did not speak to women they did not know in public}

^{He knew she had a reputation and he knew she was a Samaritan}

^{Any one of these would be a good reason to let her draw her water and go back home without exchanging a word}

^{Instead, Jesus strikes up a conversation with the woman}

^{He asks for water and the next thing you know they are having a meaningful conversation about eternal life, and the woman is going back to Sychar to invite others to meet the one who she believes is the Messiah}

^{Jesus could have held this Samaritan woman at arms length and refused to recognize her as any more than one of “them”}

^{She was after all a social inferior who practised the wrong religion, and who was immoral}

^{Jesus could have seen himself as the Messiah, sent by God with a message for good people who said their prayers and paid attention to the holy writings and who wanted to follow God}

^{While we know that Jesus was better than this description, we also know that he was raised in a community where men and women were not equal, where the Samaritans were hated and where immoral women could be stoned}

^{Jesus was fully God and fully human, and as a human he was tempted as we are}

^{In Jesus we see a man who lives the love of God and shares it with those around him whether they be like him or not}

^{Jesus could see in this woman that she was a loved child of God, Jesus could see more that others did}

^{For us to be able to see beyond the bias we may have about people, we too need to see beyond the surface}

^{To do that we need information}

^{For most of us the source of our information is the news}

^{Either on the radio or TV}

^{Complex issues are reduced to very short clips, and usually we have the impression that one side of an issue is right and one is wrong}

^{Sometimes though when we take time to find out more, we are able to be compassionate}

^{It is not easy to do}

^{But by the grace of God, we can be motivated to find out about what is going on in our world and why it is going on}

^{I often hear people ask how to know you can trust news or reports}

^{One thing to consider is the source of the information}

^{If what you are hearing is not mainstream, what is the motivation of the presenter, and how reliable are the sources the presenter is using?}

^{And of course, there is the rule of three we were given in school, there should be at least three sources consulted}

^{One source of information about what is going on in the world is our own church office}

^{The Justice Ministries report has looked at many topics}

^{Such as:} The Environment, Responding to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery in Practice, Poverty Reduction in Canada, Domestic Violence and Vulnerability, Racism and Gun Violence

At first glance though we see that the report is long

It is black type on a white surface

It does not entertain like the evening news with its stylishly dressed hosts who exchange witty quips

On the other hand it is divided into sections, so you can read the section that is of interest

It is written to help people see things from a justice point of view rather than the point of view of someone who wants to be re-elected or someone who wants to hold onto power or money

It is a source that can be trusted, and a source that can help us re-examine some of our points of view

In our gospel lesson today, Jesus met a person who his disciples would have thought was the opposite of a likely convert

Jesus however responded to her need for the gospel

And because of this story, we have the loved image of living water

Invitation to the Offering

Jesus invites us to worship God in Spirit and in truth. Part of our worship is our response to God in the actions of giving and serving. Our offerings are intended to express our commitment to God’s ways. They are not just a financial transaction. As you present your offering to God this day, consider what commitment to God’s purposes your gift expresses.

Prayer of Dedication

Lord Jesus, you challenge your followers to give to God with commitment and thanksgiving. Receive our gifts as an expression of our commitment to you and your ministry. Bless them and us, and use all that we can give to offer hope and healing in the world you love. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Loving God,

we thank you for the world you created

and the opportunities we have to enjoy its beauty and its life sustaining promise.

When we find occasions to breathe in fresh air and exercise outdoors this winter,

remind us of our partnership with you to care for creation.

As spring comes closer and the sun shines longer each day,

reawaken our hope in your promise of new life

to sustain us as the weeks of the pandemic stretch on.

Ever present God,

we thank you for walking with us through days of uncertainty

as well as times of pleasure and satisfaction.

In times of risk and stress, you provide a still point of calm.

In times of challenge, you are the source of courage and confidence for us.

Thank you for hearing us when we pray,

and for the wisdom and encouragement we receive from you.

This day we pray for those who are struggling with the isolation and frustration the pandemic means for so many. Bring them peace and patience with your love.

We pray for churches whose common life has been changed so much by months of distancing. Keep us strong in faith and fellowship, so that we may serve as agents of healing and hope in our communities.

We pray for our nation and the nations of this world. May leaders confront the challenges of this time with courage, wisdom and compassion. Guide citizens to discern the difference between conspiracy theories and truth telling.

We pray for innocent victims of violence around the world. Work through advocates for peace with justice to bring change where it is needed, and daily bread to those whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted.

And we pray for all those who are enduring pain and illness, those who are facing grief and loss, and those who work on the front lines in our community, in health care, education, retail, emergency and public service. So many are exhausted by these months of pandemic. Be their comfort and encouragement day by day.

We think especially today of the Craig family and pray for your strength, grace and love to be real to them in their grief.

Hear us now, as we pray together using the words Jesus taught us:

The Lord’s Prayer