Priming the Well

Read John 4:5-14

“Priming the Well”

There’s a guy that I see on the streets in Nashville every Monday and Thursday night. He is probably our most common “regular”. His name is Mike. He is a salty individual and pretty rough around the edges to say the least. He yells when he talks, he’s very pessimistic, he complains a lot, and he often gives us a hard time about not arriving on time. But despite all of that, we have come to love the guy and he seems to like us. He sells newspapers every day for the Contributor and he rides a bike for transportation. Not long ago, his bicycle broke. It was a bad break and I saw it coming. It was an old bicycle and it and it had a crack in the frame. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt when it broke. About the time his bike broke, a church member, Steve Howell told me that he had acquired an old bicycle that needed a little tune-up and that I could have it if I wanted it. Good timing! I tuned up the bicycle and presented it to Mike. I wish I had a video of the interaction because it’s hard to do it justice by just telling it. But, Mike was happy and he is still using his new-ish bike every day. 

We have been seeing Mike for years. Ever since he got that first bike, he has asked us when he can ride with us to deliver food. Though, he’s never joined us, we always tell him, that he can ride with us anytime. 

The truth is, that happens a lot. At least once a week, one of the people we serve will ask how they can help out. A lot of people ask where we meet and what time they need to be there to help. Despite their good intentions, no one follows through. Mike has never showed up to help. And, I don’t think he should. I don’t think he is ready for that. He’s not in the right place in his life for that. Most of the people we serve that ask if they can help are not in the right place either. I don’t think they are ready for that. I don’t think they are ready for it because, in order to give something, you have to have something. In order to show something, you have to have something to show. In order to serve someone else, you have to be served. In order to move someone with the Spirit, you have to be moved by the Spirit. In order to show love, you have to have love.

As servants of God we know something about helping people in need. We understand the implications of lending a hand to a neighbor. It’s what we do. We are cheerful givers, right? Yeah, that is what we do. But, I don’t think we can simply give tangible items and leave it at that. When we give or serve, it has to be done with love and spirit. Why? Because, people see that. And, when people experience the Spirit in you, it charges them. 

Jesus taught about this idea when he interacted with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in Sychar. This is not the conventional lesson we typically get with this gospel reading. But, that was what Jesus was teaching the woman. We are going to talk about what he was teaching her in more detail but, first, let’s talk more about who he was teaching. When we learn a little more about this woman, it changes the dynamic of the conversation. 

We have here a conversation between Jesus, the Messiah, our Lord and a Samaritan woman. This doesn’t sound like much. I mean this was Jesus, Son of God who so loved the world. Why wouldn’t he have a conversation with this woman? He wouldn’t because it was culturally taboo in more than one way. If you are not familiar with the relationship between the Judean Jews and Samaritans, it was less than stellar, to say the least. The story of the good Samaritan is just another example. The truth is, the Jews hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews. And, this bitter feud had been going on for nearly a thousand years. Since the death of King Solomon and the rise of his predecessor King Rehoboam, the North and South kingdoms of Israel were split. Some of the policies of Solomon were not favored by the Northern kingdoms and it left many of these people in adversity. When Solomon’s predecessor came into rule, everything fell apart. Fast forward 920 years later, and that feud was still alive and well. Samaria was the capital city of the North, and by this time, the people had grown apart in many ways. They had differing politics and even their theology was at ends. The Samaritans were Israelites and they maintained a Torah-based theology. But, that was the only similarity they shared with the Jews. The Samaritans built their own temple to contrast the Temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans, like the Jews, were looking for a messiah, but their messiah was a Moses-like prophetic individual. While the Jews did have a Torah-based theology, they also built their faith on the ancient prophets and their messiah was a King David-like figure. Having these differing theological and political beliefs, the Samaritans and the Jews distanced themselves from each other. It was thought to be sinful to share with them in any way. They thought each other to be unclean. Also, if any Jew were to travel north across the Jordan, they would go by the longer road of the gentile Decapolis to avoid the dangers of traveling through Samaria. How crazy is that? The long way would take them through the sinful Hellenized Roman cities. They would rather do that than risk an interaction with a Samaritan, a fellow countryman. And yes, it was dangerous for a Jew to travel through Samaria. They hated each other!

Jesus and his disciples took a little trip north across the Jordan. Guess what direction Jesus took his students. Yep, straight through the middle of enemy territory to the Samaritan city of Sychar, a city believed to be corrupt with Samaritan politics. 

There are so many examples of this kind of behavior in the gospels. Taking the long way, the hard way, the dangerous way, stepping outside of comfort zones, taking some risks, and being courageous are all deep-rooted ethics in our faith. This is just one example of how Jesus led his students to a place that everybody told them not to go. Yeah, he often led them against the grain. As humans, we are programmed by what the world tells us to do or to not do. But, if we never explore the other side, it becomes unfamiliar territory; it becomes foreign. But, when we challenge ourselves to what we fear, we often learn something about the other side, we learn something about ourselves, and more importantly, we learn something about our God and the direction God wants us to go. And, we learn to trust God. We learn that God knows our paths far better than we do. And, there is a purpose for walking down that less-traveled path.

There was a purpose for Jesus and his disciples traveling through Samaritan territory and that purpose happened at a well. Jesus stops to rest at a very sacred place. This was Jacob’s Well. This was the place that Jacob, the forefather of the Jewish faith, the man known as Israel, used for water. This would have been like a well-known monument. But, it was on Samaritan soil, or as most Jews would have considered, enemy soil. But, Jesus stops for rest. While at this well, a Samaritan woman approaches, notices Jesus and recognizes that he is not Samaritan but still carries on with her business of fetching some water. Jesus was alone because his disciples had gone into town to get some food. The story tells us that it was about noon. This was a very specific time to eat and the woman was probably getting water for a meal. Let us keep in mind that eating food in the Jewish faith is a very spiritual thing and the Jews and Samaritans did not share anything especially food. So, we know, Jesus and this woman would have been cultural enemies, Jesus was imposing on a sacred place, it was a meal time, which means they would typically not want to be near each other, and finally in this culture women would have been very cautious of how they interacted with men because this was a patriarchal culture. 

While the woman was at the well, Jesus says, “Give me some water to drink.” Now, some might interpret this as Jesus demanding this woman serve him. But, it wasn’t like that. This was an invitation, which means this was a very bold move. Jesus is basically saying, “Would you have a drink of water with me?” If that weren’t bold enough, the woman says, “Why would you want this from me?” This was bold because the woman had courage enough to retort, not just this man, but, a Jewish rabbi. Jesus responds, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”  I love this response. He says, “If you knew me, if you knew who I was, you would be asking me for water. You would be asking me to have a drink with you.” But, he doesn’t just say “water”, he says, “living water”. 

Naturally, this woman is a bit confused. She says, “How are you going to give me living water, you don’t even have a bucket.” She is still thinking about the water that’s in the well. Jesus says to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” Jesus was not talking about the water in the well. He was using water as a metaphor for something very different. He was saying that this water is essential for life, but in order for you to give this water to someone, in order for you to share it, you have to have it in you. This water Jesus was talking about was his Spirit and when you have it in you and you share it, you give life to those you share with. You have to have it in order to give it. 

The living water that Jesus wanted to share was all of the attributes of our loving God. It was love, peace, joy, compassion, and Jesus wanted the woman at the well to have it so she could share it. When she shares it, those she shares it with will also become a spring for this living water and they, too, will share it. But, in order to share it, you have to have it.  

My friends, you cannot give something that you do not have. As Christ followers, as representatives of the living God, we have this obligation to serve our neighbors and share joy, peace, love and compassion. But, you cannot share it if you don’t have it. In order to acquire this living water, metaphorically speaking, you have to meet Jesus at the well and ask that the Lord give you a drink. You have to let the Lord meet your needs before you meet the needs of others. You have to submit to the will of God before serving God. Submitting to God requires you to admit, “God, I don’t have it right now. God, I am on empty right now. God, I don’t have any joy, peace, love, or compassion in me right now. God, fill me full of the living water so that I can share it.” And, it’s ok to not have it! We are human, we are created by God, and God knows that. But, God wants us to ask for it. God’s wants us to want it and seek it. And, God wants us to admit when we are weak. But, in order to receive it, we have to let God give it to us. You can pray that God gives you living water, but you’re not going to get it if never hold out your glass. God is not going to lead you if you never give the Lord your hand. You can’t give someone else living water if you don’t let the Lord give it to you. It requires time. It requires specific time with God. It requires time at the well with the Lord. 

As servants of the living God, we must make time to be with God so that we might be filled. Sometimes that comes in the form of good ole fashioned rest. Sometimes that comes in the form of vacation. Sometimes that comes in the form of quiet time or regular sabbath time. Sometimes that requires you to live in the moment knowing that God has created it and customized it for your living That’s where you find that living water. That is you time at the well. Regardless of what that looks like, that is how the Lord gives you a drink of the living water. And, the Lord gives it to you so that you can share it. 

In order to pump water from a well, you have to prime it. How do you do that? You have to put a little water in it. To get water, you have to have water. To give water, you have to have water. My friends, God knows you better than you do. You are human; you are created by God perfectly imperfect by design. With that said, in order to function as we were created, we must give attention to our needs. In order to give water, we must receive water. In order to fulfill that mission God has given us, we must allow the Lord to nourish us.