John 4:7-15

February 24, 2008

Mark S. Bollwinkel


In his brilliant book One Jesus, Many Christs (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997) Professor Greg Riley from the Claremont School of Theology describes how the teaching and example of one historical Jesus gave birth to many forms of Christianity. From 2,000 years ago until present there never has been one and only one way of understanding and worshipping Jesus. The New Testament itself describes a variety of communities and expressions of faith. The diversity of the church began on Easter day and thrives still.

Which example of Jesus' life or his teaching most speaks to you?

The Jesus that welcomes children to come to him with open and loving arms?

The Jesus that teaches the truth of God while debating the hypocrisy of the pious?

The Jesus that heals the sick? Or the Jesus that leaves the crowds behind, seeking out silence and contemplative prayer?

What about the prophet Jesus, demanding justice and reform in the temple as he overturns the money changers tables? How about the scandalous Jesus who will sits down at a well with an immoral and outcast woman in Samaria offering her living water?

Our text today from the gospel of John describes the encounter between Jesus, considered an orthodox Jewish rabbi and an unnamed Samaritan woman at the water well of the village Sychar.

Jews and Samaritans would have nothing to do with each other in first century Palestine. Like today's Shiites and Sunnis, or certain Indian Hindus and Muslims groups, or Irish Protestants and Catholics not too long ago, these groups of people would cross over to the other side of the road rather than come too close to touching or speaking or acknowledging the humanity of the other. Samaritans and Jews had a seven hundred year grudge between them. That an orthodox rabbi would sit down with a Samaritan in conversation was shocking, saying nothing of the fact that it was a man conversing with a single woman in public without a chaperone. Outrageous!

She comes at the hottest time of day when no other women would be there to tease or insult her. They would have come in the cool of the morning to do such difficult manual labor as drawing and carrying the day's supply of water home. And they would have all known about her history of five husbands and that she was now living with a man to whom she was not married at all. The woman at the well was avoiding her shame. It is at that very moment that she encounters her salvation.

This stranger, this prophet, this Jewish rabbi offers her a relationship with God based on unconditional love and acceptance. Just as she is. And her life will never be the same. It is as if he gave this dry and thirsty person a source of living water from which she could always draw.

There was only one Jesus of Nazareth. But we have built entire institutions around different attributes of the Christ. To which one are we most drawn?


Lent is that season when we take some time to wrestle with such questions. It is a time to ponder who we are, where we are going and what our relationship with God is. A time to get back to basics. In her book Christianity for the Rest of Us (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006) Diana Butler Bass suggests that we can explore those questions as we follow the teachings and example of Jesus in real and practical ways. Bass' list of signposts for the Christian journey includes "hospitality, contemplation, healing, testimony and justice". (Bass p. 74)


Hospitality: True Christian hospitality begins when we acknowledge that we are all pilgrims in this life. Jesus welcomes the tax collector Matthew to his group of twelve disciples knowing full well that the others will struggle to accept a Roman collaborator. Jesus welcomes lepers and the deranged into his embrace; he welcomes children as examples of openness to God. "Hospitality is not an instrument to sign people up to become members [of our church]...it is not a program..." (Bass p. 87) Rather it is a spiritual attitude. "We welcome strangers because God has welcomed us...Christian people, themselves wayfarers, welcome strangers into the heart of God's transformative love." (Bass p. 87)


Contemplation: Prayer can be so much more than the repetition of rituals we learned as kids or the desperate words we utter in trouble when there is no place left to turn.

We live in a world opposed in almost every way to the practice of prayer.

Contemplation is "not reserved for a spiritual elite. [Rev. Gary Jones] claims that "...Our haste leads us to forget the needs of the soul. We will latch onto anything to feed us." (Bass p. 121) When was the last time we took a moment to be quiet and listen for God's "still small voice" (I Kings 19)? Jesus did just that whenever he got exhausted.


Healing: The imagery of Jesus suspending the rules of natural law to miraculously heal the physical aliments of the sick in the gospels will offend many of us devoted to science. Taken metaphorically, the healings of Jesus are symbolic of our yearning for a second chance and the end of suffering. "The longing for healing is not flaky, idiosyncratic or New Age, it is an inchoate human desire to experience shalom, God's dream of created wholeness." (Bass p. 111) Our bodies, minds and psyche are miraculous instruments indeed and when their brokenness is mended by caring hands and open hearts, using all available resources, God is with us. If it is our privilege to be a part of such healing, we are blessed in the process. Such wholeness is not only intended for the individual but for the relationship, the community, nation and world.


Testimony: How would you feel to speak publicly about your spiritual journey? Our tradition of Witness of Faith here at LAUMC, now almost weekly is so popular that we must arrange such opportunities months in advance. Much more than an announcement, it is intended to be a "testimony" about one's faith and how one can put such faith into action. Each second Sunday our "Buck A Month/witness of faith" offers us a chance to be educated and inspired by local social service agencies. Of course we offer an opportunity for the congregation to respond with financial support. Those "Buck A Months" in which a recipient of the service provided shares how their life has been transformed gets the most response from the congregation. We yearn to hear the stories of real people who have found God and positive change along the path of their life journey.

We often think of the term "testimony" with images of "holy rollers" condemning sinners to perdition. "Testimony is not about God fixing people. Rather, it speaks of God making wholeness out of human woundedness, human incompleteness." (Bass p. 141)

Standing in front of a church to share your own story may not be appropriate for you. Writing a poem, sharing your memoirs, creating a website could be other options. But finding a way to share your journey with others can be a transforming moment for the speaker as well as the listener. It was for Jesus and the woman at the well!


Justice: When Jesus gave his first sermon he said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor, release to the captive, the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) That history would know peace, justice and love was the promise of God fulfilled in Jesus. When we work for justice in the world, in our nation, in our workplace, we are in touch with all that God wants for our future.


In your own spiritual journey which Jesus has most inspired you? The Jesus of hospitality, contemplation, healing, testimony or justice? May be there are more than one example of Christ that continues to motivate your living or a combination of such examples?

Every now and then a person comes along who embodies all of them and more.


Do you know the story of Ryan Hreljac? Ryan comes from a small town in Ontario, Canada. When he was in first grade his teacher encouraged all of the children in his school to do a project in which they learned about the world and its needs. Ryan learned that everyday children just like him die from not having enough water or only have dirty water to drink. At the age of 6 he became convinced that he could make a difference by raising money to dig a water well for children in Uganda, a poor country in East Africa.

At first he did extra chores around his house to earn $70 for the first well. When he learned that in fact it would cost $2,000 he got to work organizing others to give towards his goal. Within a year, Ryan flew to Uganda to be the first to turn on the new well at a village school for children just like him.

Today, Ryan Hreljac is 16 years old and in High School. A foundation has been created in his name (www.ryanswell.ca) to continue his original dream. So far they have dug 329 water wells, in 14 different countries to give clean and clear water to almost one-half million people.

Ryan Hreljac even at the age of 6 followed the example of the hospitality, prayer, healing, testimony and justice of Jesus. And his life and the lives of thousands of others have been blessed as a result.

There was one Jesus but many Christs. Which one will we follow?

Amen.


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