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Saturday 18 March 2017

"A Way To Live Or A Way To Believe"






March 19, 2017 Lent 3   Psalm 95, Romans 5: 1-11, John 4: 5-42

Jesus uses the life giving commodity of water to catch the attention of a Samaritan women at Jacobs well which was located just outside the village.  As we all know water is the critical source of life in all of the universe.  May I also suggest that unconditional love is the critical source of all that has been created and its universal teachings can be found within all religions of our world?    

It was called Jacobs well because it was located on a property that was owned by Jacob an important figure from the book of Genesis. {That's part of your homework folks who was Jacob?} Did you know that Jacob’s well, where Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink and offered her the living water still exists today and lies in the crypt of a modern Greek Orthodox church at Nablus in the West Bank.

This women would be a complete turnaround from the character we were introduced to in last week’s lesson.  Nicodemus whom Jesus makes time for was a well-educated and respected Pharisee and teacher of Judaism.  Here he makes time for a Samaritan. This is very significant because it is a women and women in general, especially this woman, had no status within her community because all women were considered at the bottom or lowest in stature next to a Child.   She was uneducated, had a shameful past and was being accused of living in sin.  In fact the time of day that she visits the well {noon} might suggest to us that she didn’t want to be confronted with possible gossip about her from the other women from the village.   Most wanting to fill their water jugs would have either come to the well in the cool of the early morning or the cool of the evening, not during the hot midday.  She was a questionable Samaritan women of mixed race and certainly not worthy of male conversation let alone to have a Rabbi ask her for a drink.    In fact no respectable man would be caught talking to such a women at least in broad daylight because she was known to have been with many men none of which were her legal husband.   But this doesn’t stop Jesus from making company and taking time for her within his day.  In fact these two opposing stories, Nicodemus and this woman are one of those biblical moments where Jesus’ spiritual teachings on both discrimination and inclusiveness can be observed.   It also should spark for us a personal question and I challenge you to consider this:  Who in your community does this women represent today and do I participate in gossip? 

One characteristic of the woman is that she is almost totally an outsider.  She is just a women in a man’s world for sure, insignificantly unnamed to centuries of readers.  The community would have probably seen her as socially deviant, unacceptable and probably ostracized by them.   Here again we need to ask ourselves a question?

When was the last time I, you or this church made room for someone on the outside?  More so, who is it that would be looked upon as questionable in your eyes?  Recently I was listening to a speaker who was being asked why the Buddhist tradition has become more popular with the younger non churched generation than the Christian tradition.  What is it that is attracting them?   His answer was that the Buddhist tradition teaches a way of living, while the Christian tradition teaches a way of believing.  I think this is critical point.  For the Christian it seems to be more important to emphasize a belief in Jesus and what He teaches than to actual practice His teachings by living them.  The spiritual practice of living the beatitudes takes second place to believing the beatitudes within most Christian denominations.    I am afraid to say that this just might be the truth and something we need to begin reassessing within our tradition.  It just might make us, more attractive to those who are looking for a spiritual home.  “Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Savior”

Have you ever considered this folks:  What makes a person an outsider to your circle of friends, your group, or community of faith?  Even the best of community groups or Spiritual gatherings or religions, even though they have good intentions, often do not see themselves as being or becoming exclusive.  Nor do they see themselves as indulging in gossip but to the outsider, that is not always so folks.  One of the greatest litmus tests to this blindness is to watch how well their group makes time and space for someone new or something new that might change the status quo.    

Being considered a gift-less nobody would be a heavy label to wear wouldn’t you agree? But folks, many, whom you would never think, feel this to be their lot in life.  When I ask people this question: “what gift has God graced you with” most struggle with seeing themselves as graced by God, let along gifted?  What appears to be an outgoing person, is often a person who feels alone in a crowd, not worthy, or feels left out.   This biblical story should illustrate for us some challenging news: That a-nobody in our eyes is always a-somebody in the eyes of Jesus.  It should also illustrate for us that believing in Jesus is not as essential as living the way He has shown us.  In fact we just might learn from our Buddhist sisters and brothers as they too know many of the universal love teachings taught by Jesus.  Within His teachings there is no winner and looser, no we and them, no dual between the right and the wrong.  In Him there is no discrimination when it comes to who He encountered.  Jesus makes the statement in John 4: 22 that salvation will come from the Jews, the people whom God chose to bring the good news to all people.  We must note here, that he does not say salvation will come from the Christians.  Why, because Jesus wasn’t a Christian, and the fact is that Christianity was not birthed in Jesus’ time.  His followers were only known as “People Of The Way”.  Jesus taught “a way of living.”  Isn’t it ironic, because that is exactly what the commentator said about the Buddhist tradition?  They center their spiritual traditions and teaching on “a way of living.”  In fact many theologians claim there is no evidence to suggest that Jesus came to establish another religion.  

It seems sad to say but it appears that many of the religions in our world have become exclusive, Christianity included.  May I suggest to you that Jesus as the risen Christ is universal and no religion has exclusive rights to Him or the salvation He offers, for God’s grace is sufficient for all?   
 Teresa of Avila {1515 – 1582} writes:  
 “Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.  Yours are the eyes through which to look at Christ’s compassion for the world.  Yours are the feet with which He is to go; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  Christ has no body here on earth but yours”  
    
                                                "We Are His Hands"

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