Amidst the red roses, heart-shaped chocolates and pink fizz, perhaps Valentine's Day is a moment to step back and reflect on a God who loves us. This text was originally praught as a sermon at an ecunenical service in Pryford last month. It invites us to stand alongide the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. There she is really seen - deeply loved - in all her vulnerability. Her love life is not uncomplicated; nor does it give her dignity and purpose. However, we leave her energised, enquiring and passionate to share something of the love she has glimpsed in Jesus at the well.
The intimacy of being seen - transformed by love
An article appeared in the New York Times last week entitled: 'To fall in love with anyone, do this'. It was based on a psychological study conducted by Arthur Aron 20 years ago. He used 36 questions to create an atmosphere of vulnerability and reciprocal self-disclosure; the responses made fostered the development of a close relationship between strangers - it's like the accelerated intimacy of adolescent sleep overs. The final task was for the pair to stare into each other's eyes for four minutes. Mandy Len Catron, the lecturer who tries this with a friend, describes the thrill, terror and wonder of not just seeing someone; but of seeing someone really see her.
As we ponder the narrative of John's Gospel this evening, we too are plunged into the depths of what it is to be seen by God. There are questions and responses; moments of vulnerability and disclosure; misunderstanding and the wonder of being seen. God doesn't reach out to us in Christ in order to fall in love with us, but because he loves us. This is love entering our trembling hearts. This deeply intimate extended moment between Jesus and the woman from Samaria is something which has an impact on a cosmic scale. It is love divine, all loves excelling. And yet, the reality of that is worked out in our lives; in the life of the pilgrim people of God. In our diversity, fragility, untidiness and engagement something of God's Kingdom breaks in.
John's Gospel is full of depth and intensity: the story we hear is of restoration and hope as a nameless woman is restored to dignity. It reveals the patient and attentive engagement with difference. It is a story that calls us more deeply into God's love in worship; and which draws us more deeply into the life of the world. The power of the Spirit causes a well of life to bubble up in us, giving us the capacity and grace to approach another; to grow in trust and affection. What better focus for our attention in this week of prayer for unity than to see our rich diversity as a gift; and to receive a fresh a vision calling us to deepen the ways we reach out into our communities.
Jesus encounters a woman whose life was shaped by longing and concerns; the stability and fragmentation of relationships. She was also part of a minority group; her collective identity was one of marginalisation and powerlessness. She was ‘other’.
Her own personal story reveals that she is in relationship; yet alone. Perhaps she is burdened by feelings of guilt, failure and fragile self-image; longing for someone to love her, really love her. We encounter – at midday, at height of the sun as she comes to the well. Most people would avoid that intensity of heat; she wouldn’t expect to be seen. Jesus is already there: tired, weary and thirsty. The disciples have gone off to buy food. He’s been walking; he’s been talking. He’s been about his Father’s work. He was physically drained; perhaps also glad of space away from misunderstandings/questions.
Samaritan woman approaches: Give me a drink, he says. He acts against all cultural norms; challenging walls of division. In one imperative he expresses something of God’s love for us – for all humanity. As Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche Community (which reflects unity in diversity) puts it this way: He is thirsty for unity between all the children of Abraham. He yearns for people to come together.
The woman's response names the familiar divisions; but Jesus doesn’t step back from this place of meeting. Here he is reaching out to the fragile, the broken, the thirsty, the seeking, and the hopeful. He waits. He asks. He calls forth a response; he begins a conversation; he creates a relationship. Again, Vanier expresses this beautifully: She who has lost all trust in her own goodness is trusted by Jesus. In trusting her, he uplifts her and gives her back her self-esteem.
They are held in each other’s gaze: his is a look that doesn’t reinforce shame, but rather reveals her worth. She receives assurance – from this point on she can hope; and be drawn more deeply into relationship. The conversation continues. Our attention shifts from the quenching of physical thirst to the promise of eternal life; a space is opened up for us to consider the things of enduring power, the things that sustain us. We are drawn to a deep well of divine love; to a living spring that gushes up within us too, in the power of the Spirit.
Jesus is revealing that if we drink from the fountain of the love and compassion of God, we become a fountain of love and compassion. If we receive the Spirit of God, we will give the Spirit of God. The life we receive is the life we give. In Vanier’s words: We risk forgetting that the joy and treasure of human beings is to be with other human beings and to celebrate life together.
In the moment of this exchange of invitation and hope, he offers living water. He gives her space to make connections between her hopes, her knowledge, her present reality and her desire to worship. She asks about the promised Messiah; Jesus reveals himself to her as I am he. The very essence of God’s being and nature: God’s sacred name; the expression of faithfulness to us. I am: the creator of all things; the word made flesh; the power of the Spirit. They speak of worship and truth; of the time when all people will be drawn to God; when every fibre of our human nature will be attuned to the pulse of his love for us.
The intensity of this encounter is disrupted as the disciples crash back into the scene with their own questions and preoccupations. Yet the woman is already living out of that deep well of abundance. She leaves behind her water-jar; she returns to the city. Her heart is full of the living water; she is desperate to share it. Come and see she says; Can this be the Messiah? This is a moment of deep revelation of divine love; this is an invitation flowing from encounter. This is good news.
So what of us? How do we ask the questions and offer answers? How do we ensure that we are seen as God sees us? How do we see others through that lens?
To love one another is to reveal that in our diversity we are unique, precious and have beautiful gifts. We are called to live in a communion of hearts and wills, praise and prayer, mission and service, creativity and reconciliation. As we do so, we become channels of God's life and love; we proclaim something of the glorious liberty of the children of God, for which all creation longs.
We bring to him our hopes and concerns; and we receive a gift that becomes a gift to others. We who drink deeply of that living water, are called to reach out to others. To minister to those who find their lives out of kilter; to speak out when inequality distorts our vision of the common good; to rejoice when we see renewal in our communities. In all this, we witness in the power of the Spirit to the generous love of God, made manifest in Jesus Christ.
We are called to glorify God in worship: here we drink deeply of the water of life. We are called to be witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ: drawing on that deep well of love. In questions, discovery & relationship we fall in love: with God, each other, our world. In the power of the Spirit our lives are transformed - that Spirit continues to pray within us healing us, reshaping us, equipping us to witness that God was in Christ restoring all things to himself. We become part of the movement of transformation, moment by moment - seeking the abundance of God's Kingdom.
I end with words by Jean Vanier:
Jesus came to bring us life
Jesus meets a broken woman
and gives her new life.
Transformed,
she then gives lives to others.
Jesus comes to give us life
so that we can communicate
life to others
This life is one of communion
and relationship.
© 2015 Julie Gittoes
