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Good morning.

I'm Melissa Arsuniega, and I am part of the El Cerrito Kensington Community Group, an Oikos

group, and a deacon.

Today's scripture reading is from the book of John, chapter 4, verses 4 through 42, as

John 4:4–42

printed in your liturgy.

A reading from the gospel according to John.

Now Jesus had to go through Samaria.

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to

his son Joseph.

Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.

It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, Will you give me a drink?

His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman.

How can you ask me for a drink?

For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,

you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

Sir, the woman said, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.

Where can you get this living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself,

as did also his sons and his livestock?

Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will be in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.

The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

He told her, Go, call your husband and come back.

I have no husband, she replied.

Jesus said to her, You are right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.

What you have just said is quite true.

Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet.

Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain,

but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.

Woman, Jesus replied,

Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know.

We worship what we do know, for salvation is from Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come

when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the spirit and in truth,

for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the spirit and in truth.

The woman said,

I know that Messiah, called Christ, is coming.

When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

Then Jesus declared,

I, the one speaking to you,

I am he.

Just then, his disciples returned

and were surprised to find him talking with a woman.

But no one asked,

What do you want?

Or,

Why are you talking with her?

Then, leaving her water jar,

the woman went back to the town

and said to the people,

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.

Could this be the Messiah?

They came out of the town

and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile, his disciples urged him,

Rabbi, eat something.

But he said to them,

I have food to eat

that you know nothing about.

Then his disciples said to each other,

Could someone have brought him food?

My food, said Jesus,

is to do the will of him who sent me

and to finish his work.

Don't you have a saying,

It's still four months until harvest?

I tell you,

open your eyes and look at the fields.

They are ripe for harvest.

Even now, the one who reaps

draws a wage

and harvests a crop for eternal life

so that the sower and the reaper

may be glad together.

Thus the saying,

One sows and another reaps,

is true.

I sent you to reap

what you have not worked for.

Others have done the hard work,

and you have reaped the benefits

of their labor.

Many of the Samaritans from that town

believed in him

because of the woman's testimony.

He told me everything I ever did.

So when the Samaritans came to him,

they urged him to stay with them,

and he stayed two days.

And because of his words,

many more became believers.

They said to the woman,

We no longer believe

just because of what you said.

Now we have heard for ourselves,

and we know that this man

really is the Savior of the world.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Thank you for that reading.

One of the longest probably

that we've done in quite a while.

And there's so much here

that we just need to dive right in.

But a bit of context is needed

to appreciate what the first hearers

would have understood

implicitly about this text.

And that is that there are

all kinds of reasons

why Jesus should not

be talking to this woman.

And that's the most striking

feature of the story

is the radical move

that Jesus makes

by initiating a conversation with her.

And you even notice

the shock that she has, right,

that Jesus begins speaking with her.

She says in verse 9,

you are a Jew

and I am a Samaritan woman.

How can you ask me for a drink

for Jews do not associate

with Samaritans?

And this conversation

is crossing several boundaries.

So the first is a racial

and a cultural boundary.

Centuries before this time,

most Jews had been exiled

from the promised land

over to Babylon.

Some Jews stayed behind

and those who stayed behind,

some of them intermarried

with Canaanites and Assyrians.

They essentially formed a new tribe.

They started a new syncretistic religion.

That's the Samaritans.

And for first century Jews,

Samaritans were the worst kind of outcasts

because on the one hand,

they were seen to be

both racially inferior

and on the other hand,

theological heretics.

And so for first century Jews,

well, there was constant trouble.

I mean, constant animosity

and conflict

between these two groups of people

such that Jews rarely did

what Jesus does.

They tried to travel around Samaria.

They didn't even go through Samaria.

When they did go through Samaria,

some Samaritans would attack

Jewish people.

It was a mess.

And particularly Jews

would not share their eating

and their drinking vessels

with Samaritans.

But Jesus asked this woman

for a drink from her jar.

Okay, so he's crossing a racial

and a cultural boundary.

Secondly, there's a gender

and a sex boundary here.

Jesus is known.

His notoriety is rising

as a holy man

who's calling the nation of Israel

back to God.

And in that culture,

it was scandalous

for any devout Jewish man

to allow themselves

to be alone

with a strange woman,

let alone to be

in a conversation with her.

The risk of ritual impurity,

the risk of gossip,

the risk of immorality,

they considered way too high.

And the disciples understood this.

In verse 27,

it says that they were startled

to find Jesus talking with a woman.

So you've got a racial,

cultural boundary,

a gender, sex boundary,

and you've got,

finally,

a spiritual

and a moral boundary

because she comes

to draw water at noon.

And this is not the normal time

for women to visit a well

that's set at some distance

from their village

or their town.

You would normally come

early in the morning

in the cool of the day

or later in the evening

when it was not so hot.

And the question is,

why is she here alone

right in the middle of the day?

And the fact that she's come

at a time

when she would be least likely

to meet anyone

who knows about her past

or her lifestyle

pretty much tells us

everything we need to know,

that she's obviously

a bad character.

Even within her

marginalized sector

of society,

she's considered such

so that she doesn't even

want to come

and rub shoulders

with anybody

that might want to talk to her.

She knows people don't want to

spend time talking with her.

And yet Jesus

somehow knows all this.

He knows her status

as an outsider.

And when he begins

to speak to her,

he is deliberately

reaching across

almost every single barrier

that we human beings

tend to set up

between ourselves.

Racial, cultural, gender,

moral barriers.

Jesus should have

nothing to do with her,

but he doesn't really care

about all those rules.

And she's amazed

that he's talking with her.

And what happens

as a result

is really incredible.

So I want to look

at this under three headings.

I want to talk about

the living water.

Lots of water today.

The living water.

I want to talk about

the seeking God.

And I want to talk about

the overflowing woman.

The living water,

the seeking God,

and the overflowing woman.

When we look at this

first part about

the living water,

it's instructive to us

that Jesus is the one

who initiates

the conversation.

Jesus is the one

who goes first.

He starts with a question.

He leads with

common humanity

and the vulnerability

of his thirst.

Will you give me

a drink,

he says.

And this is Jesus'

playbook for all

of his disciple community.

It's just for us

to go up to people

and say,

hi.

How you doing?

And to connect

with people

on common ground

and our basic

sense of need

and humanity

and to have

simple conversations

that can become

serious conversations

and spiritual conversations.

And a fascinating

feature of this encounter

is that though Jesus

is open to her

and warm toward her,

he still confronts her.

He's incredibly gentle

and artful

and even teasing

in the way

that he does it.

He says in verse 10,

if you knew

the gift of God

and who it is

that asks you

for a drink,

you would have asked him

and he would have

given you

living water.

What is Jesus

talking about?

Well,

almost everywhere

in the United States

we have ready access

to good drinking water

and most of us

know very little

about real thirst

but if you live

in an arid climate

right next to the desert,

you realize pretty quickly

how much of your body

is made of water

and that to be

without water,

to be truly

profoundly thirsty

is to be in total agony

right?

But then

in that experience

to taste

living water,

fresh water

is like the most

satisfying experience

you could imagine

and so Jesus

says to her,

well you've asked me,

I've asked you

for a drink

but you actually

should be asking

me for a drink

and what sort of

thirst quenching

drink is Jesus offering?

he says it's living water

and that's a regular

phrase that people

would use in Jesus' world

for what we call

running water

right?

Living water

is simply

a stream

or a river

as opposed to

a well

or a pool

it's

living water

is more likely

to be fresh,

it's more likely

to be clean

than water

that's been sitting

around

and maybe getting

stagnant

and so

she hears this

offer

and she says

sir

in verse 11

you have nothing

to draw with

and the well

is deep

where can you

get this

living water?

and this reminds us

of last week

Nicodemus

in John 3

because remember

what Jesus said

to him

Jesus said

Nicodemus

you must be

born again

from above

by the Holy Spirit

and Nicodemus

says

wait a minute

how?

like

am I supposed

to go back

into my mother's

womb

and be born

a second time

what are you

talking about?

and so often

Jesus is speaking

with a double meaning

and people

are misunderstanding

Jesus

because

he's talking

at a heavenly level

and we're listening

at an earthly level

and going

what are you

talking about

Jesus?

and Jesus

of course

isn't just talking

about

physical water

still water

or moving water

Jesus is talking

about

the new life

the new life

that's on offer

to anyone

the living water

is an offer

of new life

to you

no matter

what your racial

or cultural

or gender

or moral background

may be

Jesus says

I have got

something

for you

something that

is as basic

and as necessary

to you spiritually

as water

is to you

physically

it's something

without which

you will find

yourself

absolutely lost

absolutely

unsatisfied

totally

eventually

in agony

and misery

without it

and Jesus

is not just

telling us

that the living

water he has

to offer

is life

saving for us

but he also

reveals that it

satisfies us

from the inside

and this is very

important

he says in verse 13

he says

everyone who drinks

this water

from this well

is going to be

thirsty again

but those

who drink

the water

that I

give them

will never

thirst

indeed

the water

I give them

will become

in them

a spring

of water

welling up

to eternal

life

and what he's

talking about

there is

he's talking

about deep

soul

satisfaction

deep soul

contentment

that does not

depend on

anything

outside of us

and this is

important because

most people

think that

what will make

them happy

what will give

them a satisfying

life

has to do

with things

outside of us

right so if I

achieve romantic

love

if I get

admitted into

the right

college

if I

attain that

degree

if I

chart a path

in this career

if I make

this much money

if I have a

family and

wonderful

children

children

if

if I'm

connected to

this political

or social

cause

that's going

to do it

for me

and

if I

have that

if I get

accepted

there

if I

climb

that ladder

if I

get this

girl

or that

guy

then I'm

going to

have

what I

most

basically

need

and want

in life

and Jesus

says

no

no

there's only

one thing

that's outside

of you

that can

truly satisfy

the thirst

that's deep

down inside

of you

and he's

saying that

none of these

things that

we just

mentioned

none of

these things

are going

to last

you're going

to lose

every single

one of those

things when

you die

and so

what you

need is

you need

something that

will transcend

time

what you

need is

something that

will last

into

eternity

and Jesus

says

I have

the thing

he says

I can

give you

that thing

I can

put that

thing

inside

of you

and it

will be

an absolute

unfathomable

satisfaction

in the

core of

your being

regardless

of your

circumstances

regardless

of what

is going

on

outside

of you

see

Jesus

says

everybody

is looking

to quench

their thirst

everybody

is going

to try

to quench

their thirst

with something

and Jesus

says

if

I'm not

that thing

then you're

eventually

going to find

yourself

in an

agonizing

spiritual

thirst

and so

back to

his words

in verse

13

he says

everyone

who drinks

this water

is going

to be

thirsty

again

but those

who drink

the water

I give

them

will never

thirst

indeed

the water

I give

them

will become

in them

a spring

of water

welling up

to eternal

life

now I

need to

comment

here

because

what does

Jesus

mean by

will never

thirst

again

will never

be thirsty

again

spiritually

the Psalms

Psalm 42

says

as a deer

pants for

streams of

water

so my soul

pants for

you my God

my soul

thirsts for

you

my body

is longing

for you

the living

God

when can I

go and

meet with

God

and drink

from God

Psalm 63

says

you God

are my

God

earnestly

I seek

you

I thirst

for you

my whole

being

longs

for you

in a dry

and weary

and parched

land

where there

is no

water

when Jesus

says

those who

drink the

living water

I give

them will

never

thirst

again

what he

means is

that

we'll no

longer

hopelessly

thirst

we'll no

longer

wonder to

ourselves

is there

any water

out there

that can

quench

my thirst

see

it doesn't

mean you'll

stop thirsting

for God

because

to be

human

means

to thirst

for God

and what

he means

is that

you'll

thirst

for God

and you'll

come

drink

his water

and he'll

satisfy

you

and then

you'll

thirst

again

and you'll

come back

to him

and drink

from him

and he'll

satisfy

you

and you'll

keep

drinking

from him

in the

hope

that when

he finally

comes to

set up

his kingdom

you will

never ever

thirst

again

does that

make

sense

Jesus

is

saying

look

I promise

to give you

a spring

that will

bubble up

inside of you

and it will

not only

refresh you

it will

refresh all

the people

around you

he says

in John 7

whoever believes

in me

as the scripture

has said

rivers of living

water will

flow from

within them

and by this

he meant

the Holy

Spirit

you see

the free

gift

the gracious

gifts

of new

life

that Jesus

brings us

by the

Holy Spirit

is given

to those

who ask

for it

Jesus

says

if you

ask me

for a

drink

I will

give you

that drink

and so

this woman

I don't even

think she

fully understands

who she's

talking to

I don't

think she

fully understands

what Jesus

is offering

her

but she

says in

verse 15

sir

give me

this water

give me

this water

now she

says

give me

this water

so I

won't get

thirsty

and have

to keep

coming here

to this

well to

draw water

she doesn't

have a

full and

mature

and strong

faith

with absolute

understanding

but all she

knows is that

this man

standing in

front of me

has something

that I

don't have

and I'm

asking him

for it

and the

question is

have you

asked Jesus

for it

have you

asked him

for the

living water

because it's

this simple

and small

act of

turning

and trust

to Jesus

that is

the

indispensable

starting

point

for

understanding

right

and as

we'll see

in a

moment

she

begins to

drink this

living water

and all of a

sudden she

begins bubbling

up she

begins

springing

forth she

begins

overflowing

to other

people

living water

we need

the living

water

but then

I want to

talk about

not just

the living

water

but the

seeking

God

the seeking

God

and one

of the

things you

need to

know in

the background

of this

text is

the prophet

Jeremiah

okay

the prophet

Jeremiah has

a very famous

text about

water

and it's

in the

opening of

his book

and he

says in

Jeremiah

2 13

the Lord

says

my people

have committed

two sins

they have

forsaken

me the

spring of

living water

and have

dug their

own cisterns

broken cisterns

that cannot

hold water

see

Yahweh

the Lord

is the

spring

of living

water

Jeremiah

says

but

the people

of God

and humanity

in general

have forsaken

the spring

of living

water

they say

we don't

want to

quench

our thirst

on the

living

God

we want

to go

get our

needs

met

somewhere

else

and so

what do

we do

we dig

cisterns

cisterns

are meant

to catch

rain

right

and even

the best

cisterns

even the

most well

managed

cisterns

they can

grow stagnant

they can

grow stale

and moldy

and contaminated

and create

terrible health

outcomes for

people

if you can

drink

living water

you don't

want to

drink

from a

cistern

and Jeremiah

says

the people

of God

have chosen

not the

living water

they've chosen

to dig

cisterns for

themselves

that are

broken

cisterns that

are leaking

cisterns that

are leaving

them dry

and thirsty

so

Jesus

loves

Jeremiah

and when

he comes

to this

woman at

the well

he's just

doing

Jeremiah

2

right

he's just

applying

Jeremiah

2

and the

broken

cisterns

theology

to her

life

and he

says to

her

you know

your biggest

concern

is not

just that

you come

here

to this

well

at noon

is it

it's not

just that

it's hot

or it's

inconvenient

he says

in verse

16

go call

your husband

and come

back

she says

uh

I don't

have a

husband

and he

says

yeah

you're

right

you're

right

when you

say you

have no

husband

the fact

is

you've

had

five

husbands

and the

man you

have now

is not

your husband

what you've

just said

is quite

true

man

Jesus

is kind

of awkward

right here

I mean

is he

always

this way

I mean

is it

just

because

he's

tired

and thirsty

and it's

the middle

of the

day

and it's

super hot

and he's

just kind

of being

critical

and mean

and judgmental

and condemning

Is he

just trying

to humiliate

and shame

people

wherever he

goes?

No

if that

were the

case

Jesus

would have

never

broken

all the

barriers

to even

open up

the conversation

with this

woman

and all

the humble

and gentle

ways that

he has

so why

is Jesus

so suddenly

changing

the subject

from living

water

to her

long

and sordid

history

with men

and the

answer is

he's not

changing

the subject

he's not

changing

the subject

he's saying

to her

if you want

to understand

the living

water I

offer

then you've

got to first

understand

how you've

been seeking

water in

your own

life

how you've

been digging

broken

cisterns in

your own

life

life

and Jesus

always sees

straight into

the heart

he sees

straight into

the systems

and he

understands

that life

in this

whole village

is disordered

spiritually

and morally

right

and he can

see how

that disorder

is being

reflected in

this woman's

life and

in her

relationships

and how

this woman

has had

a life

of one

emotional

upheaval

after another

she's had

five marriages

end in

divorce

and we

don't know

any of the

details of

that

we don't

know if

she was

equally

sinned

against

as a

sinner

in that

relationship

we don't

know

her

background

we don't

know

her

emotional

traumas

that may

have given

her a

tough

time

to form

lasting

bonds

and loving

attachments

in a

marriage

relationship

we just

don't

know

but what

we do

know

is that

she seems

to be

both

a

sufferer

and sinner

like we

are

and

Jesus

begins

to talk

to her

and he

says

you've

been trying

to get

living

water

through the

broken

cistern

of

romantic

love

and that's

not really

working out

so great

is it

because

there's

an eternal

thirst

that can

only be

quenched

by the

living

God

who's

made

us

for

himself

and

nothing

else

is

going

to

satisfy

you

right

if you

try to

put

a man

or a

woman

in that

God

shaped

God

sized

hole

in your

heart

much less

five or

six men

or five

or six

women

it's

not

going to

work

and that's

not just

true with

romance

and sexuality

that's

true with

money

and

security

it's

true

with power

and success

is true

with basically

any

created

thing

that

you would

try to

dig out

a cistern

that would

hold water

for you

you see

many people

at this

point

many

biblical

scholars

and preachers

they say

oh okay

this woman

is feeling

convicted

for her life

and her

sins

and so

she begins

to change

the subject

right

verse 19

she says

sir

I can see

that you're

a prophet

our ancestors

worshipped

on this

mountain

but you

Jews

claim

that the

place

where we

must

worship

is in

Jerusalem

she's

changing

the subject

I'm not

convinced

she's

changing

the subject

because

she knows

enough

to know

that when

God's

word

comes to

you

through

a

prophet

and when

that

truth

of

God's

word

convicts

you

of

your

sin

what

you

most

need

to

do

is

go

to

a

mountain

what

you

most

need

to do

is

go

to

a

temple

on

the

mountain

what

you

most

need

to

do

is

go

to

the

place

where

God

has

promised

to

atone

for

your

sins

and

what

she's

saying

here

I

think

is

where

do

I

go

where

can

I

go

and get

the

cleansing

and

the

forgiveness

that

I

need

do

I

go

to

Mount

Zion

and

Jerusalem

do

I

go

to

Mount

Gerizim

and

Samaria

where

do

I

go

and

Jesus

says

that's

not

the

point

of

my

mission

the

point

of

my

mission

is

to

bring

the

life

of

heaven

to

earth

and

in

my

coming

it's

not

so

much

holy

mountains

and

holy

buildings

that

matter

so

much

anymore

those

is

already

said

in

John

2

that

if

you

tear

down

this

temple

I'll

raise

it

up

again

in

three

days

and

what

he's

speaking

about

was

his

own

body

right

and

so

Jesus

launches

in

here

in

verse

21

he

says

woman

believe

me

a

time

is

coming

when

you

will

worship

the

father

neither

on

this

mountain

nor

in

Jerusalem

you

Samaritans

worship

what

you

do

not

know

we

worship

what

we

do

know

for

salvation

is

from

the

Jews

yet

a

time

is

coming

and

has

now

come

when

the

true

worshipers

will

worship

the

father

in

spirit

and

in

truth

I

think

that

should

be

capital

T

truth

for

they

are

the

kind

of

worshipers

the

father

seeks

God

is

spirit

and

his

worshipers

must

worship

him

in

spirit

and

in

truth

Jesus

I

think

is

saying

here

you

don't

need

to

go

up

on

a

mountain

seeking

God

because

God

has

already

come

down

seeking

you

he's

searching

for

you

friends

do you

realize

that

God

the

father

is

seeking

you

that

the

only

reason

any

of

us

are

even

here

today

to

worship

or

to

consider

worshiping

God

is

that

he

has

been

seeking

us

our

whole

life

long

God

Jesus

says

God

is

seeking

us

by

the

Holy

Spirit

and

through

the

truth

that

comes

through

Jesus

to

bring

us

into

the

presence

of

the

father

where

we

might

worship

him

it's

not

that

we