Gordon E. Ellis
February 27, 2005
UNDAMMING SOULS TO RECEIVE LIVING WATER
In our Scripture Lesson today, Jesus offers the woman at the well LIVING water. But the first thing I thought about as I read this was DEAD water. We have a little POND about 500 yards from our home. And EVERY August, I thank GOD that I don’t live NEXT to that pond. Just walking BY it GROSSES me out. There’s a TERRIBLE stench of DECAY. It’s covered with SCUM. It supports NO visible LIFE except ALGAE and MOSQUITO larvae. It is DEAD water! Now, I realize that it could be DEADER. I’ve TWICE visited, and even been SWIMMING in the DEAD Sea (which I would NEVER do in this POND), but the pond is still DEAD! So, HOW did this pond DIE? It died the SAME way the Dead SEA died: it DIED because it had NO outlet. In THIS case, it’s gotten DAMMED up, so that it doesn’t FLOW anymore. And if someone would just take SHOVEL and walk THROUGH it and UNDAM it, I suspect that it would CLEAN itself out and become LIVING water again. But it’s NOT going to be ME.
JESUS, on the other hand, seemed to do a LOT of SHOVEL work during His ministry. Jesus was ALWAYS breaking open DAMS: dams of GUILT, dams of SHAME, dams of FEAR, dams of ILLNESS, dams of PREJUDICE, and SO many MORE. And He broke open all these DAMS so that LIVING water might be ABLE to FLOW through people’s SOULS and bring them LIFE.
The woman at the WELL in our Scripture Lesson today is a good EXAMPLE. We don’t know MUCH about this woman, but what we DO know suggests that her SOUL must feel very DAMMED up. FIRST, she’s a WOMAN. Now, even in 21st Century AMERICA, women experience GLASS ceilings, condescending PATERNALISM, and all sorts of MACHO power plays. SO, imagine being a woman in JESUS’ day, when you were literally considered the PROPERTY of a man. For your very SURVIVAL, you were totally dependent upon your FATHER, and THEN your HUSBAND. And while you could not divorce your husband, IF he died -- or divorced YOU -- you would either have to return to your FATHER’S house, resort to depending upon your SON, OR become a BEGGAR or PROSTITUTE. All the LAWS at that time were made BY men and FOR men, and you were NOT even allowed to READ the laws, let alone INFLUENCE them. Your OPINIONS on important matters were to be kept to yourself, because it was ASSUMED that you didn’t have the ability to UNDERSTAND important matters. You WERE permitted to talk with other WOMEN, because they were of NO significance either, but you were NOT allowed to talk with MEN, except those in your OWN family. SO, it’s no WONDER that this woman’s SOUL felt dammed up! I SUSPECT that such HARSH realities would create DAMS in OUR souls too, MADDENING barriers against the FREE movement of God’s LIVING water WITHIN us.
This woman at the well is ALSO a SAMARITAN, and Samaritans were DESPISED by the Jews as HALF-BREEDS, as POLLUTERS of the faith, as LAX in keeping the Law, and as an EMBARRASSMENT to God’s chosen people. Samaritans were EXCLUDED from Jewish places of worship, and Jews were not allowed to touch ANYTHING that a SAMARITAN had touched, OR engage in any UNNECESSARY conversation with Samaritans. SO, IMAGINE what it FELT like to BE a Samaritan WOMAN, and to LIVE with this kind of PREJUDICE, this kind of BLINDNESS to your very PERSONHOOD. Imagine the DAMS that would build UP in your SOUL? SHAME! Bitterness! Rage!
And FINALLY, we know that this woman APPEARS to be MORALLY-CHALLENGED. Now, she might, in fact, NOT be, but THAT’S how she APPREARS, because in THAT day, to have gone through 5 husbands, and NOW to be LIVING with ANOTHER man, would have given her the moral credibility of MADONNA in a CONVENT, and I DON’T mean the Virgin Mary. IMAGINE living in such DISGRACE every day! Imagine having people STARE at you, knowing that they’re TALKING behind your back. Imagine having mothers point you out to their daughters, and WARN them NEVER to become like YOU. In fact, THAT’S why this woman comes to the well at NOON, in the HEAT of the day: to AVOID being disgraced by the other women, who come LATER, when it’s COOLER.
Now, here’s ANOTHER interesting TWIST in this story. In those days, if a man were INTERESTED in a woman, the BEST place to SEE her was at the village WELL. A man would find out WHEN the woman he was interested in went to the WELL, and he would WAIT there for her, watching to see if she might remove her VEIL, so that he might get a PEEK. And IF no one was watching, he MIGHT even dare SPEAK to her. Now, carrying WATER was WOMEN’S work, so MEN had no reason to hang around WELLS, UNLESS they were looking for a woman. SO, when Jesus and this WOMAN are caught TALKING by the well, people just ASSUME that Jesus has something in mind OTHER than GOD, OR, that this woman is trying once AGAIN to quench her INSATIABLE thirst for MEN.
SO, when Jesus TALKS to this Samaritan woman and offers her LIVING water, HE is doing an AMAZING job at breaking down DAMS. He BREAKS down the dam of her GENDER, which defines her as a mindless servant of MEN. He BREAKS down the dam of her RACE, which defines her as a WORTHLESS Samaritan. He BREAKS down the dam of her SHAME, which defines her as a despicable SINNER. AND, He BREAKS down the dam of that day’s social conventions, which put people into little BOXES and ISOLATE them from one another. And AS Jesus tears down ALL these DAMS, the LIVING water that He’s offering her begins to FLOW between them.
Well, what IS this LIVING water? I think that it’s a thirst-quenching SPRING of LOVE and ACCEPTANCE; FORGIVENESS, AFFIRMATION and UNDERSTANDING. And WATCH how Jesus DOES it! The woman is CONFUSED about the LIVING water, and her ideas about worshipping God are extremely PRIMITIVE. So Jesus keeps PROBING until He finds SOMETHING of beauty in her SOUL. And He DOES this, finally, by asking her to GO and call her HUSBAND. Well, SHE tells Him the TRUTH, that she HAS no husband. In other words, she begins to open UP to Him some of her SHAME. Therefore, Jesus opens the dam even FURTHER by showing her that He KNOWS the whole STORY, but LOVES her anyway. And THEN, Jesus does a very BEAUTIFUL thing: He BUILDS on her HONESTY and PROMISES her that the day is COMING when Jews and Samaritans will worship God TOGETHER -- in SPIRIT and in TRUTH -- that THEY will be EQUALS, for THAT is what GOD wants. And you can TELL that she FEELS the LIVING water of Jesus’ powerful love PUSHING its WAY through all the DAMS in her thirsty SOUL, and swirling through her ARID and barren places. And AS the LIVING water pushes it way through her SOUL, she can’t CONTAIN her EXCITEMENT! She just LEAVES her water jar by the well and RUNS into town with the NEWS that there is an amazing PROPHET down at the well, and He MIGHT just be the MESSIAH! And this woman is so GUSHING with LIVING water that it WASHES over all the PREJUDICES of the townspeople AGAINST her. And they can’t HELP but to go running out to SEE for themselves WHO she is TALKING about. And then, experiencing Jesus for THEMSELVES, they begin to feel THEMSELVES filling up with LIVING water, and it’s POWERFUL!
Friends, this is a GREAT story! And EVERY single ONE of us NEEDS to HEAR it, because there are PARCHED and BARREN places within EACH of us. And those parched and barren places NEED God’s LIVING water, God’s HEALING river, of FORGIVENESS and LOVE; affirmation, acceptance and understanding! Friends, THINK about where those places are in YOUR life. And consider how GREAT they would FEEL IF they had LIVING water, a HEALING river, POURING into them, and AROUND them, and THROUGH them. BUT, every single ONE of us ALSO has BARRIERS and BLOCKS that KEEP us from RECEIVING that LIVING water? Every single ONE of our souls is DAMMED UP in ONE way or another. Maybe for YOU, it’s anxiety or resentment, SHAME or anger, PREJUDICE or greed? And MAYBE your anger or resentment seems JUSTIFIED! BUT, no matter HOW justified our barriers and walls might SEEM, they STILL act as DAMS, and they STILL hold BACK the LIVING water that GOD is trying to RELEASE into our SOULS.
And SO, I would suggest that, WHEN you PRAY, you PICTURE yourself with JESUS. And AS you do, REALIZE that He is YEARNING to reach INTO your soul with a SHOVEL and break OPEN the DAM that is turning His LIVING water within you into DEAD water. And REALIZE that Jesus wants to FILL you UP until you just OVERFLOW with LIVING water, with His HEALING river! HE wants to UNBLOCK your blocks, UNDAM your SOUL, and BLESS you with a FULLNESS of LIFE and LOVE that you have NEVER experienced before. Yes, when you pray, picture THAT! And as you DO, TRY to FEEL Him embracing you, holding you, LOVING you and POURING into your SOUL His LIVING water. And FEEL how GOOD it feels -- and how HEALING! It’s SO LIFE-GIVING!
HOWEVER, we CAN’T stop THERE. You see: Jesus ALSO wants to use US as He used that woman at the well. After all: SHE became His FIRST evangelist! Look out the WINDOW for a moment. Do you know that surveys tell us that over 95% of the people OUT there are concerned with 3 things BEYOND their basic survival? They’re concerned with having a fellowship of FRIENDS. They’re concerned with having a sense of SECURITY and BELONGING. AND, they’re concerned with having MEANING and PURPOSE in their lives. Friends, DON’T you SEE? People out THERE are thirsting for the VERY thing that Christ and His church can PROVIDE! They’re THIRSTING for LIVING water that will ENLIVEN their parched and barren SOULS. They’re searching for a HEALING river to give them NEW life! HOWEVER, less than HALF of the people OUT there CLAIM to have a church HOME. And THEREFORE, WE need to break OPEN the DAMS of our SHYNESS, and our RELUCTANCE to TALK about our faith and our church. And WE need to let God WORK through US to offer to ALL people everywhere the LIVING water of God’s LOVE and understanding, the HEALING river of God’s grace and FORGIVENESS. Yes, WE need to be like that woman at the well, who RUNS to town, SO OVERFLOWING with LIVING water that it WASHES over all the PREJUDICES of the townspeople AGAINST her, and THEY go running out to SEE for themselves WHO she must be TALKING about, only to find THEMSELVES filling up with LIVING water. Yes, friends, I hope and pray that ALL of us can get SO excited about receiving God’s LIVING water, and SO excited about our FAITH and our LORD and our CHURCH, that we will ALL become like the woman at the well, that we will ALL go RUNNING out to SHARE LIVING water with one and ALL. And WHAT a gift it IS to be able to DO that, to be ALLOWED to offer people the LOVE, the GRACE and the NEW LIFE of God’s LIVING water. WHAT could be more MEANINGFUL and PURPOSEFUL and LIFE-GIVING than THAT? And I, for one, thank God EVERY day for giving ME such an AMAZING and LIFE-GIVING opportunity! Amen.
(With thanks to David Inglis: Undammed Souls, Church Worship, June 1997)