A Vital Conversation About Life’s Longings
St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
Juvenal Cervantes, Pastor
March 27, 2022
March is International Women’s Month, a global celebration dedicated to uplifting women and honoring their achievements. This feel-good idea started off in 1909 as more than a time to celebrate the women in our lives- it was born out of socialism, protest and fight for labor rights. In 1977 the United Nations proclaimed March 8th as International Women’s Day. The theme this year is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, and call for climate action for women, by women.
I am profoundly grateful for the women in my life who have nurtured me, encouraged me, and served alongside with me. My grandmother, Eva Criel Hernandez will always be a giant in my life. Her father was German descent and her paternal name was “Crieb,” but in the small Mexican village in Musquiz, Coahuila, Mexico, people could not pronounce “Crieb” so they changed the name to “Criel.” My grandmother Eva loved me unconditionally and she modeled unconditional love to her family and friends. Faithfully visiting us when my mother divorced and my sibling and I tried to acclimate to a new and complexed blended family. Every birthday and special season such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, and All Saint’s Day, my grandmother Eva faithfully placed a wreath of fresh flowers at the graveside of her dear mom and other relatives. We are grateful for the women in our lives who made us who we are today.
In the gospel of John, we find the longest recorded conversation that Jesus had with anyone, thus highlighting the great value and respect Jesus had for women.
Conversations are precious. Regularly at our household we have family meetings. It is a time to share what is in our hearts, struggles, concerns, needs, joys, anything. Uninterrupted, supportive, nurturing, and somethings healing conversations.
Our sermon series is on important conversations.
Here are a few lines of conversations on movies, let’s see how many of these you can recognize:
“You can’t handle the truth…” A Few Good Men
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate…”
Cool Hand Luke
“Remember who you are” Mufasa, in Lion King
“Remember, with great power comes great responsibility…” Spiderman
“In the future, no man will slay his fellow, the earth will be radiant, the human race will love…” Le Mans
Our story is simple and profound; in just a few moments a women’s life is changed forever. We learn lessons about racial prejudice, religious hatred, and dealing with moral outcasts.
John 4:4-6
Now he 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.
Jesus could have taken a different route, the quickest and the least dangerous. Jesus was known to leave the unusual, the comfortable. He never did what was expected, he always did what unexpected. He often offended the proper people. Perhaps if he was talking to us today, he would offend us with the way he chose to preach the gospel.
Jesus always challenged the popular prejudices, he ignored the social and religious taboos.
The woman wasn’t looking for Jesus that day, but He was looking for her.
John 4:7-9
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
Jews and Samaritans did not associate. Jesus broke barriers, he talked with someone different from him.
Just like the Russians and the Ukrainians. In fact, let’s pause and pray for the Ukrainians at this moment.
“Lord, in our comfort and security, we cannot possible understand what the Ukrainian people are experiencing as they face war and uncertainty. We pray that you will be near them during this time of great trial in their lives. You have the power to move the hearts of kings and presidents and rulers.
We pray for your divine intervention that peace will prevail, and more importantly, that your will be done, that you will be glorified and people will turn to you for help and direction.”
Back to the story. Jesus broke barriers. Women and men did not talk in public, especially a woman and rabbi, even if it was the rabbi’s wife. He spoke with a sinful woman.
One of the questions that often ask in my trainings on collaboration is, “Has there been a time and a place in your life that you were not accepted and felt alienated?” Some of us can probably relate to this moment.
The well was a place where people gathered. Women met there to talk with each other and about others. This woman comes to the well at noon time, the hottest time of the day, when few people would be out there drawing water from the well.
As I read this story this week, I asked myself, “Juvenal, whom have you left out? Whom are you leaving out? Whom have you judged? Whom have you not included?”
John 4:10
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.”
John 4:11
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
The woman at the well took Jesus words literally. But she also was trying to detour Jesus- get him off track.
She claims to her traditions in order to dodge his question. Jesus is not distracted, he speaks to her, he reaches out to her.
Consider this: If Jesus is willing to speak to her, who would he not speak to in the first century or today?
John 4:15
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.”
John 4:16
He told her, “Go call your husband and come back.”
John 4:17-18
“I have no husband,” she said. 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.”
John 4:19-20
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Even though this woman is deflecting, she brought up a crucial point.
What is worship? Do we get it right? Is it a place, style, is it a performance, do we sit quietly, do we just listen?
John 4:24
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:26
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you- I am he.”
Jesus said, “Worship is not a place, it is where the spirit abides.” He challenges the tradition. He is announcing a new norm.
As worshipers at St. John’s United Church of Christ, we ask, “What traditions do we uphold that suddenly oppose the work of the Holy Spirit?”
Research models on what’s happening in the church of America indicate the number one argument in churches is: Music, style of music. In America, contemporary music has divided the church.
Here’s a quote: “God is neither found in the anthem sung by the 100-voice choir, nor in the clapping of hands or the strumming of the guitar, neither in the hymnal or the spree. God is spirit and he is uncounted in the response of the human heart to his spirit.”
Do you come to worship prepared or to complain?
Consider the different words employed in this story in reference to Jesus:
Jesus
Jew
Sir
Prophet
Messiah
Christ
I am
Rabbi
Savior
The woman at the well was transformed and became a passionate evangelist.
John 4:29-30
“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.
This woman was the least likely prospect for salvation. Yet, God used her. God came to her. She witnessed. God used her simple testimony.
Who do you and I need to go tell?
This story tells us that sometimes when people who are irreligious and meet God their words have a potency much greater than those of us who are pious.
This woman was heard by a religious person. Often we wonder, why have our young people left the church? We can look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, “Could it be that they left because of me?” Whom have I excluded?
Jesus went to the people.
Would a firefighter say as a house is burning, “I am not going in because the house is burning. I’ll let them come to me”?
Jesus got out of the comfort zone. Jesus crossed over geography, class, and religious tradition.
If God wants to be worshiped in spirit and truth, guess who qualifies? Everyone. Salvation is not in going to the right mountain, it is about going to the right person, Jesus Christ, whose arms are wide open to whosoever believes.
You may say, “I’m too sinful to be saved.”
One reason Jesus did not let her get away was that she needed to confront her sin. True conversion doesn’t just happen until you and I repent. No one can be saved without facing their sinfulness.
No one who faces their sinful past will be turned off by Jesus.
No one who meets Jesus will ever be the same again.