Sermon for March 12, 2023 – The Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42

Living by faith…despite our sins

Last week we heard the familiar story of Nicodemus coming under the cover of night to seek out the light and truth of Jesus. In that conversation, Jesus invites Nicodemus to join him on the journey towards being born again through the Spirit. This is an also invitation for us to be transformed by the Spirit as we too join Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem.

This week we encounter yet another familiar story in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. At the heart of this complex and multivalent narrative is an invitation to be seen and known.

Everything about this story fits a familiar and repetitive style found throughout John’s Gospel. There is a simple exchange at the outset that, like the story of Nicodemus, immediately has religious implications and goes deeper. The anonymous Samaritan woman does not speak like Nicodemus though. She is a woman of the people, fully aware of the traditional rivalry between Samaritans and Jews. Yet, she still engages with him. Jesus’ simple request for a drink from a historic well at mid-day becomes a discussion of water in a double sense.

It is important to note that the conversation begins with mutual vulnerability. Jesus is thirsty and needs the water that sustains life. She is thirsty and needs the water of eternal life that only Jesus can provide. That is where a relationship with God must start -- from a place of reciprocal vulnerability, from a space that recognizes that each party risks being seen and being known.

Although Jesus knows everything about this woman’s life, as indeed he knows everything about everyone, there is no mention of sin or sinfulness in this text. No word of judgment or even encouragement to change her life. What is life-changing for the woman is, according to her, that she has been entirely known by him, and this being known has enabled her to know him. It is through her encounter with Jesus that she is transformed.

This story is not sinfulness, it is about being more than our sins. The story is about the woman being able to begin to see who Jesus is, being given the gift of that truth that leads to becoming a conduit for the living water. And it is this living water that comes to us when we open ourselves to the God of mercy and forgiveness, and we make the choice to follow him. But all too often, we get in our own way, and our shame and regrets prevent us from being vulnerable.

In her Ted Talk on the Power of Vulnerability, Brené Brown tells us that shame is really easily understood as the fear of disconnection: Is there something about me that, if other people know it or see it, that I won't be worthy of connection? I am willing to bet that this fear of unworthiness is universal; we all have experienced it at some point in our lives. The thing that underpins this fear is excruciating vulnerability. We are afraid to be seen for who we really are. In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen. We need to have our moment by the well with Christ.

In 2003, not long after I left Sewanee, I needed a summer job. The Diocese of MA had just finished building their new summer camp, and having extensive camp experience, albeit not at a Christian camp, at the urging of my mother I reluctantly applied to join the staff as the waterfront director. I was not at all looking forward to a summer at Jesus camp. I would have been happy spending that summer at home, wallowing in my own self-pity and indulging in selfish, destructive behaviors.

Nevertheless, I arrived at the camp early to begin the setup work before the other staff arrived and I met a few other program area directors, including our chaplain for the summer. From the moment I set foot on that camp my façade was up. I was ashamed of being a failure for having to leave school. I was ashamed of the mistakes that I made that led me to working that summer at church camp. So, I put up my walls and put on my mask. I was not going to let them in to see me or who I was; lost, broken, and in search of healing.

Over that first week, I really got to know my chaplain, who at first glance I thought, “Who is this happy, clappy guy? Is this for real?” As the summer wore on, we would have conversations late into the night, sipping on hot chocolate as we sat in the rocking chairs by the dining hall. Slowly I began to share my story with him. I slowly tore down the walls that held me captive to my shame and fear. And what I found was, instead of being labeled or seen for my failures and mistakes, I was understood and accepted for who I am, despite my selfish actions. Because I was able to be seen and known for all that I am, the good and the bad, that summer changed my life…so much so I worked there for two more summers. If I did not share my story, my experience, my feelings…that summer would have only bound me up even more. But instead, I found freedom and healing. That dining hall was my well, and in that moment the chaplain was Jesus…it had to be. That was my moment at Jacob’s Well.

This is Jesus’ invitation to us this week. Through the Samaritan woman, he is inviting us to be seen and known. We are invited to let go of the masks we wear, to tear down the walls we erect to keep others out and then let God in to see us for who we really are. We are invited to walk the healing path towards God.

The woman in our story today is nameless because each and every one of us can put ourselves in her place and walk in her shoes. Our sins may not be the same as hers, but we have our sins.

How is it then that we are to live by faith despite our sins? Thankfully, because of the gift of mercy and salvation that comes to us through the living waters of Jesus Christ. To follow Jesus will bring us new life and reconciliation with God. When we acknowledge our sins, when we lay ourselves bare before God, allowing ourselves to be known, we too shed the weight of our past, freed from the bonds of our sin, so that we may have a foretaste of the living water that will give us eternal life. We will stumble. We will sin again, but we are not defined by our sins. We are so much more, and like the Samaritan woman God sees beyond our failings and poor decision to see us for who we truly are…his beloved children. God’s gift of mercy and grace is extended to us if we open our hearts and allow ourselves to be truly known.