Hunting for the Hopeless
Pastor Mathew Magera – 3/22/17 – Sermon 219
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
This seems like a simple
story, the woman at the well, but how much might we learn if we look at it from
another perspective? Jesus is not simply going through this town on his way to
Jerusalem. Jesus is not simply stopping at this well, Jacob's well no less, for
a drink of water. Jesus is not simply encountering a woman who is stopping at
this exact well at the exact same time. Jesus has become a predator. I use that
word predator very seriously because I want you to think of all that this word
might mean. When you hear that word, you might think of lions and tigers and
bears, oh my, right? But, when I say the word predator in the 21st century, I
don't think it comes across as positive or even neutral. Sexual predators.
Financial predators. Child predators. We can't escape these connotations. But,
this story of the woman at the well is the story of Jesus as a predator, but
unlike any other. He is prowling. He is seeking. He is hunting. As he comes
into this Samaritan village, this predator takes action when this very specific
woman comes to draw water from the well.
This woman is not a plain
and simple woman either. This is a woman who has seen hardship. This is a woman
who has hit the bottom more than once. This is a woman who struggles to keep
herself together. She has been used. She has been used hard and thrown away. As
the story progresses we discover this woman has had five different husbands and
the one she is with now is not her husband. I don't necessarily buy into the
idea that all of her husbands have died but that they all, each of them, threw
her out after they got what they wanted from her. She has been a victim too
many times. So, here she is going out to the well in the middle of the day and
here is this man, not even a Samaritan, but a Jew, sitting at the well as if
waiting for her to come draw water. She sees him and must be thinking that word
has gotten around about her. She sees him believing he's not there for water.
So she approaches Jesus already in a self-defense mode and we can see it in
exactly how she begins her interaction with Jesus. She is cautious. She
approaches Jesus as another predator going after her. She pushes aside his
offer twice. "Will you give me a drink?" he asks. "No, you are a
Jew. Why would I give you water?" That's one. He tells her if she knew who
he was she would have been the one asking for a drink and he would have given
her living water. She pushes back again saying he has nothing to draw water
with. She is defensive, yet at the same time, already knowing of what is going
to happen to her. She believes she is going to be a victim yet again. There is
nobody else around. He has nothing with him to get water from the well. This
encounter is not going to end well for her.
From Jesus' perspective,
however, he's sitting at the well when this woman comes walking up to draw
water and he's thinking, "here comes another one of my sheep. Here comes
another precious child of God who is lost and needs to be led home once
again." Jesus is playing the part of the predator, but not the predator this
woman believes him to be. Jesus is playing the part of the spiritual predator.
He's after her spirit. He's after her faith. He loves her. He loves her dearly.
But, he loves her like no man has ever loved her and like no other man could
ever love her. And when Jesus gets that point across, this story is going to
change and it is going to change for the better. When she realizes that this
man is not the type of man who would just throw her away, she is going to be
overwhelmed with love and care that she will have no other alternative to go
to.
"Give me this living
water," she says. She doesn't want to be thirsty for a good life anymore.
She doesn't want to be thrown aside anymore. She wants to be raised up. She
wants to be restored. Give me this water so I won't be thirsty anymore. It’s
good to point out that while her and Jesus are talking about water, at the same
time they are not talking about water. On top of all this, Jesus offers her
living water and also knows about intimate details of her life and he is not
using any of these against her as others would likely do and she begins to see
him in a different light. Her defenses are coming down. Now she is talking more
theologically and she is even claiming that the messiah would come to better
explain it all soon. Our reading ended today when Jesus revealed himself for
who he really was. There are many instances where Jesus is in a situation where
he could reveal himself as God's Son but in a lot of those situations, what
does he do? Tell no one who I am. Don't tell anybody that I am the Messiah. He
closes himself off. But, with this Samaritan woman, he completely opens up and
gives himself to her. I am he, Jesus says. She has been called to faith in him.
What happens after this is
where the story just grows. She leaves her water jar behind, showing that she
is completely leaving her past behind, and she goes to preach to her village.
And they listen. They come to see him. They have no reason to listen to her.
They know her reputation. Why would anything she say be worth a dime? Yet, they
come. She has the power of the Gospel within her now and people listen to this
Word. The Bible says, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in
him because of the woman's testimony." She goes euphoric and preaches the
good news and she is living completely into the blessing that she has received.
The point of the story is
that if anybody could love this woman, Jesus could. And he does. What it means
for us is the same thing. Maybe you have felt tossed aside like the Samaritan
woman. Go beyond her specific situation, take it beyond her many husbands, but
place your focus on what happened. She was used, abused and thrown out.
Consider those times when you have been used, what you have felt when something
backfired on you, when your dreams and aspirations may have been shut down. No
matter the situation, Jesus is seeking you out. Jesus is on the prowl. Jesus is
hunting for you. He wants to give you what the world could not give even when
you wanted it. He wants to give you something that will never leave you
wanting. No matter what has made you unlovable in this world and in your life,
if anybody could love you, Jesus can. And he does. He is waiting for you at the
well. He is not there to take something from you. He is not there to put you to
shame. Jesus is there at the well waiting to offer you a drink from himself
that will never leave you thirsty again. Jesus' gift of love and life are there
for you.
Like this Samaritan woman,
however, our trouble is lowering our defenses. When we are down and out it is
more and more difficult to lower those defenses and to let Jesus in. There is
pain, scars maybe even regret and shame. Who says that Jesus won't let us down
like we have been let down before? Placing trust in something like this is has
the opportunity to lead you nowhere and fast. But, Jesus cannot compare to our
past history. He doesn't want you to throw you out. He wants you to keep you
and that type of love requires faith and the higher your defenses, the greater
the risk, the more faith it will require, I get that. Still, the evidence here
in this story, when we take the time to see just how much has happened in this
woman's life and to see her faith turn around, becomes clear. This is why we
have the Word of God so that we can see how Jesus does change us and how Jesus
has never let us down. Have faith in that. Have faith in this story of the
woman at the well. Have faith in Jesus who is seeking your soul, who is hunting
you down to give your soul a much needed life that you cannot give yourself.
Jesus turns the tables on what it means to be a predator in the 21st century,
because where we see on the news where people are exploited, used and abused,
Jesus works to heal those wounds, to love, care and preserve you in the way
that he created you to be. Come to the well and receive that living water. To
God be the glory, now and always. Amen.