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This Week's Sermon THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 24 February 2008 "The Gift of God" John 4:5-30,39-42 LSB Series A Pastor Philip G. Meyer Soli Deo Gloria!

This is a remarkable scene in our Holy Gospel today. It was shocking in Jesus' day. Such an encounter would probably never have taken place had not Jesus sent his disciples into town to buy food. The rabbis of Israel despised women so much that they did not consider them worthy of any real teaching. One of them said, "Better that the words of the law should be burned than delivered to women" [Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 1, p. 155]. More than that, they also said that each time a man had a conversation with a woman he caused evil to himself and made himself more worthy of hell [Ibid]. Such thoughts sound strangely familiar in present day Islam as women struggle to get any education. Recently, a married American businesswoman and mother of three children was in Saudi Arabia and was jailed because the power in her building went off and she went to Starbucks where she had a conversation with a colleague, a man who was not her husband and not her relative. Pleas were made for her but to no avail. Part of the Associated Press report [Quoted on FoxNews.com, Tuesday, February 19, 2008] stated that the authorities stood by the "arrest of an American woman living in Riyadh, jailed for sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks." Additionally, the report said:

Late Monday night, The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice publicly denounced her with a statement posted on the Internet, saying her actions violated the country's Sharia law.
"It's not allowed for any woman to travel alone and sit with a strange man and talk and laugh and drink coffee together like they are married," it said. "All of these are against the law and it's clear it's against the law. First, for a woman to work with men is against the law and against religion. Second, the family sections at coffee shops and restaurants are meant for families and close relatives."

That Jesus sought out this woman was revolutionary. He used her to bring the Gospel to the Samaritans. We see how the grace of God extended to all people, female and male, young and old, Jew and Gentile alike. We see Jesus breaking down barriers so that he might bestow "The Gift of God."

This woman at the well was thirsty. She was looking for something but couldn't seem to find it. She was looking for love in all the wrong places. What I like about this text is that it is so contemporary. It sounds very much like situations that probably every pastor in America has had to confront. We're dealing with people who have no idea as to what brings lasting satisfaction in life. Such people bounce from relationship to relationship, from marriage to marriage, from one broken philosophy to the next newest trend. Of course, such a lifestyle is very unsatisfying and many will not learn that until they have wasted most of their lives.

The Church father Cyril of Alexandria said of such situations: "For it is not the union of pleasure but the approval of the law and the bond of pure love that makes marriage blameless" [Ancient Christian Commentary Iva, 156]. Of course, the people with whom we speak have justification for what they are doing or have done, such as living together outside of marriage. On the surface of things they can give you many reasons, but underneath there really is only one: they are thirsty for something. Yet, like this woman, they are clueless as to what brings real happiness, and so, they fall into sinful actions. The problem is that our age no longer views these actions as sinful, out of touch with God's order.

What started out as her light-hearted request for Jesus to give her the life-giving water so that she didn't have to come out to the well again in physical labor turns very serious as Jesus told her all about her thirsty life. Jesus turned the spotlight of the law on her sins. He reflected her life in the mirror of the Law. Suddenly she was compelled to face herself and the immorality and total inadequacy of her life. That's what we call the preaching of the Law, and how masterfully Jesus did it! Jesus revealed to her what she was by shining the spotlight of the Law on her. He doesn't do it to push her into despair, but so that he might rescue her by bestowing "The Gift of God" on her, the forgiveness of sins.

Then Jesus revealed himself to her as she spoke generally about the Christ who was to come. To no Jew did Jesus reveal himself so openly by saying, "I who speak to you am he." Jesus revealed himself to her as the Truth.

The gift of God is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus sought out this woman in order to forgive her sins, but before he can forgive her, she must be made aware of her need for forgiveness. Jesus uses the Law to point out her sins. It is an amazing exchange. Jesus first speaks to her as a Jewish man. Then he speaks to her as a prophet. Finally, he speaks to her as God himself. Amazingly, this woman is not offended at Christ's rebuke of her sin. She doesn't leave him in anger. Just the opposite happens. She is drawn to him because she realizes that he is a prophet. She wants to learn more, in spite of her guilt. Would to God that people today would hear as this woman heard and not stomp off in anger for having their sins pointed out. By so doing, they also cut themselves off from forgiveness, this most precious Gift of God.

"The Gift of God" is also the Holy Spirit who is the author of Holy Scripture and who brings Christ to us in the Sacraments. That is the Holy Spirit's work, to bring Christ to us, to bring us the forgiveness of sins which Christ has earned by his innocent life, suffering, and death. Thus, the living water is Christ, his forgiveness. This refreshment the Holy Spirit continually pours out upon his Church through Word and Sacrament. As the Law continually tells us all that we ever did that is out of joint with God, so the Holy Spirit continually slakes our thirst with Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. In Holy Baptism he washes us with this Living Water. In Holy Absolution, he quenches our thirst for Christ's forgiveness. In Holy Communion he satisfies our hunger and thirst with the true body and blood of Christ.

Jesus makes it clear that the true worship of God is not confined to a particular place. The Samaritans said it was on Mt. Gerazim while the Jews said it was on Mt. Zion. But neither of those sanctuaries would survive. What happened to the Samaritan one we don't know. What happened to the Jewish one we do know. The Romans leveled it in 70 a.D. It has never been rebuilt. Jesus makes it clear that God is worshiped not in a place but in the Spirit. That means that one could go into the most beautiful sanctuary in the world and not find even one true worshiper. Having a beautiful sanctuary does not guarantee that any true worshipers may be present. It is possible to have it filled with nothing but hypocrites!

"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24, ESV)

That means that you can worship God-in the wide sense of the term "worship"-even now. In this sense worship means that you receive the gifts God wants to give you. How is that? Because you do so in the Spirit, that is, you receive from the Holy Spirit all his precious gifts, especially the gift of Christ himself. The Holy Spirit's work is to bring Christ to you, this "Gift of God" which centers is what Christ does, that is, forgive your sins. This woman is a picture of the Church, especially of the Gentiles, those who were outside the Old Covenant but who have been reached by Christ. Convicted of your sins you have been cleansed in Holy Baptism. You have received "The Gift of God," the forgiveness of your sins. Whether you receive his gifts in a magnificent cathedral or in this beautiful sanctuary or in a small wooden sanctuary on the plains or in a sanctuary made of mud and grass like many in Africa, it matters only that you receive his gifts. The gifts make the mud and grass sanctuary and the magnificent cathedral holy, not the buildings themselves. Only when Christ is present according to his flesh [gifts] can there be true worship. Only when his gifts have been received has God been rightly worshiped.

This woman believed immediately. How much different she is from Nicodemus whose unbelief continued for some time. Not only was she much wiser, she was also much more courageous. When Nicodemus heard things from Christ he told no one what Christ had said nor that he had even met with him. But this woman acts like an apostle, that is, she went to the town and told everybody she met that she had met the Christ. Her parched condition was now satisfied as Christ opened the flood gates of forgiveness and mercy for her! Now she had living water of which there would be no end.

What worship there was at Sychar! The fields white unto harvest were beginning to be reaped by the Christ himself! Many of the Samaritans believed because of the woman's testimony, but that changed when they listened to Jesus. They said:

"They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."" (John 4:42, ESV)

That's how it goes when those who are troubled by their sins find forgiveness. They stop searching in all the wrong places and hold on for dear life to "The Gift of God." Dear friends, Jesus has given you "living water." He has given you himself, and when you have Christ through Holy Baptism you have the water that satisfies forever. He continues to refresh you in Holy Absolution as he absolves you over and over again for your sins. He comes to you in his true body and blood as the pledge that he forgives you. You leave the rail strengthened and refreshed through "The Gift of God," which is his forgiveness. Indeed, every time you receive Christ in his body and blood you "proclaim his death until he comes," as Paul writes to the Corinthians [1 Cor. 11.26b]. You proclaim him as "the Savior of the world," just as these Samaritans did.