SERMON PREACHED BY
THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR
CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
ON THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
24 FEBRUARY 2008

 

 

"Jesus must needs pass through Samaria." (John 4:4)

It may well be worth contrasting the encounter Jesus had last week with Nicodemus with his meeting this week with the woman at the well. Biblical scholars tell us, by the way, that the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is the longest in the Bible, but rest assured, I don't feel the need to make this sermon eligible for the Guinness Book of Records!

 

Both meetings happen at unusual times. Nicodemus came by night; the encounter with the woman at the well was at high noon. They were both hiding from people. Nicodemus didn't want anybody to know that someone of his importance would deign to associate with an itinerant upstart preacher. And anyone who has ever drawn water knows that it is done at the crack of dawn or after the sun goes down in the afternoon --- not in the blazing noonday heat. The woman, who we learn later had an unsavory reputation, was avoiding the wagging tongues of the women she would undoubtedly have met at the usual hours.

 

The meeting with Nicodemus --- notice he is given a name ---took place in Jerusalem, the hub of the Jewish universe, the holy city, the place where Solomon's glorious temple stood. The conversation with the nameless woman at the well took place at Sychar, a no-account town in Samaria. Nicodemus was a leading citizen, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin; the woman who came to draw water was, on the social scale, a nobody, an outcast, and a serial monogamist currently shacking up with someone, as we used to describe it, without benefit of clergy.

 

But the most important thing about the woman is that she was a Samaritan. Jews despised the Samaritans, and avoided them like the plague. Everything was wrong with them. They were considered schismatics, who built a rival temple to the one at Jerusalem. They were heretics, whose entire Bible was the five books of the Torah. Because of their intermarriage with people of other lands, they were considered to be of questionable ancestry. They didn't follow Jewish rituals, and didn't keep Kosher. The very mention of Samaritans would cause a visceral reaction on the part of Jews. Jesus, of course, was aware of this. That's why he makes the good guy in the parable, the one who ministered to the man at the side of the road, a Samaritan [Lk. 10:25-37}. "Good Samaritan" was an oxymoron! That's why he tells the story of the ten lepers who were cured; the only one who returned to give thanks was a Samaritan [Lk. 17:11-19].

 

This scene at the well gives new definition to "What's wrong with this picture?" The woman rightly asks "How is it that you, a Jew, would ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" While it is true, as she points out, that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, there were some other issues. First, no self-respecting rabbi would speak to any woman in public, especially a woman with a tarnished reputation. What is more, since Samaritans didn't keep Kosher, no Jew would drink water from the same vessel as a Samaritan --- which is probably why the woman commented to Jesus that he had come to the well without a bucket!

 

All these differences notwithstanding, I want you to notice one other important contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Nicodemus, for all his academic training and erudition, didn't get it! When Jesus talked about being born again, he asks: "Can a man enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" The woman, on the other hand, doesn't question Jesus; she adds her own brand of logic and the history of her own people to the conversation, and after a lively theological discourse, she becomes a believer: She says to the man whom she has correctly identified as a prophet, "Sir, give me this water. I want some of that!" And while Nicodemus left Jesus still juggling theological issues, the woman, it should be noted, threw her bucket aside, and went and began to share her experience with the townsfolk, in short, to become an evangelist. Didn't Jesus say that God had hidden knowledge from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes? (Lk. 10:21)

 

The more I read this story, the more I believe it is the Gospel in miniature. Not only does it underscore a basic tenet of the Gospel ---- that Jesus seeks out the underdog --- be it the paralytic at the pool at Bethesda, [John 5:1-15] or the vertically challenged Zacchaeus, [Lk. 19:1-10] or Bartimaeus the blind beggar [Mk. 10:6-52] or indeed a peasant girl named Mary ---- making them all important, indeed crucial to the salvation story --- putting down the mighty from their seat and exalting the humble and meek ---- the story also manages to portray another truth ---- that differences don't matter. Jesus, in one fell swoop, manages to transcend barriers of gender, race, class and religion --- issues which too often dominate our thought patterns and actions. In certain arenas in the church, however, we still seem to be setting up barriers. The Anglican Covenant, for example, seeks to map out what must be believed and what must not be believed by Anglicans --- the major problem, however, is that it eliminates from fellowship those who are searching and who may well, with time and a little help from their friends, arrive at these "truths" one day, since revelation is an ongoing, not an abrupt process. Meanwhile, the fact that the Democrats have managed to eliminate all the "usual suspects" and have narrowed the field to a woman and a black man, suggests that just perhaps we in this nation are beginning to break down the same barriers.

 

But wait, there's more! The Evangelist tells us "Jesus must needs pass through Samaria." Jews hated Samaritans so much they wouldn't even step foot on Samaritan soil. Samaria was smack dab in the middle of two Jewish territories, Judea and Galilee, but Jews would go from one to the other by a circuitous route, along the Transjordan, just to avoid breathing Samaritan air. I chose the KJV, "must needs pass through Samaria" not because it is archaic, or more beautiful, for in fact on its face it is more confusing than the translation "had to go." But "had to" is ambiguous, and often conveys a choice by default. Last night, I had to make a connection in Charlotte because there is no direct flight to Pittsburgh from St. Louis on Saturday. Or I had to drink Pinot Noir because there was no Merlot on the menu. "Must needs" conveys an obligation, a necessity, a duty. Jesus made the conscious decision to take the direct route. It was imperative that Jesus pass through Samaria.

 

As Christians, we are called upon to blaze new trials, forge ahead into new mission fields, not merely to congregate in comfortable, homogeneous groupings, but to make a foray into challenging, even less than hospitable territory. Our evangelistic efforts should be reflective of that great hymn, "Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve, and press with vigor on." We must enter people's lives where they are, and invite them into Christian fellowship. But we must be aware of just how many kinds of new places we may find recruits. I celebrated my 61st birthday earlier this week, and would like to report that even at this advanced age my brain is still capable of receiving and processing new information. At the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes this week, someone asked me, as we were listening to the ramblings of a church futurist, if I new what "second life" meant. Answers like "eternal life" and "Resurrection" came to mind, but I correctly suspected that they were not the right answers. People who have a second life are those whose second life is virtual. They create an avatar, a virtual online alter ego, or more precisely a melior ego, because the virtual person, one's avatar, is always an improvement of oneself. You can be whatever you want to be. I Googled "second life" and found the following introduction for the uninitiated: "So you've decided to take a trip to Second Life. Good choice! Whether you're coming for the uninhibited nightlife or the affordable jetpacks and rocket ships, you're sure to have a memorable stay. Don't bother with a suitcase - everything you could possibly want is obtainable here. But be sure to bring your imagination: Second Life is a world of endless reinvention where you can change your shape, your sex, even your species as easily as you might slip into a pair of shoes back home."

 

I remembered that there was a Law and Order episode, in which life imitated art, and a real murder replayed a virtual murder in someone's "second life," but I thought that this was merely an extension of a teenage video game. Au contraire! Grown, educated, upstanding people have second lives and pay handsomely for the privilege. If your avatar is a jet-setting rock star, you fork over real dollars to real people somewhere in cyberspace to cover the expenses of providing the jets, the wardrobes and the dream vacations for your virtual creation.

 

Is life so void of meaning and relationships that people must resort to having a second, virtual life, at considerable expense? Can we not minister to such people, offering them the fellowship of individuals, the affirmation of their value as human beings, and the assurance of salvation? Jesus said "Other sheep I have that are not of this fold." It may well be that we are called to minister to those sheep whose imagination and money have created a parallel universe.

 

Can we, the church militant, not offer an alternative to those who seek such extreme outlets? As Jesus offered himself to the Samaritan woman who had lost her way, so we must offer Jesus to those who are so desperate for meaning in their lives that they squander fortunes in pursuit of a modicum of happiness. Can we not say to them:

A cloud of witnesses around hold thee in full survey

Forget the steps already trod, and onward urge thy way.

'Tis God's all animating voice that calls thee from on high,

'Tis his own hand presents the prize to thine aspiring eye, to thine aspiring eye.

The Hymnal 1982, 546.