Lent 3A

image: “woman at the well” by Martin Howard (flickr)

image: “woman at the well” by Martin Howard (flickr)

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon

Melissa Meyers, @PastorMelissa, @PastorBesties, Youtube Channel

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon

Romans 5:1-11 with Gill Lefevre

Musician - Steven Schallert, “Tremble, Tremble,” from his album “Songs of Sorrow/Songs of Hope”, Soundcloud.com/Steve-Schallert, SteveSchallert.com

John 4:5-42

Initial Thoughts

  • Wilda Gafney chooses this text for Pentecost in A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Year W (p.197)

  • (Texts for Preaching: Year A, p. 206-7) “The preacher who chooses to preach this Sunday from the Gospel reading is faced with a finely crafted story, rich in details and nuanced conversation, and raising several important themes that permeate the larger Johannine narrative. So many sermons with different foci could be (and have been) preached from the chapter that in moving from text to sermon one is forced to make critical decisions about limits.” 

    • In other words - this could take awhile.

Bible Study

  • According to Charles Cousar, there are Five Scenes:

    • 1-6 Establishes the setting

    • 7-26 Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman

    • 27-30 Return of disciples and departure of the woman

    • 31-38 Jesus and the disciples

    • 39-42 The Samaritans and the woman

  • Contrast to last week’s text on Nicodemus

    • Man vs Woman

    • Night vs Day

    • Private vs Public

    • Pharisee vs Samaritan

  • Samaria (see v.4)

    • Not “on the way” from Judea (where Jerusalem is) back to Galilee. Yes Samaria is in between Judea and Galilee, but Jews would have typically returned via the east bank of the Jordan river in order to avoid the Samaritans.

    • Karoline Lewis, John - Jesus has to go to Samaria, not geographically, but theologically, because God so loved the world and Samaritans are a part of that world that God loves.

    • “Samaritans were the inhabitants of the northern monarchy of Israel who ultimately fell to Assyria and were largely deported. The land was repopulated with other conquered peoples and their descendants became known as Samaritans.” Gafney, p. 197

      • “The dispute about the Mountain…is rooted in one of the many differences between the Samaritan and Judean Torahs: whether the mountain n Deuteronomy 27:4 on which Joshua later built an altar (Joshua 8:30) is Ebal (Judeans) or Gerazim (Samaritans)...Palestinian Samaritan Jews continue to worship on this mountain.” ibid.

    • Major tensions between Jews and Samaritans

      • Samaritans opposed rebuilding the temple after exile and in 128 BCE Jewish troops destroyed the shrine at Mount Gerizim. 

  • Jacobs Well

    • Sets the scene at a place of common reverence between Jews and Samaritans (and between early Christians and Jews- Lewis)

    • A typical setting for an ancient “meet-cute”/betrothal scene

      • Jacob and Rachel

      • Moses and Zipporah

      • Isaac and Rebekah

      • The well is a place of intimacy. Karoline Lewis suggests John present God in numerous intimate settings: Father with children, friend, and as lover.

      • Like most good Rom-Coms they start at odds and end up “together” (though not in the romantic way we would thought)

        • Begins not only the relationship between Jesus and the woman but also between Jews and Samaritans, and the Samaritans and Jesus 

  • Encounter with Jesus

    • Mutuality -Jesus needs water and she needs living water, he needs her witness and she needs his invitation into a new life

    • Scandalous

      • man and woman

      • rabbi and woman

      • Jew and Samaritan

      • Jewish Rabbi and Samaritan woman!

      • ALONE!!

    • Impossible encounter - yet possible with God. God’s love and grace supercedes religious and cultural boundaries

  • Nicodemus

    • Stark contrast between Samaritan woman and Nicodemus

      • Named/unnamed

      • Jew/Samaritan

      • Man/woman

      • Night/day

      • Religious leader/woman who has been married 5 times

    • She, like Nicodemus, point out the impossibility in what Jesus is offering - you can’t crawl back into the womb to be born again and you can’t get water without a bucket

    • Unlike Nicodemus - she is not coming to Jesus, Jesus is the outsider who has come to her

  • Married five times

    • Not a moral statement - Not a “five time loser” or a “tramp” - these shame-filled depictions have no basis in this text

      • This is not about sexual promiscuity or sin - note there is no forgiveness, not condemnation - only compassion

    • This emphasized the horrifically marginalized position this woman finds herself in

    • “Likely widowed or divorced, the fact alone of having five husbands would have indicated some sort of curse against her or her family…could also mean the woman has been divorced, often for trivial matters, but more likely because she was barren. If she was barren…she would not have a family to turn to in the case of being widowed, which would further exacerbate her dependent status.” Lewis, p. 60

    • “Significantly, the reasons for the woman’s marital history intrigue commentators but do not seem to concern Jesus.” Gail O’Day, Women’s Bible Commentary 8th ed. P. 521

  • I AM

    • The first of the “I am” statements in the Gospel of John

    • Direct connection to who Jesus is and who God is

    • I am - Jesus is God, the Word enfleshed, the incarnation

    • A truly mic-drop moment

  • John is multi-layered

    • Water

      • Drink and never be thirsty

    • Food 

      • “I have food to eat that you don’t know about… I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me”

    • Harvest

      • The fields are ready and ripe for the harvest.

      • Those who work receive the pay of eternal life.

      • “I have sent you to harvest what you didn’t work hard for” (not about social services, but boy is it tempting).

  • Charles Cousar: two themes are radical newness and radical inclusiveness

    • Radical Newness - Jesus presents something that is so radical that it is difficult to even comprehend.

      • Conversation about water quickly turns into something more.

      • She wants him to settle an old dispute - pick a side, but he offers a different way.

        • Jesus says “But the time is coming - and is here - when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth.”

      • The term forever is easily read in our culture as starting after we die. Here though, forever does not start with death, “This is a continuing theme in John's Gospel:  life in Christ begins now and continues even through death.” (Rob Myallis, LectionaryGreek.com)

    • Radical Inclusiveness - The way in which it is presented is radical not only in nature, but in who is included in the presentation.

      • Samaria

        • Apparent prohibitions on Samaritans and Jews sharing a dipper (sound familiar, Jim Crow?).

      • Woman

        • There at noon, probably not a part of the regular community.

        • Married five times, not married now.

          • Begs many questions, but culture has put too much shame on this woman. Unpack the things that tradition claims to “know” about her.

        • She does not withdraw from conversation, but actually digs deeper.

        • Reveals a level of understanding and ability to comprehend.

        • Even disciples are “shocked that he was talking with a woman.” (John 4:27)

        • Becomes an apostle to the rest of the Samaritans, and “many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word.” (4:39)

      • Samaritans

        • This is more than a one-on-one, it opens up the ministry to an entire people.

        • Led at first by her testimony, but then by Jesus’ own words.

        • She tells them about Jesus, they are intrigued, but it is Jesus who truly convinces them that he is the Savior of the world.

Thoughts and Questions

  • “Repeatedly in the narrative we find details that remind us that the new age fulfilled in the presence of Jesus breaks down barriers. ...The sweeping, inclusive character of Jesus’ mission is a note that needs sounding again and again today.” (Cousar, Texts for Preaching, 1995. p. 208

  • To never be thirsty would be quite something. 

    • Compassion and Service: Thirst is such a universal experience, and bringing someone something to drink is such a fundamental act of service. Think of who brings you something to drink - host at a party, server at a restaurant, a parent to a child in bed. Thirst is a fundamental need, and to satisfy someone’s most fundamental need is a remarkable act of service and love. 

    • Justice and Mission: Think of how hard people once (still do) had to work to get a drink of water. It is an ordeal to walk to a well, carry the water, and bring it back. For many girls in particular, the need to get water every day keeps them from school, training, and independence. In many places, the lack of clean water is the most pressing need for an entire community.

Psalm 95

Initial thoughts

  • Psalm Song - “Let Us Shout for Joy” by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
    click the above link for lyrics and more of Richard’s great music!

  • Check out Joan Stott’s Timeless Psalms (and from 2011)

  • Happy Psalm in Lent?

    • Read the whole Psalm don’t stop at 7a

    • Two parts:

      • Joy in God: Creator and Sustainer of Life and Good Things

      • LISTEN TO GOD - stop being dumb and listen, unlike your ancestors who did not

Bible Study

  • Worship and Enthronement Psalm (Psalm 47, 93, 95-99)

    • last week, Psalm 121, was a Pilgrim Psalm

    • Festival Psalm- most likely recited at major Israelite pilgrim festivals (Rolf Jacobson)

  • v.1-5 - Call to Worship

    • Worship is communal - “Let us...” both praise and warning are communal

    • Worship is public and loud - “Make a joyful noise”Singing, clapping, stamping feet - People will know you are worshipping

    • Worship is a Whole Body experience - “bow down” and “kneel before”

    • Worship is God-focused

    • If someone walked in your church without knowing it was a church - would they know what was going on? What would they think?

  • “Christians still seem to think that in the spiritual realm man is central. We persist in emphasizing what God can do for men, rather than dwelling on man’s duty toward God. We become angry with God or confused when adversity disrupts our lives. It is little wonder that Christians have so much difficulty worshipping God. Worship is God-centered, not man-centered.” Bob Deffinbaugh, Psalm 95: A Warning About Worship

  • Listen to God v.8-11

    • Ancestors did not listen

      • Forty years in the wilderness

      • Some did not enter the promise land

      • Yet- they traveled in God’s presence...GOD DID NOT LEAVE THEM

      • Perhaps the problem is they were so focused on the wilderness they failed to see God’s presence

    • When we acknowledge the presence of God - what is the proper response? Joyful noise!

      • How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?

      • “The message here, in the Lenten season, is that God’s law in its first use remains in effect. Even as God re-commits to the covenantal relationship, even as God remains committed to God’s people, God nevertheless calls the people to obedience. God is holy and God calls the chosen people to holiness in response to God’s grace. For everything there is a season. Lent is the time for this message of joy and reproof.” (Rolf Jacobson)

    • Meribah and Massah - see Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13, Water from the Rock!

      • In the wilderness with no water

      • When we do not share water or ensure water for all aren’t we hardening our hearts to God?

      • God provided water - not in rain, but through Moses and his staff - How might God work through us to bring water - to create a w orld where all people can make a joyful noise?

Thoughts and Questions

  • How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?

  • For the Israelites joy and penance were not in opposition but were united in worship. How might Christian reclaim this integration of joy and penance?

  • If someone walked in your church without knowing it was a church - would they know what was going on? What would they think?

  • When we do not share water or ensure water for all aren’t we hardening our hearts to God?

  • God provided water - not in rain, but through Moses and his staff - How might God work through us to bring water - to create a world where all people can make a joyful noise?

Exodus 17:1-7

Initial Thoughts

  • Wilderness of Sin is a great band name...

Bible Study

  • Context:

    • 14 - Parting of the Sea

    • 15 - Song of Praise followed by first water complaint (salt into fresh water)

    • 16 - Manna from heaven

    • Before the decalogue (19-24)

  • Wilderness of Sin

  • Complaints to Moses

    • Moses holds the Israelites accountable

    • Moses brings the concerns to God in prayer (not to other members of the community in the parking lot)

    • Moses redirects their focus to God

  • Central question, “How do we know that God is with us?”

    • Literally, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”

    • Often arises when people find themselves in the midst of H.A.L.T. (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired)

      • When things are great people do not doubt that God is with them (or they are too busy praising themselves)

      • When things are bad it must be because God has abandoned them

    • This is the question that has plagues Israel since the beginning with abundant evidence of God’s presence:

      • Plagues

      • Parting the Sea

      • Drinkable water

      • Manna from heaven

    • Also calling out from the experience of slavery - where was God in the midst of generations of slavery?

    • Moses (and presumably the Elders) see God standing on the rock, the rest of the community does not - how to reveal the miracle within the ordinary?

    • God’s house

      • Houses of worship were traditionally designed to answer this question - God’s presence could be felt in the mystery of the Holy of Holies, in the grandeur of flying buttresses, in the reformed starkness of what walls and grand pulpits.

  • Not alone

    • Moses does not go off alone to bring water from the rock but with the elders.

    • Exodus 17:8-16, Immediately after this is a story of God working through Moses to lead the Israelites into victory over Amalek, but he is only able to do so with the help of Aaron and Joshua

    • Neither Moses - nor you - can do it alone, called to serve God through community

Thoughts and Questions

  • How often do we find ourselves in the same position of the Israelites: forgetting to give thanks to God for what God has done and instead blaming God what what we think God is not doing? It is the “God, what have you done for me lately?” complex. How do we overcome it?

  • What about when we cry out to God for a miracle that never(or seemingly never) comes?

    • Israelites cry out to God in the midst of slavery- are eventually saved, but after generations of oppression

    • We constantly cry out to God for prayers that are seemingly unanswered (and not all of them can be summed up by Garth Brooks)

  • Moses gets to see God standing in the rock - the rest of the community only gets to “see” God in the spring of water. How can we reveal God’s presence in the seemingly ordinary?

Romans 5:1-11

Initial Thoughts

Bible Study

  • Paul has already laid out his argument for justification by faith (Romans 1-4)

    • All sin- all fall short of the glory of God

    • It is only through the gift of faith in God’s grace that we are redeemed

  • Chapter 5 begins with the fruits or results of being justified by faith:

    • Peace with God in the present

    • Hope for God in the future

  • Now but not yet eschatological dynamic to faith: peace in the present and hope for the future

  • Peace in the present

    • Faith in God through Jesus Christ justifies us with the assurance that we do not need to earn our way into the Kingdom

    • Don’t put your faith in riches, or self-image, or sex, or power, or religiosity - put your faith in God.

    • You can never earn your way into the Kingdom, only accept the grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ

  • Hope for the future

    • The Kingdom of God is not a dream but a reality that we live into - when we are at peace with God (through faith) we can begin to live into the Kingdom (think Sermon the Mount).

    • Converse if we are not at peace - then living into the Kingdom is impossible - we cannot bless the poor if we feel we do not have enough, we cannot love our enemy if we are focused on how to dominate them, we cannot love our neighbor if we continue to judge them.

    • Peace in the present brings hope for the future. After all, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things yet unseen” (Heb. 11:1)

  • Boasting in sufferings?

    • This is difficult - used to justify the suffering of others. Note Paul writes, “we boast” not you boast. Paul is also suffering, not trying to justify the sufferings of others.

    • Other side of 4:2 where boasting is negative (you cannot boast due to your lineage or religiosity- those mean nothing in the realm of God) If you are going to boast, boast of your suffering through faithfulness.

      • Boasting is only acceptable when it illuminated the love and grace of God (not how awesome you are, but how awesome God is)

    • Being at peace with God does not mean a life free from suffering - in fact there is great likelihood that faith will bring you into suffering, but faith gives us a different perspective on suffering (cf. Matthew 5:10-12)

    • Reminder that Christ (the best of us) also suffered and died for us (even though we suck)

    • We boast in suffering because we know suffering and death do not have the final word.

    • What does suffering look like for Western Christians

      • suffering means doing without so others can have

      • suffering means paying more for clothes so Bangladeshi workers can be safe

      • suffering means paying more for food is it is grown humanely and sustainably

      • suffering means using public transportation to relieve congestion and pollution

      • suffering means leaving apathy and ignorance behind

      • suffering is an awareness of the pain of our brothers and sisters and doing something about it

Thoughts and Questions

  • Good News! Get off the treadmill of what you should do, or need to do in order to earn God’s favor- God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it! But you can respond to it: with endurance, character, and hope.

    • In what ways are you enduring and helping others endure? In what ways are you building up character in yourself and others? In what ways are you being a beacon of hope?

    • The power of resilience

  • Grace - how often do we preach on exactly what is “Grace” and why is grace so important? Don’t assume people know.

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan  (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, patreon.com/RichardBC). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Miserlou”), Nicolai Heidlas  for our transition music (“Sunday Morning”, "Real Ride" and “Summertime”) and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.  

Lent AEric FistlerJohn, Romans, Psalm 75-150, Exodus1 Comment