Water. Baptism. Repentance. Water has long been a symbol of cleansing, of new life. We are born from the waters of the womb and we are born again in the waters of baptism.
John’s Gospel tells us the story of the Woman at the Well in 4:5-42. In one of the longest single selections of the Lectionary (if not the longest, but I’m not completely sure!) we hear the story of Jesus and the Disciples passing through Samaria, and Jesus has a long and lengthy conversation with a woman of a different social class and ethnic group, a woman who would have been looked down upon by her own people as well as the Jews, who would not associate with Samaritans. Throughout this discourse, it is revealed that God will no longer be worshiped in a place such as the temple in Jerusalem nor on this holy mountain, Mount Gerizim in Samaria, but that God would be worshiped in spirit. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians that the body is now God’s temple, that the Spirit dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16). It is no longer about the rites associated with worship in location, but true worship is how we live out our life with God dwelling in us and among us and through us. When Jesus asks the woman for a drink of water, it is to begin a conversation about the Living Water found in all of us. When we recognize that God dwells within us, we will never be thirsty for God again. We will never long to be close to God and feel that God is distant because we cannot travel to a place to worship God; we will know God in our hearts. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the new covenant, written on our hearts, a covenant that cannot be broken (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
When the people are wandering in the desert and complaining about being thirsty in Exodus 17:1-7, Moses complains to God, and God tells Moses to strike the rock at Horeb to bring forth water. Horeb is an ancient name for Mount Sinai. Places, landmarks, become holy because of the stories associated with those locations. The woman in John’s Gospel was drawing water from the well of Jacob.
All of these associations remind us of three key connections: we often forget that God is with us, as the Israelites did when wandering in the desert soon after being freed from slavery in Egypt; we long for a closeness to God and go to church and visit holy shrines and take long walks in nature to feel close to God, forgetting that God is in our hearts; and that God’s covenant with us cannot be broken by God. God dwells in us. God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ to proclaim the good news: our sins are forgiven. There is nothing holding us back from relationship with God. There is no temple made of stone or wood we need to travel to and offer sacrifice, and there are no sacrifices anymore because Christ died for us. There is no separation between us and God.
And yet, how often do we feel distant from God? How often do we feel the “absence” of God? How often do we feel there is an unbridgeable void in our lives either because of something we did that we don’t feel we can be forgiven for, or because we don’t make the time in our lives for God, or we are searching in all the wrong places for God?
This is not to say we can’t find God’s presence in our church buildings or in places such as Jerusalem and Rome and Egypt, or out camping under the stars; we often do feel God’s presence there and we often do feel closer to God when we do these things. But these feelings are fading, they are temporal, whereas the Spirit of God that dwells in us is eternal. I’m sure for the ancient Israelites, being out in the wilderness, these thirsty nomads–for them this spring was a miracle, a reassuring sign of God’s presence. For the woman at the well, this well given by Jacob was a sign of God’s faithfulness through their ancestors. But Jesus shares with us that lesson from Jeremiah, that the Spirit of the Living God is dwelling within us. If you think this well that is so deep and so old and given by Jacob brings you close to God, just wait until you have experienced God within you. Water will be pouring out everywhere, like a spring gushing up.
The passage in Romans 5:1-11 reminds us that even when we were sinners Christ died for us–even when we were separated from God we were reconciled. Even when we feel we are distant, even when we feel God’s absence we are close to God because we have been reconciled through his death and resurrection. We have assurance of God’s presence, even when we go through difficult times of persecution and suffering as the early church experienced, and we live into the hope of Christ.
Psalm 95 is a liturgical psalm, calling the people to worship, calling the people to remember God’s faithfulness, and calling them to remember the story of Exodus 17:1-7 when they put God to the test even though they had been delivered out of slavery. It’s a reminder to us that even in our faithfulness at times we demand God for signs and ask for reassurance of God’s presence, when we should know God is always present with us. For we are only human, and we still fall short, but there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus, as the end of Romans chapter 8 tells us through those beautiful words of conviction, that neither life nor death, nor anything in all of creation can separate us from that love.
Call to Worship:
Leader: Praise God in the heights! Praise God in the depths!
People: How can we sing of praise when there is so much despair?
Leader: Lift up your hearts! Shout with praise to our God!
People: How can we be lifted up when the world brings us down?
Leader: Comfort, O comfort, my people–the Lord is near!
People: We feel neither hope nor relief, but look with worried eyes to the future.
Leader: Search your heart, O people, and know that God is there.
People: Even in the midst of trial, we must cling to hope.
Leader: Despite what the world tells us, we know that hope lives in the love of Christ.
All: Let us share that Good News with each other and the world as we worship God.
Prayer of Confession:
Loving God, we confess that our hearts have gone astray. We look to worldly pleasures and not to You. We seek fulfillment in wealth and social success. We turn away from others in need and we turn away from Your ways set forth in Your commandments. We worry and fret about things that in the long run do not matter. We forget the covenant that is written on our hearts. Forgive us of our iniquities, O God. Forgive us when we do not trust You, when we forget You are always with us. Turn us again to Your ways, back to Your path, and help us to always remember Your death and Resurrection, that we have new life now in You. In the name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon:
Where can we go from God’s Spirit? Where can we flee from God’s presence? Wherever we go, God is always with us. Wherever we are, God’s presence dwells within us. We are uplifted; we are renewed; we are restored. Go forth, knowing God’s forgiveness, love, and assurance are with you. Amen.
Prayer:
Holy One, we search for You, we long to feel closer to You. Renew in us the sensation of living water, the spring that gushes up and cannot be contained. Guide us in ways we might share Your love with the world. When we feel distant from You, help us to search our hearts and to understand You are always with us. Keep us to Your ways of love, justice, and peace. Remind us the need to forgive others and seek forgiveness in You. Hold us close to You in this season of Lent, that we might understand Your presence in a new way. In the name of Christ, our companion on this journey of faith, we pray all things. Amen.
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