Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized), he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”

The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him…

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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 truly the Savior of the world.”

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

How have you been passing the time this week? I mean beside shoveling and rearranging your schedule.

Interestingly, the quote from last Sunday bulletin—the one we missed— was from the Rev. Rebecca Mallozzi was suggestive of a couple ways to cope with being snowed in. She writes, “I hope you lean into that curiosity and wonder, in the same way you might lean into a good story or a warm quilt, trusting that our Creating God is still working in ways we have yet to see.”

Amy and I have been enjoying watching the squirrels digging in the snow in our backyard. You see, we have a giant oak tree that sheds more acorns than we can deal with. We try to collect them in the fall, but inevitably there are piles left around the yard. The squirrels are grateful for this supply of nutrition and even under nearly a foot of snow, they can detect their presence, dig them up and have themselves a mid-winter feast. You see, there are signs everywhere of the benevolent work beneath the surface, just waiting for us to dig it up!

Last week we were supposed to read John 3, the story of Jesus encounter with Nicodemus under the cover of night. The overall picture is of a religious leader who is curious about Jesus, but is afraid of what others might think. He is trying to get Jesus’ message, but can’t quite grasp it. Today’s reading is in many ways the mirror image of last week’s…

Allison deForest writes, “In a blaze of light, Jesus encounters a woman of Samaria at a well. This story is presented in deliberate contrast to the earlier story of Nicodemus. The leader of the Pharisees comes in darkness, and by the end of his story in John 3, his belief is still suspect. Though he seems the most likely person to understand and receive Jesus, he leaves confused and uncommitted. On the other hand, Jesus encounters the woman at noon, the brightest part of the day, and though she is one of the people least likely to comprehend him, she receives what he offers with joy and becomes one of the first of his apostles by bearing witness to her whole community.”

The day before the storm I attended a BUILD gathering with RPPC Elder Barbara Jarvis. BUILD stands for Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development. If you are not familiar, BUILD is an organization that uses community organizing to unite around issues that impact the community, and use our collective influence and power to put pressure on elected officials to address the issues that matter most to the people. From their website: BUILD is a broad-based, non-partisan, interfaith, multiracial community power organization rooted in Baltimore’s neighborhoods and congregations. For more than 45 years, BUILD has worked to improve housing, increase job opportunities, and rebuild schools and neighborhoods, among other issues.

To set the stage my colleague from Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church downtown, Andrew Connors gave a passionate plea to overcome dominant power with relational power. Essentially, dominant power is about “power over,” while relational power is “power with.” Dominant power is a top-down, often coercive, and visible form of control used to impose will and gain compliance. In contrast, relational power is a subtle, horizontal, and network-based influence, rooted in trust and mutual benefit. Dominance forces compliance, whereas relational power fosters cooperation and persuasion.

It is interesting to use this lens of dominant versus relational power to help us uncover what be going on in John chapters 3 & 4. Jesus interactions with both Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman are clear examples of relational power. Jesus meets them where they are, seeks to understand them, and offers to be in relationship with them. When Nicodemus has trouble shedding the familiar trappings of dominant power has trouble understanding Jesus’ meaning.

At this point the Gospel of John offers one of the clearest statements that the God of the Universe is not interested in dominant power when it declares: God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The Samaritan Woman has an easier time understanding Jesus’ message of relational power, because like all those who are closer to the bottom of the ladder of society, she lives with an acute awareness of her dependence on others.

Friends, this is how our world is saved. Not through dominant power, but relational power. Dr. King reminded us, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

In the end, Nicodemus returns home and tells no one about his interaction with Jesus. The Samaritan woman, on the other hand, returns home and tells everyone. “He told me everything I have ever done, she tells them.” And based on her testimony, the invite Jesus to stay with them for two days. Even in that short time, their relational power grows. They say 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 truly the Savior of the world.”

Next Sunday is the day that companies will spend billions of dollars on advertisements to convince you that you are not enough, that you are incomplete, without their product. The Reverend Joanna Adams writes, “There are so many voices that would tell us who we are and what makes our lives valuable—that we are what we have, we are the car we drive, we are how we look—but all of that is a lie. We are first and last the beloved of God. We are the reason Christ came into the world and gave his life. Our lives will be pepper and salt, honey and vinegar, but more than anything, they are grace, divine grace. Grace beneath us. Grace above us. Grace everywhere.”

Jesus meets the Samaritan Woman at the well in the middle of the day and says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

What’s in your well?

The post What’s in Your Well? appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Encountering Jesus at the Well

• In John 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman in the bright light of day—unlike Nicodemus who comes to him under the cover of night in the previous chapter. What does this contrast reveal about how people come to faith?
• What strikes you about the way Jesus interacts with the Samaritan woman? How does he show relational power instead of dominant power?

2. Relational Power

• Pastor Mark referenced a BUILD gathering where relational power was described as “power with” rather than “power over.” How do you experience these two kinds of power in your daily life?
• How might we as a church live more fully into relational power, especially in the way we welcome others or advocate for justice?

3. Testimony and Transformation

• The woman leaves her water jar behind and rushes to tell her community about Jesus. Why do you think she was so compelled to share?
• Have you ever had a moment when you felt truly seen or known, like the woman at the well? How did that change you?

4. Our True Identity

• The sermon quoted Rev. Joanna Adams: “There are so many voices that would tell us who we are… but all of that is a lie. We are first and last the beloved of God.” What are the voices in your life that try to define your worth?
• What helps you return to your identity as God’s beloved?

5. Applying the Sermon

• What’s in your well? What sources of living water—grace, love, justice—are bubbling beneath the surface of your life right now?
• As you go into this week, how can you leave behind your own metaphorical “water jar” and live out your testimony with joy?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: What’s in Your Well? appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.