Whom does Jesus welcome to the table? Whom are we allowed to treat as “other”?
“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he??” With that simple exclamation and a very sincere, stunned question, a Samaritan woman and her whole town set off on their journey of conversion and salvation (read the whole story, John 4:5-42) This Samaritan woman encountered Jesus completely by chance one day at the community’s well near the town of Sychar. Tradition has it she was an outcast, showing up in the heat of the day, by herself, with a history of five husbands and the “one she has now” who isn’t her husband. She is forthright in expressing her thoughts and even seems to respond to Jesus with some snarkiness, when tradition dictates she shouldn’t be speaking with him at all.
After Jesus points out her marital history, though, which he couldn’t possibly have known, it begins to dawn on her that he is genuinely offering her something far greater than an endless supply of fresh water. Jesus is talking about life in the Spirit and offering this eternal life to her.
The woman’s attitude changes; the snarkiness goes away. She sincerely asks questions about the right place to worship God and expresses her faith in the coming Messiah. She feels safe with Jesus, able to be vulnerable and ask honest questions about controversial things. And she is so taken by Jesus’ presence and who he says he is that she rushes back to share her discovery with her whole community.
Jesus, for his part, sees someone in need and senses her readiness to receive more. It doesn’t matter who she is or what her past is. He entrusts her with this wonderful assurance, “The hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… The hour is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:21, 23). This is Good News of God’s radical welcome and inclusion, that his love and grace transcend any limitations we humans try to put on it. He even tells her directly that he is the Messiah!
All of us are this woman at the well, with unique life stories, experiences, circumstances, and struggles. We all “go to the well” every day for what we need to meet our physical needs, stay healthy, and try to be happy. Jesus waits for each of us there, meeting us right in the middle of each day’s circumstances and offering us “living water” – his own Holy Spirit abiding in us. Without this “living water,” our true selves wither up and die.
As individuals and as faith communities, we need to ask: What is the state of our “spiritual hydration”? How receptive are we to letting ourselves be filled with the Holy Spirit? Do we pray? Do we listen? Do we keep an open mind and heart? Do we show up?? Do we try to set aside our own agendas and pride? Do we trust in our Father’s wisdom and power? Do we joyfully share this wonderful and sacred gift of the Holy Spirit with everyone else, no strings or roadblocks attached?
Jesus waits for us at the well today, tomorrow, every single day, to share living water and eternal life. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your past looks like. So, go! Receive, and share.
