Fill Your Bucket!

RCL Lent 3A

27 March 2011

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Focus Text:  John 4.1-42

         Bishop Bill Frey, the Bishop of Colorado who ordained me to the diaconate and to the presbyterate, had been Bishop of Guatemala before coming to Colorado.  Leaving Guatemala was not his choice.  He and his family were picked up by the army at gunpoint, driven to their home and given one hour to pack what they could.  They were then taken to the airport where, with two other expatriate clergy from the United States, one Presbyterian, the other Roman Catholic, they were put on an airplane and flown back to the United States.

         Upon their return to the United States Bill and his family were lost.  They had imagined that they would remain in Guatemala until Bill retired, but that future was closed.  Bill was appointed as the Episcopal chaplain at the University of Arkansas, but that could not be his permanent position.  Just when the situation seemed bleak, Bill was elected Bishop of Colorado, a ministry that he exercised until his retirement.

         Now you might think that an experience such as this would have cast a dark shadow over Bill, but nothing could be further from the truth.  I remember his first sermon at Saint Michael’s, my home parish, where the gospel reading was from John’s account of the encounter of the skeptic Nathaniel with Jesus.  What I remember most was Bill’s comment that we often read the Scriptures too seriously, missing some of the humour that is present.

         Such is the case with today’s story of the woman at the well in Samaria.  it is a rare occasion when a smile does not come to my face when I hear this wonderful exchange between Jesus and the woman:

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying this 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?”  (John 4.10-11)

It is as if she says, “I am no fool, even though you may think I am because I am a Samaritan and a woman.  I’m the one with the bucket and you’re the one who is thirsty!”

         If I were ever sent into exile and told that I could only take one gospel with me, it would be the gospel according to John.  His stories are told in a more compelling fashion than those of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  John appreciates women and gives them serious things to say.  A blind man who has been healed can challenge the wisdom and authority of the Jewish council and a disbelieving Thomas is confronted with the reality of the risen Christ.

         I continue to learn from John’s gospel because it can be read on several levels.  His stories can be read as a chronicle of the ministry of Jesus, but they can also be read as a commentary on those texts in the Hebrew Bible which were thought to promise the coming of the Messiah.  John’s gospel is also a rich source of wisdom about the mystery of God’s kingdom as a present reality as well as a future hope.  But most of all I read John’s gospel because I find myself in this account of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.

         All of us, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, are the woman at the well, drawing water that does not quench our thirst.  Day after day we come to the well of our daily lives hoping that this time we will draw the water that will quench our deepest thirsts.

·      We all thirst for mystery.  By mystery I mean we all search to know God’s hidden plan for us and for all of creation that is slowly being revealed over the eons in many and various ways.  Even those who consider themselves non-religious seek to understand this mystery.

·      We all thirst for purpose.  By purpose I mean we all search to know what role we play in the unfolding mystery of God’s plan.  Perhaps there is no greater human tragedy than the woman or man who believes that her or his life has had no meaning, no purpose.

·      We all thirst for communion.  By communion I mean we all search to participate in life-giving and life-sustaining relationships, whether between individuals or within a community.  “No one stands alone, standing side by side,” we sing and no one, even those who claim that do not need others, wants to stand alone.

         All of us, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, are the woman at the well, living with one husband after another.  Day after day we abandon one ‘protector’ after another hoping that the next one will give us the security we long to find.

·      We put our trust in our material goods and realize that they break or wear out or do not satisfy our longing.

·      We put our trust in so-called ‘celebrities’ and realize that they are as imperfect as we all, often on a greater and more public scale.

·      We put our trust fads and fashions and realize that they pass quickly without leaving us more secure.

         All of us, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, are the woman at the well, going about our daily routines.  Day after day we do the same things gradually losing hope that anything will change.  But today is not such a day.  Today Jesus comes to our well and offers us the living water that will quench our thirst and give us the foundation we seek.

·      In Jesus of Nazareth God reveals the mystery at the centre of all existence:  Eternal life does not spring from knowing the right things but by living a Jesus-shaped life.

·      In Jesus of Nazareth God reveals the purpose of every human life:  Our true purpose is not the acquisition of goods and power but to do justice, to be faithful and to walk humbly with God just as Jesus.

·      In Jesus of Nazareth God draws us into communion with God’s very self:  Wherever God’s people open their arms to the stranger and the need just as Jesus opened his arms, the life-giving and life-sustaining relationships we seek spring up.

·      In Jesus of Nazareth God provides us the sure foundation we seek:  No matter the challenges and disappointments we face, no matter how alone we may feel, Love is Lord of heaven and earth.

         All of us, young and old, rich and poor, male and female are the woman at the well who does not remain silent about the thirst-quenching water she has received and the new ‘protector’ she has found.  If the truth be told, we Anglicans have often remained silent about the well of life around which we gather.  We may be critical of those religious groups that go from door to door, but we cannot pride ourselves on our silence.  All of us, ordained and lay, have had thirsty people come to us and we have not handed them a bucket to dip into the well of faith.  We are so fearful of ‘intruding’ that we allow people to die of thirst.

         So let us become a bucket brigade of living water.  Let us not be reluctant to tell others of the well from which we have drawn the water that soothes the weary soul.  Let us say to them, “Come, friend.  You have no bucket, but I will share mine with you.  Come and drink from this life-giving water.  There is enough for all who thirst.”  Amen.