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The Readings.
Romans 5.1-11
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
John 4.5-42
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. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 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.”
The Sermon
Prepared by The Revd Canon Dr Alan Billings.
Last Friday was International Women’s Day. And I thought of my grannie. I
spent a lot of time with her as a child, because both my parents worked.
Sometimes she had visitors. While I sat in a corner of her kitchen, pretending
to read a book, women would come and have a cup of tea with her. Then for
a shilling, she would read their tea leaves. This involved swirling the last
dregs of the cup of tea around, tipping the liquid out, leaving the leaves
sticking to the side of the cup.
Grannie would then turn the cup this way and that, peering at the leaves until
gradually she saw a pattern emerge. She would then tell the person whose
cup it was, what the pattern meant for their lives.
She could be very bold. She would say to the women that there was
something troubling them. She might name what it was. You have been
stealing from work. You are being unfaithful to your husband. Then she would
tell them they had got to go away and sort their life out – and if they did they
would be a whole lot better for it. The tea reading session was a cross
between the confessional and therapy.
Afterwards she would take me to the sweet shop to spend the money on
sherbet dabs or coils of black liquorice.
Grannie’s career came to an end when they invented tea bags.
The women were always amazed at how accurate the leaves were in
revealing why they had come, what was bothering them.
So how did grannie do it?
Well, I don’t think there was anything magical about the leaves. The answer
wasn’t the leaves, but grannie. She read the women not the leaves. From the
moment they came into her kitchen, she took in everything about them. Every
word they said, every movement of their hands. The way they stood, the way
they looked at her. What they said and the way they said it.
Above all, she was interested in them. She never pushed her own agenda.
She put herself in their shoes. She felt their emotions. She understood. She
sympathised and wanted the best for them. The very best for them. I would
say she really loved them. She had all the skills of a great pastor.
Now why do I mention all this? Because what I saw in my grannie I see in
Jesus in today’s gospel. Jesus may not be reading tea leaves, but he is
reading the woman at the well.
Scholars who comment on this passage will tell you that what Jesus did was
morally hazardous. Men did not go to wells and meet with women - except for
one dubious purpose. So this was not without reputational risk for both Jesus
and the woman.
And it was unusual. Men did not talk to women in that society. Men would not
believe that women’s lives were remotely interesting or that women had
opinions worth hearing.
Again, Jewish men – and Jesus was a Jew, of course – Jewish men would
not talk to Samaritan men, never mind Samaritan women. And this must be
one of the longest conversations Jesus has with anyone in any of the
gospels. They have a deep conversation about spiritual resources – living
water Jesus calls it – about the relationships between Jews and Samaritans,
about what is true worship, and so on. All of that is unusual.
But to my mind the most interesting thing of all, is what this passage tells us
about Jesus as a pastor. He reads people. He focuses on them. He listens to
what they say.
This is something for us to think about in Lent, when we try to grow a little
more like the Lord. Well, here are clues about how we get better at being
pastors to our fellow Christians, to our families, friends, and neighbours. We
do it by learning to read them, as my grannie learnt to read the women who
came to her kitchen. And I stress learnt. People are not born pastors. Being a
good pastor comes with time and practice. And there is no great secret to it.
We read people by being attentive to them.
How do we know whether we are being attentive? We need to be conscious
of what is going on when we talk to others. Are we doing all the talking and
none of the listening? And if we are listening attentively, are we trying to
figure out what lies behind what is being said to us?
And one final thing. Being a good pastor, a good friend, means not being
afraid of learning the truth about one another. Yet still being supportive. After
all, Jesus, our shepherd, our pastor, knows the truth about us and yet he
loves us, as my grannie loved the women whose leaves she read.
The Prayers
Prepared by Joe, Reader at St Mary's.
Heavenly Father,
in this season of Lent, we come before you aware of our need
of you. Like the woman at the well, we come with our thirst, our
questions, our weariness, and our hope. Meet us where we are,
and give us again that living water which only Christ can give.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for your Church throughout the world.
Renew your people in faith, hope and love.
Where the Church has grown tired or fearful, breathe your Spirit
afresh. Help us to reach across divisions, to welcome those
who feel excluded, and to speak of Christ with honesty, humility
and joy.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for the world, with all its conflict, confusion and
suffering. We pray for places where there is war, injustice and
deep mistrust. Grant wisdom to those in positions of power and
responsibility, and a real desire for peace and truth. Teach us
all to be people of reconciliation, remembering that your love
reaches out even to us in our weakness and sin.
At this time we pray particularly for the people of Iran and the
surrounding countries, and pray that wisdom and compassion
can be granted to the leaders of all countries involved to
prevent the region further descending into bloody chaos.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for our communities, our neighbours, our friends and
our families. We remember those who feel on the outside;
those who feel forgotten, ashamed, lonely or overlooked. We
pray for all whose lives feel dry, burdened or joyless at the
moment.
May your grace refresh them, and may we be ready to show
your love in practical and generous ways.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are sick, anxious or struggling, in body,
mind or spirit.
We remember especially those known to us now…
Be close to them in their need. Give strength to those who care
for them, and patience, skill and compassion to all who support
them. Where hope is faint, let your presence be known.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We remember those who have died, and those who mourn
them.
Rest the departed in your peace, and comfort all who grieve.
Hold before us the hope that is ours in Christ,
that nothing can separate us from your love.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
And so, Lord, in these Lenten days, lead us from dryness to
renewal, from fear to trust, and from distance to deeper faith.
We lay before you our burdens this Lent, and in a few moments
of silence we open ourselves to you.
May we, like the woman at the well, be ready to receive your
grace and to share the good news of Christ with others.
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) 2010 The Archbishops' Council