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On this third Sunday after Epiphany, we are returning to the
Gospel of John. Here it is important that we understand the setting of our
dialogue. The ancient nation of Israel had been divided into two kingdoms.
The northern ten tribes had their capital in Samaria. Samaria is a hill country
in the center of that land we call Israel. The southern kingdom centered in
Jerusalem and the mountainous desert country. This area was known as the land
of Judah, from which we get the people we call Jews. During the destruction
of Israel by the Assyrians and the loss of many Hebrew identities, the land
we know as Samaria became blended in its heritage. Jews and Gentiles, or former
Canaanites, freely mixed, and their children became a new people. They kept
the religion of the northern tribes and continue to keep it to some degree
to this day. Sacrifices at Passover time and atonement still take place on
the twin mountains of Samaria. It is this heritage that Jesus visits when
the woman of the well comes from Sychar.
In John 3 Jesus had spoken of his coming passion and the mystery
of the new birth with one of the head theologians of Israel—Nicodemus.
When, in the late evening hours, Jesus described the birth of the Spirit to
the theologian, he was amazed at his lack of understanding. It seemed quite
natural for Jesus to be discussing theological truth with the great teacher
and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Today’s message is not that natural.
With a woman who has suffered a life of brokenness and been married multiple
times, Jesus will discuss spiritual worship. This common woman, who in her
hour was probably of extremely limited education, will now receive the revelation
of the new hour of worship that is coming on the earth.
Obedient followers of Christ are always open to his new revelations.
It is not only the woman at the well who will receive an epiphany of truth
in our story. The disciples themselves will return from obtaining food and
will attempt to make the famished Messiah eat, only to learn that he has already
eaten because his food is to know and to do the will of God and to accomplish
his work. As we engage this text, we need to realize that the woman comes
because of the need of thirst, which is physical, and the disciples come to
fulfill the need to eat physically. In both instances Christ is attempting
to reveal the higher life. The theme of our sermon is that man shall not live
by bread alone but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of God.
The central revelation is that we are not seeking God, but that
he is seeking us. The sensitive seeker in our message is God himself. Christ
will proclaim that God seeks those who will worship him in Spirit. The woman
of our story is held by the conflicts of where to worship physically on the
earth. Our Lord is revealing that the physical location and structure are
not the center of divine worship. Truthful and spiritual worship begins in
God. In our hour many use the phrase “seeker sensitive” to mean
an emphasis on the needs of those who are coming to worship. For Christ, the
seeker sensitive worship was one that was in tune with the God who was the
center of worship.
(For a complete preaching outline of this sermon, click here)