“Erasing Boundaries”
A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 15 March 2020, Third Sunday in Lent, by Timothy Chan. The
scripture readings that day were Exodus 17:1–7, John 4:5–42.
Good morning friends here in KUC, and to
those who are worshipping with us through facebook. The Gospel reading we heard
this morning is an unusual encounter between a Jewish man and a Samaritan
woman, it’s not a story of condemnation or discrimination, but a story of
transformation and affirmation. Before we take a closer look into the
scripture, let’s pray:
God of all gender and all color, fill us
with your living water, and let us have this encounter with you so that our
life would be transformed and filled with new purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
1 Jesus
and his disciples were traveling from Judea to Galilee, and they had to pass
through Samaria. About noon time, Jesus was tired and was sitting by the well,
a well which their ancestor Jacob has left for them. Then a Samaritan woman
came, Jesus was thirsty, and he asked the woman to give him a drink. The woman
was surprised because of his gender and race. Jesus changed the dynamic of the
conversation, from being the one who asked for water, he offered the woman to
drink this living water which he can give, a spring
of water gushing up to eternal life. Jesus somehow knew what this woman was
craving for is more than physical need, he saw her spiritual need too. The
woman, at that moment, realized he is not an ordinary man. She took a brave
move, said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or
have to keep coming here to draw water.”
In this conversation, we
can find a lot of boundaries being removed, and positions being subverted.
First of all, Jesus was breaking the tradition in order to speak to this woman.
In the Biblical time, the Jews treated Samaritan as an inferior tribe which
they have lost their pure tradition of faith, that’s why they don’t even
interact with them. From the reaction of the woman and his disciples, we know
it would be scandalous for a man with such high respect to interact with a
foreign lady alone. However, Jesus broke that boundary to talk to her, not only
he was talking to her, he was asking this woman for something. Jesus appeared
to her as a vulnerable person, with a need. All over the Gospel readings, we
read about Jesus feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and casting out demons,
but he approached this lady with a need. On the other hand, this lady, who is a
foreign woman, who has to draw water in the most unfavorable time, despised by
the Jewish community, has something to give. The Son of God asked for water,
and the marginalized woman had something to offer.
In our society today, we
also see a lot of boundaries, let it be gender, racial, religious, socio-economic,
or political view. According to some sociologists, these boundaries are created
to help the society to allocate resources. In traditional Chinese culture,
girls are not encouraged to pursue education, as resources are limited,
families couldn’t afford to send all the kids to school. Gender, then has
become a deciding factor of how the resources are allocated. This kind of
example can be found in our society quite easily. More and more boundaries are
created by the powerful to consolidate the uneven resources distribution, some
are visible, and some are not. But in the face of boundaries, Jesus chose to
look beyond it. While people are seeing the woman as a Samaritan woman
with indecent history and bad reputation, Jesus does not look at her religious
tradition, gender, or race, but he sees her yearning for the living water.
Regardless of her background, Jesus offered this previous gift to her.
Today, as we are taking
this spiritual journey in the Lenten season, can we come to God just as we are?
To be truthful and open? Just as God has reached the Samaritan woman,
disregarding the social taboos and boundaries, God would also reach to us, and
find our thirst and need beyond these boundaries and masks we have. Let us be
reminded this morning that our God “does not see as mortals see; we look on the
outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
2 After the woman said yes to the living
water, then Jesus asked her to bring her husband. Then we learned about her
having five husbands in the past. Interestingly, both of them did not elaborate
and dwell in this topic. You know it can be a juicy topic, “why you had 5
husbands”, and “how did you ended up like this”, blah blah blah. After
recognizing Jesus is a prophet, they just moved on and started talking about
where to worship and the coming of Messiah. The woman questioned where should
be the right place to worship, and Jesus was telling her the “true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth”. Later, Jesus revealed his identity
as the coming Messiah to her.
Many people would focus on
this woman’s private life and her past but missed the fact that she could stay
in this theological conversation with Jesus that long. The questions she raised
were right to the point, and she could even follow what Jesus said. Compared to
the story we read last week, Nicodemus, as a learned Pharisee, was confused by
Jesus’ answer. This Samaritan woman shows more potential in understanding God.
For me, I don’t think she is as bad as many people think she is. Just because
someone had five husbands, it does not mean all her other qualities are to be
dismissed. Jesus did not even say something like “go and do not sin again”.
Jesus made no judgement or comment on her past relationships. And by adding and
saying nothing to her private life, he demonstrated to the woman that he is not
like the others who would identify her by her marital status, nor he is taking
advantage of her history.
Today, even though we have
been celebrating Women’s day for over 100 years, our society is still judging
women based on their marital status. In Hong Kong, a friend of mine is warned
that it is not recommended to have children if she is serving in the church as
a pastor. No matter how much you want to serve God or how devoted you are, some
churches and people would judge you because of your private life. Not only
marital status, it can be your sexual orientation, racial and cultural
background. But Jesus said to this woman “when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
him.” God does not mind if you are woman or man, gay or straight, rich or poor.
We all have our past and struggles, some of them are really dark and
embarrassing, that you cannot even forgive yourself or move on, but that does
not deny your love for God and desire to connect with God. We are not called to
worship God with guilt and shame. As we read last week “Indeed, God did
not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him.”
God is seeking those who
worship in spirit and truth, and the truth is that the love of God is breaking
the walls that divide and judge. This will always be the motto of KUC, “where
all are one”. By saying “where all are one” we are not erasing the stories and
uniqueness of our community, but we are erasing the boundaries which separated
us and categorized us. Jesus is aware of the Jewish tradition, as well as the
Samaritan tradition, but instead of judging which is better or more correct,
the radical love of God is transcending the differences. This is how we can
keep and maintain our own identity, but at the same time, be united in the love
of God which is superior to our own boundaries and identities. As we read
last week “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
3 At the end, this woman, foreign,
marginalized, and had a complicated relationship history has become an
evangelist. In verse 28 it reads “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?” and in verse
39, it says “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the
woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” The source of
shame has become this powerful testimony to proclaim Jesus. While the disciples
were still puzzling over what they had seen and struggled to understand what
Jesus said about harvesting, sower and reaper, the gospel was spread through
the Samaria because of this woman.
International Women's
Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political
achievements of women. The slogan this year is “Each for Equal”, “An Equal
World is an Enabled World”. For me, as an Asian male in Hong Kong, it is very
difficult for me to fully understand what challenges and difficulties women are
facing over the world. I am also reminded in my feminist theology class that
even the experience of women can be very diverse. The challenges faced by women
in different contexts can be varied. Some of the challenges are
life-threatening, some of them are more subtle. Some of them are multi-layered,
like this Samaritan woman we read this morning. However, this unexpected
encounter with Jesus has changed her life. She might not be equal with the male
disciples of Jesus, for what she has done has already transcended the
boundaries of gender itself and could not be judged in the light of gender. All
she did was to be true to her own experience and express her love and worship
to God with her true self.
As Christians, we are
reminded that women and men are both created in the image of God, that we are
called to live a life to be like Christ, to live our life to its fullness and
to glorify God. The world might have given us a lot of different identities,
some of them could be really nice, like scholars, environmentalists, human
right activists, or feminists. Good or bad, God will find us just as we are and
invite us to respond the same way. Like the woman, our life will be
transformed, and to be charged with new mission and meaning. With this living
water of God which will become in us a spring of water gushing up to eternal
life, we will have this vitality to achieve the unthinkable with Jesus. I pray
that we would all find this well in our heart and let this encounter with Jesus
change our life. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, March 15, 2020
