Sunday, March 23, 2014

Sunday Sermon 3/23/14

Today's gospel where Christ meets the Samaritan woman at the Jacob's Well is a virtual crash course on the New Testament. Christ is alone at the well when it is approached by a Samaritan woman looking to draw water. He engages her and violates all the social restrictions between Jew and Samaritans as well as the restrictions between men and women. The two then carry on a conversation that is very close to Abbot and Costello's "who's on first," she talking about H2O and He talking about spiritual nourishment. Christ never scolds or corrects her, nor does He lecture her when it is revealed she has had a number of lovers. He leads the conversation gently to the point of His being here at all: Who He is.

Christ is never impatient or bemused. Most importantly, He is never distracted by the physical world, by human error; the direction toward the spiritual world is what He cares about. He is not concerned with judgment as much as the truth of creation.

And even then, the Samaritan woman is only impressed and curious. Strangely she leaves the question of Christ's nature open for her community. As it evolves, their encounter is only the first step.

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