{"id":3814,"date":"2020-03-17T21:04:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T21:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3814"},"modified":"2020-03-17T21:04:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T21:04:36","slug":"sermon-15th-march-2020-morning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-15th-march-2020-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 15th March 2020 – morning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Sunday of Lent – morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 15th March 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lent 3 – morning
\nExodus 17. 1-7
\nJohn 4. 5-42<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nIt is ironic that on the\nSunday when we are told we can no longer offer refreshments of any\nkind at Church events and when even the Common Cup is to be withheld\nfrom the congregation, we have readings all about the importance of\nwater for our survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nActual water of course when we\nare thirsty … even though we have had rather too much water falling\nfrom our skies this winter season; and the living water which is the\nperson and teaching of Christ \u2013 just as necessary for our spiritual\nwellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI am told that we can survive\nfor approximately three minutes without air to breathe; but without\nwater you die in three days. Water is the source on which all life\ndepends. The cry of the Israelites in the desert as they complain to\nMoses, \u201cGive us water to drink\u201d echoes the millions of people in\nSub-Saharan Africa; Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya,\ncrying desperately for fresh, clean water in regions that have\nexperienced months and sometimes years of drought. Even in Australia\n\u2013 although now the fires are mercifully extinguished I believe, we\nhave seen the dreadful effects of prolonged drought on the resilience\nof the land and its animals. And wasn\u2019t it good to see those\npictures from Terry Braithwaite of the pump working in Nigeria \u2013\nbringing water to the school about which he told us and which you\nhave so generously supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFor the Israelites under\nMoses, it\u2019s not merely a physical or economic issue. It\u2019s a\nreligious matter, raising the question, \u201cIs the Lord with us or\nnot?\u201d And if we think that providing water is God\u2019s\nresponsibility, we have to reckon with the fact that in our Gospel it\nis Jesus himself who is in need of a drink. He is tired, and while\nall of the disciples have gone off to buy provisions he rests at\nJacob\u2019s well. If you visit the Holy Land, you can visit it to this\nday \u2013 or at least, you could before all the travel restrictions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIt is astonishing that Jesus\nis there at all. Jews would normally avoid any contact with Samaritan\nterritory \u2013 but to avoid it would mean a lengthy detour, and\npresumably Jesus and his companions are in something of a hurry, so\nthey take the dangerous short cut that takes them into enemy\nterritory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut Jesus does not only enter\nin where Jews fear to tread, he even engages directly with the\nnatives, and not only does he talk to a Samaritan, but a woman, and\nnot merely a woman but one of questionable moral standing! You could\nnot imagine a more unlikely scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe woman herself is\nastonished. Coming to the well in the heat of the noonday sun, she is\navoiding even her own community \u2013 presumably because she is tired\nof the insults and backbiting comments that would come her way\nbecause of her checkered marital history. And now suddenly this\nstranger \u2013 a Jew \u2013 a sworn enemy is being polite, taking a real\ninterest in her and even seems \u2013 miraculously \u2013 to know something\nof her back story before she even tells him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut she has something he\nneeds. Not just the bucket with which to draw water in the middle of\nthe wilderness, but she is the key to unlocking contact with her\nwhole community. And he is thirsty. Not just for water to slake his\nparched throat, but for people to listen to his message and believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn asking this woman for a\ndrink, Jesus broke through all the barriers of race, religion,\nethnicity, gender and morality. Here was someone who did not\nstereotype people, not as a woman, nor as a Samaritan nor even as a\nsinner. He saw her as a person who had come to draw water, but was\nherself in need of much more than Jacob\u2019s well could provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd as the travelling rabbi\nspeaks to her, the living water about which he is telling her, begins\nto well up inside her; the water that alone can really address her\nneed, the water of inclusion, and embrace, and generosity and\nhospitality, the water that cannot be contained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nYou can probably tell by now\nthat this is one of my favourite passages in John\u2019s Gospel! And I\ncould carry on far longer, but what happens next is even more\namazing. The woman returns to her community minus her bucket, but\nfull of new water, bubbling over with renewed confidence. Once more\nwalking tall, unafraid to speak out. She goes boldly to tell her\nneighbours the good news about Jesus. Even though these were the very\npeople who had been ostracizing her. And we are told that many\nbelieved because of her testimony. The one that they marginalised,\nhas become the one through whom they find faith and they press Jesus\nto remain there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nJesus was to acknowledge his\nthirst just once more. Hanging on the cross he cries out, \u201cI\nthirst\u201d. The one who is the source of living water cries out not\nonly on his own account but on account of all of us. All who have\never turned to God in despair or questioning, feeling dry, arid and\nunfulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSo how are we feeling this\nmorning? Anxious, fearful, annoyed at the new restrictions? Well here\nis good news for all of us. Whatever we face, God is thirsty for us\nand as John\u2019s Gospel says, \u201cout of the believer\u2019s heart shall\nflow rivers of living water.\u201d We need to be a force for irrigation\nof our own world and community. Caring for those who are vulnerable,\nhelping each other through the next few weeks that will undoubtedly\nbe challenging and difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSoap and water \u2013 they are\nthe main defence we have against the danger threatening us all. I am\nsorry I cannot offer you refreshment as usual this morning, but at\nleast we still have access to that living water. Make the most of it!\nAmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third Sunday of Lent – morning Sunday 15th March 2020 Lent 3 – morning Exodus 17. 1-7 John 4. 5-42 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs It is ironic that on the Sunday when we are told we can no longer offer refreshments of any kind at Church events and when even the Common Cup is to … <\/p>\n

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