Thirsting for God and Deep, Deep Love

You can read the Gospel of John, chapter 4, verses 5-42 here. We all are thirsting for God.

Introduction

My dad was 6’2” tall, thin, with coal-black hair. My mom had a terrific smile, beautiful hazel eyes, and a very interesting sense of humor. They both oozed kindness and both were extremely shy. They met as teenagers when they worked in the same factory making shirts. My mom worked the sewing line and my dad was the boy who brought supplies to her. My dad enlisted the help of a friend who found out for him that, yes, she was interested. As hose teenagers enjoyed their milkshakes on their first date, Cupid’s arrow found it’s mark.

Barb and I met while we were students in seminary. We knew each other from campus and had a lot of shared friends.  Our first date was at The Broken Drum in San Rafael, California. As we sat there half the age we are now, cupid’s arrow found its mark.

Work, school, internet apps, and outings with friends are common meeting places today. Wells were meeting places in biblical times. Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac, found his wife at a well. A generation later, Jacob, mentioned in our passage, met his future wife, Rachel, at a well.

The Samaritan woman is simply living her life, and leaves the well having found profound love. You never know when love will change your life.

We all have a well inside of us, and it is there God meets us with love, and our thirst for eternal belonging is quenched.

The Woman from Samaria Goes to the Well

Maybe life had been tough on her. She has had five husbands. Some read into this some sort of scandal. However, neither the author nor Jesus draw negative conclusions from this fact. The Samaritan woman has experienced great heartache.

Let’s think about this. Perhaps she has experienced divorce. At that time, a woman could not initiate a divorce. So if she did experience divorce, that would not have been of her own choosing. Or, maybe her husbands have all passed away. Or, maybe it was a mixture. Nevertheless, being an unwed female at that time put her in an economically vulnerable position.

Whatever the case may be, this woman has experienced pain and loss and the scary parts of starting over again. For her, love is a tough subject and so is God.

Samaritans were somewhat similar to the Jewish people. For centuries each group looked down on the other as culturally and religiously inferior. This led to stoking hatred and armed conflict. Often, they would even avoid walking through each other’s territory. So high was the disgust among some of them that they would not use the same instrument or tools as the others. 

Jesus is traveling back to Jerusalem and passing through the Samaritan territory. Risky choice. He speaks to her, which is surprising from her perspective. She is also surprised that he would ask to drink from the same cup as her.

Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God (salvation, deep joy, never-ending love) you’d ask me to give you a drink of that living water”.

“Living” water is water that moves. A pond’s water doesn’t flow. It sits. An underwater spring that feeds this well is moving and never-ending. It’s dependable and has been that way for centuries.

She has had 5 husbands. Her relationships have started and stopped, all of which have caused her pain. Jesus promises her an unceasing relationship that will bring her love and joy.

Jesus Explains the Two Thirsts to the Samaritan Woman

Jesus uses the symbol of water to talk about the two thirsts, both of which the woman is well acquainted with, right?

The first thirst is physical. When we get hot and need to hydrate, our mouths get dry and all we can think about is a drink of water. And when we gulp that cold water down, we can feel that coolness all the way down to our stomach. It’s refreshing and lifts our mood. It is good and we are grateful but we will need another drink in a few hours.

The second thirst is inside us but has nothing to do with our physical body because it pertains to our soul. We thirst for belonging, meaning, and purpose. When either of those is lacking, our we worse for it.

The Well Within and our Thirsting for God

This well within can’t be filled with possessions, people, or any other temporal thing. Those will only disappoint us.

Jesus points to a deep truth: we need something good and eternal that will fill us up, causing contentment, love, and peace. This comes about by relation to God with that deeper part of yourself.

Tasting the Water

The woman responds to Jesus with, “Give me this water!” Jesus responds by asking her to bring her husband to the well.

I’m not sure why Jesus does this. This could be a culturally appropriate thing to do. The husband is the head of the household and makes decisions about religion. 

Nevertheless, she tells him the truth. I don’t have a husband, although she is living with him. They have not had a ceremony. Jesus reveals to her that he knows more about her than she thinks.

This causes her to flip to a default defense. Did you notice that? She went into the culture and religious war defense which is a great way to kill a conversation and avoid having a mature relationship.  

By the way, when someone disagrees with you, you probably have a default defense. It might not be as obvious as this woman’s but you have it. It is a way to avoid real talk and a mature relationship.

Jesus says, “Well, God is a spirit so God is not boxed into one location. God is a spirit and those who worship God do so in spirit and truth.” 

God is revealed in creation (Psalm 19), through the Scriptures, and through Jesus Christ. The Spirit takes up your whole self and not just a part of you.

“This is good news to her! “You mean that the kind, love, and creative love of God can fill me, even the broken and hurt parts?” ”

This response melts her defenses. Jesus rises above her default defense and opens her eyes to this truth: God’s love is not limited by space or time. 

Will you be open to such a radical love or will you find ways to avoid it?

The Satisfaction of God in the Samaritans

This woman is satisfied in the love of God that quenches the thirst of her soul. Jesus is satisfied in fully loving her.

This cycle of love stirs in her community, so much so that they ask Jesus to stay. And the people love and enjoy being with him. They said, hey, we no longer believe because of your testimony, but we experience this for ourselves and we love it. We love being with Jesus; he feeds us and quenches our thirst for God.

“We know he is the savior of the world,” as opposed to God only being for a select group.

Jesus tells the disciples that he’s full. Jesus delights in loving. Have you ever thought about that? Do you take delight in seeing others grow in their knowledge of God and in their enjoyment of God?

Meet with the Lord at the well of your heart. 

Feel your need and your desire for meaning, love, and a kind of calm, persistent presence that doesn’t withdraw when sorrow visits.. Enjoy the pleasure that is found in the presence of Christ.

May it be so with us!