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SERMONS Sean Gilbert — 24/2/08 Our gospel reading for this morning comes from John, which means yet another lengthy introduction from me! Not tedious and too repetitive, I trust, but important for an appreciation and application of the text. As I’m sure I’ve said many times about this remarkable piece of literary art, John’s Gospel, written from a great time difference of the events recorded, need never be considered a chronicled or literal history. So rich in symbol, metaphor and intricate story lines is it, that to read it within such a narrow and non-imaginative way, is to rob it of its power and its lasting significance. A case in point with this particular reading in mind, the fascinating and lengthy interchange between Jesus and the Samaritan woman is far more a theological construct than an actual dialogue; each person and their words, highly representative of something much larger than themselves in the overall scheme of things: Jesus representative of the Johanine (or John’s) community on mission to the long-hated and excluded Samaritan people; The woman representative of Samaria itself, with its own particular understanding of God and the coming Messiah. One quite different to the Jews of Jerusalem. The banter being about then, the writer’s presentation of Jesus as the bridegroom of Samaria after having to endure many false trials and hopes. Therefore it is not about the private morality of a singular woman going from one man to another and just happening to be at Jacob’s well. So to read the text (or to listen to it) in a far more symbolic and poetic sense goes a long way, I believe, to relieving us all of Bible story fatigue. This narrative, as I’ve indicated, didn’t really happen, but that doesn’t matter at all! For it is where the author wants his faith community to go in its imagination for the sake of its own life and witness that remains critically important; the confident presentation of Jesus as the true bearer of life and love, and that life lived out in his name is the confident inclusion and respect of those who might be looking elsewhere for such things. It is in the end, a story of mission; in and with Christ to a longing and thirsty world. Hear then, the word of God: John 4:5-42 The theologian, Val Webb, who is visiting in this coming week, has written recently: “ The sea of Divine Attention Connection, mutuality, cooperation, respect, all the things the world yearns for, yet often the very things we continue to get wrong. For the writer of John, as he contemplated the mission of his own particular community, a burning issue in his thinking was how this Jesus – this living Word of God – united or enjoined people to gather in a living spirit of harmony or in genuine love and friendship. Not only then, did his presentation of Jesus have to appeal to the Jews and their religious traditions, but also Romans, Greeks and everything in between; A Saviour for all seasons, of universal relevance and appeal. A person of spirit and truth, no less, who transcended border, culture and race. A bearer of great change therefore – a shaker of the status quo. The Word who had come from God, the Word that remarkably, shockingly, was God! Key to all this was the confidence that irrespective of difference, faith in this Jesus resulted in renewed life – not just in a small measure but in fullness/completeness. In John’s famous words “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” Life being qualitative now, not about some distant time in the future. By its very nature then, this Christian message - this good news - is inclusive and respectful to the core. All are welcome, particularly those long considered to be religiously and socially deficient. And to those, the message of Jesus is not watered down; it’s made all the more explicit and affirming. “You are loved, you are of great worth in God’s eyes.” You know, it occurs to me - leaping some 20 centuries – that we here at Christ Church could always do with a shot of renewed confidence in the good news of Jesus, the promised One of all peoples. So that we are not abashed about presenting a Jesus who is open-hearted, open-minded and generous to the core; and so that like the woman in our story there is no problem in saying to family, friends or neighbours, “Come and see this person for yourself. He has made this positive and affirming mark in my life.” So much of our cringe or reluctance in doing this, I sense, revolves more around a caricature of the Christian faith, which is often exclusive, mean and joyless, rather than around what we know and hold to be true to our own experience: A Jesus of mercy, a God of understanding and compassion for all. I guess what I am suggesting or encouraging is a renewal of faith and confidence in his being, hence a renewal of faith and confidence within our life and witness as a whole. For too long the dour, mean and banal apologists for Jesus have ruled the roost (and the airwaves). It is time that progressive thinkers and feelers confidently expressed a different way and publicly sang a radically different tune; an inviting song of inclusion, of hope for this world, and of joy in the knowing that God is love, and that the gift of God is the gift of life itself. Amen.
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