Exodus
17: 1 – 7
Psalm 95
Romans 5: 1 – 11
John 4: 5 - 42
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March
12, 2023 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“WHY BOTHER?”
(Homily text: John 4: 5 – 42)
Our Gospel reading, appointed for this
morning, present us with Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman in the
village of Sychar.
At first glance, the conversation that
unfolded between this unnamed woman and Jesus might not seem all that unusual.
But a look beneath the outward nature of this exchange tells us that it was
anything but normal.
For one thing, in that culture and in that
time, a man would not engage in a conversation in public with a woman he wasn’t
related to. So Jesus’ conversation-starter is remarkable, right from the
outset.
For another, He wouldn’t have engaged
in conversation with a Samaritan, any Samaritan, for Jews disliked Samaritans
intensely. (Perhaps we might use the word “hate” to more accurately described
the nature of their regard for Samaritans.) In fact, the dislike was so intense
that many - if not most – Jews would avoid going through Samaria if they were
making their way to or from Galilee and Jerusalem. They would, quite likely
take an easterly route down the Jordan River valley, or they would take a
westerly route along the Mediterranean Sea.
Still another reason that Jesus might
want to ignore or to avoid this Samaritan woman is because of her morals. John
tells us that she had been married five times, and that the man she was
currently with wasn’t her husband. (We don’t know more than that. She may have
been living with the man she was with. We can’t be sure.) Suffice it to say
that she was probably a person who might have been regarded as one who was
“damaged goods”. (Perhaps that’s the reason she came to draw water at the well
in the middle of the day…she was less apt to encounter other villagers at that
time of day.)
But John tells us that Jesus “had to”
go through Samaria on His way from Jerusalem to Galilee. The phrase “had to”
often implies divine intention, meaning that Jesus’ decision to go directly
through Samaria was due to His desire to fulfill His Father’s will. His
decision is, most likely, more than a simple decision to take the most direct
route to Galilee. God’s purposes are at work here.
God’s purposes are also at work in Jesus’
actions. Notice that it is Jesus who strikes up the conversation with the
woman. It seems as though Jesus’ decision to take the direct route to Galilee
was part of God’s design and plan, but the Lord’s initiative was also part of
God’s plan.
Now, the question arises, given the
nature of the route that Jesus decided to take, the disregard He obviously had
for the regard most Jews had for Samaritans, His disregard for societal norms
in striking up a conversation with the woman, and His disregard for her marital
past (which, John tells us, He knew about): Why did Jesus bother with this
woman? Most people wouldn’t have. They wouldn’t have had the interest, nor the
willingness, to reach out to her.
Perhaps the reason is simply this: No
one is beyond the Lord’s ability to reach out to and to rescue. No one is a
“throw away” person. No one’s past life is a bar to the guarantee of a new,
better and full life in God. No one.
We could take a lesson from our Lord’s
actions.
Do we regard anyone with contempt? Do
we think that any one is beyond God’s ability to help and to save? Do we
decide, up front, that we can’t be bothered to share the Good News of God in
Christ, because someone we’ve encountered either won’t be interested, or won’t
be receptive to that message?
Today’s Gospel reminds us of our Lord’s
ways of doing things. He reaches out to the marginalized and the “untouchables”
of His day.
We should be doing that very same
thing.
AMEN.
