February 21, 2008

Just the Harvester

I'm not sure where in the history of interpretation it happened, but at some point it became easy to claim that the Samaritan woman at the well was a very sinful woman. Having been married five times and now, gasp, living with a man who is not her husband we picture her with a tattoo across the small of her back, doing Jager-bombs, waiting for some handsome rich man to approach her at the bar. I have to ask the question, "where do you read that?" It seems to me that this woman is far from trailer trash and she isn't the whore history has made her out to be.

She is well versed in her faith. She is follower of the Samaritan version of the worship of YHWH and she knows her theology. She understands the dispute between her people and the Jews. She knows the history of her faith. She awaits a Messiah. Heck, she has a better understanding of her faith than many seminary graduates do of theirs.

I'm also not sure where in the history of interpretation it happened, but at some point it became easy to claim that Jesus was sower, grower, and reaper in this quick exchange at the well. Meeting the aforementioned sinful woman, he tells her of the coming Messiah, calls her to repentance, and accepts her heart as she accepts him as her personal Lord and Savior. I have to ask the question, "where do you read that?" It seems to me that Jesus has stumbled across a woman who has a long history of faith in YHWH, a woman whose heart God had been working in for a long, long time, a woman seeking to know God more/better.

Jesus, in this case, is just the harvester. He has found a woman ripe with the Spirit and proceeds to pluck the fruit from the vine and make glorious wine out of her faith. This is a fantastic story of one persons journey to faith through the work of the whole of the Trinity. She has known God the Father for years. God the Spirit is in her heart continuing the work and making her very thirsty indeed. And when God the Son shows up as a very human Jesus - all he does is point out how his living water might quench her thirst for good.

I know that across the world on Sunday sermons will be preached across various interpretations, utilizing thousands of hermeneutics, filled with exegesis and eisegesis. I'm ok with it because I know that week to week my sermons are just one opinion among many. I just wonder if we might try to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Let's not take the easy way out. Let's do some work, let's open a few books, and preach to the best of our abilities to the glory of God.

2 comments:

Peter said...

Glad I did not read your post until today! I actually went down the sinful road, but did so gently with the congregation, showing where I was making assumptions.

Five husbands, and now living with another man... unless she is extremely unlucky and they have all died, it provides evidence for something else. And being that the author throws in the current relationship; I see that as evidence.

Depending on one's bible translation (or exegeting of the text) the time of day suggests something as well. "Almost noon," the NRSV tells us. The hottest time of the day to gather water. This would have been done at a cooler time of the day. One might suffer this if they were an outcast and did not want to deal with the looks, remarks, and gossip about her life. So she goes by herself...avoiding others.

What is cool to me is that this makes the conclusion of her story all the richer. She leaves Jesus, drops what she is doing, and goes to tell the people. If we see her as an outcast (both as a Samaritan to a Jew, and from her own people) we see through Jesus' breaking tradition that she is no longer an outcast to either.

Anyway...without printing my whole sermon here, and as one who did go the "sinful woman" route...I thought I would put this in the mix.

Be kind, brother!

Peter said...

and to reiterate Steve...my "be kind brother" was not referring to anything that was written before, but for what might come! I am an ordained humble stumbler bumbler (would Judith love this alliteration?),and always look to your wise writings. Many continued blessings upon you and yours, as you continue to bless this church!