2nd Trinity II 2022, Source of Life

 2nd June Trinity II

John 4:1–26 

At this time, the Lord became aware that it was rumored among the Pharisees that Jesus was finding and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, though his disciples did.) Therefore he left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 

Julia Stankova

Now he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was also there. Jesus was weary with the journey, and he sat down by the well. It was about midday, the sixth hour. 

Then a Samaritan woman came to draw water. And Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" for his disciples had gone into town to buy bread. 

Then the Samaritan woman said to him, " You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" For the Jews avoided all contact with the Samaritans. 

Jesus answered her, "If you knew how the divine world now draws near to human beings, and who it is who says to you, 'Will you give me a drink,' you would ask him, and he would give you the water of life [or, the living water]. 

"Sir," the woman said to him, "you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where will you draw the living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his flocks and herds?" 

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I will give them, their thirst will be quenched for all time. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up as true life for eternity." 

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may never be thirsty again, and need never come here again to draw." 

He said to her, "Go call your husband and show him to me." 

"I have no husband," she replied. 

Jesus said to her, "You have well said that you have no husband. Five husbands you have had, and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly."

"Sir," the woman said, "I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews say that only in Jerusalem is the place where one should worship." 

Jesus answered, "Believe me, O woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship a being you do not know; we worship what we do know. That is why salvation had to be prepared for among the Jews. But the hour is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father with the power of the Spirit and in awareness [or, knowledge] of the truth." 

Then the woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming who is called Christ. When he comes, he will teach us all things." 

Jesus said to her, "I, I AM he who is speaking to you."

2^nd Trinity II

June 19, 2022

John 4: 1-26 

The Persian Muslim poet of the 14th century, Hafiz*, wrote:

In many parts of the world

Water is

Scarce and precious

People sometimes have to walk

A great distance

Then carry heavy jugs upon their

Heads.

Because of our wisdom, we will travel

Far for love.

All movement is a sign of

Thirst. 

We might think of death and life as our close companions. We might imagine life as a woman carrying a water jar walking ahead of us, leading us onward, turning to quell our body’s thirst, then going on. And behind us is our other companion, for most of us, a shadowy figure. Though we may hasten from him in fear, he inspires us to make our journey meaningful. At a certain point, he comes from behind, takes our hand, and leads us home to the Father. 

Christ came to the well of his forefather Jacob, bringing water of a different order — not the maternal water of earth that sustains our bodies, but the divine water from the Father’s kingdom that sustains our souls and spirits. With Christ, the Father’s never-ending water of life is brought to earth. It does not keep our bodies from dying, though it may heal our illnesses; it is the water of life, of love, that keeps our souls and spirits alive.

Julia Stankova

Since Christ died, he has become the one who is walking both behind us and before us. Christ died and poured the water of life into death. Though we may run from him, it is he who inspires us to make our lives meaningful. And He is the one bearing the water that keeps our souls and spirits alive. He is the one who takes us to the Father.   

In our time especially, the divine world draws near to us. And now Christ approaches us and asks us, “Will you give me a drink?” He thirsts for what we can give him – our purest thoughts, our noblest feelings, our devotion. In return for what we offer him, he will not only keep our souls and spirits alive. He also offers to transform them into a wellspring, a source of eternal life. In Christ we become the woman with the water jar, quelling His thirst. Through Him, we can become a source of sustenance and healing, a source of life for others and for the earth. 

*The Subject Tonight Is Love, Poems of Hafiz, transl. by Daniel Ladinsky

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