Sermons Online ...
Sermon - Building a Bridge of Friendship - 24th February 2008
St Aidans ’s Carlingford
Readings: John 4:5-42, Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11,
Many years ago the English comedy team, Monty Python’s Flying Circus had comedy sketch where a man walks into an office and asks the receptionist if he can buy an argument. She asks if he wants a five minute argument or the full half hour. Because it was new to him he thought he might begin with a five minute argument. He paid his money and a representative of the company came out to meet him. He tried to start an argument, but the rep. said he couldn’t argue until the man had paid. Then he argued that he had paid … and so the conversation went on.
The sketch highlights our foolishness in finding almost anything to argue about no matter how trivial. I have been reading the history of the Anglican Church in Australia and its not been an encouraging experience. The capacity for Anglicans to argue with each other seems to be unlimited. What they were arguing about at General Synod back in the 1930’s is still being debated today. I can’t see much progress in the last 70 years. Rather, the divisions seem to be deeper than ever.
People are at least as entrenched as they ever were. For example, I remember when Archbishop Goodhew supported the motion to adopt the use of our current prayer book. Many in this diocese labelled him a traitor, not so much because they didn’t like the book, but more because he supported other dioceses who were keen to use it. People will argue over almost anything. But then we have families. Major splits can occur in families over almost any issue.
Arguments can carry on for years where no one seems to be able to find their way out. And we mustn’t be quick to judge other people and condemn them for their foolishness. It’s a trap we can all easily fall into. There is unlimited hurt we can cause each other in families because of this tendency to argue and to fight. We can become so emotionally carried away by it, that solutions will always elude us. When we read of the hostility between Jews and Samaritans in John’s gospel, it can seem so petty to us.
Why couldn’t they resolve their differences? But it always looks easy when you’re on the outside. The previous week saw our Prime Minister say “Sorry” to the stolen generation of Aboriginees. Many people were opposed to this. They thought it was wrong for Kevin Rudd to say “Sorry”. My own family was touched by the stolen generation. Some relatives of mine adopted an aboriginal baby girl in the late 1960’s. They were told she had been abandoned by her mother. It was only decades later we discovered she hadn’t been abandoned at all – she’s been stolen. When that girl turned 21 she was so confused, she didn’t know who she was. She felt she didn’t fit in anywhere and she took her own life. Because of the stolen generation – people died, and I thought it wasn’t much to ask for someone to say sorry. Yet we’ve wrestled with just that issue for so long. It demonstrates the difficulties humans have to get along with each other.
And Christians have as much trouble as anyone else. Jesus gave us just two commands – love God, and love your neighbour as yourself. But when we think about it, we discover how impossibly difficult it is to do either of them. And that is why John 4 is so important. When it comes to relating with God we often fail.
When we attempt to love our neighbour we aren’t good at it. But here it is Jesus who takes the initiative, he bridges the gulf between himself and this Samaritan woman. Superficially, he would not be expected to speak to her and secondly she was a Samaritan. We shouldn’t forget the depth of hatred the Jews and Samaritans had for each other going back centuries. And there was a third thing. Any Samaritan cup would be regarded as unclean by the Jews and they would never use them. Here we have three serious objections to Jesus’ behaviour. The woman refers to all three of them. “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Normally, this would never happen. But this is no way for people to treat each other and Jesus simply addressed the problem by speaking to the woman and asking for a drink.
It was one small step and yet it was a great leap forward.
Several years ago Jenny was teaching a Muslim girl in Kindergarten. The girl’s father came to the class each afternoon and walked her home. One day he invited Jenny and me to his house for lunch on a Saturday. I felt very uncomfortable but we went. He and his wife spoke little English but we could understand most of what they said. But the food was wonderful. And there was so much of it. They were generous and gracious hosts. But what was important was that they had made the effort in showing friendship and hospitality.
They were building a bridge of friendship. They were Muslims and they were taking the first step. But as Jesus continued with his conversation with this woman there was plenty he could have objected to. At any point he could have said “This is all too hard.” But he didn’t give up. He offered to bless her with the gift of living water but she misunderstood what he meant. He tried to indicate to her that he was no ordinary person and she should consider that. But she said that Jacob had given them this well and surely he didn’t think he was more important than Jacob? But Jesus didn’t let himself be side tracked. Then he brought up the issue of her husband which was a very touchy subject for her considering her list of relationships. We can wonder about the moral status of this woman which would have given Jesus another excuse just to walk away. But again, the persistence and patience of Jesus seems to have no limit. Notice how this conversation jumps all over the place. It seems she doesn’t want Jesus to get too close. She will talk about religion in the abstract, but when it came to her and her husbands, she didn’t want to discuss that.
Someone once re-wrote this conversation like this. Jesus said, “Call your husband.” She said, “I haven’t got one.” Jesus replied, “No, its five down and one to go.” “Oops,” she thought, I had better change the subject. “Are you a prophet by any chance? We have this thing about which mountain we should worship on. You have yours, and we have ours. Who’s right in the end?” “Stop” said Jesus. “It’s the Spirit, not the mountain that matters; and our God is looking for Spirit-people right now.” “Is that so” she replied, “how very interesting – of course, one day the Messiah is coming. He’ll explain all that complicated stuff. Let’s change the subject shall we?” But there’s no way off the hook. Jesus held her gaze and said, “I am, the one speaking to you, I am Messiah.” End of argument. End of story.
Its time for action. The time for the arguing is over. To heal our relationship with God, it was God who took the initiative. He solved the problem. He sent his son to rescue us and to heal the relationship. This Samaritan woman was full of ideas, full of arguments, but none of them addressed the problem of alienation from God and her alienation from her community. She didn’t have the resources to solve her problem.
But God sent his son to redeem her, to restore her to God’s fellowship. And he does the same work in our lives, healing us, restoring us, making us whole, and sharing with us his eternity. But he expects more than that. As we pray “Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we are expected to work to bring that to fulfilment. God’s will is that we love God, and love our neighbours as ourselves. But we know its easier to argue with your neighbour than it is to love him. Its easier to find fault with your neighbour than to be reconciled to him. And loving your neighbour is costly.It costs our time, our patience and our pride. Its not easy. If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it. God wouldn’t need to give us this command.
It wasn’t easy for Jesus to contact this Samaritan woman. It was like wrestling a barrel of monkeys. What Jesus calls us to isn’t easy. Its costly, and its uncomfortable. It involves work – hard work. But, never-the-less, God calls on each one of us to live like his son, copying his son, and loving like his son loved us.
In this way the people of God begin to look like the people of God. Then we see the power of the Cross, as Jesus’ death changes our lives and we look like a restored humanity, as we follow the Son while bringing honour and glory to the Father.