John 4:5-42
How many times have you heard an inspirational story and said to yourself, “I wish I’d thought of doing that!” or even, “I wish I could do that!”
You know, something like walking the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, in North West Spain. Or like Max Woosey, also known as The Boy in the Tent, who has raised more than £700,000 for the North Devon Hospice by camping out in a tent in his back garden since the beginning of Lockdown. Or like Kevin Sinfield who ran 7 Ultra Marathons in 7 days aiming to raise £777,777 for Motor Neurone Disease Research – he actually raised £2,450,191! All amazing achievements.
But I discovered the one I wanted to do this week. Have you ever heard of Sarah Merker? Well, she has just completed a 10 year project to sample a scone at every possible National Trust location. She finished on March 1st at the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim. She visited 244 sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland sampling 244 scones (and 244 cups of tea!). She said the perfect scone has to be fresh, baked that day. Her favourite scone was at Treasurer’s House in Yorkshire, and that was a Christmas pudding scone with brandy butter!
Jesus wasn’t looking to sample a scone, or even a cup of tea. He was thirsty. He simply wanted a cup of water. And that is what he asked the woman at the well for. The woman couldn’t believe he would ask such a thing, and I’m amazed at the reply Jesus gave: “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” John 4:10 (The Message)
The generosity of God. I love that phrase. Hands up if you’ve experienced the generosity of God? Wow, that’s overwhelming. If there’s one thing that we take away from this story it is the undeserved and tremendous generosity of God to us. Of how he longs to freely give us the “artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life”. There comes a point in this story where it seems that Jesus wants to embarrass the woman – we talk a lot these days of degrading people by body-shaming or mansplaining or talking down to them. Jesus wasn’t doing that. In the encounter where he asked the woman to go and bring her husband to meet him, he was revealing himself to her, he was showing himself to be the Lord of life, and the Lord of all being.
Put simply, Jesus received the woman at the well with such love and such grace that she was profoundly transformed. She was a woman cast out, ostracised by her community, made to draw water in the noon day heat. But by her transformation the people in her village were transformed too: They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Saviour of the world!” John 4:42 (The Message)
We hunger and we thirst for God. Our communities hunger and thirst too. It is nice to offer them scones, with a bit of jam and cream. But it’s even better to transform them with the life giving water that God gives.
Gracious God, draw us near to you that we might receive your fresh, living water. Equip us, Lord, to transform those around us, help us to worship in the Spirit and in truth, so that the whole world may know that you are the Saviour. Bless us now, we pray. Amen.
Neil Chappell
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