Homily by
The Rev. Marcia McRae
St. Francis' Episcopal
Church, Goldsboro, NC; 3 Lent, 19 March 2017
RCL Year A: Exodus 17:1-17; Psalm 95;
Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42
Notice how our
scriptures flow: Water flows from the rock in the wilderness in Exodus. Our
Psalm speaks of the sea which God the Rock of our Salvation makes. In Romans
Paul gives us imagery of God’s love being poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit. In our Gospel Jesus has a perspective-changing conversation with
the woman at the well.
Notice how different
kinds of compassion flow through our scriptures: the tenderness Paul speaks of
saying God reconciled us while we were still sinners, the fierceness with which
Moses sets out ahead of the people to find water, the mischievousness with
which Jesus engages the literal-minded woman at the well.
Compassion is
the temporal manifestation of God’s eternal loving kindness which transforms
the world.[1] Notice how Jesus
transforms the perspective of the woman stuck in literal thinking about life
& water.
Like her, we
encounter Jesus the Living Water in many ways, including at this Holy Table.
Like her & the disciples & the people with Moses, we can get confused:
Do we have what it takes to get Living Water? Do we have a bucket &
long-enough rope to reach deep into the well?
The word John
uses for water in our Gospel can mean “living water or running water.”[2]
No wonder the woman is confused. No wonder the disciples are confused.
I wonder if we more
readily understand the people quarreling with Moses: they are in a desert with
no water in sight. God tells Moses how to remove the literal barrier to
life-giving water.
The area where
they are has limestone rocks. Hitting the rock exposes the porous inner layer
holding water.[3]
God’s miracles often come through God’s created world.
Demanding
immediate answers & proof from God how things will work out, as we see in
Exodus, we build barriers between us & God. As one Bible commentary notes about our
being reconciled to God, as we read in Romans: We are the ones who have been enemies
to God, the ones resisting God.[4]
God removes the barrier & makes grace possible for us.[5]
When we focus
solely on human perspective like the people in our scriptures, we can neglect
our relationship with God. We focus our energies more easily on problems &
forget to trust God for guidance. We quarrel more readily & let anger rule.
God gives us
anger to energize us to pursue safety for ourselves & others. There is a
fine line between anger & fierceness. Anger also rants about a past perceived
injustice. Fierceness confronts in a single-minded pursuit to transform
injustice for a just future. The difference is, as comedian Richard Pryor said: Are we
interested in “justice or just us”.[6]
We see human
limitations in our scriptures. Jesus shows us how to reach beyond limited
perceptions of “those people”. How can we shift our limited perspectives to see
as Jesus sees?
We can enhance
our gift of compassion by developing all 3 types of compassion we see in Jesus.
Depending on the situation, he responds with tenderness, fierceness &
mischievousness.
We see the mischievous way he interacts with the
woman at the well as he works to shift her literal perspective. Think of the fierceness we see when Jesus drives
money changers from the temple & when he fiercely remains silent when
Pilate questions him.
Fierceness is anger redeemed. Anger is
usually noisy, filled with emotion, like the people in Exodus ready to stone
Moses. Fierceness can go beyond emotion & be quiet.
Know this: There are wise, practical, compassionately fierce
ways to love & forgive someone, even an enemy, & fiercely keep the
person in jail, not as punishment but as a compassionate way to protect others
from further injustice at that person’s hands.
When we stay
hydrated by the Living Water, the Holy Spirit guides us so we can think beyond
our needs & see with compassion what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do
individually & as this Body of Christ.
When we stay
hydrated by the Living Water, we stay refreshed, creative & able to apply
appropriately the 3 types of compassion, which we will look at more closely in
our Wednesday night Lenten Forgiveness Forum.
Ponder this fact: You / we are vessels, containers,
conduits of Living Water for a thirsty world. We are not the Water. We are the
way God chooses to water the crop, which Jesus says is ripe for harvesting.
How tenderly,
how fiercely, how mischievously
will you water
the crop?
Bibliography
Barclay, William. The Gospel of John.
Vol. 1. Revised Ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1975.
Dios Habla Hoy: La Biblia. 2nd Ed. Nueva York: Sociedad
Biblica Americana. 1983.
Harper’s Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San
Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1988.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary. General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San
Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1985.
Holy Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication
Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Writings of
the New Testament: An Interpretation. Revised Ed. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press. 1999.
Levenson, Jon D. Sinai & Zion: An
Entry into the Jewish Bible. Minneapolis: A Seabury Book. Winston Press.
1985.
New Oxford Anontated Bible with Apocrypha. Eds: Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger. New York: Oxford
University Press, Inc. 1977.
Voyles, Robert J. Restoring Hope:
Appreciative Strategies to Resolve Grief and Resentment. Hillsboro, OR:The
Appreciative Way. 2010. “Teaching Forgiveness”. www.appreciativeway.com. 2014.
NOTE: Concept of 3 types of compassion,
tenderness, fierceness, mischievousness, from psychologist Stephen Gilligan,
quoted P. 55 by Robert J. Voyles, “Teaching Forgiveness”.
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