"…Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (v.14) READ THE WHOLE TEXT.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Back in high school, I remember reading a poem called "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner." It began with the line "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." It was about a man out to sea dying of thirst. That’s really quite a concept—being totally surrounded by water, and yet dying of thirst. But that ancient mariner was out in the ocean, and oceans are filled with salt water. The more salt water you drink, the thirstier you get and the sooner you die. It’s no accident that the salt sea in Palestine is called the dead sea. The salt in the water is so thick you can float on top without a flotation device. And absolutely nothing lives there.

Travel further to the north, up the Jordan river, and you come to the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is teeming with fish. It’s a fresh water lake. It’s fed by the Jordan river on the North, by rain run-off and by underground springs. That’s what Jesus called "living water." But of course Jesus meant more than that when he was talking to the woman of Sychar on the day recorded in our text. He was offering her the water of life, the water of eternal life. But she didn’t recognize his wordplay, at least not at first. She had simply come down to the town well, as she did several times every day, to get some ordinary well water for cooking and washing. She wasn’t looking for anything else. She certainly wasn’t looking for anything of eternal significance. She wasn’t looking for a new religion. She wasn’t looking to meet God.

But God was looking to meet her. God had plans for that day that would changer her entire future—even her eternal future. Jesus came to Sychar that day specifically to meet her. It was strange for Jesus to be there in the first place. He was a Jew and this was Samaritan territory. Jews didn’t venture into Samaria unless they were looking for trouble. Jews and Samaritans did not get along well at all. They were both proud peoples. They both thought they were right and the other folks were all messed up.

But there was no way any of that baggage was going to stand in Jesus’ way. Jesus had an appointment to keep. So did the Samaritan woman, only she didn’t know it. Yet before she was ever born, God had planned for the day she would meet Jesus. God saw to it she came to the well alone, just when she did. God planned for Jesus’ disciples to be off in town just then, looking to buy some food. God had big plans for this woman. God cared about her. He wanted her in heaven. And today was the day he had marked on the eternal calendar for her to enter the Kingdom.

As she came to the well, there was Jesus, sitting and resting. Jesus asked her for a drink—a very strange thing for a Jew to be asking a Samaritan. That was sure to start a conversation, and it did. Jesus wanted her to see her to see that she had a far greater thirst than just for water. She didn’t know where the conversation was leading. She hadn’t exactly been thinking religion—not consciously anyway. But it was never totally out of her mind. She knew she worshiped the Samaritan God. She knew Samaritans worshiped differently and in a different place than Jews did. She certainly wasn’t ready to concede that they were wrong. No, she wasn’t thinking religion when she came to the well, but she had her beliefs. She also had a conscience. She knew she was an outcast. After all, one of the things the Samaritans had in common with the Jews was the ten commandments. She was well aware that there were religious implications to being a five-time divorcee, and now having a live-in boyfriend. You can tell, because when Jesus mentioned her husband she quickly changed the subject. If she hadn’t thought about right and wrong, or being right with God, she wouldn’t have been so touchy on the subject.

Jesus cared about her deeply. He wanted her to be one of those millions around his throne in heaven. He had a mansion already picked out for her on the golden streets of New Jerusalem. So he plunged in deeper. He didn’t sugar coat the truth. He pointed out what was wrong in her life—her divorce record and her live-in boyfriend. Jesus wasn’t being judgmental, just truthful. He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." ¹⁷ "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." Jesus confirmed for her what her conscience had already told her—that she was a sinner, and sin is a fatal flaw that can’t be dealt with simply by changing the subject.

But that’s what she did. She was uncomfortable talking about herself and her less than perfect life. But when she changed the subject to religion, Jesus was just as truthful. He was gentle. He was respectful. But he was also honest. He pointed out what was wrong in her Samaritan religion and asserted the plain truth—salvation is from the Jews. You see the Samaritans only believed parts of the Bible, and they weren’t expecting the Messiah to be a Jew. But he was a Jew. He is Jesus. Jesus didn’t want her to miss out on believing in him because of some false nationalistic religious pride.

Why did Jesus bring this whole meeting about in the first place? Religion was not exactly a peaceable topic for a Jew and a Samaritan to be talking about. And her messed up marriage record? Was it really necessary to bring that up? Well, of course, the answer is yes. Jesus is God, He knows everything. We certainly wouldn’t second-guess him, would we? The simple fact is, Jesus wanted to arouse her interest. He wanted to show her he was truly a prophet, who knew all things. He wanted her to recognize her spiritual thirst—her need for a right relationship with the right God. Jesus started the whole thing because he loved her and wanted to be her Savior from sin and false religion.

And we can certainly learn a thing or two from Jesus. We’re his followers, and he’s left us in the world to carry on his work of reaching the lost. As Jesus’ followers, we need to be just as lovingly, respectfully truthful today. God cares about people today, just as he cared about this Samaritan woman. And that’s exactly why he’s put St. Matthew’s right here—because he cares about the people of Benton Harbor. We are Christ’s witnesses. And people need to know him, to learn just like this Samaritan woman that salvation indeed is from this one Jewish Messiah and from him alone.

People are just as thirsty as ever. Why do you think the woman of Sychar had been married five times? Because she was looking for what everyone wants—real happiness. Only she was looking in all the wrong places. Everybody is looking for the same thing. Meaning in life. Eternal hope. Happiness. Peace. It all boils down to the same thing. People are thirsty for the water of life.

Which means there’s only one way to truly help people: To lead them to the Messiah, who said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6)

The simple truth is—we are all born dying of thirst. Our sins have separated us from God. God graciously gives us thirst, and makes us thirstier yet, so that we long for what he has to offer—living water.

Jesus goal in Samaria at Jacob’s well was not to hurt, but to heal—to quench this dear woman’s deadly spiritual thirst. He offered her what she really needed—the water of life, the gospel of forgiveness, the one true faith that leads to eternal life with God in heaven. "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

He directed her to himself—the true Messiah, who came to suffer and die for the sins of the world. The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." ²⁶ Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

With those words Jesus changed her life forever. She ran back into town and told everybody they had to come and meet Jesus. "Come" she said, "hurry. You’ve got to meet someone, "a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (Jn 4:29) And they came. They met Jesus just as she had. They heard him speak to them. And John records, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony…. And they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days." (Jn 4:39, 40)

Dear friends, that’s what Jesus is all about. That’s what "church" is all about—leading us, leading many to the water of life. Church is where we meet Jesus Christ. This is where he speaks to us and tells us our greatest needs. This is where he meets those needs by giving us the forgiveness of sins. This is where he washes away our sins in the living water of baptism. This is where God pours out on us his Holy Spirit. This is where he prepares us to spend an eternity with him in heaven.

Today we witnessed a miracle as a child born in sin, born spiritually dead was drenched in the water of life. God has graciously taken away her spiritual thirst. He has forgiven all her sins. He has saved her, just as St. Peter wrote: "Baptism … now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 3:21). He has done the same for all of us. "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Eph 5:25-27)

Through God’s word we have come to recognize our sins. He has led us to repentance. He has poured out on us the forgiveness of all our sins. He has given us faith, and he has given us eternal life. Jesus has so abundantly poured out on us his living water so that we can share it. It will never run out. (John 4:14) The more we give of it, the more God supplies. Our goal as St. Matthew’s Lutheran Congregation is one—whether through our school, through our daycare center, through our church services, our Bible studies, our outreach programs, to lead people to Jesus. Jesus has put St. Matthew’s right here, right now, to share the water of life, just like he did. Dear friends, let us be faithful to the mission he has given us. May God make us the wettest church around. May he make flowers bloom in the desert as we gush forth with the water of life. Amen.