A woman of no significance

Before the reading:

Last week we heard about Nicodemus

Nicodemus, a Jewish man, a religious leader, went to meet Jesus at night

This week we will hear about an unnamed woman,

A Samaritan woman, who has lived a hard life, who went to get water in the middle of the day.

You may have heard that this woman is a sinner, because she has had 5 husbands, and is now living with another man. The reality for women in first century Israel, was that marriages were arranged, woman could not divorce, but her husband could divorce her.

She needed to be living with a man, it could be a brother, a son, a brother in law, a cousin, anyone who would take her in, otherwise she would not survive.

Nicodemus and the unnamed woman,

both met Jesus

One at night

One in daylight

One a Jew

One a Samaritan

Both confused by what Jesus says to them

Both offered new life

Nicodemus went back into the shadows, for now

She went to tell everyone

….Reading John 4:3-42, in 3 voices ...

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John recorded my story, I am not really sure why.

It is a few years since it happened.

People didn’t say much about my life. you could call it tragic,

Marriage, divorce, marriage, death, marriage – I know my family were trying to do the right thing by me, and the ending of each marriage made it more difficult to arrange another husband. Finally, a relative took pity on me, took me into their household, though at times I feel like a housekeeper.

The day that John wrote about,

it was a warm day, and water was running low,

so I went to fetch more water.

When I arrived, a man was sitting there.

And this man spoke to me.

I didn’t realise who he was at first,

but I knew he was a Jew,

I wondered why he would talk to me, ask me for something.

Turned out he offered me, more than he asked for.

I won’t go into all the details, you have heard the story.

For me it was life changing.

I had downplayed my past

I mean who wouldn’t,

and Jesus, knew and acknowledged my pain,

my sadness,

my isolation

my wondering if I belonged

He knew and acknowledged me

He didn’t criticise me or ask me to justify or explain

So, I asked him about worship

And after we talked for a while, some friends of his turned up and I went to tell the rest of the village about the Messiah.

By then I knew who he was, this mysterious man is the Messiah.

He took me, a tired woman,

A woman of no significance

And asked for water to quench his thirst

..

And changed my life

..

And the life of the people who came to know him through my story.

…..

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In this reading, Jesus goes from being called:

Ø  a Jew

Ø  Sir

Ø  a prophet

Ø  Messiah

Ø  the Saviour of the world

and the woman goes from

Ø  an unnamed woman collecting water for her household,

Ø  having a theological discussion

Ø   to telling people the good news

Last week we heard about the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus, and the need to be born by both water and spirit

the unnamed woman is offered living water

and told that worship is not about where,

but that ‘God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ John 4:24 NRSV

In her encounter with Jesus, this woman is transformed

she not only leaves behind her water jug,

She leaves behind her ostracism,

her marginalization,

her loneliness,

because Jesus has brought her into his fold.

She leaves behind her disgrace,

her disregard, and

the disrespect

she has endured

to enter into a new reality,

a new life that is abundant life.

- Karoline M. Lewis

[on screen]

She leaves behind her ostracism,

her marginalization,

her loneliness,

because Jesus has brought her into his fold.

She leaves behind her disgrace,

her disregard, and

the disrespect

she has endured

to enter into a new reality,

a new life that is abundant life.

- Karoline M. Lewis

What do you need to leave behind?

What new life are you being offered?

If you wish, as the music is playing,

you can collect a stone, it will become a symbol of something you wish to leave behind. Place it near the water.

The butterflies are here if you would like to pick one up a sign of the new life you are being offered.

PPT: come to the water

People move to collect stones and place

and/ or pick up butterflies