The Lutheran Hour
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"The Man at the Well"
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Text: John 4:5-26
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now, what was a woman doing out at the village well at high noon? Women in the village draw their water either early in the day or late. They don’t do such a hard task under the full heat of the blazing oriental sun. Why was she there then?
Probably because the other women made it quite clear to her that she was not welcome in their company. She had a bit of reputation in that town! And so she came to the well when she figured she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone, only to find a Jew sitting along side it.
Samaritans resented the holier-than-thou attitude with which the Jews treated them. The Jews shunned them the way they shunned pigs. So she sets to work hauling her water, pointedly ignoring the man who sat and watched her. But then, just after the bucket had made it to the top, He startles her by breaking the silence. “Give Me a drink.”
Can you picture the pose she struck as she turned to Him and raised her eyebrows and said: “Let me get this straight. You, a Jew, would actually put Your precious lips on a vessel that I, a dirty Samaritan, touched?” Those who are often scorned, become scornful in turn. But the man sitting at the well was not put off by her posturing. “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him for a drink and He would have given you living water.”
She looked around behind Him and beside Him. No. He didn’t have anything hidden. She gave Him the look again: “Sir, where exactly do You keep this living water–in your pocket? This well here is deep and you have no bucket. Who are You making yourself out to be? Are You claiming to be better than OUR father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself?” Her point was that Samaritans had as much claim on Jacob as did any Jew.
The man at the well must have smiled at that. Greater than Jacob? Well, you might very well say so. He goes on: “Look, drink this water and you’ll still be thirsty again. Drink the water I give you and you’ll never thirst again. In fact the water will become alive inside of you and spring up to eternal life.”
She wasn’t listening to everything He said. Her mind got stuck on “You’ll never be thirsty again.” You can see her thoughtfully sitting down next to the man, looking Him in the eyes to see if He’s playing a game with her. When she realizes He’s in complete earnest, she says: “OK, I’ll buy. Give me this water so I’ll never be thirsty again and won’t have to keep coming here to draw water”–in the heat of the day, understand, when no one else would be around.
The man at the well wants more than anything for her to have that gift of living water, of overflowing love, but she’s got to see how much she really needs it. So He casually says: “Go get your husband and come back here.” Why is it that her face colors at that? “I don’t have a husband,” she says. The man at the well eyes her tenderly and says, “You’re right in saying that. You don’t have a husband. You’ve had five of them, but the one you have now isn’t your husband at all.”
Her eyes fly open at that. Things are getting a little too hot to handle. Best to divert attention elsewhere, off the topic of her life. What about religion? What about the differences between Jews and Samaritans? That should be safe. “Sir,” she says, “I perceive that You are a prophet. Now look, our ancestors worshipped on this mountain here, but you Jews say the place to worship is Jerusalem.” Good diversion. Would it work?
The man at the well said: “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when those kinds of questions won’t matter anymore. You worship what you don’t know, and we worship what we do know, for salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour is coming, no, the hour is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth. The Father seeks such worshippers because He is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth.”
This floors the woman. This man was saying something beyond anything she had heard before or even thought. The Father seeks worshippers? The Father seeks those who worship Him in Spirit and truth and not tied to a specific locality like Jerusalem or Gerazim? And how does this man know what the Father seeks and wants. She looks at Him and tentatively observes:
“I know that Messiah is coming, and when He comes He’ll proclaim all things to us.” The man at the well looked her straight in the eye and said: “I am He. The One who is speaking to you.”
The gift given. The truth spoken. The Spirit is poured out as living water, lifting up and carrying her back home to the Father–all in the person of the man at the well; all in the person of Jesus. You know, it’s a shame we didn’t read a bit further, because when she runs back to town to tell everyone she met a man who told her everything she had ever done (and what a story that would have been) the significant detail is that she left her bucket at the well. She didn’t need it anymore. The living water was springing up inside of her, just like Jesus had promised.
The woman at the well is maybe not too much different from us. She was looking for love in all the wrong places, including some highly self-destructive behaviors–behaviors that alienated her from her own peers and left her rather isolated and lonely. When she despaired of ever finding real and lasting love, there was Love looking for her. Love waiting for her at the side of the well. His name was Jesus. He came to pour out His love on her and on all of us. His love is the gift of living water to those who are parched and dry. He came to bring the joyful message that the Father seeks us, wants us and desires us. In Jesus, the Father seeks us as His worshippers, to be those who in Spirit and truth receive the gift of His love. Lift up your eyes to the cross and see!
Jesus died to give that gift to you. From His open heart there flowed the water and the blood that carry the gift of divine love to you and call you to become a worshipper of the Father–a worshipper in spirit and truth. See that love. Drink deep from it and live forever! Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for February 24, 2002
ANNOUNCER: How will the next Lutheran Hour speaker be chosen? I’m Mark Eischer and joining me by phone from his home in Connecticut is Mr. Wes Tervo. He is the chairman of the Lutheran Hour Speaker Search Committee. Wes, thanks for joining us.
TERVO: Thank you, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: Wes, where do you start? How does one begin the process of identifying and selecting a Lutheran Hour Speaker?
TERVO: The first assignment the Lutheran Hour Speaker Search Committee gave attention to was develop the position description for the Lutheran Hour Speaker. This is the written description we provide to possible candidates for them to respond to that need of the church.
ANNOUNCER: Who is on the Search Committee?
TERVO: The Search Committee includes nine laypersons and one clergyman. This group includes geographic representation from across the United States and Canada. It covers an age spectrum of male and female members.
ANNOUNCER: So, this is a function of our governing board. It is not a function of the staff?
TERVO: Yes. That’s correct.
ANNOUNCER: What are the qualifications for a Lutheran Hour Speaker? What sort of person are you looking for?
TERVO: The Lutheran Hour Speaker must first of all be a Lutheran church clergyman. He must have the experience and also the capability to communicate over mass media such as radio, and perhaps television. In the position of Lutheran Hour Speaker, he’ll be called upon to speak at large and small gatherings to people in the church and outside the church. The Lutheran Hour Speaker is a major leadership position in the Lutheran church.
ANNOUNCER: How are you obtaining names?
TERVO: We had announcements for the speaker position opening in Lutheran Church periodicals in the United States and Canada. We have also asked officials of the Lutheran Church, especially the geographically located regional district presidents, to nominate clergymen from their regions for this important position in the church. I must say the response has been very gratifying and the Search Committee currently has a total of about 40 candidates who are being evaluated.
ANNOUNCER: What steps have been taken so far to evaluate these candidates?
TERVO: We have requested information from the candidates themselves. We have requested information on the candidates from the church at large, especially from regional district presidents. This information then, has been collected and will be evaluated by the Search Committee in determining which of the 40 people we now have on the candidate list will be asked to provide copies of sermons and sermon tapes for future evaluation of that possibility, as well.
ANNOUNCER: And how will you make your final selection?
TERVO: The Search Committee will be recommending one, two or possibly three candidates to the governing board of Lutheran Hour Ministries, the governing board of the Lutheran Laymen’s League. They will evaluate these top candidates and make the selection of the person to be Lutheran Hour Speaker.
ANNOUNCER: How long do you think the process will take?
TERVO: We do not have a hard “due date” for the process to be completed. It is expected, however, the new Lutheran Hour Speaker will be announced sometime perhaps this summer.
ANNOUNCER: Will we continue to have two speakers on the program?
TERVO: That is the current plan. We have had two speakers on the Lutheran Hour program, two English language speakers for many years now. We plan to continue to do that.
ANNOUNCER: Very good. We’ve been talking with Wes Tervo, chairman of the Lutheran Hour Speakers Search Committee. He joined us by phone from his home in Connecticut. Wes, thanks for joining us.
TERVO: Thank you, Mark.
“Special Interview” (Q&A 69-24) February 24, 2002
ANNOUNCER: We’re talking once again with Pastor Ken Klaus from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dallas, Texas. Pastor Klaus is the author of this year’s Lenten devotion booklet. The title is, “The Savior Said to Me.” Now, Pastor Klaus, preachers on cable TV are always claiming to have spoken with the Lord last night and they share some new revelation. That’s not what you’re talking about, though, is it?
KLAUS: Not at all. The revelation that God gave to us in His Holy Word is a revelation for all times, all places, and all people. What the Lord does, in His infinite wisdom and power, is the ability to touch us not in a general way but in a specific way. Going back to God’s Word we find the truth that touches the heart and soul of every individual on this planet. All of us are on a search. All of us are looking for the ultimate answers to the giant questions of life. In His Holy Word through the passion of Jesus Christ through His suffering, His death, and above all His resurrection, we find the answers to those questions.
ANNOUNCER: I think it’s important the book is titled, “The Savior Said to Me” instead of just, “God Said to Me.” Do you agree?
KLAUS: Absolutely. We’re not talking about the generic religions of the world. Christianity stands unique. All the other religions of the world offer some method whereby humanity can work its way up to God. Of course, that means they’re going to fail miserably because we’re never sure we’ve managed to reach perfection. If we look within our hearts, we find we’ve never reached anything close to perfection. In Christianity we have God’s truth that says, “He, in His love and in His grace that is beyond our understanding, came down to earth. He reached down to pull us up from the sin–the quagmire of our soul–and gave us a gift, eternal life, pure and simple.
ANNOUNCER: In one sense these devotions are talking about “objective reality being received by our subjective experience.” Is that a good way of describing it?
KLAUS: Objective reality is something that God promotes. How I receive that is determined by where I am with my walk with the Lord. The Holy Spirit touches each of us in our needs, where we are, and takes that absolute truth of God and makes it a truth for our lives.
ANNOUNCER: Pastor Klaus, these devotions are really about an objective reality being received by the individual. It’s about what the life and death of Jesus means for me. At the same time I’m not allowed to interpret this in a way that it could mean anything I want it to mean.
KLAUS: Exactly. Jesus came in this world to give us God’s truth. That’s not one truth of many. It’s not a multitude of truths where you pick one or another. Jesus called Matthew from the tax collector’s table. He came to raise an individual named Lazarus from the dead. Blind Bartimaeus rejoiced that Jesus had come for his sight. Even from the cross as Jesus died for the sins of humanity, He promised eternal life to a single thief that hung by His side. When you see Jesus, you see Him summoning us from the specific sins and healing us from our individual hurts. God’s universal truth becomes my specific salvation.
ANNOUNCER: We’re talking with Pastor Ken Klaus, the author of this year’s Lenten devotion booklet titled, “The Savior Said to Me.” We’d like you, our audience, to receive a free copy of this by calling the Lutheran.