March 12, 2023

Well …today I’m hoping to hear the lovely sound of your laughter … but couldn’t find any fresh humour that seemed suitable, so I’m reusing some of those 2010 questions written to a Dr. Laura who insisted that the Bible is against homosexuality because of something in Leviticus (18:22). The American letter writer asks her about other life situations, like this one: “1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?” Or this one: “5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?” One more: “7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?” https://www.americamagazine.org/.../dr-laura-and-leviticus

In today’s gospel story of the Samaritan woman at the well, we find the longest conversation that Jesus has with anyone in the gospels – I did not know that until this week – did you? Of all the sources making biblical commentaries on this beloved gospel story, the most fascinating one I found was from Jennifer Garcia Bashaw who is an Associate Professor of New Testament & Christian Ministry in North Carolina https://www.workingpreacher.org/.../commentary-on-john-45....

Garcia Bashaw points out that the story is much more complex and interesting than its usual interpretation of a sinful woman whom Jesus leads to some kind of conversion. In fact, Jesus says nothing about her being a sinner. As to why Jesus asks about her husband, after discussing some theological differences between the Jews and Samaritans, Garcia Bashaw points out that some key Old Testament stories have wells as scenes of finding future spouses, and John’s listeners would have known that:

“And with Jesus’ mention of husbands, John finally gives the audience what they had been expecting—a reference to marriage. What they did not expect, though, was that the woman in the scene was not a blushing soon-to-be bride but a wedding-weary woman. Preachers love to play up the scandal of the woman’s multiple husbands, characterizing the Samaritan as a serial divorcée or an unfaithful tramp. But these interpretations stray from the actual story, injecting modern sensibilities (and sometimes misogynistic assumptions). Neither Jesus nor the Gospel writer make a value statement about the five husbands; it is likely that the woman’s past is not her fault. As a woman, she could not initiate divorce; she could have also been widowed and remarried multiple times.”

Garcia Bashaw goes on to say that when the woman mentions the Messiah, and Jesus says “I am he” – this is the first of the ‘I am’ statements in John’s gospel, and the only time he reveals this truth to another person. That he chooses a Samaritan and (gasp) a woman – shows us Jesus’ new way -- in which all people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or social standing – are invited to the Messianic banquet of compassionate love.

Today’s epistle from Romans 5 is another popular and memorable Bible reading, especially verses 3-5: “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Sometimes our sufferings make us feel like failures. As Rev. Wayne said in his January sermon – our relationships can be the source of both our greatest joys and our greatest sorrows. I felt like jumping up and saying “AMEN! Preach it, Brother!” Family relationships are often perfect examples of how much suffering can come to us in a context where we’d hoped for love, joy and peace. At Bible Study last week, we also discussed how Prince Harry’s situation, despite its problematic and embarrassing elements, helps us to see that any and many families have conflictual problems, misunderstandings and other relational stumbling blocks. So our family problems can seem more normal now, since the royal family has them too. Perhaps we can also take comfort in the fact that St Paul speaks of boasting or rejoicing in his or their (‘our’) sufferings … since our difficulties often teach us greater lessons than all those times of ‘smooth sailing’ through life, right? Apparently there’s a Chinese character that means both crisis and opportunity, or danger and opportunity. And in philosophy class we learned about Hegel’s dialectic and other thought systems which point out that it’s when an idea is contradicted or challenged, that a new resolution can come about. So we should not be afraid if we live in times of great contradictions, since that’s the route to seeing a new vision about the future.

Jesus behaved in surprising ways in our gospel today – contradicting a number of rules for the society of that time. Seems like he went out of his way to do so! In light of that, I don’t blame the Israelites in our first reading for daring to ask for water to drink. News flash – the Creator created us to not be able to survive without water. It’s hard to believe that this is a surprise to Moses, and even harder to believe it’s a surprise to God. Like in the letter to Dr Laura, sometimes people are overly confident that they know what God is like. You and I might make that same error at times. When we get too sure of ourselves, perhaps the Holy Spirit, who loves to surprise us, might trip us up in some way, large or small. These are, perhaps the kinds of sufferings that St Paul is referring to – sufferings that are invitations to greater maturity in life and faith. May we be found with open minds and hearts to receive those surprising blessings in disguise, like the woman at the well – surprised by Jesus, but happy to hear his new message of loving inclusion, Amen.