Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent A Family Reunion
Theme: Jesus became your big brother when you were baptized. No one knows more about you than He. Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus sits by a well and sees straight through the woman who comes there to draw water. Dear Christian friends, In many cases, there is hardly anyone who knows you better than your family. Yes, there may be some parents who do not pay attention very well, and as a result, that do not know very much about what is going on with their children; yes, there are children who have become masters at living double lives, seeming to be one person with their parents and an entirely different person with their friends; yes, or some families that have been wrecked and some have never learned how to communicate very well. Even so, there is in many families no place to hide. No one has seen more of the nitty-gritty in your life than your mother or your brother. No one witnessed more of you at your worst than your father or your wife. While such intimacy can be a great source of amusement during family reunions and a wonderful comfort in moments of family, it also exposes you to danger. The closer you are to your family, the greater potential for injury: · When people know about your past, they can hold it against you when they get angry at you in the present—even if they are your closest loved ones. Very likely, you use the past against your family, and they have used it against you. Just think about those family arguments (or better, family wars) that drag all the skeletons out of the family closet. “You always run and hide during family crisis, leaving me holding the bag.” “Cousin Hank is such a drama queen that he always makes things worse than they are.” “Every time Aunt Sally brings her children over for a visit, I need to repair something in my house.” “Brother Billy was selfish when we were children and he hasn’t changed a bit.” “I don’t talk to Sister Sue any more because she did thus-and-such thirty years ago and never said she was sorry for it.” · The past is always with you when you are with your family. Even when you are not at war, these people can easily be constant, living reminders of things you would rather forget. Here is a common example: A divorce that took place decades ago will inevitably come to mind every holiday season, as the children try to figure out whether the grandkids should see grandma at Thanksgiving and grandpa at Christmas, or vice versa. Listen again to part of today’s Gospel. As you do, give thought to your family and think about the potential for personal injury that is part of being in a family: Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” Jesus is a prophet, but He is not so much speaking as a prophet in this Gospel. Jesus is speaking more like this woman’s closest family member. Jesus is speaking like a brother. When you are with Jesus, as with any other close family member, there is no place for you to hide. By speaking so intimately and so directly with her, Jesus places this woman into a very troubling spot, an exposed spot that might possibly lead to ridicule or condemnation. Most likely, this woman has been such a spot before. Not many people come to the well during “the sixth hour,” that is, hottest part of the day. This Gospel reads like this woman was trying to avoid people. (She probably wasn’t too popular with some of the people in town, and she was probably way too popular with the others.) When you avoid people, you can avoid the past and all of the pain that it brings you in the present. But you cannot avoid your family, and there sat Jesus beside the well when a woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Go, call your husband, and come here.” “I have no husband.” “You are right” St. John’s Gospel is all about baptism. Last week you heard Jesus explain to Nicodemus, Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit… You must be born again (John 3:3, 5-7). Stated another way, Baptism is your birth into God’s family, the family of the Spirit. “That which is born of Spirit is spirit.” If last week’s Gospel showed you how you become part of God’s family, this week’s Gospel shows you the kind of family you get when you are baptized. You get Jesus as your older brother, and Jesus knows absolutely everything about you, even those things you would much rather have everyone forget. But unlike the closeness of our birth families, which exposes both you and your loved ones to certain dangers, there is no danger at all when you are part of Jesus’ family. “Go, call your husband, and come here.” “I have no husband.” “You are right” Jesus gives you something that you will likely find yourself hard pressed to find even in the finest of families: Jesus gives you complete honesty without condemnation. Jesus gives you total acceptance without reservation. Jesus, fully knowing your past, holds none of it against you. There is no angry sneer when brother Jesus speaks to this woman; there is only acceptance and welcome. There is no club that Jesus swings in anger and there isn’t any “I know too much about you.” There is just Jesus and the living water He brings to this woman—Jesus and the living water He brings to you. Jesus most certainly exposes this woman’s sin and guilt and past regrets. Exposure is inevitable when you are with your family. Nobody knows you better than your family. But Jesus exposes in order to forgive. Jesus points to this woman’s parched past in order to wash her refresh her with the living water of His eternal life. Jesus’ Words to this woman, “I who speak to you am He,” are nothing short of forgiveness and life. “Go, call your husband, and come here.” “I have no husband.” “You are right” These Words speak to the ongoing blessing of your Baptism. Whenever you feel the weight of your sins, think of your big Brother, Jesus, sitting by the well of your eternal life, forgiving you all your sins. Whenever you find yourself exposed on account of your past, think of today’s Gospel. Jesus knows all about your past and Jesus refuses to hold any of it against you. Whenever you feel the withered by regret, think of the living water of your Baptism, and rejoice in the refreshment He has poured out for you there. ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons-...@cat41.org Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
