In today’s gospel reading from John Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that if she listens to him, she will find within herself “living water”.  He uses the image of a spring of water pouring out eternal life.  I’d like to reflect on this scene.

First of all, the woman – this Samaritan woman.  She is by no means a likely or a worthy person for Jesus to be talking with.  Not a likely person – simply because she’s a woman.  According to the cultural and religious norms of his day Jesus is plainly misbehaving.  As a rabbi he is not supposed to even talk with women in public – especially about such a male-only topic as religion.  But he does!  And in doing so Jesus breaks through a barrier made by human hearts – and he challenges us to break through our own barriers.  Jesus is telling us the unlikely people in our lives also have a spring within them pouring forth eternal life.  Who are they?  Surely we have them – the unlikely people.  Jesus is telling us God’s life, God’s Spirit leaps up in them.  Are we listening?  Are we listening to Jesus?

The Samaritan woman is also not a worthy person for Jesus to be talking with.  From the dialogue we know she’s five times married and is presently living with someone not her husband.  But there’s something else in the story that calls her worthiness further into question.  In the Mediterranean world of Jesus’ time life was strictly compartmentalized according to gender.  Women had their place – the kitchen and home.  Men had their place – the farming fields and the marketplace.  But both had the village well in common.  Both needed water.  Yet they were not permitted to visit the well at the same time.  Women could use the well only in the morning and the evening.  But here in the gospel story the woman comes to the well at noon.  She is coming to the well deliberately at a time when only men will be there.  She wants to be the only woman at the well.  It seems she’s on the prowl again – looking for husband number six!  And there’s Jesus!

Now Jesus should certainly not be talking with that kind of woman.  But he does!  And in doing so Jesus breaks through another barrier and invites us to do the same.  He is telling us the so-called “unworthy” people also have living water within them.  Eternal life is theirs.  Who are our unworthy people?  We have them, don’t we?  And what are the unworthy parts of our own lives?  We have them too, don’t we?  Jesus is telling us God’s life, God’s Spirit gushes forth in those we think unworthy.  It even gushes forth in our own unworthy lives.  But are we listening?  Are we listening to Jesus?

For Jesus words like “unlikely” and “unworthy” simply do not apply when it comes to God’s presence.  And how fortunate we are that God does not share our sense of propriety and moral correctness.  God does not know where he’s not supposed to go.  God is present in our homes – and in our abortion clinics.  God is present in our schools – and in our porno shops.  God is present in Washington – and in Teheran, present in Rome – and in Mecca.  Jesus’ God is very careless – very careless about our rules.  God really couldn’t care less about our barrier-rules.

Lent is a time for learning to become careless.  It’s a time for breaking through all those barriers we set up to God’s presence.  Lent is a holy season for learning that worthiness – our worthiness is not God’s issue at all.  Now it may be our issue.  And it may be an issue for some church people and church leaders.  But it is not God’s issue.

Lent is a special time – a grace-filled time for finding the living water within us all.  And then, like the Samaritan woman, we will really have good news to tell others.  We have found the Messiah!  We have found the savior of the world!