Never Thirsty Again

 

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” (John 4:7-14 ESV).

 

Today (Friday, July 14^th) I had a few projects I wanted to get done before my time got away from me. I really needed to replace all the burner tubes and crossover tubes in my grill; then, I wanted to finish sanding one of the pieces of furniture I’m building for Faith; and, finally, I wanted to hop on the tractor and mow. It seemed a reasonable “list.” However, the grill project turned into a much bigger job than I thought it would be. After fighting with the screws holding the tubes in place, I surrendered to the necessity of grinding them off. That precipitated a trip to the big box hardware store for screws, washers, and nuts. All the while the temperature was climbing into triple digits. Even two bottles of water and one bottle of iced tea didn’t slake my thirst. That’s the picture we see Jesus use in our reading.

 

I am often accused of over-emphasizing “relationship” with the Lord. Yet, I find it true that it is so little spoken off correctly in today’s “Churchianity” that I’m not sure it can be over-emphasized. We have seen a version of faith that centers on the church as a social organization, rather than on our relationship with God. That will not ever end well. Church involvement is good, but it must never take the place of faith. When that happens, I am compelled to remind people of the greater gift that Jesus offers. Jesus did not come just to make us busy volunteers or to get us to donate to the church’s ministries. Jesus came to invite us into God’s presence.

 

Through Jesus, we are brought into a loving relationship with God. And it is in this relationship that we find forgiveness, healing, and purpose. Belonging to a church is an important part of being a disciple. But in this passage, we are reminded that the purpose of the church isn’t merely to make ourselves busy or to create a comfortable worship service. It’s to facilitate the presence of God — to give you and me the chance to drink the “water welling up to eternal life.” That’s the water that will never leave you thirsty again!