Grounded in Creation: Water (Part 1)

 The text for this Sunday is the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria at the well. It's found in John, chapter 4. Here are a few preliminary thoughts...

This story begins with an interesting sentence. It tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria. Now, I'm pretty certain Jesus didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do. And, if you look at a map, there were other routes from Galilee south to Judea. Easier routes, honestly. Rather than to traverse through a countryside populated with people considered enemies to the Jews. All, as is so often the case, because of one doctrinal conflict. But, why did he have to go through Samaria? 

Jesus makes his way through Samaria. And stops, not coincidentally, at a well connected to Jacob. And that is actually called Jacob's well. It's in an area called Shechem, which is the first piece of land Jacob bought upon returning to what would become "the Promised Land." It's a physical link from the patriarchs to Jesus - a place of connection. That's what wells were in ancient times - a place where people would come to gather their water in the morning, when it was cool. So it was a meeting-place, too.

But, the woman in this story comes at noon - the hottest part of the day. There's not a good explanation for this in the actual text. There's been a lot of conjecture that because, at least how this story has been told for centuries, she was a woman of "questionable" character. So, in her shame and to avoid others, she would come to the well at midday, an time when she would be unlikely to meet anyone else. There's more about this interpretation further down. 

So, Jesus stops there on his way through Samaria. He's hot. And tired. And she arrives and begins to draw water. Notice that Jesus asks her to draw water for him. That's the way Jesus is - always trying to move into relationship. Particularly with those who, at least in Jesus' day, would be considered on the edge of society. In her case, likely because she was female. But also, because - we learn - that she has had multiple husbands and is now living with someone who we learn is not her husband.

Karoline Lewis, in her commentary on the gospel of John, talks alot about this, pushing back on the many centuries of patriarchal interpretation that always seem to shame her. To diminish her. Lewis argues that there are many different explanations possible for this. One of these could be that of levirate marriage. Levirate marriage was a Levitical requirement to ensure that women who were widowed would be protected, both physically and financially, as well as, to continue the patrilineal line. It is very possible that this woman could have been widowed more than once and legitimately living with a brother-in-law as she would be essentially "passed down" the family line. It's hard for us, with a 21st century framework, to understand how this might have been a good thing.

All of this is to say that there are other potential explanations for her situation that are not shame-inducing. Or that seek to diminish her. Notice that nowhere in the story does Jesus condemn her. So, how do you build "connection" (see paragraph 2 above)? Or rather what don't you do, in order to build connection? I would you don't condemn someone. Just as Jesus didn't condemn her.

My focus, though, this week is on water. That, too, is a focus of this story. But, I'm not quite there yet. So...to be continued...

Peace,

Karleen

Grounded in Creation: Earth

NOTE: It has been many months since I have posted sermons on this site, and for many reasons. I moved to Minnesota from Kentucky. I completed my Doctor of Ministry degree. And, mostly, my style of preaching has moved away from "preaching at" to more of "speaking with" - a much more conversational style of faith formation. Don't get me wrong - I love me a good preacher and a good sermon. For me, though, in a time when biblical literacy seems nearly non-existent in our culture, I find this to be a more effective and less-hierarchical way of leading my community of faith in conversation. Together. From now on, my posts will more fully reflect my thinking and movement through the weekly texts, rather than a sermon. There are occasions, however, when I feel the need to "preach at." This past week was one of those moments. 

This week's readings were from the first and second chapter of Genesis...

"When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humans in his image,    

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." (Genesis 1:1-2:3 NRSVue)

...and from Matthew...

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!” (Matthew 13:1-9 NRSVue)

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It’s been a week, hasn’t it? I intended to do something very different this morning, to engage more in conversation together rather than one-directional preaching. But the events of this past week and, particularly, yesterday led me to completely rethink my message to you this morning. I recognize that, in doing so, I am also speaking from a position of power. Yet, I hope that, in my words, you hear my own deep lament and sadness over what is happening in our world. 

You know that I have lived in many different places. And, yet, I grew up here, in the upper Midwest. Specifically in South Dakota, which, we here in Minnesota like to think we are very different from. Yet, there are times when we are very much alike. My hometown was not particularly diverse. Like much of Minnesota, most people living there were of Northern European ancestry, mostly German. The only people of color were Native Americans. But, to be truthful, they were very much on the fringe of the small town where I grew up.

Moving to southern California changed my experience. At first, not that drastically. Because I landed in Orange County, which at that time was mostly white. And conservative. But then, mostly because of work, I began to move closer into Los Angeles. Eventually landing in an area just a couple of miles west of downtown. Exactly seven minutes on streets to the heart of Los Angeles.

My neighborhood was wildly diverse. White, Filipino, Korean, Mexican, Central American, queer - all of us living together. There was no dominant race or ethnic group in my neighborhood, where I lived for almost 15 years. We didn’t always agree. Sometimes our cultures clashed. But, it was there, in that urban neighborhood where I really began to understand what the phrase “shared humanity” meant.

You and I, we are created out of the dust of the ground. In the original Hebrew, there is a play on words in that first chapter of Genesis. God takes dirt or earth - in the Hebrew, adamah, to form a human - in the Hebrew adam. Not, in this chapter, a man named Adam, but a being. A non-gendered being - male and female our text tells us - from the dust of the ground. One translation I love translates this adam to read “Earth Creature.” This is the story of all humanity - in this one being. A being God calls “good.” 

We are connected. We are connected to all creation through the dust of our beings. And we are also connected to all humanity. We share our humanity with all people. People of different races and ethnicities. People of different sexualities and gender identities. We are part of a shared humanity created by God. A humanity for which God desires shalom. And not just for us as humans, but for all creation. This is the narrative of all of scripture. That we might have peace and wholeness within ourselves, with one another, and with the entire created world. Because, in God’s eyes, all creation - human and otherwise - is called good. Very good. No one or no thing is outside that label.

But, we also know that there is deep brokenness within us, in our shared humanity, and in creation right now. It is impossible for me to believe that God condones the violence and ugly displays of power and dominance of this past week. The small number of protestors who resorted to violence and vandalism, diminishing the peaceful protests of the millions. The few law enforcement officers who, rather than seeking to de-escalate tense situations, instead shoot projectiles with little justification. Those elected leaders who, rather than working toward peace through cooperation and dialogue, demand power and control through authoritarian tactics. Masked immigration officers showing up at graduations, in courthouses, in workplaces, in churches, tearing apart families and leaving children abandoned - all to fill some ridiculous quota with no regard for their humanity. A humanity that, again, we all share with one another by virtue of our created source, who is God. And dirt. 

And then there are the events of yesterday still unfolding. An assassination of a political leader and her husband and the serious wounding of another leader and his wife. An act that Jesus understands. That Jesus experienced. Who, too, was assassinated out of fear - fear for who he was and what he taught. Namely, that God’s kingdom is about love. And peace. And joy.

If you are here thinking that you and I do not fall into any of these human categories seeking power and dominance, I would remind you again of the source of our creation. Earth. And I would suggest to you that we all have the different kinds of soil within us as those mentioned in the Matthew reading. The rocky soil - that part of us that may first hear the message of God’s kingdom with joy, but that never allows it to take deep root in us, especially when we are challenged for our belief or experience trouble because of it. Then, there’s the thorny soil within us. That hears the message of love, but because we are so consumed with our own pocketbooks and our own selfish worries, that it quickly gets choked out. And, yes, there is that good soil within us. That hears the nature of God’s kingdom of love. That takes it to heart. And that lives it. 

What’s the proportion of these different soils within you? My guess is that we are all a messy and imperfect mix of the three. 

Yet, as we know from the story of creation, things can grow - life can take root - in any kind of soil - any kind of chaos - through the grace of God, who, as we heard in that Genesis story and as we know through the cross, can bring life out of death, beauty out of chaos - even in the most challenging of conditions. There is surprising fruit that can be borne out of the dirt of our hearts. Fruit that recognizes our shared creation with the earth. Fruit that honors the humanity of all people, that recognizes that in God’s kingdom there are no national borders and no one is illegal. Fruit that loves the wild and extravagant diversity of all of God’s good creation - human and otherwise. 

This week - as we continue to try to find our way through the chaos and tumult of our world - I encourage you to return to your dusty beginnings. To use your God-given senses to experience creation. To remind yourself of your origin story and of your connection to our created world and our shared humanity. So, that, through the power of God’s spirit, you might be the good soil in a world that is desperate for nourishing, for growth and new life. Amen.