Episode 55: Once Justice Rolls, then the Water Will Flow or Lent 3A
Opening Music: Water Changes Everything
For Sunday, March 16, 2014
Episode 55
Welcome to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, where two local pastors discuss the lectionary reading for the week.
Sound of pouring a glass of water
We are Blessed.
This is episode 55 for Sunday March 23, the third week of Lent year A.
Sponsorship
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Check-in
- World Water Day - Find resources for education, advocacy and worship here!
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- about every 19 seconds a mother loses a child due to a water-related illness.
- Amazing video on the water crisis
- UCC documentary “Troubled Waters”
- Shout out to Marla Shrader for the title of the podcast
- about every 19 seconds a mother loses a child due to a water-related illness.
Primary Scripture - John 4:5-42 - Living Water
- Initial thoughts
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- The story of the first evangelist.
- Jesus as Sherlock, knows intuitively (deductively?) that the woman has been married five times.
- The story of the first evangelist.
- Bible Study
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- Structure:
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- Samaritan Woman
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- Living Water (never go thirsty)
- True Worship (all will worship spirit and truth)
- Living Water (never go thirsty)
- Disciples
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- Spiritual Food (doing the will of God)
- Mission Field (many workers gain eternal life)
- Spiritual Food (doing the will of God)
- Samaritan People
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- Paved path toward the time that is coming
- Declare that Jesus is the savior of the world (they do this before Nicodemus, before John the Baptist,
- Paved path toward the time that is coming
- Samaritan Woman
- Geography - Walking from Judea to Galilee, it is nearly impossible to not pass through Samaria.
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- Samaritans did not submit to Temple authority. Did not recognize Jerusalem as the place of worship.
- Samaritan Temple stood on Mount Gerizim
- When Jesus says “The time is coming when you and your people will worship on neither this mountain nor in Jerusalem,” alluding to the coming destruction of the Temple, which occurred in 70, years before John was written.
- Story of a Samaritan being accepted into a Jewish group would have still been controversial at the time of John’s writing. This story could be seen as evidence of Jewish-Samaritan healing (Gerard Sloyan, Interpretation: John, p. 56)
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- This could have also further alienated the Johannine community from the mainline Jewish community, thus much of the anti-Jewish language found in Gospel.
- This could have also further alienated the Johannine community from the mainline Jewish community, thus much of the anti-Jewish language found in Gospel.
- Samaritans did not submit to Temple authority. Did not recognize Jerusalem as the place of worship.
- The Woman - cultural baggage
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- Married five times. A lot of cultural judgment has been heaped on this woman.
- Jesus treats her with respect, and she is a worthy conversant.
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- “The Samaritan woman is, in fact, one of the most theologically informed persons in the Fourth Gospel. She knows the regulations about ritual purity (verse 9), ancestral traditions of Israel (verse 12), the necessity to worship at a valid temple (verses 19-20), and the expectation of a Messiah (verse 25). She is, in short, conversant in Samaritan theology [which is not surprising since, unlike Jews, Samaritans educated religiously both male and female children], and Jesus takes her as seriously as a discussion partner as he did Nicodemus in the preceding chapter (pgs. 83-84)” quoted from UMBOD worship planning helps.
- “The Samaritan woman is, in fact, one of the most theologically informed persons in the Fourth Gospel. She knows the regulations about ritual purity (verse 9), ancestral traditions of Israel (verse 12), the necessity to worship at a valid temple (verses 19-20), and the expectation of a Messiah (verse 25). She is, in short, conversant in Samaritan theology [which is not surprising since, unlike Jews, Samaritans educated religiously both male and female children], and Jesus takes her as seriously as a discussion partner as he did Nicodemus in the preceding chapter (pgs. 83-84)” quoted from UMBOD worship planning helps.
- Jesus approached her, unlike Nicodemus who approached Jesus, yet she goes away with new understanding, and Nicodemus simply fades away.
- Goes to testify to Jesus who, “knew everything I’ve done.” She asks the questions, “Can this man be the Christ?”
- After staying in Samaria two days, the people answer her question, and declare “this is truly the savior of the world.”
- Married five times. A lot of cultural judgment has been heaped on this woman.
- Misunderstanding between water and living water (like born and born again)
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- Living water - Understood simply to be water that is moving, life giving, able to drink. Jesus means more.
- Never go thirsty alludes to eternal nature of what Jesus is offering.
- Time is coming - when all true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth.
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- True worshipers can include Jews or Samaritans.
- Divisions between the people are not “true,” unity in truth and spirit is what is “true.”
- True worshipers can include Jews or Samaritans.
- Living water - Understood simply to be water that is moving, life giving, able to drink. Jesus means more.
- Disciples show up, misunderstand about food.
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- “I have food to eat that you don’t know about,” Jesus says. Disciples respond, “Did someone bring him food?”
- “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me.” Again, misunderstanding about earthly and spiritual.
- Develops the metaphor around sowing and reaping. The fields are ripe for the harvest, which is shown by Samaritans’ acceptance and conversion, which comes next.
- “I have food to eat that you don’t know about,” Jesus says. Disciples respond, “Did someone bring him food?”
- Structure:
- Preaching Thoughts and Questions:
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- How do you and I come to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord, our Savior, our Messiah? What life-transforming encounter with him changed our hearts and minds and caused us to want to go and tell others the good news? from UMBOD Lectionary Planning.
- When you are running on empty, how are you refilled? Both pastors and lay people need to take time to be filled with the Spirit. Sabbath and Fasting are powerful tools to take care of spiritual thirsty.
- Where is your field? Are you in it? Are you building bridges or strengthening walls? Are you going into the field to sow and reap, or counting your savings in the storehouse?
- How do you and I come to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord, our Savior, our Messiah? What life-transforming encounter with him changed our hearts and minds and caused us to want to go and tell others the good news? from UMBOD Lectionary Planning.
Psalm Song - “Let Us Shout for Joy” by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
click the above link for lyrics and more of Richard’s great music!
Secondary scripture - Psalm 95 - Make a Joyful Noise
- Initial thoughts
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- Check out Joan Stott’s Timeless Psalms (and from 2011)
- Happy Psalm in Lent?
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- Read the whole Psalm don’t stop at 7a
- Two parts:
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- Joy in God: Creator and Sustainer of Life and Good Things
- LISTEN TO GOD - stop being dumb and listen, unlike your ancestors who did not
- Joy in God: Creator and Sustainer of Life and Good Things
- Read the whole Psalm don’t stop at 7a
- Check out Joan Stott’s Timeless Psalms (and from 2011)
- Bible Study
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- Worship and Enthronement Psalm (Psalm 47, 93, 95-99)
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- last week, Psalm 121, was a Pilgrim Psalm
- Festival Psalm- most likely recited at major Israelite pilgrim festivals (Rolf Jacobson)
- last week, Psalm 121, was a Pilgrim Psalm
- v.1-5 - Call to Worship
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- Worship is communal - “Let us...” both praise and warning are communal
- Worship is public and loud - “Make a joyful noise”Singing, clapping, stamping feet - People will know you are worshipping
- Worship is a Whole Body experience - “bow down” and “kneel before”
- Worship is God-focused
- If someone walked in your church without knowing it was a church - would they know what was going on? What would they think?
- Worship is communal - “Let us...” both praise and warning are communal
- “Christians still seem to think that in the spiritual realm man is central. We persist in emphasizing what God can do for men, rather than dwelling on man’s duty toward God. We become angry with God or confused when adversity disrupts our lives. It is little wonder that Christians have so much difficulty worshipping God. Worship is God-centered, not man-centered.” Bob Deffinbaugh, Psalm 95: A Warning About Worship
- Listen to God v.8-11
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- Ancestors did not listen
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- Forty years in the wilderness
- Some did not enter the promise land
- Yet- they traveled in God’s presence...GOD DID NOT LEAVE THEM
- Perhaps the problem is they were so focused on the wilderness they failed to see God’s presence
- Forty years in the wilderness
- When we acknowledge the presence of God - what is the proper response? Joyful noise!
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- How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?
- “The message here, in the Lenten season, is that God’s law in its first use remains in effect. Even as God re-commits to the covenantal relationship, even as God remains committed to God’s people, God nevertheless calls the people to obedience. God is holy and God calls the chosen people to holiness in response to God’s grace. For everything there is a season. Lent is the time for this message of joy and reproof.” (Rolf Jacobson)
- How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?
- Meribah and Massah - see Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13, Water from the Rock!
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- In the wilderness with no water
- When we do not share water or ensure water for all aren’t we hardening our hearts to God?
- God provided water - not in rain, but through Moses and his staff - How might God work through us to bring water - to create a world where all people can make a joyful noise?
- In the wilderness with no water
- Ancestors did not listen
- Worship and Enthronement Psalm (Psalm 47, 93, 95-99)
- Preaching Thoughts and Questions:
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- How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?
- For the Israelites joy and penance were not in opposition but were united in worship. How might Christian reclaim this integration of joy and penance?
- If someone walked in your church without knowing it was a church - would they know what was going on? What would they think?
- When we do not share water or ensure water for all aren’t we hardening our hearts to God?
- God provided water - not in rain, but through Moses and his staff - How might God work through us to bring water - to create a world where all people can make a joyful noise?
- How do we reveal the presence of God in our midst (even when in the wilderness)?
Psalm Song - “Let Us Shout for Joy” by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
click the above link for lyrics and more of Richard’s great music!
Quick Thoughts on the other Scripture:
Exodus 17:1-7
- See the above discussion
- People did not see the blessing of God’s presence
- A view of scarcity as opposed to thanksgiving and abundance
- Can we have a view of abundance in the midst of suffering?
- Justification by faith as demonstrated through works, the two are intrinsically linked
Shout outs:
- Vince Giordano- Your work reminds me of public broadcasting - solid, thoughtful work without all of the carrying on and sensationalism.
- Lori Wimberely @loriwimberley - ty
- Beautiful Child of God @revrenfro, Amazing post on Lent and how we view ourselves. Read it here: http://www.revrenfro.com/1/post/2014/03/seduction-of-inadequacy.html
Our featured musician for Lent is Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, we played his song “Let Us Shout for Joy” which is based on Psalm 95 from his album Sharing the Road, vol. 1 of the Psalms Project.
You can find out more about Richard’s music at worldmaking.net
Our theme music is Misirlou by Dick Dale and the Del Tones and our closing music is “Oh No” by Paul & Storm.
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