Jesus: Barrier Breaker   by John Hinton

Welcome: 

Welcome to worship at home, we begin with a Prayer of Approach:

Unconfined God, we are thankful that you are for the whole of life and not just for the sacred hours, not just for the sanctified spaces, not just for the right-thinkers and not just for the acceptable folk!  Amen

Lord’s Prayer

StF 248: I heard the voice of Jesus say

Message:

Todays gospel reading tells the story of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well - it is the only time in the gospel accounts that a whole chapter is devoted to Jesus’s encounter with someone! But before we hear it, we need to remind ourselves of the context – Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, enters into a conversation with a Samaritan woman- Jews and Samaritans were at that time bitter enemies and the conversation occurs at a sensitive location, a shrine on Mount Gerizim – that itself was the source of a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans that dated back 300 years! We religious folk know how to argue!  

John 4: 5-42

There is so much we could explore in this story, but I would like us to think about two things. Firstly, how Jesus used the opportunity of a very ordinary encounter - it started with him simply being thirsty & asking for a drink - to share his kingdom message; and what that might mean for us. Secondly, how in this one encounter, Jesus challenged so many taboos, broke so many barriers; and what that too might mean for us.

As Christians we know that we are challenged to evangelise, to share our faith and bring others to hear the message of Jesus. We know that … but we also know how hard it can be, how daunting it can appear. But it is so often a case of grabbing an opportunity and seeing where it may lead. When Jesus asked for a drink of water to satisfy his thirst did he know that he would end up staying for two days sharing his message with a whole village? I suspect not, but when the conversation opened up then Jesus took the opportunity to move the dialogue on from drinking water to living water. From quenching his thirst to feeding their souls. We too will get opportunities to share our faith with others, often in the ordinariness of life, but will we take them?

Moving onto the second point. Jesus was given many titles by his followers either at the time or over the decades following his life as the church began to evolve. Messiah, Advocate, Good Shepherd, High Priest , Immanuel, Lamb of God, Light of the world … and so on! I would humbly like to suggest another title, that of Barrier-breaker.  Like now, Jesus’s world was full of taboos, of divisions, of social, cultural and religious segregation. Time and again we read how Jesus broke those barriers. He embraced the outcast & the leper,  he responded to the touch of the woman who was haemorrhaging even though in that state she was classed as impure, he ate with those considered sinners, he forgave the lawbreakers, he spent time with tax collectors, he cured people on the Sabbath and in this one encounter Jesus broke so many barriers: he spoke to a woman who was alone, he asked to share a cup with a Samaritan, he continued in conversation when her somewhat dubious history became clear and the conversation itself took place at a very controversial place for the Jews. Jesus - barrier-breaker! If we seek to follow Jesus then surely, surely we too are called to be barrier breakers. How sad then that the church, over the centuries up to and including the present day, has so often erected barriers rather than break them down. Barriers based on wealth, on colour, on denomination, on sex, on sexual orientation and gender identity. How wrong is it that the church so often lags behind society when it comes to accepting and loving those who are different? The church should lead and society follow not the other way around….. and if our churches so often fail we, as individual Christians, should lead the way!

StF 255: The kingdom of God 

Prayer of Intercession:

God of wisdom, we pray for those who thirst for knowledge. Bless researchers seeking to find ways to eliminate disease in order to bring healing and hope to sufferers and their families. Guide and inspire them in their quest. 

Quench their thirst with your living water. God of mercy, we pray for those who thirst for justice. We hold before you those who work throughout the legal system May they be conscientious in pursuing the truth Quench their thirst with your living water.

God of compassion, we pray for those who thirst for healing and restoration across our world and for all those who are suffering as a result of warfare. 

Quench their thirst with your living water God of love, we pray for those who thirst for your presence and your healing touch. Be near to those who are sick in hospitals and at home and to those who care for them.

Quench their thirst with your living water We pray in the name of Jesus who offers living water to all Amen

StF 706: Longing for light