WEBVTT 00:00.650 --> 00:02.378 In the name of Jesus. 00:02.554 --> 00:03.470 Amen. 00:04.610 --> 00:11.694 The text of the Samaritan woman at the well is seldom set in the 00:11.732 --> 00:18.458 context of the Gospel's broader presentation of Jesus as one who bears 00:18.554 --> 00:23.390 the Holy Spirit and the one who gives the Holy Spirit. 00:24.610 --> 00:32.518 In John One, we hear the Baptist testify to this when he says, the one 00:32.604 --> 00:38.714 on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, he is the one who 00:38.752 --> 00:41.530 baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 00:42.510 --> 00:48.540 Messiah bears the Spirit in order to give the Spirit to others, 00:48.910 --> 00:51.950 including the Samaritan woman. 00:53.250 --> 01:01.326 In John Four, Jesus promises living water to the Samaritan woman on 01:01.348 --> 01:07.154 the basis of John Seven, where Jesus teaches that out of the heart of 01:07.192 --> 01:11.220 those who believe in him will flow rivers of living water. 01:12.390 --> 01:18.994 We know that this living water he promises to the woman is the Holy 01:19.042 --> 01:21.080 Spirit, the gift of God. 01:22.490 --> 01:27.786 It is the Spirit whom Jesus will give to all who believe in him when 01:27.808 --> 01:29.930 he's glorified on the cross. 01:30.670 --> 01:37.050 Here in John Four, Jesus includes the woman in this promise. 01:38.590 --> 01:44.046 She will receive from Jesus the indwelling of the Spirit, who will 01:44.068 --> 01:50.640 flow from her like a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. 01:52.050 --> 01:58.690 The Spirit is the water of life that quenches all spiritual thirst, 02:00.710 --> 02:06.440 and life is never the same after you drink this water. 02:08.330 --> 02:13.606 The blessings that follow from Jesus giving of the Spirit to the 02:13.628 --> 02:15.720 Samaritan woman are many. 02:16.650 --> 02:22.300 But all point to one thing the end of the old life. 02:22.830 --> 02:29.322 Life according to the flesh and the beginning of a new life, a new 02:29.376 --> 02:31.162 birth from above. 02:31.306 --> 02:36.510 Life according to the Spirit who comes from Jesus. 02:38.530 --> 02:42.110 Remember those before and after commercials? 02:43.170 --> 02:46.640 Before picture bad. 02:47.410 --> 02:50.000 The old way of doing things. 02:51.090 --> 02:53.854 After picture great. 02:54.052 --> 02:57.000 A new look, a new life. 02:58.410 --> 02:59.860 The pictures show 03:00.170 --> 03:07.520 significant change, a stark contrast between the old and the new. 03:08.770 --> 03:12.746 If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 03:12.938 --> 03:16.320 The old has gone, the new has come. 03:19.090 --> 03:24.160 Or, in John's language, the flesh profits nothing 03:24.530 --> 03:31.720 but the Spirit gives life. Before and after 03:33.130 --> 03:37.270 it's a bit like going to the optometrist for a checkup. 03:38.190 --> 03:44.346 You see better than before with that new prescription, a new set of 03:44.368 --> 03:52.078 glasses to help you see more clearly, more abundantly. Jesus life given 03:52.164 --> 03:52.846 words 03:53.028 --> 03:59.726 bring with them the life given Spirit, the gift that endures. Who 03:59.748 --> 04:05.300 dwells permanently in the saints, in the Samaritan woman, too. 04:05.829 --> 04:07.940 And now she's as good as new. 04:08.709 --> 04:15.974 She sees life in a new way, not through the eyes of the flesh that 04:16.012 --> 04:22.294 profits nothing, but with the eyes of the Spirit who points her to 04:22.332 --> 04:28.300 Jesus as Messiah, her source of abundant life. 04:30.270 --> 04:37.500 Before and after life is never the same after you drink this water. 04:39.470 --> 04:46.718 There are a series of stark before and after contrasts in the life of 04:46.724 --> 04:56.482 the Samaritan woman. Before life, or between life before Jesus and life 04:56.536 --> 04:59.970 after knowing seeing Jesus. 05:00.870 --> 05:05.846 And the difference lies in the gift of the Spirit who moves the 05:05.868 --> 05:09.110 Samaritan woman's life in another direction. 05:10.409 --> 05:13.270 Here are some of those contrasts. 05:14.810 --> 05:22.442 First, before the gift of the Spirit, the Samaritan woman can only see 05:22.496 --> 05:30.382 life in terms of her lineage her ancestors linked to Jacob, his son 05:30.436 --> 05:33.241 Joseph and the Blessed 05:33.306 --> 05:40.960 Well. After the gift of the Spirit, the Samaritan woman sees her life 05:41.409 --> 05:47.226 in terms of a more lasting lineage in terms of a more enduring 05:47.418 --> 05:54.462 relationship with God through belief in Jesus, who is greater than 05:54.515 --> 05:59.490 Jacob and his son Joseph. United to Jesus. 06:01.370 --> 06:02.734 wedded to Him 06:02.932 --> 06:09.806 she now belongs to a new family, the spiritual fellowship of those who 06:09.828 --> 06:11.950 put their trust in Messiah. 06:12.850 --> 06:15.310 She becomes a member of the church. 06:16.290 --> 06:21.534 She becomes an adopted child of God by the gift of the Spirit of the 06:21.572 --> 06:22.160 Son. 06:23.570 --> 06:29.574 Or to use John's language from the paraclete passages she will not be 06:29.612 --> 06:37.366 left orphaned if she lets go of that well, for Jesus will send to her 06:37.468 --> 06:43.750 the living water of the Spirit an enduring, abiding, indwelling 06:43.830 --> 06:44.730 presence. 06:45.070 --> 06:51.646 The Spirit who will living her and others like her in the unity of a 06:51.668 --> 06:57.594 new family, in the unity of the Church, where we become each other's 06:57.642 --> 07:03.794 brothers and sisters in Christ. Where we become spiritual mothers and 07:03.832 --> 07:05.220 sons to one another. 07:06.710 --> 07:08.306 Mother, here is your son. 07:08.408 --> 07:10.110 Son, here is your mother. 07:10.270 --> 07:15.586 That's the family that the Spirit brings about, and the Samaritan 07:15.618 --> 07:17.480 woman is a part of it. 07:20.409 --> 07:26.994 Another contrast before the gift of the Spirit, the Samaritan woman 07:27.042 --> 07:33.100 can only see devotion to God in terms of a particular dear holy place, 07:33.790 --> 07:38.330 Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritans worshipped. 07:39.390 --> 07:46.894 After the gift of the Spirit, the woman sees devotion to God not so 07:46.932 --> 07:53.686 much in terms of a place, but in terms of Jesus, who is God's truth. 07:53.818 --> 08:01.202 She now worships God in truth, in the Spirit and truth. Or to use 08:01.256 --> 08:06.754 familiar language, she worships the Father through the Son by the Holy 08:06.802 --> 08:14.402 Spirit, because Jesus is God's tabernacle, the temple, God's presence 08:14.466 --> 08:15.586 in our midst. 08:15.778 --> 08:21.914 One not need look for God in Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem for that 08:21.952 --> 08:24.220 matter, where the temple is. 08:25.710 --> 08:31.114 Instead, the Spirit opens the eyes of the woman to know God and come 08:31.152 --> 08:34.080 to him through his Son, Jesus Christ. 08:35.250 --> 08:41.440 God has come to her in Jesus, and she sees this 08:42.210 --> 08:44.240 what she could not see before. 08:45.890 --> 08:51.722 The Spirit points her not to a holy place or building, but to a holy 08:51.786 --> 08:53.440 person, a Holy one. 08:54.130 --> 08:59.220 Jesus the Word may flesh and to his words of life. 09:00.920 --> 09:04.700 Another contrast. 09:06.080 --> 09:12.350 Before the gift of the Spirit, the Samaritan woman could only see life 09:12.720 --> 09:18.220 in terms of her unfulfilled relationships with her previous husbands. 09:19.840 --> 09:24.460 She's a sinner or a victim, an object of guilt or shame. 09:26.920 --> 09:33.700 After the gift of the Spirit, she finds the fullness of life in Jesus 09:35.000 --> 09:43.544 and in telling her people about him, a new found joy in union with 09:43.582 --> 09:44.170 Christ. 09:46.140 --> 09:51.230 Wedded spiritually to him, she finds all that she needs. 09:52.720 --> 09:58.350 Through her union with Jesus, any sins now are washed away. 09:58.880 --> 10:01.740 Her honor is fully restored. 10:03.140 --> 10:10.992 And more than that and because of that, she becomes a witness to 10:11.046 --> 10:17.270 Jesus, an agent, an instrument of his mission in the world. 10:19.640 --> 10:24.340 Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we that different from this woman? 10:26.680 --> 10:31.124 Jesus also gives to you at your Baptismal 10:31.172 --> 10:39.640 Well, the same Holy Spirit he promised to that woman. The same water 10:39.710 --> 10:47.950 that fill her with abundant life, the same gift of God abides in you. 10:49.120 --> 10:51.550 And so the same is true for you. 10:52.660 --> 10:57.010 Life is never the same after you drink this water. 10:59.380 --> 11:05.636 You know, like the Samaritan woman, we too at times find identity in 11:05.658 --> 11:12.020 our heritage and lineage, whether ethnic or religious, whether 11:12.090 --> 11:14.100 temporal or spiritual. 11:15.800 --> 11:22.116 Maybe we are not attached to names like Jacob or Joseph, but perhaps 11:22.228 --> 11:27.256 the names of our families or the names of our spiritual fathers and 11:27.278 --> 11:28.840 mothers in the faith. 11:30.620 --> 11:36.044 These names can, of course, be good, but they can also get in the way 11:36.082 --> 11:41.756 of the fullness of life if they displace the name of Christ from the 11:41.778 --> 11:43.310 center of it all. 11:44.960 --> 11:47.950 So the Spirit gently leads us. 11:48.400 --> 11:51.896 Sometimes he gives us what I call the Holy Ghost 11:51.928 --> 11:53.340 kick in the pants. 11:54.880 --> 11:59.650 Leads us to find our identity once again in Christ. 12:01.530 --> 12:06.910 Just as he led that woman to put her trust in Messiah. 12:08.690 --> 12:13.200 Life is never the same after you drink this water. 12:15.410 --> 12:19.994 You know, like the Samaritan woman, we too can find devotional, 12:20.042 --> 12:26.200 inspiration in venerable places, in holy buildings and 12:27.130 --> 12:30.310 institutions and traditions. 12:31.610 --> 12:37.746 These things could be good too, but they can also get in the way of 12:37.788 --> 12:38.970 true devotion. 12:40.670 --> 12:48.540 The means becomes the end, but the Spirit does not let that happen. 12:49.150 --> 12:57.214 The spirit ultimately leads us, pushes gently to worship in spirit and 12:57.252 --> 13:05.694 truth, to seek God not in holy places per se, but where Holy Jesus 13:05.822 --> 13:13.380 promises to be present and to come to us in his life giving words. 13:14.069 --> 13:23.894 Spoken even now from the pulpit, at the font, at the altar and 13:23.932 --> 13:30.742 wherever two or three brothers and sisters gather in his name to share 13:30.796 --> 13:39.178 the Gospel in mutual consolation and comfort. Life is never the same 13:39.344 --> 13:41.760 after you drink this water. 13:43.569 --> 13:49.614 And like the Samaritan woman, we too could see our lives as one of 13:49.652 --> 13:55.230 limitations, disappointments, failures, sins. 13:56.930 --> 13:59.380 We have sinned and we have been sinned against. 14:02.310 --> 14:05.250 We have shamed others and we have been shamed. 14:07.370 --> 14:13.862 And we could dwell on these things that bring guilt and shame and 14:13.915 --> 14:17.670 relive them in our minds and in our hearts. 14:19.150 --> 14:22.490 We need healing, we need restoration. 14:25.630 --> 14:29.382 Rather than dwelling on these things, Jesus sends the Spirit to dwell 14:29.446 --> 14:39.840 in us, to assure us of his ever present companionship and love for us. 14:40.930 --> 14:51.294 Spirit to dwell in us, to bind our wounds, to forgive and restore, and 14:51.332 --> 14:56.662 to make us then also joyful participants in Christ's mission to tell 14:56.716 --> 14:59.650 others in our community Messiah 15:00.090 --> 15:00.880 has come. 15:01.410 --> 15:09.200 Come and see that the Lord is good. Friends in Christ. 15:09.650 --> 15:17.134 People of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed quenched your thirst for 15:17.172 --> 15:18.320 abundant life. 15:18.850 --> 15:26.294 Indeed, Jesus has breathed new life into us, refresh us us with an 15:26.332 --> 15:32.678 enduring gift by sending us the gift of the Holy Spirit, the living 15:32.764 --> 15:37.174 water, by his abiding indwelling in us. 15:37.212 --> 15:44.982 May the Holy Spirit ever renew us to see with new eyes, to know Jesus 15:45.046 --> 15:48.700 more deeply and abundantly in our lives. 15:50.370 --> 15:51.870 Let us pray. 15:53.890 --> 16:01.514 Come, Holy Spirit, creator, blessed and in our souls, take up thy 16:01.562 --> 16:02.160 rest. 16:03.170 --> 16:11.706 Come with thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which thou 16:11.738 --> 16:15.778 hast made. In the name of Jesus. 16:15.954 --> 16:16.370 Amen.