“When a Samaritan
woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her:
Give me something to drink.”
--John 4:7
Struggling this Lent to turn away from sin and return to the gospel, I am still holding on; hoping that perhaps my willingness to spend time with God’s word and in prayer will count for something against my constant hunger for distractions and my weakness with temptation. Yes, God is merciful, but I don’t want to be too presumptive. Is that a form of pride? that hesitation to be completely dependent on the grace of God? I wonder and I fear. And so I am doing what I can to stay close to the well and wait for the grace to arrive? Or simply to reveal itself…
This past Sunday (3rd Sunday of Lent) we heard the beautiful reading from John’s Gospel about the Samaritan woman at the well. She encounters Christ and becomes one of the first evangelists; rushing to the village to tell everyone about this man who told her everything about herself; this man and His strange promise of “living water.” There are many lessons we can learn from this story, from the woman’s life and actions, from the words of our Lord, from the reaction of the people in her village. So many lessons, but listening to this story once again, I was struck by one in particular that I had never noticed before:
Give me something to drink.
Jesus doesn’t just ask the woman politely; He tells her. Why? To our modern ear this may sound a bit abrupt, even rude. We teach our children to ask politely. When a person is thirsty, we expect something like: May I have a glass of water? Please? But instead, Jesus seems to almost command the woman to take care of His needs. Why? Certainly it isn’t because He can’t get water for Himself. This is a guy who can strike a rock and water would flow forth if He chose. There has to be something more going on. I wonder if what sounds almost like an order, is really –in fact-- an offer. But what is He offering her, perhaps the gift of His need. And suddenly, sitting there in mass, listening to this beautiful and familiar story I could hear another lesson echoing in my head:
“Lord, when did we
see you hungry, and give you something to eat?
When did we see you thirsty and give you drink?” (cf. Mt. 25:31-40)
And I realized, that was it. Here in this moment, with this Samaritan woman, in the middle of the day, sitting at this ancient well, Jesus was embodying an essential truth:
“In truth, I tell you, whatsoever you did for the least of these, that you did unto me.”
He was giving flesh to this one simple truth: whenever we
serve anyone in need, we serve Christ; whenever and wherever we encounter the
needs of others, we have the opportunity (quite literally) to encounter Jesus. The opportunity to give Jesus something to
drink, something to eat, clothes to wear, a caring heart, a helping hand. Whatever you do for the least of these: sick,
hungry, thirsty, prisoners, the lonely, the afflicted… That you quite literally
do for (and to) Jesus. It’s not an
order, it’s an invitation.
Looking to improve your Lent? Want to encounter Jesus face to face? Look for someone in need. Reach out to them.
Share your wallet. Share your lunch.
Share your love. Visit the sick, care for the afflicted, feed the
hungry… Give Him something to drink.
It’s not rocket science… It’s just Love.
