Sermon: "Knowing Christ by Water and Spirit"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

Last week I traveled across the Smoky Mountains on my way to eastern North Carolina for a quick visit there. As you probably know, one of the great rivers in those mountains is the Nolichucky. You may not know that the Native American name for that river means "rushing waters."

I wonder if Jesus had in mind such a place when he spoke of "living water." Water which rushes along through the rapids certainly seems to be alive.

Another possible understanding of "living water," though, can be found in the wetlands - those meeting places of land and sea that ebb and flow with the tides. The Encyclopedia Britannica calls the wetlands "nursery grounds for many … fish and shellfish." And the National Geographic describes the tide pools as "windows between land and sea." Indeed, at some moment in distant prehistory, a salamander-type creature turned in a new direction … and the first animal to walk on land emerged from the ocean.

Thus, water is alive in a real sense not only because of its movement but also because of the life that comes from it - "living water."

One day Jesus had traveled far through an unfamiliar land. He came to a well outside a village in Samaria. Being tired and hot, he sat down - or, probably more accurately, he collapsed in a bit of shade over on the side.

In those days, a well outside the village would have been a place to gather. Since water is essential for life, various people from the village would have come and gone from the well all day long.

I think of another village in a different hot, dry land - a place I have visited - the village of Cange in Haiti. Because of Episcopal Church efforts, there are water stations in that arid mountaintop village, and people come together at those spots for life-giving water. Thus, such places provide opportunities for socializing and for sharing ideas, as well as for collecting water … much as in Jesus' time and place.

It was in such a setting that Jesus had his conversation with the Samaritan woman. She had come to collect water, and Jesus asked her if she would give him a bit also. In the course of the discussion that followed, Jesus talked about many things. And, eventually, her life was changed as a result of this encounter. First of all, though, he spoke to her of "living water."

I think of the water of Baptism as being "living water." Such water is alive indeed - like the rapids - for it is blessed with the promise of Christ's presence. Indeed, as we give thanks for water in the service of Baptism, we remember that "over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation" - "living water."

The water of Baptism is "living water" in another sense, too. From that water comes forth life - like from the water of the wetlands. The children of Israel became a new nation - God's own people - as God brought them forth from the Red Sea waters. So also, new life - second birth - emerges from the water of Baptism - "living water."

However, Baptism involves more than only water … and to be really alive, water must have some other attribute as well. Thus it is that we baptize by water and by the Spirit of God. And so, Jesus says to the woman by the well, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24).

Phillips Brooks - that great Episcopal preacher - called this affirmation, "Jesus' highest announcement of truth." That is, we cannot contain God in any doctrine or understanding or denomination created by human beings. God is spirit. Therefore, God is within our limited perceptions of Him - but also, far beyond those perceptions. And it was this "highest announcement of truth" that Jesus offered to the woman at the well.

However, this truth from Jesus threatened to call into question all her religious heritage and understanding. Her foundations of faith would be shaken if she really believed it. That is, if she were to believe that the Spirit of God traversed the boundaries of her understanding and, even, of her particular religion, then nothing about her world would feel secure. And so, she retreated from confronting that truth, and she responded, "I know that Messiah is coming…When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us" (4:25). Thus, in effect she says, "I will leave these matters to the Messiah who is to come. He can tell us the answers we need to know." You see, that was an attempted retreat from the truth that Jesus had placed before her.

But Jesus would not let her go. What he says next cannot have been anticipated by the woman, who was already troubled. He says, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you" (4:26). Jesus confronted her, and there was no mistaking his meaning: "The Messiah whom you await is talking with you right now." We can only imagine that the woman must have been the one about to collapse then. She cannot avoid the confrontation any longer. Her life is touched at its most profound depths. Indeed, her whole world is transformed, right before her eyes.

Thus, finally, what we have in this encounter is an intimate glimpse into the truth of incarnation - of God having become a person. References to "living water" and to the Spirit of God are lenses through which the glimpse becomes clearer for the woman and for us. However, even so, this revelation is a surprise. No angels announce the presence of God in the person of Jesus in a manger this time. No voice from a cloud proclaims Jesus' identity as God's Son. No dove comes down and lights on his shoulder.

Rather, a tired, thirsty man asks for a drink of water. And from the encounter that follows, Jesus the Christ becomes known.

May the eyes of our faith be opened as we break the bread and as we drink of the cup and as we encounter the living water, in which we discover the Spirit of the living God. Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee