The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Gospel reading for Sunday, February 24th: Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42)

SAMARITAN WOMAN WAS AN HONEST SEEKER

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The woman was very much like a modern person—her life was a mess, she had been through a series of bad relationships, and she was feeling unhappy about her life.

Jesus used the symbol of water to explain the spiritual refreshment He was bringing to the world. He said to her, “The water I shall give will become…a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Unlike a modern person, however, the Samaritan woman knew she was sinful, and she knew her problems were her own fault. She didn’t try to blame anyone else—her ex-husbands or boyfriends, the government, the uptight moralists who whispered about her behind her back, the greedy landowners, the unjust system, oil company executives, etc.

She knew the despair she felt inside was caused by the series of selfish and short-sighted decisions she had made during her life. As a result, she has a sense of guilt and shame. (Which, despite popular opinion, is NOT necessarily a bad thing. If you’ve done nothing wrong and feel guilt and shame, there’s a problem. But if you’ve done something selfish or cruel and you feel guilt and shame, hurray! God is trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it.)

The Samaritan woman knew she was sinful and knew she needed a savior. She didn’t know much theology, but one thing was very clear in her mind: she did not have a good relationship with God. She longed to be closer to God, and when she sensed that Jesus had some answers, she peppered Him with questions. She was a seeker.

Many people today have stopped seeking. They have been conditioned by the culture to view religious faith as a quirky vestige of our pre-scientific ancestors. “Well, if you must do that religion thing, confine it to an hour on Sunday mornings—and for goodness sake, don’t even think about it during the rest of the week!” God is reduced to some vague, nebulous concept with no real ability to touch or influence our day-to-day lives.

We should review some of the basics and see if this modern view makes any sense.

Thankfully, the vast majority of the population still believes that God is our Creator. Despite four decades of relentless indoctrination which proclaims that we were created by impersonal, purposeless, and random natural processes, most people are certain there is some kind of divine mind and purpose behind it all.

So, the question we have to ask ourselves is: If God is our Creator, and if He created us with minds and personalities and the ability to communicate (make that the COMPULSION to communicate), what are the chances that He does not also possess these same traits? (In other words, can the created thing have greater intelligence than its creator?)

And if God does possess these traits, what are the chances that He has decided not to communicate with us? (It’d be like putting a bunch of high school girls together in the same room but none of them wanting to talk.)

And if He really did create us, and if we and He possess this personality and communication thing, what are some logical methods He might use to do it? Send some messengers to explain what He’s like and what He wants (prophets or his own Son, for example)? Written communication (sacred Scriptures)? Direct, personal contact (prayer and conscience and the Holy Spirit)?

Many Christians today actually hold the view that God is powerful enough to create all the marvels in the universe (including us), but He’s too wimpy or bored or preoccupied to have any contact with our lives. This is simply illogical.

I respect the view of atheists more than these guys. At least the atheists are logical (wrong, but logical). They don’t believe that God is our Creator, they don’t believe we have souls, and they don’t waste their time worrying about it.

But people who claim that God is real and that He is our Creator, and then go about their daily lives as if God were nothing more than Greek mythology, well, they just make no sense at all. That’s like having an 500-pound roaring lion pacing around your living room but then going about your usual routine as if it were not there. It’s dumb. And it’s dangerous.

If God is who most people say He is, then He didn’t put us here to ignore Him for seven or eight decades. (I heard someone say one time, “Yeah, well, I’ll think about that religion stuff on my deathbed and then everything’ll be cool.” No, I think there’s a better chance everything’ll be HOT.)

We need to recapture the Samaritan woman’s sense of awe and wonder. We need to remember that God is real and that He is present, right here and right now. We need to seek Him. He’s waiting to respond. He’s offering us a wellspring of living water which leads to eternal life.

©2008