Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ
Amen

So he came to a town in Samaria called Synchar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey; sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.)The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)Jesus answered her. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life”.

Let us pray.
Heavenly Father
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). We pray Lord, that you may rekindle this light in our lives this hour through your Word.
Amen 

Dear Congregation

When opening a newspaper and watching the news on television, all one reads and hears about is conflicts between nations, corrupted government officials, crime and racism. These stories are so overwhelming that people start loosing their trust in the people they elected as leaders. A lot of people are leaving their beloved country for a different country hoping that life will be better there. In our hopelessness and helplessness, we start to focus only on our needs and our own lives so that we do not even see the need of another individual. These stories that we read and hear paralyse us so much that we create our own little worlds. And in doing so we see what we want to see, we hear what we want to hear and thus we react to it in such a way that we hurt the same people that we are supposed to care about.

In reading the Old and the New Testaments, we know that stories of wars, corruption, crime and racism was also playing its role in the global community in that time as it is playing its role in our current life situation. In reading these stories in the bible we soon realize that the time in which Jesus lived was no different than the time that we are living in. The difference however, is how the reaction of one man could change the attitude of a town by having a simple request put forward, which ultimately leads into a discussion. The question that this passage has put to my mind is: How did he do that? And if the one in whom we profess can bring such a change, can I be able to do that? In Jesus’ dealing with the Samaritan woman the answer is found. This inner conflict, the Samaritan woman experienced affected her life so much that she went to fetch water at a time when she thought she would be alone. The woman traumatized by the injustices that she as a Samaritan woman felt as a result of Jewish rules not to associate themselves with Jews, led her in trying to find a way out in not helping Jesus. Jesus knowing her heart did not respond to her in a way that we would respond by fighting fire with fire, rather he did the opposite. Jesus as the receiver, changes into becoming the giver. Jesus using the activity, with which she is busy, namely drawing water, changes it around and becomes the giver of that water.
               
How is it possible? It is possible because Jesus speaks of a total new world, and thus refers to the spiritual world. The kingdom of God, where it is God who gives the gifts of life. The well of which she draws water was given to Jacob, but forgetting about the fact that in order for her to get water, the well needs to be sustained. Water needs to flow into that well in order for that well to have water.   

This water flowing into it becomes the living water since it keeps the well from becoming dry. Thus, referring to this continues in flow of water, the well is maintained and water thus becomes available for the town people to use.     

This morning, Jesus offers us a new of this living water to sustain us, which enables us to do our work each day. This water sustains us in such a way that it keeps us from dehydration and now he offers us the living water as he did for the Samaritan woman to keep our spiritual lives alive as well. Thus, in being the giver of this water, Christ himself wants to sustain us so that we can become wells as well, where people can draw from in their time of need. However, he also sustains others so that we can draw from them when we need it. This well of living water, which sustains us spiritually, is the love and the laughter that we share with one another. With this living water, Christ gives us a new chance of bringing change to the difficult situations that we are faced with. It is up to us whether we want to accept this chance that he offers to have an impact on the current situations that we are faced with today.          
Dear Congregation

In our baptism this well with living water has been given to us. In dealing with the difficult situations daily, we drew a lot of this water that at times our very own wells becomes empty and low that we do not have the strength to deal with these problems. Our baptism which God’s promise is revealed to us through Christ is that it keeps us alive. Therefore, let us not become passive Christians, in sitting in our despair while hoping for a miracle to happen. But let us rather return to the source that have sustained us through the years, which is Christ. Let Christ fill your and my well daily by refreshing us bodily, mentally and spiritually. Let him show us a way in becoming actively involved in helping other people, filling their wells, by ending the wars which occurs within families, by being reconcilable wells from them. Ending corruption by not cheating the receiver of revenue as well as our own family members. Let us stop racism, by having a good word for our fellow human being and by treating them with the necessary respect. Let us follow the example of our leader and brother Jesus Christ in bringing the Kingdom of God, a kingdom which is filled with love and in doing that create a world we all can be proud of.
            
And the Peace of God which surpasses all our understanding will protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  
Amen