For Sunday
Lent 2A
Collect
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
This story, often called “The woman at the well”, is beloved for its tenderness and for its boundary-breaking. It has compassion and it has evangelism. Christians of all kinds find it inspiring and motivating.
There are many things that are striking about it, but perhaps one that really gets our attention is in the section above. Jesus encourages the woman to tell her husband, fully knowing she isn’t married, that she’s been married many times, and appears to be “with” someone to whom she isn’t married.
It’s striking for a lot of reasons. It feels invasive and personal. This is stuff that would be shocking for anyone to know.
But really, the most lurid part for us is that we think we’re supposed to despise her. That this is, in some way, humiliating.
I don’t think so. And it is telling how quickly our minds turn to judgment.
Matters of sex have always been something leaders attempt to control. But it also doesn’t define this woman. And, more to the point, Jesus first breaks the social boundaries by being alone with her. Because what matters more to the Kin-dom than taboos is compassion and understanding.