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Are you able to look into truthful mirrors?
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Exodus 17:1-7
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42
Psalm 95
The Rev. Seth Olson © 2023
Holy
God, source of living water, let my words be your words and when my words are
not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same.
“Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” in Disney’s telling of the fairy
tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen ponders this very question.
Unfortunately for the queen, the mirror’s truthful response—that Snow White stands
as the fairest in the land—precipitates a dastardly plot to unfold. In this infamous
encounter, the Wicked Queen happens upon the harsh reality of honest feedback.
Walter
Wangerin, the author elaborated upon this very thing, “In mirrors I see myself.
But in mirrors made of glass and silver I never see the whole of myself. I see
the me I want to see, and I ignore the rest. [However] mirrors that hide
nothing hurt me. They reveal an ugliness I’d rather deny.” Then, Wangerin
provides a warning label for those who cannot handle the truth, “Avoid these
mirrors of veracity!”
Perhaps you have no trouble seeing the mirrors that hold nothing back.
I
often find these reflections to be double-edged—both brutal and beneficial. A
friend who cuts through the small talk to say how I have hurt him. A spouse who
does not obscure how I have let her down. A child who innocently happens upon
the very weakness I have tried to hide from the world. A neighbor who sees me
in a moment of weakness. A stranger who shows me the painful truth when I was
discounting his very humanity. To any of these reflectors of reality, I might
want to run away, or even go the way of the Evil Queen—shattering the mirror
altogether—or I may simply plead, “Can’t I just ignore the honest mirrors that
cause me to see my flawed, authentic self?” Not if I am going to follow in the
way that Jesus leads.
Last
week and this week in our Gospel lessons, Jesus held up mirrors to would-be-disciples,
revealing the life-altering challenges that accompany following in the Way of
Christ. Seven days ago, our story revealed the night-time wanderings of
Nicodemus. The trained religious leader, Nicodemus, sought answers from the
upstart teacher, Jesus. As the Pharisee pressed for solutions to the dilemmas
of life, he could only hear literal responses. In the dimly lit encounter, the
teacher of Israel struggled to see the light Jesus reflected. At least in that
moment all Nicodemus could say was, “How can these things be?” He had a hard
time looking in the mirror.
Today,
we heard about a woman who approached Jesus in broad daylight. She sought sustenance
from an old well. At first, looking at her reflection in the stagnant water she
too could only behold Jesus’ literal words. He had no bucket; how could he
promise living waters? However, her thirst persisted, as she kept wondering
what Jesus was reflecting.
In
many ways, she was the opposite of Jesus’ last conversational partner. Nicodemus
had a name—she was unnamed by John. Nicodemus was a leader and a teacher of the
Israelites—she was an outsider of Jesus’ Faith Tradition being a despised
Samaritan. Nicodemus was male, very helpful in a patriarchal society—she was
not. Nicodemus held a high standing as a religious leader—she had no power, privilege,
or education of which we know. Additionally, she had little status as a
multiple-times-divorced woman, and this deserves even more consideration.
What’s
happening with all these marriages? Scholars argue over the importance of the
multiple nuptials. Was she literally married five times? Were the marriages a
symbol of the regimes of the Samaritans—the five political powers who ruled this
tribe? Was this an allusion to the five distinct groups who made up the
Samaritan people? It’s unclear, but before you start retrospectively shaming this
divorcee though, know that Jesus nor John did any such thing.
Still,
we might think that she felt some shame from her five divorces. She did come to
the well in the middle of the day instead of during the rush of early morning
or late afternoon, which may have been a way to avoid others. However, she also
could have been at the well at noon to fulfill an ancient pattern about
betrothal and marriage. In the Book of Genesis, Jacob met his wife Rachel,
where? At a well! When? At noon! Likewise, Abraham’s servant found Isaac’s wife
Rebekah, where? At a well! When? At noon! So, what does this mean? Is this
woman a soon-to-be blushing bride? Not exactly!
This
moment did foreshadow a marriage though, and John’s original audience would
have picked up on it. This marriage though was a cosmic union between God and all
people (including the Samaritans) through the messianic power of Christ in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth. The woman at the well was a forerunner, an
apostle, and a first fruit of this universal union being revealed. If she felt
any shame in coming to the well at noon, she left it there with her water jug.
As Jesus reflected the truth that he was the Messiah, she did not hide away.
She did not turn back, nor did it take days or weeks or months for the truth to
dawn upon her like it did for Nicodemus. Instead, she saw the truth in Jesus,
the ultimate mirror. Even if her every scar was revealed in the reflection, so too
was the pathway to healing.
Bare
and exposed she was not embarrassed, instead she was enlivened. She
dug deeper into the conversation, and the living water began to gush and spring
and flow from everywhere. No longer did she feel like she was someone defined
by her past. Instead, she was being born of the spirit and of the truth, as she
was baptized by the source of living water. Leaving everything behind, she ran
to her people and spoke words that Jesus used when calling his first disciples,
“Come and see! Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He
cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
Jesus
had reflected her inmost truth back to her. Unashamed she had a new vision of
who she was. It was clear enough to her people too as their interest was piqued
by her invitation—maybe they wanted to know their true selves too! Even if the
Samaritans and Israelites were at odds, the Samaritan people did hope for the Taheb,
a messiah who would come and reveal the truth (the description of the Taheb came from a blog post by Jennifer Garcia Bashaw on the Working Preacher website). After a few days with Jesus,
these Samaritans believed Jesus was the Taheb. Jesus had bluntly said to
the woman that, “I am he,” meaning I am the Messiah. She, and later her people,
understood this such that they spoke a truth not heard elsewhere in John’s
Gospel account, “This is truly the Savior of the world.”
In
last week’s story, Nicodemus had heard about the Savior of the world—that God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but have everlasting life. And yet it wasn’t Nicodemus, but this
unnamed evangelist who shared Good News about the Savior, so that part of the
world would know this love. There at the well, this unnamed woman had realized
what we prayed in today’s collect, “We have no power in ourselves to help
ourselves.” She had no power to help herself, but acknowledging this truth
changed her life. And, when we honestly behold this realization, everything
changes for us too.
We
like to tell ourselves things like: if I just get this project accomplished,
then I will be okay. If I get the promotion, then everything will be alright. If
I find the perfect partner, it’ll all be fine. If I get everything right, then people
will love me. If I _____, then I will be fulfilled. We have no power in
ourselves to help ourselves—three years after the start of the COVID-19
Pandemic I feel more strongly about that than ever—our collect is correct.
We
can’t earn God’s grace. This is clearly reflected in how Jesus responded to the
woman at the well. God loves us first. God doesn’t wait for us to get it right.
Christ Jesus shines as the ultimate mirror—truly showing us who God made us to
be. When he encountered the Samaritan woman, she could see who she truly
was—not a woman with baggage, not a series of scandals, not just a descendent
of Jacob, but a beloved child of the Divine filled with God’s spirit and truth
and called to pique her people’s curiosity with God’s Good News. Christ makes
our real selves known too!
Although
we might have trouble looking into truthful mirrors, Christ reflects our
deepest truth back to us in strangers, friends, family, beloveds, and in creation
itself. In these reflections, we can see who we are. If we are brave enough to
look, we will see our flawed, authentic selves. As difficult as it is to view
these honest mirrors, do not look away. Seeing who we are can be difficult and
painful, still this is how we live in Spirit and Truth drinking the living
water.
Christ
Jesus shows us who we are. It is not easy to see our true selves, for we crave
to see only our good parts, as we think we have power to save ourselves. However,
as he invited the Samaritan woman not just to see her past reflected in the
living water, but also to drink anew and never thirst again, so he calls us to
gulp deeply of new life. He knows our whole selves, even our flaws and foibles.
And, before we recognize our faults, God knows them, loving us still and
calling us into new life.
Truthful
mirror at the well who is it who is beloved still? It’s you. You are God’s
beloved one, and I pray we may reflect that truth to one another—not matter
where you’re from, what you’ve done or not done, or who you are—you are God’s
beloved. Reflect on that!
