Asking for Water

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” John 4:7

I did not get past this verse. In another time and space, I would have just skimmed past this verse moving on to the meat of the story. However, this time it was different. I stopped where Jesus asked for a drink. This is where it all began. The rest of the story would not have happened if Jesus did not ask for some water. It wasn’t a pretext to have a conversation with this woman. The gospel makes it very clear. Jesus was exhausted. He was genuinely thirsty. The woman went to the well at a time when there was nobody around. This is very telling of her state in her own society. She was an outsider in a society of outcasts. She did not expect anyone to be there, especially not a Jewish man. It was Jesus who initiated the conversation. He needed her help because he did not have a bucket to draw water. She did and He was thirsty. That was all that mattered for Jesus.

I never ask any help from our children and teens. Maybe it is because I can only see their needs and not what they have. If I was thirsty by the well and saw one of our boys drawing water with a bucket, I still would not ask for water. I would be thinking about the bucket; wondering whether it was clean and where it has been…I would be thinking about the condition of the bucket more than the person who was using it. If someone whom I consider to be clean and hygienic was drawing water using the same bucket, I would not hesitate to ask for some water. My thoughts would be directed towards the person. Such is life. I don’t want to be like this but I live in this reality. Jesus shows us a better way to live our lives.

Jesus did not see a Samaritan woman. He just saw someone who has the capability to share whatever she has received. The prove of this comes much later in this story. He saw in this woman someone who had something to offer to him. I need to ask myself if I look at our children and teens and think that they have something to share with me. It would only make them appear to be more human to me. If they are always at the receiving end, they will never be my equals. They never be truly humans to me. Maybe the woman wouldn’t have been willing to receive what Jesus had to offer if He hadn’t been willing to receive from her.

The woman was shocked that Jesus was willing to receive anything from her. She was understandably suspicious. Why would a Jewish man want anything from her? She wasn’t afraid of Jesus. She wouldn’t have engaged him if she thought that He was dangerous. Nevertheless, she was suspicious. We have to admit that it is a little strange. Jesus could have asked his disciples before they left him to get some water for him. The disciples were astonished perhaps even a little scandalized (John 4:27) when they saw what had unfolded. Jesus never explained Himself. He was thirsty and this woman despite who she was or what she had done, was able to give Him water. This was all that mattered and this is all it took for us to learn great lessons about the Living Water.

I wanted to write something about the whole text but my mind was stuck on this verse. It stayed with me through the many activities we did with the children this week. I felt the absence of Ruan. We haven’t seen him this week. Last weekend, he introduced us to his girlfriend. On Monday, she was with another teenager. His romantic escape did not survive the weekend. Unfortunately, it was enough to send him running away to hide and recover from his wounds. We did not see him the whole week. His absence made our hearts lonely. Our weekly trip to the foot specialist with Gabriel will end this coming week. His foot is healing perfectly. This means that next Wednesday will be the last time we will walk together to this center and chatting about everything and nothing. I have been praying for his healing but I am going to miss our walks to this place together. The weather has also been unforgivingly hot this week. There were days where the heat had drained all the energies of the children. They were not up to doing anything. Most of them did not even come of their hiding places. We missed seeing most of them. It made us feel like our week wasn’t complete.

I realized that something has happened in us. We can spend weeks not seeing our friends here, which just happened recently. Everyone likes to stay cool and indoors during the summer months here. The heat kills all desire to interact with people. We are fine with this. However, when we don’t see our children for a day, we feel that our days are empty. I thought that we were coming here to help to give their lives some meaning. Now, it seems like that we have received something from them. They have refreshed our lives with their presence. We were thirsty and tired and they came and gave us something to drink.

Perhaps on another occasion, I would not have admitted to this. It makes me look weak and even pathetic to say that I need these children and teens to enrich my days. Then, I read that Jesus was tired and wasn’t ashamed to ask a Samaritan woman for some water. He wouldn’t have had the conversation with her if he wasn’t willing to admit that he needed her help as well.

The simple gesture of Jesus has revealed to us that we cannot show compassion and love to people unless we are willing to let them see that we need them as well. It may be just a glass of water but for the Samaritan woman, it gave her a place in the gospel for eternity.

Maybe you are wondering where I am going with all this. I am not going anywhere. I am just happy to be here where God has given the grace to admit that I see these children giving me something with their lives. Not just to admit that we need them, but also the grace to receive the good things that they have to offer us. They have made our lives richer and perhaps now they can listen to what we have to offer as well.

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The Temptations of Life

After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.-Matt 4:1-11

Like most people, I was hooked on the series, Breaking Bad, for a while at least. For those who don’t know what I am talking about, Breaking bad is a series about a high school teacher, Walter White, who was the epitome of an average guy with regular family and work issues until he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Then he decided to do something radical. He used his talent as a gifted chemist to manufacture methamphetamine to be sold illegally. His primary reason for doing this was to ensure that his family would be financially stable when he dies. Eventually, his cancer went into remission, unfortunately by this time, he had bigger problems than his cancer. He became addicted to power and wanted to become a powerful drug kingpin. I heard an interview with one of the main actors in the series and he was amazed to find the number of people rooting for Walter White regardless of what he had done. I think it is because people can identify with Walter White. He is a family man who looked out for his family. This appears to be a noble cause but appearances can be deceiving. I was reminded of the story of Walter White when I reflected on the gospel text for this week (Matthew 4:1-11).

I have read the story of the temptation of Christ countless times. I often read it as if it was something Jesus experienced in a mystical way and had very little to do with our practical existence. However, for some reason, it hit me today that this story is really about our day to day practical living.

In the New Testament times, cities were a safe place and the desert was a place where you were left unprotected. It was not a place of retreat, but a place of confrontation with brutal forces of nature. Jesus went into the wilderness to reflect on the harsh reality of life. In the wilderness, all the facade of life fades away and you are faced with the Truth. In the face of Truth, a decision awaits each of us. Jesus waited for years before he went into the wilderness. You need some preparation to face the harsh Truth of life. Unfortunately, not everyone is prepared when entering the wilderness. Some are pushed into the wilderness too soon and forced to make decisions without any understanding and wisdom like the homeless children in our ministry. Some try their best to avoid the wilderness. They choose to live their lives on the surface where it is safe. Unfortunately for these, they will never experience Life.  The wilderness is not an option. We have to go through the wilderness if we want to live an abundant life. We have to go into it prepared to face the devil. The devil waits for us in the wilderness.

I just want to focus on the first temptation in this posting. It is the most reasonable temptation. Jesus was hungry and he had the power to transform stones into bread. So, why not do it?

The answer to this question is that which separates us from the world. If we believe that God is God, then God needs to be real in our everyday situation. If we believe that God is good, then we need to trust His goodness in our everyday existence. If our faith in God does not inform our everyday decisions, then it is pretty much useless. Faith becomes nothing more than a theoretical exercise. In the wilderness, we decide what kind of God we want to trust. Jesus thought that it was pointless to trust in a theoretical God in our harsh reality. He trusted in the living God who is present in His life in a real way.

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The very notion of a God who speaks is to show us that God acts in our lives. God’s words are synonymous with actions. His speaking reveals that He speaks into our reality. He is a personal God. This is the part that most good people (agnostics and otherwise) have a hard time with. We need faith to see God acting in our very existence. The devil wants to reduce God into something theoretical. He is quite successful. In this world, we have many theoretical theists and practical atheists.

Many, if not all, of the homeless children and adults have faith in a doctrinal God. A God who watches over them but is helpless to help them transform their existential situation. This God is not worthy our adoration because he is not active in our reality. The God of Jesus is a God who acts in our reality. Jesus did not need to abuse the power He was given to get what He wanted.  Those who use scripture and religion to get what they want do not believe in the God of Jesus. In order to believe the God of Jesus we have to trust that He will act. Not in a whimsical way. He acts in the harsh reality of our lives. It is not easy to trust in this God. The devil offers an easy way out. This is always the choice offered in the wilderness; the easy way to self-destruction or the hard way to abundant life where we see God in action.

 

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