It’s Called Humanity

Sermon for Sunday, March 8, 2026

Dear church,

This story is more precious, more powerful than a thousand good proclamations. That’s because the gospel spirit breathes through this encounter between Jesus and the unnamed woman as they connect over a common human need: water, hydration, drinking. The Samaritan woman and the Jewish man, the lady with the complicated life story and the young rabbi on a quest to serve God, they find common ground. It’s called humanity. It’s called thirst. Literal thirst but also thirst for a better world, a world with fewer conflicts and divisions, a world with less bombs and attack drones; a world as it is described in the creation story: just good. This existential thirst for goodness is symbolized in the term “Water of Life.”   

The many differences between the Samaritan woman and the Jewish man have been pointed out frequently. They are even accentuated even in the story itself. At that time, men did not talk to women in public; Samaritans and Jews had a strained relationship; there was very little common ground between the two neighboring cultures; open disdain was common. Yet, Jesus and the woman find common ground. It’s called humanity. It’s called thirst. “Can you give me a drink of water?” The simplest things bring us together. “Yes,” you say. “But the simplest things can also tear us apart sometimes.” 

In our culture, we too know about differences between people, don’t we? They often get magnified to the point of ridiculousness. Perhaps the most painful differences at this time are those of the political variety. We probably all know a family or two that has been ruptured over those differences; people who grew up together suddenly find it hard to talk to each other, respect one another, come together because of deep fissures and a sense of disconnection. One person who described to me such a rupture in her family, wrote, “We don’t see each other much anymore. And I don’t want to talk nice if I have nothing nice to say.” I’m tempted to say that, despite those differences, it’s possible to find common ground. It’s called humanity. It’s called thirst for a better world.

But I hesitate. Why do I hesitate? Well, because I know how hard it can be. It’s so much easier to see the humanity in this 2,000-year-old story, Jesus and the woman at the well sharing a drink and a conversation despite differences. It’s harder to apply this to the divisions that plague us right now. If it were easy, it wouldn’t tear healthy families and friendships apart.

Therefore, let us peek deeper into the well of wisdom in this story. There are some things in this drawn-out dialogue from John 4 that we can learn from. One of those things is curiosity. Jesus is curious about the human being sitting next to him. And the Samaritan woman is curious about the mysterious man asking for a cup of water. Between the lines, it feels like she is wondering: “Who are you?” Who is this person talking to me? Together, they wonder about one another and don’t allow cultural differences to determine the rules of engagement. So, the question for us is: How curious can we be about those who come to us from a place we don’t understand? How much curiosity can we muster about those we have precious little in common with? Curiosity is a wonderful tool that can break down labels and assumptions, judgments and the famous “bubbles” we live in.

The Samaritan woman totally assumes that Jesus will judge her once he knows her checkered life story. It turns out he knows already and does not blame her. She assumes that he will not be very open to alternative ways of religion, apart from the Jewish mainstream of their time. But he says, “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” That sounds very modern and non-traditional, doesn’t it? I am sure that Jesus likewise wondered about the woman, her identity, her life, who she was, despite the fact that the gospel of John tries its hardest to portray Jesus as all-knowing, thus depriving us of the fullness of Jesus’ humanity.

So how can we be more curious about people we think we know already? It may be the most difficult form of showing someone the grace of God, the grace that we are given by God. To assume that there may be more to this person whom we have labeled “heartless” or “deceiving” or “careless” or “conservative” or “liberal” or whatever labels our mind makes up. And let’s not kid ourselves: our minds are master label makers. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a label destroyer. Read it!

In the end, the most helpful and fascinating part of this gospel story is the fact that Jesus and the woman keep the conversation going even when they don’t understand one another, even when they talk two entirely different languages. It would be a step in a good direction for our divided country and many of our divided families, to keep conversations going even when we don’t “get” one another. It will help us to find common ground. It’s called humanity. Let us learn from the best of the masters of humanity, Jesus, Son of God, being one of them.

Amen.