|
|
||
|
More Random
Thoughts From This Disciple |
||
|
A Reflection on Clay Jars John 4:5-42 Clay jars were a common sight in the
ancient world. In a way, they were
one of the most important items in the house because they were not only big
enough to carry the water for the day, but also store it. Everyday someone (often a wife or a
daughter) would go to the well and fill the clay jar for the rest of the
family. The clay jar was an essential
item. “Well,
duh, Pastor Jira. I'm glad I’m taking
the time to read this just to learn that.
That's what I needed for the week you know, a blatantly obvious and
completely irrelevant piece of information.
Thanks, that was just amazing.” Now, wait a second or two before
you take off and leave me to speak to no one in cyber-space. The reason I gave you this blatantly
obvious and rather mundane information about clay water jars is because the
Samaritan woman in this story from John runs off and leaves this essential
household item. Why would you do
that? You need water to survive. And these large jars, which everybody had
to have, were not the cheapest item either.
Clay pot makers must have had it made. But, the Samaritan woman runs off and leaves this essential
item of daily living behind.
Something dramatic must have happened during her encounter with Jesus
to cause such a reaction. I only mention this because the
woman has obviously found something truly wonderful and freeing when she
encounters Jesus and this creates a desire in the soul to find the same
spiritual spring of water. Tell me,
what might God do for you that would cause you to leave your car sitting in a
parking lot? Now, I'm assuming here
that you have a car worth something.
(My family had many
cars that no one would even think of stealing. In fact people would probably take out their checkbooks to pay
to have it moved from their sight.)
So, assuming you have a nice car, what might God do for you that would
cause you to leave behind your car while you run and tell your neighbors what
God has done? What have you been
lugging around in your clay jar that needs to be lifted from your life?
The Samaritan woman had a few
things in her jar bogging her down as she walked through life. The first was her own self-perception…her
own concept of who she was. It wasn't
very good. How do I know? For starts, the woman was at a well with a
handsome young man. In the ancient
world, “young woman” plus “well” plus “young
man” equals “romance.” Jesus appears to start off the scene
correctly, "Give me a drink."
Just for your information, that line in the ancient world was often
the equivalent of; "Do you come here often?" And she opens this romantic scene with the
a stellar thought that effectively says, "You want me to give you water,
Jewish man? Are you blind? Can't you see I’m only a Samaritan?" We see that her self-identity as only a
Samaritan is weighing her down. Have
the words, "I'm only…" ever come out of your mouth? Did you know of anyone who stared at the
dance floor hoping that someone would come over, but somehow knew it would
never happen? Feeling worthless makes
the jar heavy. Being alone in the
world is hard work. “I'll give you better water than
that,” Jesus promises in essence.
“Worthlessness is an unhealthy drink.
I'll give you better water.” Jesus then said to her, "Go,
call your husband, and come back."
Looking down into her jar she saw swirling there her uncertain and chaotic
life. Widowed, she has been bounced
around to live with many men, many husbands, none of which has kept her
around. "I'll have another good
squirt of worthlessness and could you mix in a little chaos too,
thanks!" "I have no husband," she
says. Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no
husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not
your husband. What you have said is
true?" Do you know who a prophet
is? A prophet is not a fortuneteller
who can see events of the distant future.
A prophet is someone who is somehow able to look into your closely
held jar and describe the murky water inside. That is who a prophet is.
Because he can see her life so clearly, the woman sees that Jesus is a
prophet. We need prophets. You can't fill your jar with clean water
until you can tell that you have murky water in there. It's amazing how people will put up with
bad water for years and think that it is normal. It's amazing how little we can see of ourselves. In a
world where we
say, "Leave me alone, it's none of your business!" we need prophets
more than ever. Jesus is there (through
other believers around us) to point to the obvious discoloration floating in
our jars that we fail to see. Are we
willing to let others look? Are we
willing to look ourselves? Or, is
stagnant, murky water good enough? Naming the murkiness in the water
is powerful stuff. It's hard
stuff. It's hard to admit that we've
been lugging it around all this time.
But, you can't throw out the bad water until you can see that it is
bad water. What will take its place
once I throw it out? Will my jar just
be empty then? Nothing is worse than
emptiness. That's why it is hard to
keep people with mental illnesses on their medications, because strange and
horrible feelings are preferable to no feelings at all (the effect of some
medications). Those of us without
mental illnesses aren't any different.
Anything is better than emptiness.
And, emptiness is a real fear. But, the woman was willing to take
the chance. She wasn't alone
after-all, Jesus was right there as she took this chance. None of us should be alone. Christ is right here, in the presence of
fellow believers Christ is here. We
can take the chance and throw out the bad water of our lives. And whenever we do it, we are filled with
fresh, living water. Water that
refreshes us in a way that allows us to leave our heavy jars behind. Jars are a trap. You can stare into jars for too long and never realize that
there is a world out there. But, once
you are helped to look up from your jar you see a wonderful new world of
opportunity and love and happiness. You see that other people are
walking around, carrying heavy jars, staring into their jars, and you just
want to go and tell them, “Look up!
Don't you see that your staring down at your own feeling of
worthlessness, or at the chaos of their life, or at some doctrine that's
unimportant to real life, or at the destructive desire for success?” “Look up,” you say. “Look up and experience the gift of freedom
that Christ has given to me. It's
good, it's refreshing. Look up!” And they do, and one by one people are freed from their heavy jars as Christ motivates more people to be prophets to each other. And, it is a beautiful sight when you look in front of you and see a huge pile of jars that have been left behind. They weren't that important after-all. |
||
|
|
