Sermon preached by the Rev. John Elliott Lein at St. Thomas à Becket Episcopal Church on Mar 15, 2020 on the following texts: Psalm 95, Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, and John 4:5-42.

Thus he comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and a font of Jacob’s was there. So then Jesus, wearied by the journey, sat down by the font; it was about the sixth hour. A woman comes from Samaria to draw water.

...The woman says to him, “...Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you people say that the place where it is necessary to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus says to her, “Trust me, madam, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not know, we worship what we know; because salvation is from the Judaeans; But an hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for indeed the Father looks for those worshipping him so; God is spirit, and it is necessary that those worshipping worship in spirit and truth.” The woman says to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming”;—the one called Anointed—“when that one arrives he will announce all things to us.” Jesus say to her, “I am he: I who am speaking to you...”

— Translation by David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A Translation.
Verses shown here are John 4:5-7a, 19-26.

When I began this day, I planned to give a general pastoral address on the subject of the coronavirus and our adaptation to the circumstances as a worshiping community. With all of the research and planning and preparations and adjustments to be made this last week, I simply didn’t have time to think about the readings let alone prepare a sermon. Nor did I think that our lectionary readings were needed to speak to this moment for our community.

And then I stepped up to the ambo, and read the Gospel of John selection appointed for today, and I realized it spoke exactly to our situation. So what follows is an attempt to recapture the message I delivered in the moment.

* * *

The woman at the well in this story had a number of questions for Jesus. But the one which struck me as I read is about how and where to worship.

The Samaritans were, and still are, an ancient people in competition geographically and religiously with the Judaeans of Jesus’ birth. They claim their ancestry from the northern kingdom of Israel, their religion as the pure form of Moses’ revelation unadulterated by reforms coming after the great Babylonian Exile of the southern kingdom, accept only their variation on the Pentateuch as Holy Scripture, and as a result keep the tradition of worshipping on Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 11:29-30).

The location of true worship became one of the most contencious elements of the debate; while the Judaeans built a new temple in Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE, the Samaritans built one on the mountain. The fight over this continued until the Judaeans destroyed the Gerizim temple four centuries later. By the time Jesus was traveling around the countryside preaching a couple hundred years afterward, the feud between the two groups was bitter and deeply entrenched.

And so, it is no surprise that this question from the Samaritan woman emerged as she recognized Jesus’ prophetic authority but sought to test his teaching and see where he stood on this issue. And it is also no surprise that Jesus’ answer starts from his cultural setting and religious training as a faithful Judaean; that only his people have true knowledge and that knowledge points to Jerusalem.

Yet he follows this immediately by saying “Another hour is coming—and in fact has come! Now true worshippers worship in spirit and truth.” The age of the Kingdom of Heaven, that which Jesus announced and inaugurated on earth, no longer makes this distinction between Gerizim and Jerusalem important. Now it is the spirit of worship which matters rather than the location.

* * *

What an important reminder for all of us today.

Yes, it is painful for many of us to be unable to worship together in our familiar sacred surroundings in this church building. That is true, and gathering here is important when we can.

At the same time, true worship is done in the spirit and can be accessible under any circumstances and in any location. God is not found only in this building. The Spirit is not limited within these walls. The physical proximity of this beloved people is not entirely necessary for true communion together.

This may be an excellent time to explore those sometime-neglected elements of our spiritual life while we do not have access to our community gathering.

Saying the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer, whether Morning, Noonday, Evening, or Compline, is a wonderful personal or family spiritual practice. You may also find sustenance in reading Scripture or other holy books. Maybe meditation, or chanting psalms, or icon practice, or praying the rosary can be something to learn, to pick back up, or in which to renew your efforts.

Of course the individual path is best complemented by that of the community, but it can be good to have times of concerted effort in one area of spiritual practice. This is a wonderful opportunity to do some of that work and see how you can grow.

As we go through this time together, I will be working to provide resources on these practices and ways to make sacred and holy time and space outside the church. I pray that this may be a time of proper Lenten prayer, reflection, and deepening, so that when we come back together in community gathering in the weeks and months to come we may bring with us renewed energy, wisdom, and grace for the work we have put before us for the mission of God in this world around us.

* * *

I would like to close by re-reading our Psalm for the day through the pen of the poet and Zen teacher Norman Fischer (Opening to You, Psalm 95), as it reminds us of the gift and possibility encapsulated in this idea of “worship” regardless of the form in which it is offered:

We are here
Singing to you
Erupting into shouting
At the place of the rock of our salvation
Coming gratefully and gracefully before you here
Affirming with our words, the music of our mouths
That we are possessed by you, yours entirely

For you give us the gift of sovereignty
A power above all others
The majesty of our absolute being

You whose hands touch the earth’s depths
Whose heart pierces the mountain peak

The always changing sea is yours for it exists because of you
And your hands have formed the firmness of the lands

So we come in awe, offering the earth and sea of ourselves to you
Bending what we are toward you, shaper of us

For you are our beyond and we are your doing
Sheep who graze in your pastures, animated by your hand
If only we could awaken to it!

AMEN.