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| This homily was originally offered by Christopher Lind at Church of the Holy Trinity (Anglican), in Toronto, February 19, 2006 |
- Genesis 21: 8 -14
- John 4: 7 – 15
Our
theme today is water. In our Genesis reading we find the story
of Hagar, an Egyptian slave that Sarai offered to Abram as a surrogate
mother since Sarai was barren – the waters of her body could
not produce life. When God made a new covenant with him, Abram became
Abraham and Sarai became Sarah and conceived. When she finally gave
birth to Isaac, she began to fear for Isaac’s inheritance.
She wanted to ensure his exclusive property rights and told Abraham
to send Hagar and 14 year old Ishmael away.
They were given bread and one skin of water. Hagar eventually runs out of water and does not want to watch Ishmael die of thirst. Though it is Hagar who weeps, God hears the cry of Ishmael and responds. (The name Ishmael means ‘God Hears’). God creates a well of water where there was none before. They survive. They thrive and Hagar eventually arranges for Ishmael to take an Egyptian wife, one of her people. This story is common to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Both Judaism and Islam agree that Ishmael becomes the ancestor of the Arabic people. In Islam this well is known as the well of Zamzan. The well has provided water more or less continuously for 4,000 years and the town that grew up around it eventually became the city of Mecca. Its water today is distributed at the Prophet’s Mosque and people claim it has miraculous healing powers.
In John’s gospel we find a woman, and a Samaritan one at that. He speaks to her (not done) and asks to share her water (also not done). “If you had known the gift of God, and who I am, you would have reversed this transaction.” (I am paraphrasing Jesus here) “You would have asked to share my resources and I would have given you ‘living water’ – water that will make you never thirsty again.” The image of ‘living water’ is powerful for the people of Israel because it immediately conjures up its opposite – the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is so salty that it will not support life. It can never quench your thirst. We all yearn for a state of affairs when we will never have this fear of thirst, of exclusion from the well, and of death, again.
Today these fears of thirst, of exclusion and of death are very much alive. Human activity, especially in the last 200 years, is changing our climate to such an extent that we fear our rivers will stop flowing. The Bow River supplies Calgary and the bulk of its water comes from mountain snow pack and glacial ice. Some scientists believe the river will more or less dry up in 35 years. The St. Lawrence River supplies Montreal and one study for the Great Lakes Commission predicts that by 2050 the water flows in that river will have been reduced by 24%. Water levels in Lakes Huron and Michigan are predicted to drop by up to 1.5 metres. Water levels in Lake Ontario are regulated by dams and competing uses. Think for a minute about the fights we can predict over conflicting uses of Lake Ontario’s water, or of any large source of water. Shall we use it for drinking, for cooling, for washing, for fishing, for recreation or for industrial processes?
We use water for all those things and more. We also use water for transportation and for irrigation and for power storage. While increasing climate chaos makes fresh water less reliable and less readily available, our market economy sees this as a growth opportunity. Public utilities are being privatized, and a public good is being re-organized as a scarce resource available to the highest bidder. Have you noticed the ‘Coke’ machines filled with bottled water? Maybe you think it is a convenience and maybe you think this is a pleasant change from the sweet, fattening alternatives? I’m here to tell you these are the most visible weapons in a cultural and ideological war for your hearts, wallets and minds.
The opposite of a vending machine dispensing bottled water is not a vending machine dispensing ‘Pepsi’. The opposite is a public water fountain dispensing safe, clean water without charge. The more bottled water companies can convince us that public water supplies are unsafe, the more they can sell. The more we buy into the privatization of water supplies, the more we accept the idea water is a scarce resource available to the highest bidder, the more we create a society of exclusion – where an increasing number of people will do without.
Hagar and Ishmael are sent away by Sarah because she understood inheritance not as a blessing, available to all in abundance, but as a scarce resource sufficient for some but not others. This belief, this attitude, became the basis for exclusion.
In the story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at the well, we join with her in the search for water which will end thirst not temporarily, but forever. What is that living water? It is God, yes, but it is also justice. The Samaritan woman says to Jesus:
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty *or* have to keep coming here to draw water.” The Samaritan woman makes the link between the Living Water of God and an end to her backbreaking labour and discrimination. After all, it is only women who draw the water and they are always serving it to the men. Think of Abraham’s servant looking for a wife for Isaac and discovering Rebekah, also at the well, where she serves him and also his camels.
In this link the Samaritan woman makes between the Living Water of God and an end to injustice, she also recalls the ancient Summary of the Law – Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourself. The Living Water of God calls for an end to exclusion and the privatization of water is going in the opposite direction.
The Canadian churches through KAIROS have joined together to make water an education and action theme for this year. I commend to you the resources in your bulletin if you want to follow up.
AMEN
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