Before we begin, I want to wish all the dads a "Happy Father's Day." Fathers don't get much respect anymore. Bill Cosby observed once that boys grow up spending hours and hours throwing footballs and going to games with their dads. And when they make it big on the college scene, before the big bowl game they get interviewed, and the first thing they say is, "Hi, Mom!!"
No, fathers don't get much respect anymore. We even tried diminishing the importance of this day, mistakenly scheduling a congregational meeting that has since been rescheduled for Sunday, June 29th, so that we would not impose on family celebrations.
The role of "fathers" is heightened this weekend with the unexpected death of Tim Russert who wrote two best selling books on his father. And the best selling book of all time certainly does not minimize the role of fathers. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a better role model than Abraham. In "Abram"-exaulted father-soon to be named "Abraham"-father of many-the concept of "the people of God" find its first expression in this single man through whom all the families of earth shall be blessed.
From the beginning of Genesis we see God's purpose in establishing something of an intentional partnership with the centerpiece of His creation-His children! God acts to carve out a channel for the execution of His will, calling key individuals like Noah, Abram, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Joshua, the prophets and apostles. The significance of this divine calling is fundamental and cannot be overlooked. It is what is propelling us at King of Glory to re-examine our infrastructure and the role of elders and deacons within the family of God. God has always called specific men and women to become His spokespersons, setting them apart to lead His people in the work of salvation. Through them God enters into a missional covenant-a promise, an agreement-between Himself and the groups they are to lead in becoming part of the kingdom expansion God has envisioned to effect through them.
These covenants are not agreements made between equals, but rather like our mortgage covenants, one party dictates the terms and promises to deliver as the other party accepts the responsibilities entailed in the covenant (the only difference is that in God's covenants there is no "fine print"). There is always a redemptive purpose in the covenant God makes. With Abram God promises Abraham that he will become the "ancestor of a multitude of nations" and that he and his descendants would be given the land of Canaan, and God would be their God.
God's covenant people, for their part, were to partner with God. They were to tell the whole world about God and His love for them. They were to be "a light to the nations." Throughout Israel's history, they never quite grasped that their "chosen status" was for the sake of mission and their part of the covenant incurred responsibility, not just the enjoyment of being privileged. The prophets were subsequently sent by God to continually remind the Israelites of their part of the bargain-that they had responsibilities that they were neglecting by keeping God to themselves and by determining who was "in" and who was "out" by the observance of all the rules and regulations they fashioned. Obviously, such criteria would insure that they were better than most.
With a consistent voice, Peter reaches back to the Old Testament, reminding the people of the New Covenant that Jesus came to establish the Church to assume the responsibilities that had been entrusted to the Jews: "You (the Church-Christ followers) are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were no people, but now you are God's people..." (1 Peter 2:9-10).
With Abraham, God begins this focused and intentional series of covenants and promises that continue throughout the Scriptures and into our own day and our own lives. Abraham becomes the example for our obedience, and in matters of faith, the "father" of us all.
God's call of Abraham, and the promise of a posterity that will be a blessing to all, is repeated for each of us in the covenant of our Baptism and in the Great Commission. In accepting the promises of God's gift of eternal life, we agree to participate in salvation history by being fully devoted disciples who partner with our Lord in extending His love and His kingdom throughout the world. Our part in the covenant requires a response of obedience, just as it did on the part of Abraham and his descendants.
The call, the first promise of God to Abram was sudden, abrupt and precise. "Leave! Go! I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. Your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, and you will be a blessing to all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:1-2; 15:5)
The call of God always demands a response. When a gift is offered or an invitation extended, one has no choice but to respond. Abram's response is totally committed. "So Abram went!" Two thousand years later the writers of the New Testament shook their heads and their pens in amazement: "He went out not knowing where he was to go" (Hebrews 11:8).
Throughout the wanderings in Egypt and Canaan, Abraham would walk steadily in the promises of God. And as he walked, it was if God was walking before him. Each of Abraham's steps seemed to walk toward God. Abraham lived in God's presence and with integrity. How is it with you, dads?
"So Abram went." Just a few words tell us so much. He left security and serenity behind him. Without a road map in his hand or a known destination he set forth. Risking the unknown is not an easy thing for us. Unlike Abraham, we are not nomads either by nature or by tradition. We are a sedentary people who travel only with flight plans and rental cars awaiting us at our destination, or, if by car we rely upon our Global Positioning System. We have confirmation numbers for our hotel reservations. We have packed traveler's checks and credit cards. As little as possible is left to chance.
Just as Abraham is the father of faith, truly the "father of many" and the first of a chain of saving links for us, so God calls us to be a part of that chain for others. Our presence and our witness may be the one right and passing moment for someone else as Abraham has been for all of us. In the covenant of our baptism we are called to be witnesses and to launch out into this ministry of participating with God to extend His Kingdom.
Jesus came to establish a New Covenant through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. Reading the Gospels shows us that Jesus was constantly in conflict with the religious authorities of His day. He associated with the wrong people, broke the Sabbath, challenged the Law, and spoke against the practices of the temple priests, Pharisees, and Scribes. Our Gospel is but one example of how Jesus transforms conventional expectations and challenges the status quo. He reached out to a Samaritan. The Jews of Jesus' day hated Samaritans. They were descendants of the ten lost tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, overrun and conquered by the Assyrians 700 years before Christ. It was unthinkable for a self-respecting Jew to have anything to do with a Samaritan, yet Jesus intentionally journeys to this region. Moreover, it was against all accepted practice for a Jewish man to engage a woman in conversation. Yet Jesus talks with a woman who had come to the well to draw water
On the surface it seems that Jesus is thirsty and is asking for assistance to obtain the water of nature. But reading more closely and listening more attentively we discover that the waters of nature are of little significance to Jesus at this point. He engages the woman to teach her, the Samaritans, His disciples, and you and me as well of the need to seek and find the life-giving water which only the Lord can provide. What is this life-giving water? Some might say it is God's wisdom; others may believe it to be God's grace. Still others might see it as faith. I would suggest that the living water that Christ gives is His love, which like water overflowing from a full glass pours out in all directions. Jesus' love goes to all people for all time, not just for Jews, nor just for those who are already apart of the Church. Jesus came to fulfill His Heavenly Father's purpose which had first been outlined in that Covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Jesus is teaching His disciples to be open to the fresh and new reality of what He is offering: this life-giving water is meant for all people-all nations-even the despised Samaritans!
Jesus had a harder time getting through to His disciples than He did in achieving a life-transformation of the Samaritan woman who was an outsider. Could it not have been possible that the disciples passed this woman as they were going into town to pick up a Quarter Pounder or a Double Whopper for their exhausted leader and she was going to the well for water. They probably didn't engage her or any other Samaritan. When they return with food, Jesus was enjoying a personal spiritual high-an experience of missional accomplishment that they were clueless about. Jesus had just witnessed the miracle of the Holy Spirit transforming a sinner into a saint. He watched this woman being "brought of darkness into God's marvelous light." He witnessed the power of the Gospel set a person free from a sinful past. He was so full of joy He had no room for food. Restoring a ruined life gave Jesus more strength and greater satisfaction than any food. Observing an energized Jesus the disciples wondered if someone had slipped Him some food in their absence.
Jesus then launches into a description of the smorgasbord of missional opportunity if the disciples could only learn to see. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work." There were four months till harvest, but Jesus is telling them to open their eyes and look now, for the fields are ripe for harvesting. We're told the woman went back to her townsfolk who had no doubt snubbed her for her lifestyle, telling them she had seen the Messiah. The townsfolk headed out to the well to see for themselves, and as is still the custom, individuals wore white gowns in the hot desert climate of that area, and they looked like a whole field ripe for harvest as they approached Jesus.
The disciples never really saw the Samaritan woman. Nor could see the harvest. Amazing what we don't see when we aren't looking! Jesus is drilling home the point that His followers must see from God's perspective, and He is teaching them that in "spiritual farming" there is never a time to sit back and wait for the harvest. One prepares the soil, another sows, one cultivates and another harvests. Each needs to seize the opportunity of the now to participate in God's salvation history. God brought us into the world and saved us for the very purpose of telling others about God's love. That's what makes life worth living-participating with our Lord in extending the Kingdom.
The disciples, no doubt, had grown up in the synagogue, trained and conditioned to be concerned with internal issues-keeping the law, following procedures, developing strategies, and tending their own, rather than keeping their eyes on the harvest. The harvest could wait until the internal needs could be met. First things first! Except that was not Jesus' way. "The harvest is plentiful," Jesus says and quickly "sends his disciples out like sheep among wolves" (Matt 9:37; 10:9; 16).
For the Pharisees, for the religious establishment of Jesus day, the evangelism strategy was "Come and get it!" God's message was contorted into moralisms... straighten up...become like us...like what we like...don't associate with them or you will contaminate yourselves.
I have here a whole assortment of containers, mugs, sippee cups, tea cups, Styrofoam cups, glasses of various sizes and shapes. We can often be like the Pharisees of Jesus' day-fundamentalists about containers, forms, and procedures-all need to conform and be alike. And at the same time we desire latitude and permissiveness about the content-we thicken it, dilute it, and make it politically correct. But in reality, is it not the containers that can change while the content-the truth--must remain the same. What would it mean for us to conserve the content of the living water while being open to pouring it into anyone open to receiving God's love, no matter what shape they're in. It is essential the content remain the same even though the container used to capture and carry it may change dramatically. Each generation needs a different water-pot, a culturally relevant container from which to receive the living waters from the well.
That's what Jesus was teaching His disciples: "Share my love! "Go out to ‘em!" He didn't withdraw or withhold living water from the Samaritan woman because she didn't measure up any more than did Zacchaeus. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, allowing His love to overflow into their lives. Instead of insisting that people conform and clean up their act before coming into God's presence, He taught that God accepts people as they are. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed that the Kingdom of God, the messianic rule, would come when enough people behaved properly, and they determined what was proper! Jesus was proclaiming that the Kingdom had already arrived, and that it was in them. Religious people have always been a problem for Jesus. The Kingdom of God was expanding to places, people, and cultures that the Pharisees had never considered God to be interested in. The living water of God's love which Jesus invites us to share goes out indiscriminately to all people at all times. Jesus was never exclusive. His love was inclusive, His compassion all giving, and His care reflected His mission: "I have come, not to be served, but to serve." If we are true to our common vocation, we will follow in the footsteps of our Lord and partner with Him in building God's kingdom in our world today.
You see, the Church has inherited the purpose God had initially for Israel, and we become the New Israel through which all the people of the earth are to be blessed! Amen!
