The Third Sunday in Lent – Rev. Aimee Baxter

A little over a week ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Guatemala to visit with several ministries that Isle of Hope UMC partners with. It is one of my greatest joys to take this trip and has become a reunion with people we love.

Our first workday, Shannon and I rode in the back of a pickup truck on our way to travel to the remote villages on El Fuego volcano. As we rode, we discussed the beauty and majesty of our surroundings, the poverty and different lifestyles we were witnessing, and the fact that this trip was our favorite mission trip the church took.

It’s our favorite because while there are a lot of familiar pieces to it, there’s always something new and unexpected. We began to talk about the value of our Lenten devotional - Bless the Lent We Actually Have - and how this trip really asked us to live into that reality. We declared, Bless the Mission Trip We Actually Have.

We experienced two full days of amazing work. Children received food and nurture. Wheelchairs were given to those who desperately needed them. A group of workers gathered to receive encouragement and love in what has been an extremely difficult season.

We had one more workday to go - a visit to our beloved Christ Child’s Nest, a foster home run by two Catholic sisters, full of children we haven’t seen in three years.

Then, it happened. Sickness kicked in and we were down for the count. We wouldn’t be making it to see the kids at theNest, and would most likely be delaying seeing our own children a few more days.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, it was the worst. We were filled with disappointment and discomfort, along with a longing for home and the familiar.

But as I learned in those three days of limbo and unease, God will surprise you and draw near in unexpected ways. An example: We had to move hotels (not fun when you feel crummy) but arrived to our new hotel to find that it had air conditioning. I almost cried with joy! Praise God for AC!

Our readings for today are filled with these types of encounters with God. Times when the people of God are either struggling through a difficult time or just a normal everyday activity, and they are surprised by the Divine.

In our Old Testament lesson, we meet the Israelites in the desert setting up camp at Rephidim which literally means a place of rest. It is in essence a pit stop on the way to Sinai. As per usual, the Hebrew people are grumbling. In fairness to them, they are in the middle of the desert and there is no water to drink.

They are thirsty, cranky and just plain over it. They go to the extreme and direct all their frustration and exhaustion at Moses. “This is your fault. You brought us out here to die!”

In turn, Moses goes to God with his exhaustion and frustration, and asks, “What do you want me to do with these people? They are coming for me!”

God responds with grace, directs Moses to take the same staff he used in the parting of the Red Sea, and travel ahead to the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will come out. We see in our readings, it does.

So many of us can relate to the Israelites. You journey along with lots of expectations and hopes. When those aren’t met, it leads to great disappointment.

God has a way of showing up for us in the hardest of circumstances. Whether it be through that whole bottle of Stomach meds and extra clothes you brought just in case for the trip, or drawing water from an unlikely source, God provides.
In our Gospel reading, we see Jesus provide an unexpected gift to the Samaritan woman. She is coming to the well in pretty normal fashion for her. Unlike the regular time most women would come to draw water, she comes in the heat of the day when she can be alone and not face the scrutiny of others.

But on this day, she arrives to find a man sitting at the well who asks her for a drink of water. Caught off guard by his request she reminds him why his question doesn’t make any sense to her. I am a Samaritan, you are a Jew. We don’t co-mingle.

As the conversation continues, she gets tripped up on the practicality of Jesus’s claims to offer living water and it takes her a minute to process that he isn’t, in fact, talking about the water in the well. He is meeting her in an unexpected way and offering her an experience with God.

As she realizes what is happening, Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah. This revelation as Messiah quickly spreads through her witness to the community and Jesus ends up spending a couple days with them in Samaria.

This visit and encounter was quite unexpected by the woman, the Samaritan people and the disciples. What was a fairly average day, became a life-changing moment.

What I find most beautiful in both of these encounters with the Divine, is that God shows up and meets them through one of the most basic needs: water. He provides for their physical thirst and for the deeper longing in their souls to be known and loved.

I think it is fair to say that both are equally important to God. God is in both the little, ordinary moments of our day-to-day survival; and the big, overwhelming moments when our spirits feel depleted, and we need to hear we are beloved over and over and over again.

Take heart, whether you are in a season of struggle or in what seems to be ordinary time, an encounter with God is likely right around the corner.

And when it happens, it will be as satisfying as…

A big glass of ice-cold water on a hot summer day.

Air conditioning when you need a gentle breeze of cool air on clammy skin.

Or the deep peace that comes in knowing you are seen and loved by the one who offers living water so you will never thirst again. Amen.