There's a bad wedding joke that goes:
Men get married hoping that she won't change.
Women get married hoping that men will change.
Inevitably – both are disappointed.
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During lent we have been following a theme in the Sunday services – and the theme has to do with being transformed, being changed.
I've reminded us of Paul's words in the letter to the Romans 12:2:
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…"
Lent for us is a time of repentance, and repentance I've reminded us is not so much a backward looking idea – looking back on all the things I've done wrong and saying I'm sorry. It's a forwards looking idea…
To repent means to change your mind.
Jesus says "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near…" Jesus is talking about changing your way of thinking and your way of behaving because the Kingdom of God is achievable in the near future.
This change of mind involves making God the King of us, our hearts, minds and lives. Living in this Kingdom reality.
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In the first week we looked at giving up… during lent some people consciously give up old habits, or they fast from certain food or drink as a discipline. A way of reminding them to change their mind.
Some change their attitudes of thinking – I must not be so negative, I mustn't look for the worst in people, but rather for the best…
In the second week we looked not so much at giving up, but at giving out. Talking about how God transforms us so that we can be people who bless others.
Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about being 'born again' becoming a new person. When God takes Abraham and begins a new nation God does it so that Abraham will be a 'blessing' to other nations.
We are transformed in order to bless others. Our transformation is more than just a good feeling when we worship on a Sunday… we are transformed in order to be a blessing.
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This week our theme is: "Getting wise – the possibility of change."
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Most of us are so used to our habits – our attitudes. We are so used to the horror we see in the world – poverty, sickness, prejudice and violence… that we begin to think that nothing can be changed.
'That's just the way the world is…"
The good news is - our habits of behaviour, of thought, of attitude are not unchangeable. They can be changed. God gives us at once the ability, (by the power of his Holy Spirit) and the motivation, (in knowing that we are loved) to be transformed into the people God call us to be and dreams of us becoming.
We can know that the world we live in, the people we live amongst are loved enough to be changed.
We learn about the kind of love God has for us through Jesus.
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In John's gospel we read about Jesus' encounter with a Woman at a well in Samaria.
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Modern readers of this passage – like you and I tend to focus on the woman's 'sexual' history. Five husbands – and the man she is living with is not even her husband.
But for early Jewish readers the most surprising thing about this passage would have probably been Jesus willingness to cross a boundary of prejudice and what seemed like religious purity… Jesus spoke to a Samaritan (someone of a race group not considered acceptable) and on top of that – she was a woman.
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We South Africans in particular are very familiar with the kind of prejudice that keeps people from each other…
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Jesus' behaviour here is scandalous…
Imagine the most conservative, Apartheid supporting minister of religion in the dark old days, alone with a woman of another race.
A woman who had gathered a bit of a reputation, and here he is treating her as his equal… and she, batting her eyes, flattered by his attention tells him quietly: "I have no husband."
Both of them would have soon been in trouble with the security police.
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When the disciples return, the gospel writer tells us – they were "astonished that he was speaking with a woman." The word astonished is the same that the gospel writers use for people's reaction to miracles.
Jesus interaction with a woman from Samaria literally, miraculously breaks a boundary that separates people from each other.
John himself tells us that he records only a few of the deeds and miracles of Jesus and this deed, this conversation is important enough to be included.
It shows us – that to Jesus – people, whoever they are and wherever they are from – in spite of our own prejudice (our own pre judging of them) are worth reaching out to.
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For South Africans; damaged as we are by prejudice, by our past; Jesus' actions remind us of the possibility of change…
Not only do we living today witness (with astonishment) the miracle of our nations transformation…
But we may witness a more profound healing of something more dehumanising than the obvious injuries caused by a system of Economic and political injustice.
On a diabolical level a part of what makes us all human was taken away:
The right and the ability to freely love our neighbours; to live out the second most important commandment, love your neighbour as you love yourself. (Jesus shows us who our neighbour is when he reaches out to those least loved.)
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But, in his action Jesus shows us that change / transformation is possible.
His conversation with the Samaritan woman changes her attitude to Jewish people. The disciples who witness the conversation and are 'amazed' have their ideas about God challenged and changed.
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In this encounter Jesus doesn't just cross a racial / cultural / religious boundary. setting up a platform for the healing of relationships across racial boundaries.
His visit to Samaria begins a process of change for the woman to whom he speaks and to the community in which she lives. As through Jesus they are made aware God's love and will for them.
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The beginning of her transformation is in Jesus simple acceptance of her for who she is and where she is in life.
Embarrassed about her situation – or perhaps a bit flirtatious, she says: "I have no husband…"
Jesus shows her that he knows her; "you've had five, and the one you have is not your husband."
Jesus' love and acceptance, the conversation she has with him turns her quickly into an evangelist: She left her jar and went to the city saying to the people:
"Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?"
- John 4:29
Later on in verse 39 we are told that, as a result of her ministry and their encounter with Jesus and the message he had: "Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony."
A whole community is transformed by Jesus message of grace and truth… starting with the one who is outcast among them… against whom Jesus speaks no word of judgment.
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As a community how are we agents of change in the way that Jesus was and is? Would that Samaritan woman find love and acceptance in a community like ours? Even in spite of the fact that she's had 5 husbands and the one she's living with is not her husband… Would we, like Jesus, love her and welcome her in?
Or would we too quickly turn to words of judgment (disguised as correction) so that she ends up battling by herself.
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Jesus changes and challenges us because he crosses our boundaries… loving us without judging us. Giving us the motivation and the ability to be changed.
In the letter to the Romans Paul reminds us that Christ loves us in spite of ourselves – we read in Romans 5:8:
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
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Not only is our relationship with God restored through this love of Jesus Christ, but we realise that others are also loved like this, before we can respond – we are loved.
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I believe that change is possible… it begins in us when we receive this love that comes from God. We begin to change the world when we realise that that love which we have received is not just for us…
When we allow ourselves to be changed – and to be people who change the world simply by acting as Jesus did – accepting others, accepting ourselves and loving each other into the Kingdom of God. Then I believe we will begin to see the Kingdom of God in this place.
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