Cracks in the Wall

Cracks in the Wall
(April, 2003 POL)

Topic: Communion Meditation
Text: John 4:4-19

Well class, it is time to put on your thinking caps. I am going to give you a pop quiz on the poem you see on the cover of the bulletin. The poem is "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost. I'm sure you all studied Robert Frost in high school English. The question is: what is the "something" that the lines refer to? Listen carefully:

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

What is that something that doesn't love a wall? Let's see, it must be a natural force, something that's cold, that puts cracks in walls and represents the poet's point of view . . . The answer: frost! Frost is cold, and the poet is saying, "I don't love walls!"

There was another man long ago who did not love a wall. He dedicated his life, and indeed, his death, to bringing down walls. His name was Jesus of Nazareth.

Our Scripture passage this morning is John chapter 4, verses 4-9.

Have you ever wondered what would Jesus do today if He were in the West Bank in the midst of the terrible conflict between Jews and Palestinians? Well believe it or not, our Scripture takes place on the West Bank, which in ancient times was known as Samaria. And back then, like today, Samaria was populated by people who nursed a deep hatred for the Jewish people. The antipathy was mutual: the Jews despised the Samaritans. It was common practice for Jewish people who traveled to go out of their way rather than pass through Samaria. But John tells us that Jesus made a special point of passing through this troubled region:

Now (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to Him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink?" [Then comes a breathtaking understatement.] (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

This is the Word of the Lord.

Something in Jesus did not love a wall. That is why He passed through Samaria.

On a hot afternoon in that desert region, Jesus found a shady spot and sank wearily to the ground beside a well to wait while the disciples went for food. A little later, a woman came to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink.

The woman was utterly flabbergasted and exclaimed, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink?"