Lenten Noonday Preaching Series
Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
March 20, 2000

A Different Way
The Rev. Gina M. Stewart
Pastor
Christ Missionary Baptist Church
Memphis, Tennessee

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly this is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

I'd like to invite your attention to John's Gospel, chapter 4, verses 1 through 10. I will be reading from the New International Version.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he 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 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?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord shall stand forever. Let those who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the church. Let us pray.

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on us today. Pour out your Spirit in this place that we might be molded and shaped and transformed into the unique creations and vessels that you have called us to be. Thank you for your word that brings light to our path and is a lamp unto our feet. Speak to our hearts today that the seed of your word might be planted in our hearts and that our lives may bear fruit that will bring glory and honor to Thee. For what is in the name of Jesus, the word made flesh, we thank you even now for this preaching moment. And the people of God said together, Amen.

My subject today is the road less traveled. Let us gather our thoughts around verse 4 that says, "Now he had to go through Samaria." A strange and striking phrase introduces this episode in John's Gospel, verses 3 through 4. It reads, "When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more into Galilee." Then John goes on to say something very interesting to our ears: Jesus had to go through Samaria.

What makes this statement so striking is that Jesus really did not have to go through Samaria in order to get to Galilee. It was not absolutely necessary to go through Samaria in order to reach his destination. In fact, there was another route that would have taken Jesus to the same place, just from a different perspective. From the perspective of geography however, going through Samaria would be the obvious choice for a traveler headed in the direction of Galilee. It was direct - Samaria lay between Judea and Galilee, and it was convenient - only a three-day journey.

But the road that Jesus chose was not a road frequently traveled by your ancient Orthodox Jew. Instead, it was the custom of the Jew to endure an unnecessary inconvenience by selecting the longer route to avoid passing through the territory of the Samaritans whom they regarded with contempt.

This prevailing cultural and social attitude was initiated when the Assyrians invaded the kingdom of Samaria and removed thousands of Jews from Palestine around 722 BC. When the Jews were removed from Palestine, they were replaced with settlers from Babylon, Syria and other nations. These foreigners introduced pagan idols and intermarried with the Hebrews who were left in Palestine and thereby created an ethnically mixed population. Thus, the Samaritans lost the racial purity that was so important to the theological perspective and position of the ancient Orthodox Jew.
The source of enmity between the two was further intensified by a debate about the correct location of the place of cultic worship.

In order to avoid Samaria, Orthodox Jews would cross the Jordan River, follow the eastern bank and then recross the Jordan at a point north of Samaria and enter in Galilee. Talk about taking the long way around. Although this route took twice as long, an Orthodox Jew would take the longer route to keep his feet from touching Samaritan soil.

But John tells us something different. John tells us something that I believe should arrest our attention. John lets us know that when Jesus made preparations to go to Galilee, Jesus did not prescribe to the pattern that was already instituted for travel. In fact, Jesus, who was a Jew, did not permit the prevailing cultural practices to influence his decision. Instead, Jesus took the road less traveled and went through Samaria to Galilee.

On the surface it appears that Jesus' itinerary may have been governed by geographical expediency. It was a shortcut. It was direct. It was convenient. But Scripture reveals to us, and a theological exploration reveals to us, that Jesus' stay in Samaria was not just dictated by geographical necessity, but theological necessity. For it was in Samaria at Jacob's well that Jesus met a woman of Samaria, an interesting character who provides a striking contrast to all that has preceded.

In John, chapter 3, Jesus speaks with Nicodemus, a male member of the Jewish establishment. In John, chapter 4, Jesus speaks with a female member of a reviled people. This woman was all that Nicodemus was not. Nicodemus has a name, she was anonymous. Nicodemus was a Jew, she was a Samaritan. Nicodemus was a man, she was a woman. Nicodemus was learned and scholarly, she was ignorant and unschooled. Nicodemus was morally upright, she was sinful and contaminated. Nicodemus was wealthy and from the upper class of society, she was poor and living on the periphery of society. Nicodemus recognized Jesus' merits and sought him out for a personal interview, she was a curious traveler and quite indifferent to Jesus' presence.

But it was on this particular day, in the course of carrying out her ordinary chores, that Jesus dares to violate two societal conventions. First of all, he initiates a public conversation with a woman, which was strictly forbidden during those days and in that culture. Secondly, he assumes the risk of ritual contamination. The breach between the Samaritans and the Jews had developed into a prohibition of all social intercourse.

The conversation between Jesus and the woman therefore becomes a scandalous conversation. The woman herself responds to Jesus' request for water by saying, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" Even this unnamed, nondescript woman understands the rules of protocol. She knows that a Jewish man should not talk with a Samaritan woman. Neither should a Jew consider drinking water from a Samaritan vessel. But Jesus was a product of his times, not a victim of his times.

The customs of the day did not inform his behavior. Jesus was not guided by political correctness nor Gallup polls. Social standards and traditions did not shape His attitude. Jesus was not shackled to chains of conformity nor political expediency. His decisions did not reflect traditional cultural and societal expectations, because Jesus would not be limited by such restraints. No, no, no, Jesus was on a mission. He was on a mission from God to break down barriers and break down boundaries. In this conversation with the unknown Samaritan woman, Jesus breaks down the barriers between men and women, and breaks down the boundaries between Jews and Samaritans.

You see, the journey through Samaria and the conversation with the woman of Samaria was necessary to demonstrate that the grace of God is available to everybody, male and female, Jew and Greek, bond and free. But what does it mean for us to take the road less traveled? How does this ancient text speak to us in our contemporary paradigms? How should we leave this place today informed by the source of the holy writ? What does it mean today for a 21st century Christian to take the road less traveled?

I'm glad you asked, because to take the road less traveled means to confront issues rather than to avoid them. To take the road less traveled means to transform conventional expectations and challenge the status quo. To take the road less traveled means to break down barriers by crossing boundaries and building bridges. To take the road less traveled is to dare to venture into territory that everyone else would conveniently avoid. To take the road less traveled is to risk breaking all of the rules. To take the road less traveled is to take the challenge of rising above individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of humanity.

To take the road less traveled means that in a world of religious, racial, social and human intolerance, technological astuteness and capitalistic enterprises, that the Christian virtues of love, mercy, and forgiveness must stand at the center of our lives. To take the road less traveled is to have the moral courage to stand up and speak up and protest wherever injustice is found. To take the road less traveled is to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of society. To take the road less traveled is to permit the love and grace of God to work in the lives and the hearts of humanity. To take the road less traveled is to rise to love on the Agape level; we love humanity not because we like them, not because they look like us, not because their attitudes and ways appeal to us, but because God loves us.

To take the road less traveled is to usher in a time when human interrelationships are transformed into an eschatological event and present reality. To take the road less traveled is to take the gift of living water to those whose lives have been parched by sin and suffering. To take the road less traveled is Dr. Martin Luther King making the pilgrimage to Memphis not only to fight for the rights and dignity of garbage workers, but to give his life in the process.

To take the road less traveled is a Memphis theological seminary that can see the spark of God not just in Cumberland Presbyterians, not just in European-Americans, but in African-Americans and females and across denominational lines, and train them for ministry. To take the road less traveled is Metropolitan Interfaith Association, now known as MIFA, formed in the year of 1968. In response to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, a group of clergy and rabbis got together and said something has got to change and came up with a formula and a program for offering hope and concrete solutions to real problems.

To take the road less traveled is the Calvary Episcopal Church that would dare to open its doors and invite a black girl from South Memphis, from the other side of the tracks, to stand in your pulpit. To take the road less traveled is the Calvary Episcopal Church located in the heart of downtown Memphis, that dares to step outside of its paradigm and reach out to AIDS victims, homeless folks and hungry folks. That's not all. To take the road less traveled is a Christ Missionary Baptist Church who five years ago on March 4th, dared to break and test the rules of the tradition by electing a black woman to serve as the pastor of their congregation. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

If that's not enough, to take the road less traveled is Jesus, the Son of the Living God, the word made flesh. To take the road less traveled is to take the road that Jesus took, a road that led to humiliation, a road that led to vicarious suffering, a road that led to sacrifice and a road that ultimately led to death. To take the road less traveled is Jesus who really could have taken another route. Jesus, who did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped or coveted. Jesus, who took the ultimate journey - enduring the cross, despising the shame and traveling another road, the Via Dolorosa. Now a strip of cobblestone, that was the sorrowful way that Jesus traveled on the day of his crucifixion -- from the judgment seat of Pilate to the place of crucifixion on Mount Calvary, a place called Golgotha, better known as the skull.

Yes, it was necessary for Jesus to go through Samaria, for it was through Samaria that Jesus brought faith not just to one individual but to an entire community. But the road through Samaria was just a foretaste of another road, a road that would lead to life and light for all of humanity. I don't know about you, but I think that's mighty good news. I'm glad that he was willing to take the road less traveled. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah!

Our God, we thank You today for Jesus, who was willing to take the road less traveled, not just to save a woman but to save the world. We thank You today for the word made flesh. We thank You for Calvary, and we thank You for Golgotha. But most of all we thank You for the privilege of being Your vessels. Now as we go down from this place, we ask that You would touch our hearts that we might too be challenged to take the road less traveled. That we might too be agents of goodwill, agents of transformation, agents of grace, and agents of mercy. Keep us in the center of Your will, hold us in the hollow of Your Hand. Be merciful unto us, bless us and cause Your face to shine upon us, that the truth of Your ways may be known unto us. A saving help among all nations, both now and forevermore, and the redeemed of the Lord said together, Amen.

Copyright 2000 The Rev. Gina Stewart

(Return to Top)