Dr. David D. Young
April 15, 2007
Genesis 21: 1-19
John 4: 7-29
"A New World View"
(Seeing)

Many years ago, Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, was talking to Charles Sumner, the distinguished Senator of Massachusetts. She asked him to interest himself in the case of a person who needed some help. The Senator answered, "Julia, I’ve become so busy I can no longer concern myself with individuals." "Charles," she replied, "this is quite remarkable. Even God hasn’t reached that stage yet."

And sometimes it is precisely the opposite. Some people are just too busy or too complacent to concern themselves with God. Over the course of my ministry – I have had numerous people on numerous occasions tell me they don’t believe in organized religion. And I have since stopped trying to convince them to the contrary by reasonable argument.

Spiritual truth goes beyond making sense. It does not negate reason – it transcends reason. And so, I have come to accept the reality of this statement shared by one of my seminary professors,

"If people don’t want to come to church, you can’t stop them."

Well, today marks the beginning of a series of spring sermons trying to address the question, "Does God Really Make a Difference?"

This service is for:

• those who question the need for the organized church,
• those who struggle with the meaning of God in their lives,
• those who take religious faith for granted,
• those intelligent and thoughtful people who wonder how relevant faith really can be to their daily living,
• and this series is for those who think church is only a place for formal ceremonies at the times in life when one is either hatched, matched or dispatched.

As we explore the theme of whether or not God really makes a difference in our lives, we will not be pursuing the existence of God.

Many people look at creation and along with a number of other reasons say, "God exists." A very high percentage of the American public say they believe in God. And I suspect God probably likes the vote of confidence.

The issue for us during these next several weeks is not the existence of God – but the importance of God – in the way we live our lives. The idea for this series we are now beginning comes from the book, Who Needs God, by Rabbi Harold Kushner. By the way, all work and no plagiarism makes David a dull preacher. And I stole that from someone.

Actually, I want to give credit where credit is due. Much of what we use as a springboard for our exploration comes from the work of Kushner and I am grateful. As we focus in on today’s theme let’s turn to him directly for an opening thought.

"Religion is not primarily a set of beliefs, a collection of prayers, or a series of rituals. Religion is first and foremost a way of seeing. It can’t change the facts about the world we live in, but it can change the way we see those facts, and that in itself can often make a real difference."

When we encounter a poor person on the street – we may see a sorry sort of slob who deserves his lot – we may see someone who seems threatening and thus should be avoided – or we may see another child of God just like ourselves who has a particular need at a particular time. The facts of the situation are the same but how we see that person makes a great deal of difference in how we will respond or not respond as the case may be.

When a friend or loved one is dying from a terminal illness – how we "see" the whole situation will have an impact on making us become either bitter or better in the long run. To see it as God not caring or God is punishing us – will lead to one end. To see that God is present and loves that person even as God loved his own Son when he was dying will lead to hope – not despair. The eyes doing the seeing on the outside are the same. It is the inner eye that shapes the perception.

In chapter 21 of Genesis, which Aaron Sinay read for us, we find Sarah – who is not a happy camper. She has anger and jealousy for Hagar – Abraham’s concubine who has bore Abraham a son. Sarah says to Abraham in verse 10,

"Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac."

Reluctantly, Abraham did as she asked. And it was not long before Hagar and her son became lost and without water. The child is about to die of dehydration. Unable to stand the thought of watching her son die in her arms, Hagar puts him down under a bush – walks a short distance away and begins to cry. For her the end was almost in sight. But then in verse 19 we read,

"God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled a bottle with water, and gave the boy a drink."

Was it a miracle?

Not in the way we normally think of one. The well had always been there. The text simply tells us, "God opened her eyes" – such that she saw the well which had previously gone unnoticed. What was at first seen as a place of death was now seen as a place of life! Same place, same people – but a new way of seeing – thanks to God.

Previously, she knew only suffering and despair – now she sensed life and hope. And as the story turns out the boy grew and this Ishmael became one of the descendents through whom Abraham’s seed spread.

Haven’t there been times in our lives when we’ve been so low or depressed that we never thought we could see our way out of a situation? But then came a word of support, a touch of comfort, a hug, a true act of compassion and affirmation and in a relatively short period of time the world began to look different to us.

It was the same world and we were the same person. What was different was the way we were coming to see things. Many people lead good and decent lives and though our faith bids us to love our neighbor and have moral maturity, faith also teaches our eyes how to see – it give us a new world view.

It is more than being an optimist – who sees the water glass as half full – rather then half empty. Faith is sensing those times when the glass is nearly empty, like Hagar’s water bottle and believing that God will provide resources to refill it.

After giving a woman a full medical examination, the doctor explained his prescription as he wrote it out. "Take the green pill with a glass of water after getting up. Take the blue pill with a glass of water after lunch. Then, just before going to bed, take the red pill with another glass of water." "Exactly what is my problem, doctor?" the woman asked. "You’re not drinking enough water," he said.

Unfortunately, many people don’t even know their need when it comes to filling the spiritual life. So much of it depends on how we see – or don’t see as the case may be. Sight is a faculty, but seeing is a gift. John Wood Krutch wrote,

"The rare moment is not the moment when there is something worth looking at, but the moment when we are capable of seeing."

Let’s turn now to our gospel lesson. You know the story – a Samaritan woman comes to a well to draw water and Jesus asks her for a drink – which by the way he never gets. What he does get is an opportunity to talk with a woman about the deeper realities of life.

In verse 10 Jesus says,

"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. For those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

Perhaps that is a personal word for each of us on this first Sunday after Easter when we come into a strange presence in the absence of the risen Christ. We live in the light of resurrection. The disciples knew the depths of despair and compensatory resurgence of resurrection. We may know darkness in our lives – but we know that we will always see a dawning – for we are an Easter people of joy!

Christ is our living water – just as Hagar’s eyes were opened to a new water source – so too, are our eyes opened to the spiritual source of our life’s unfolding. The late, great Statesman Dag Hammarskjold gives a helpful prompting,

"Each day the first day: each day a life. Each morning we must hold out the chalice of our being to receive, to carry, and give back. It must be held out empty…"

You see, the joy of the "Is So of It Ain’t So" that we discovered on last Sunday’s day of resurrection when confronted by the empty tomb – empowers us with a new world view. It is through the pain of crucifixion, the dying of the old self and our old world view that a new one can be born. It is through resurrection power that we know the incredible love God has for us – if only we can see it.

Friends, faith is first and foremost a way of seeing. Hear the woman at the conclusion of our text from John’s gospel. She says to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done. Can he not be the Messiah?" This humble woman, at the well, gained a new world view! There is no magical formula for a new world view – simply a new way of seeing and thus being in the world.

Toscanini was one of the greatest orchestral conductors and interpreters of music in the world. Once when he was talking to an orchestra when he was preparing to play one of Beethoven’s symphonies with them he said: "Gentlemen, I am nothing; you are nothing; Beethoven is everything." He knew well that his role was not to draw attention to himself or to his orchestra; his role was to obliterate himself and his orchestra and to let Beethoven flow through.

Friends, when our new way of seeing Christ is like that and when we let the living waters of the risen Christ flow through us – we too gain a new world view! Thanks be to God this day – for the gifts of seeing and being that come to us in Jesus Christ our Lord and Risen Savior! Amen!