GUSHING WITH GRACE

GOSPEL — JOHN 4:5-42
The Third Sunday in Lent

The word gush has nuances of meaning. On the one hand, it can speak to large amounts of a liquid flowing forth. A geyser gushing water is quite different than a leaky faucet letting water through a drop at a time. On the other hand, gush can speak to our enthusiasm about a person, place, or experience. A person gushing about a new movie to a friend carries different energy than someone saying, “Eh, it was okay.”

In today’s gospel we get the first sense of this word as Jesus tells the Samaritan woman about the water he will give, which will become a spring that gushes up to eternal life. The word gush is not used again in the story, but the second part of the narrative gathers up the spirit of the other sense of gush as the woman goes back to the city and shares her experience of Jesus. Many in the city come to believe because of her witness; she must have been gushing forth energy and excitement about her encounter with Jesus.

As the church takes on the ministry of Jesus after the resurrection, we find other people springing forth in the same way Jesus talks about water gushing. Peter heals someone in Acts 3:8 who jumps up and leaps (gushes) in praise. Paul also heals someone in Acts 14:10 who springs up (gushes) and walks.

The water in your baptismal font may be still, or it may be moving; it may be more reminiscent of a trickle than a gush. Yet we know that it is God’s word that gives the plain water the power to shape us as God’s people. Baptism is never a trickle; it is always a gush of grace poured out for us with the endless love and mercy of God. May we be blessed to gush along with the Samaritan woman about our experiences of Jesus among us.

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From sundaysandseasons.com.
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