Cliff Loesch February 24, 2008 John 4:5-42 (5-14) The Pursuit of Unity      I really don't like election years very much.  And I'm sure that many of you feel exactly the same way.  During an election year the candidates don't spend very much time looking for common ground with each other.  They don't highlight how they are all on the same team.  No, they focus on their differences.  They try to set themselves apart.  In an election year the candidates try to make themselves look good and their opponents look bad.  Sometimes it gets ugly in an election year and the whole process takes a toll on all of us.  But this week there was a little point of light.  Or at least it seemed that way to me.  On Thursday night there was a debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Austin, Texas.  I did not listen to the debate, but on Friday morning, Good Morning America showed a few segments of it.  Toward the end of the debate, Hillary Clinton made the point that when all this is over, she and Barack Obama will be fine.  She said that she was honored, absolutely honored, to be there with Barack Obama.  She shook his hand-then said, "Whatever happens, we're going to be fine."  Now because it's an election year her words have already been interpreted in many different ways-both positively and negatively.  But here's what I see.  And even though just a day later things got ugly again, to me, this statement on Thursday was her way of saying that yes, we're embroiled in this battle with each other.  Yes, there has been a lot of criticism of each other.  Yes, it appears that we have irreconcilable differences and that we don't even like each other very much.  But at the end of the day-I believe she was saying-one of us will be the nominee.  And when that time comes we will be fine.  We will pull together, we'll find common ground, we'll be friends (or at least congenial).  Now I admit that I may be one of the few people to hear that much in her words.  But to a pastor, the thought of unity and friendship and working together is very exciting.  And I see this as a little ray of light in what have otherwise been several weeks of pretty negative criticism.      In the interest of fairness, of course, I have to give the Republicans some time, too.  This has been an interesting week for the Republicans, to say the least.  Yet in the midst of all the negative press that John McCain has received this week, I see even here another little ray of light.  The Republicans, as you know, have had their own issues with each other and their own particular divisions and disagreements.  But the charges against McCain seem to have done something to the Republicans and instead of focusing on their internal disagreements now there are a few more voices rallying around John McCain.  So the report that was intended to harm John McCain might have actually helped him.  And I'm not the only one who thinks this.  I've heard it mentioned by others several times this week.  And while it's too early to say that everything is peace and love in the Republican party-the indication that there is hope that people can pull together in spite of their differences is, to me, a wonderful thing.      Now if only we could get the Democrats and the Republicans to find ways to work toward some unity despite their differences and disagreements-wouldn't that be great?      You realize, of course, that with all this talk about political candidates and political parties that I am not recommending any candidate nor am I endorsing any political party.  Our own unity would be tested deeply if I were to do something like that-not to mention the issue of non-profit status.  So-no endorsements today.  But in looking at these political races and the many ways that people get cross-wise with each other, I simply want to say that it's a good thing whenever we find people moving toward each other-looking for ways to find common ground, and being willing to make concessions or to lay aside some of their concerns for the common good. Unity is a good thing.  But it is very hard to come by.  I recently read Luke 4 where Jesus stood up to read a passage from Isaiah in his home synagogue.  After he read the passage everyone said, "What a nice boy."  They spoke well of him and said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"  But then Jesus went on to say some things that were a little more challenging to the people.  In fact, they were so enraged by his words that they got up and drove him out of town and tried to throw him off a cliff.  That is pretty extreme.  Now we love you, now we're trying to kill you.  How can people flip from one extreme to the other so quickly?  But this was the world into which Jesus came.  And I sometimes wonder if Jesus ever thought, "Why God?  Why did you send me to these people-at this particular point in history?  They have such a divided society and they are so prejudiced.  Their attitudes toward women, the way they treat certain classes of people, the way some are ostracized, the way they despise the Samaritans."  And the list could go on and on to talk about their religious divisions and their pride and for some, their hypocrisy.  Indeed I wonder if Jesus ever thought, "Why?  Why must I even try to reconcile these people to God?  And how can they be reconciled to one another?  They are so divided; so entrenched in their thoughts and feelings."  On the other hand, if Jesus had come to any culture, in any part of the world at any point in history, what would he have found?  What would he find in our society today?  Many of the same things.  Their story is very similar to ours.  Yet into their divided society-into our divided world, Jesus came.  With a message of hope and good news Jesus came.       In John 4 we find Jesus and his disciples walking through Samaria.  The passage mentions something about the rift between Jews and Samaritans.  The woman at the well was surprised that Jesus asked her for a drink because, as it says in verse 9, Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.  Indeed the division between the Jews and Samaritans was deep-so deep that many Jews would not even travel through Samaria to get to Galilee or Jerusalem.  They would go the long way around to avoid any contact with the Samaritans.  But Jesus, as I've said several times before, ignored this prejudice.       On this occasion, Jesus' disciples had gone into town to buy food while Jesus stayed at the well.  I wonder what their conversation was like.  "Well guys, here we are in Samaria.  I hope none of you plan to broadcast this when we get back home.  I can't believe we're here.  If our friends could see this…  Peter, I hope you've got your sword with you; you never know what might happen here."  Yes, I imagine there was a mixture of emotions about this trek through Samaria.  It was outside their comfort zones, I'm sure.       When we read this passage in John, the important thing that we note has to do with the living water that Jesus talks about.  Drinking the water Jesus talks about and never thirsting again-what a beautiful image.  "The water that I will give," Jesus says, "will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."  And this constant spiritual refreshment and energy we all desire.  This constant source of renewal.  And the continual connection with God.       But the theological lessons Jesus offers in this setting were not in words only-but also through actions.  Jesus taught his disciples (and us) through this encounter that these people you call outcasts are not.  And he shows us something about Christian discipleship.  The way of Jesus includes stepping outside our comfort zones.  It includes breaking through our own prejudices; it includes working to heal the great divides we find in our world.  And that's a big task.  For that we need the living water.  May the Lord fill us and renew us moment by moment from that gushing spring of living water.