
Jesus said to the women at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Revelation 21:6 ESV
And he said to me, “… To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The Samaritan women at the well had a complicated life story. First, Samaritan’s were--a mixed race people, who had intermarried with the Assyrians centuries before. They were not liked by the Jews because of this cultural mixing and because they had their own version of the Bible and their own temple on Mount Gerizim.
Additionally the Samaritan woman was faced with prejudice from her own community. She came to draw water at the hottest part of the day, instead of the usual morning or evening times, because she was shunned and rejected by the other women of the area for her immorality. Jesus knew her history but still offered her grace and ministered to her.
Jesus showed that his mission was to all people when he reached out to the Samaritan women, not just the Jews. The Samaritan woman was amazed that grace could be offered to her and shared this great news so others could experience His compassionate heart.
Not feeling accepted is a deep concept and it is very complicated. We are marginalized because of our accent, academic skills, financial status, skin color, personality, and countless other attributes. Jesus continually provides us stories about his grace, this unconditional love, which he has freely given to us. He has graciously presented us the living water. The water is for us to ingest and then extravagantly extend it to our friends, neighbors, community and the world. These waters are not only to be shared but devoured so we too can grow in peace, wisdom and compassion. When we consume these waters our heart will have a greater ability to reflect grace to others as well as to ourselves.
We would like to share this story and water experiments and STEM activities with our Sunday School children during this warm July weekend. Some of these activities include: constructing a bicycle carwash, creating a water bomb, building a waterwheel, erecting a backyard water wall, and assembling a water bottle sun catcher.