4.1 - Mind Your Moments
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Stuck in the 60’s
I am a child of the 60s and a young adult of the 70s and intrigued that the music of that time still has such an influence on me. For example, when I read the first three verses of John chapter 4, I immediately thought of Marvin Gaye and Cat Stevens. Watch this.
4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized), 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. First, I admit I never really paid attention to these verses. This time, when I did, they caused me to have questions. Is Jesus afraid to face the Pharisees? Is he running away? If he wanted to be a martyr, why not just stay in Judea and accelerate the process? If the gospel is all sin and redemption, death, burial, and resurrection, why prolong the process? Why not “Marvin Gaye and Get It On?”
Then the lyrics from a Cat Stevens song drifted up,
It's not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
You're still young, that's your fault
There's so much you have to know
But take your time, think a lot
Why, think of everything you’ve got
For you will still be here tomorrow
But your dreams may not.
Jesus’ dream was not to be a martyr, but a master, a master teacher, a rabbi, showing common everyday people how to have a healthy relationship with their Creator and their neighbor. His living dream was to be "the way, the truth, and the life,” modeling this relationship. Only later did he reluctantly accept, "Not my will, but thine” and move toward the cross. No, Jesus was not afraid to face the Pharisees, but it was not his dream, and this was not the time, not the season.
Turn, Turn, Turn - The Byrds
Sensing the Season
Brendon Burchard wrote in the Motivation Manifesto, "The sunshine of enlightenment spreads to those who understand that the moments of our lives must not go unnoticed and unlived.”
He continued, “We mustn’t avoid this day's reality or wish for a better one.”
By leaving Judea, Jesus demonstrated the valuable lesson of "sensing the season" and “minding the moment.”
In the margin of Burchard’s book, less than a month after our granddaughter's passing, I wrote, "Think of Millie alive: her personality, her life, her voice, her inquisitiveness, her vibrancy. Then, in what seemed like just an instant, she was gone! To me, this exemplifies how divine each moment is that we are alive - each moment that the divine spirit ‘quickens’ our bodies.”
“The moments of our lives must not go unnoticed and unlived,” I wrote, “ she would want me to know that.”
Sitting with these thoughts, I ask myself, “What season am I in now? How do I make this moment matter
— A future will arrive either by chance or by choice.
— Going Up the Country
Current Decisions Create Future Possibilities
Soon, John will demonstrate how Jesus’ decision, in this pivotal moment, to be a Master, not a martyr led to one of the most famous encounters of his life. But first, let's recap where we've been to get a better sense of where we are right now:
In the first chapter, John introduced Jesus and his identity.
The second chapter shows him present at a wedding among his people.
In chapter three, we witness his explanation of spiritual concepts to Nicodemus.
Now, I want to observe Jesus interacting with various individuals in rural areas, hear what he says, see what he does and how he does it. Why? The author, John, has asked me to believe the audacious claim that Jesus is God’s son, sent from God, saying and doing the things God would say and do. That would make him the role model for anyone trying to live a life out of their spiritual consciousness. That’s me, and I will shadow him through the countryside and see how it’s done.
4:4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.I have spent considerable time imagining this classic scene. At first, all I could envision was a man by a well waitin’ on a woman. At last, I stepped inside the scene, sat down by Jesus, and started to look for clues. I know he was tired and can imagine he was hot and hungry. And now he’s alone in a place his culture says he should not be. How will he mind this moment?
There are at least two ways he could deal with this situation.
He could focus on the circumstances and say, “Man, I am hot! I am hungry. My legs are shot. When are those guys going to get back? Why did I come this way, anyway?" Or,
He could focus on the existence of the well, meditating on how it symbolized the Creator’s provision for his people, and one only needs to dip into it to be refreshed. He could allow his spirit to show him that water is life itself, alive. His spirit, too, is life and is alive and all one needs to do is “dip into it” to be continually refreshed.
Based on what comes next, Jesus chose the latter. He set aside his physical discomfort, slipped inside his spirit, and found the “green pastures and still waters” that “restored his soul.” He controlled his reaction to what could've been a miserable moment.
My Reaction Reflects My Character
I don't want to leave this lesson too soon. Almost every day, circumstances will try to trip us up: traffic has stalled, the flight is late, the sale is lost, we forgot a key ingredient at the grocery store, the doctor is running late, and on and on and on.
How I react to a circumstance, is more important than the circumstance itself. My reaction reflects my character. I once heard it, said, "God is not as concerned with changing your circumstances, as he is with changing your character,” so I’m learning to take a deep breath, or two, or three, and watch what happens.
4:7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) I love the shockwaves this scene sends through society. Jesus should ignore the Samaritan woman for two reasons: she is a Samaritan, and she is a woman. Instead, he ignores the social norms by talking to the woman. In addition, he uses unsettling and provocative statements and questions. He could've said, “Hi. Look, I know you're a Samaritan and I'm a Jew and I'm not so supposed to be talking to you, but do you mind if I have a drink? Nobody’s watching.” She, who lives outside the social norms, was expecting to be ignored but is shocked into a conversation by his brief, unexpected request.
It's important to note that Jesus did not act this way just to be provocative and different. He knew a lot about the “woman at the well,” by the very fact that she was at the well in the middle of the day. John wanted me to see how Jesus operated from his spirit and valued the essence of an individual and not her societal label.
For him, there is only the creator and the creation, of which both of them are a part.
It was the same for Mother Teresa who lived in the recognition that we’re all born in the image and likeness of God and that we have to return to God. What a valuable lesson!
Staying Engaged Through the Discomfort
4:10 Jesus answered her, “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.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Notice how engaged she becomes in the conversation. You can tell by the questions she asked that the statements from Jesus have rocked the very foundation of her "physical consciousness.” She is pragmatic. "You don't even have a bucket! Who do you think you are?" He tosses out the term "living water" and she "catches it." Her mind is spinning at full speed.
Jesus has just explained that she could live a life "with God" and operate from his gift to her, spiritual consciousness. But like me, by the time I reached the age to consider new ideas, I had a deeply embedded "physical consciousness.” Considering any new operating system causes questions and concerns. She is troubled in her consciousness - but doesn’t shy away.
The Perfect Metaphor
4:13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but 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.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Notice how Jesus leads with a fact they can agree on, “will be thirsty again.” She knew that was right! Then, he uses the perfect metaphor, a spring, which may have come to him during his “alone time” before her arrival. In her practical, “What’s in it for me?" way of thinking, she doesn't understand it - but she wants it.
Why is this the perfect metaphor? There was no more valuable discovery for the people of this time and place than a freshwater spring. It would bring life up from the depths of the earth and into the people, giving them the vitality to act and do. What about people in our time and space? In the same way, ideas from "divine consciousness" appear to come from deep within us and vitalize us, traveling up through our thoughts, ideas, and emotions and into our actions. Living from this consciousness informs and energizes us, resulting in the actions of truth and grace. Jesus will teach and demonstrate more about this as the story rolls along.
Key Takeaways
Every moment matters.
While I cannot control my circumstances, I can control my reaction to them.
There is a way to live from deep within myself that continually refreshes me and others.
