Prayer: Crowding around a well!

Last night presented an opportunity for those gathered to engage in an exercise in meditating upon the Word and, as is often the case, it was a time of enlightenment and refreshing.

As the Words of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan woman in the heat of the day at a well slowly drew me away from the distractions of my surroundings, I found myself taken into a different place and into new thinking about this familiar tale.

There was the return from exile and the naughty, syncretic, mixed-marriage, Samaritans. A bunch who were less than happy to see the Jews coming back to a place that they now saw as home! Not that they'd have been that pleased anyway, after all there had been division from the start and the division into Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms set that division in concrete.

Then came the Assyrian conquest of Israel (early 700s BC) and the seventy years of exile and subsequent return (which was where Sanballat and Nehemiah popped in to sit alongside the woman who was sitting alongside Jesus by the well!

There was Jesus, a Jew, talking to a Samaritan - how very wrong is that?

For although they had common roots (which explains the twelve tribal heads sitting in the shade just to the side of the well), there was no love between them. The pure Jew and the wretched, territory-stealing, syncretic, mixed-marriage dogs that are Samaritans. Two people who represented a hardened and hate-filled division and they were talking!

Jesus has surely crossed the line here, for he's going against all the norms. Jews and Samaritans just don't mix, do they? It's like Serb and Croats, Proddies and Catholics, Geordies and Machams, Apple and Windows - same geography but different worlds.

There was Jesus, a Jewish man, talking to a woman; not just talking to h but they were alone - how very wrong is that too?

You just didn't do that. What was he thinking?

He knew that you gave women a wide berth. You didn't mix with them socially and you certainly didn't do it alone. Goodness me, she'd be letting her hair down next (and you know what that means;-). ).

There was Jesus, a holy and righteous Jew, talking to, well you know what sort of a woman she was! She was a bigger tart than Carla Lane's, Lilo Lil, (from the comedy 'Bread'), a reality confirmed by the fact that she had to draw her water when the crowds had gone. After all, who wanted to be around someone like her? And of course he answer is that Jesus did - and not for the reasons other men might have had!

If he was holy; if he was who he people thought he was - would he have let himself be defiled by her presence? Knowing who she was, would Jesus have been anywhere near her any more than he would have a leper or a dead body?

And the answer, obviously, is a resounding 'Yes'.

So there I was, by the well with Jesus, that woman (a Samaritan), Nehemiah, Sanballat, the boys (AKA the twelve tribes) and a host of others who could explain why he (Jesus) shouldn't be anywhere near (Pharisees, Saducees, Temple officials, neighbours any many others besides).

With Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well we find him teaching us something about crossing lines, many lines, and confronting attitudes.

Attitudes from our culture.

Attitudes from those around us.

Attitudes from within.

Attitudes that separate us from others.

Attitudes that separate us from God.

Jesus, the woman at the well - and a cast of thousands!!!

Vocations - Looking at language

One of the consistent things that I find occurring when it comes to helping people discern their calling to ministry is the use of language.

People will often come in speaking of 'authority', a word that will cause many to immediately harbour doubts about the reason for the calling that is being claimed, when what they mean is perhaps more correctly labelled as 'testing, submission and of having been approved'.

On my journey, one of the important things in ordination was the fact that those who are ordained are:

1. Recognised as having a 'calling' to something within their own fellowship,
2. Are approved by that fellowship and sent to the DDO (Diocesan Director of Ordinands) or vocations adviser,
3. Are examined and, perhaps after additional elements (readings groups, etc.), are sent to a selection conference (BAP),
4. At the BAP the person is engaged to help clarify the nature of the calling and the best way it can be developed,
5. Having been selected, training tales place and once this is completed the person is offered to the wider church (sending diocese having first choice if there is a suitable 'title post') and ordained.

What we have here is a process by which those who ordained can demonstrate that they are:

i. Have been tried, tested and approved

• The selection process
• The training experience
• The Title post

ii. Are in submission to those above.

•  It is here that, taking the model of Nehemiah, that we can see that those ordained have authority because they submit to authority.
• Just as an officer in the forces is saluted because they hold a commission, it is the queen (whose commission they hold) who is being saluted, not the person - this is devolved power through submission to the monarch.
• Are 'primus inter pares' (first among equals). This doesn't make them the 'Daddy' but makes them someone who is collaborative and supportive of others - true authority.

The motto of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is 'Serve to Lead'.

On the first day at that place one of the staff asked us who the greatest leader was. Being in the big concrete sleeping bag that bears the name of a certain great leader theirs was the first name out of the bag, quickly followed by many others until, exasperated the Colour Sargeant asked where the padres were and who was it they worked for?

yes, the answer was 'Jesus'! Someone regarded by as a great leader because He came to serve. This is the true nature of authority - submission and service.

I hope this helps clarify some of the thinking around vocations

Pax





*Those who were not selected (this is not 'rejected'*) will be offered help in discerning their vocation and may return to a BAP at a later date or find their calling fulfilled in  a different area of ministry. This is not the end of 'calling' (of which our baptismal calling is the greatest calling we have).