Ex 17:1-7
Rm 5:1-11
Jn 4:5-42
Icon
of Courage
One
of the greatest aspects of Eastern Orthodox monastic spirituality
that has begun to spread to the Western Church is the use of icons
in both our personal and our communal prayer life. For the Orthodox,
icons are a central piece of their faith journey and, over the years,
that has become true for myself, as well.
And
so I will often spend time not only praying and studying with the
Scripture text, but with one or more icons that depict the particular
biblical story that I am preparing a sermon for. Now, yesterday, at
our retreat day, we spent time with the Western monastic practice of
Lectio Divina, which is a particular approach to the prayerful
reading of Scripture. This morning, I'd like to emphasize an approach
to Scripture through Visio Divina, in this case, the prayerful interpretation of
an icon.
This practice is almost as old as Christianity itself and is
allowed for us, as opposed to our Hebrew forebears, because the
Incarnation, that is, God becoming human, so revolutionized our way
of relating to God. The Incarnation allows us to relate to God in a
much more personal way, for God dwelt with us right here on earth.
This
mornings passage from St. John's Gospel presents to us the story of
the Samaritan woman which is quite a long one filled with many
different insights to preach on. Very often, preachers will focus on
Jesus' rather unusual actions, for example just speaking to a woman,
or a Samaritan, or his demand for the woman to give him water.
But
I would like to spend our time this morning focusing on the Samaritan
woman, on her courage, and on her modeling for us, how we might live
as Christians in the world today.
First
of all, the Greek Orthodox tradition has named the Samaritan woman,
once she was baptized, Photini, which translates as “Enlightened
One.” In fact, they claim that she is the first to proclaim the
Gospel because upon her return to her town, Photini converts her five
sisters, two sons, and much of the town. And she is remembered by the
Orthodox as a “Holy Martyr and Equal to the Apostles.” This is
high praise indeed for anyone.
And
I have to say, as I have studied the various icons of Photini and
of the scene at the well, and delved into John's beautiful writing of
this story, I have found myself more and more drawn to Photini and
her courage. The icons depict a woman of great courage that has been
quite an inspiration to me.
From
the story, we know that Photini had gone to the well about noon – a
time when no woman would go to any well because of the heat of the
day. From archaeological digs, we know that she went to a well further
from her town than she had to. So, it is clear that both in the
context of the time of day, and the location of the well, Photini was
avoiding the other villagers. She was, after all, in the words of the
Prayer Book, a “notorious sinner”, having had five husbands and
was now living with yet another man. This was wholly unacceptable
behavior in her day. No one in that society would have accepted it.
She was a sinner and an outcast.
And
so she went to a well further from the village than necessary, and at
a time when she should not have encountered anyone, to draw water.
Often, the commentary is made that she was avoiding the other women
of the town, but she may have, in fact, been banned from the well
near town because of who she was and what she had done.
But
what I love about so many of the icons that depicts this scene is
that Photini appears, at least to me, as sassy. That's right –
downright sassy. She is often depicted in dialogue with Jesus – not
simply listening, but gesturing to Jesus, just as he is gesturing, in
a way that does not look to be argumentative, but rather, like I
said, sassy. By the rules of the culture, a man should not be
speaking to her, a Jew should not be asking her for water, and a
stranger could be quite dangerous. But there she is, engaged with
Jesus in what appears to me to be a very courageous way. She is
speaking her mind, asking probing questions, and then, really
listening to Jesus.
And
when Jesus tells her that the spring of water that he will “give is
a spring of water gushing up to eternal life”, Photini, spiritually
parched, truly opens up to Jesus. She does not totally get him at
first, who ever does? But she knows that she needs forgiveness. She
knows that she needs a Messiah. She knows that she needs this gushing
spring to quench the very thirst that is slowly destroying her soul.
And
once she drinks from this spring of water, Photini will never be the
same. What was courageousness in the guise of sassiness now becomes
the courageousness of faith. We know from Scripture that Photini
returns to town and begins to tell everyone about the Christ and
about the fact that he knows all her sins. That, in and of itself, is
courageous. We know from Tradition, that Photini would go on to
further evangelize Samaria and throughout the region, finally
culminating in her martyrdom by the Emperor Nero.
So
what does any of this have to do with us? It just seems to me that in
Photini, we have an icon of courage, and therefore an example to us
in how we might behave in our day to day lives. First, to be willing
to have a real encounter with Christ takes courage. Now this is not
just showing up to church on Sunday, but when you do – and when you
pray in the privacy of your own lives, really being open to Christ,
bringing all that you are – the good, the not so good, the sassy,
the frightened, all of it – bringing all of it to Christ is the
first courageous step you can take.
The
next one is to really, truly listen. Give Christ your burdens, your
sins, your fears, and Christ gives back to you his living waters. But
not just any old water, no, springs of waters. Not just a drop or
two, no, water gushing eternal life in which you will never be
thirsty again. It takes courage to listen. And even more to step up
for a drink of that spring. And more still, to be gushed all over.
Finally,
Photini shows us that an experience of faith is not just for us. It
is not a singular event meant for an individual. All faith
experiences are meant for the entire community, even though they may
only occur to one person. The first thing Photini does after
encountering the Christ was to go back to her town – a town in
which she was an outcast – to proclaim the gospel. The Good News
was so liberating for her that she had to share it with courage and
faith.
That
is why I think Photini is a model for us today. We all need to
encounter Christ more fully, to truly listen to his healing,
forgiving message, and to proclaim that to our families, our towns,
our world. This Lent, may you have the courage of St. Photini and the
blessing of Christ the Living Water. AMEN.
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