This year for our midweek services in Lent, we're focusing on a theme of "Making Change". Looking again at a portion of the previous Sunday's Gospel reading (RCL Year A), each Wednesday we'll explore a different topic: Changing Priorities, Perspectives, Possibilities, Vision, and Lives.
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Think about a time you felt stuck.
Physically stuck – in a tight space, or a traffic jam, or at the hospital or at home following an illness or injury.
Mentally or emotionally stuck.
Stuck in your career.
Stuck in a relationship or role or pattern of behavior.
Writer’s block.
Stuck due to circumstances beyond your control.
Or stuck as a consequence of your own actions.
However you were stuck, I think it’s fair to say that being stuck is not comfortable. And when we’re in those circumstances, it’s easy to panic, or spiral, or shut down.
Then, that panic/anxiety/fear contributes to our inability to imagine anything different than what’s happening in that moment. It can feel like we’ll be stuck forever! (Has anyone been stuck forever? No!)
The women in these two stories are stuck, too.
The widow in Zarephath is resigned to baking a last meal for herself and her son.
She is a widow, which already means she was vulnerable, and she’s the caregiver for her son, which also adds an additional layer of difficulty.
There’s a drought in the land, which contributes to the crisis and means that her neighbors are suffering, too.
And then Elijah comes to her, also hungry, and asks her to share the little she has. Yes, I bet she felt stuck.
The Samaritan woman is stuck in a few different ways.
We read that she’s coming to the well at noon, the hottest part of the day, which is not when most women would complete that chore. This detail hints that perhaps the woman wants to avoid interacting with the other women. Maybe she is ostracized, and doesn’t want to endure the sidelong glances or whispered comments. Maybe she is sad, and doesn’t want to endure well-meaning platitudes or probing questions.
Another detail that’s part of the story but not in tonight’s selection is about her relationship status. When Jesus tells her to “Go, call your husband, and come back,” we learn that she is not currently married, but has had five husbands, and is living with a man who is not her husband. Whatever the explanation, whether through death, or divorce, or a combination of the two, this woman has most certainly experienced grief and heartache.
She is also stuck, in some sense, by her place within the social strata, particularly when it comes to having a conversation with a man, and a Jewish man at that. We read that Jews and Samaritans do not share things in common.
And, she’s stuck in a literal way of thinking within this conversation she has with Jesus. Jesus talks about offering living water, and those who drink of it will never be thirsty again, for it is a bottomless spring of water gushing up to eternal life.
When the woman hears this, her response is very literal – “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Water that will make it so I won’t have to worry about being thirsty? Water that will save me from the time and labor of hauling water from the well every day? Sign me up!
They are stuck – stuck in isolation, in shame, in despair, in endless labor, in the threat of death - but encounters with God, through the prophet Elijah, and through Jesus, offer new possibilities. As is often the case with God, these new possibilities are surprising, unexpected, and even impossible, by our estimation, and yet, with God, all things are possible.
The widow receives the assurance that her jug of oil and jar of meal will not run out until the drought is over.
The Samaritan woman is seen and heard and welcomed, transformed from loneliness to community, from pariah to evangelist, sharing of her encounter with Jesus.
So, what do we do when we’re stuck? Where do we find encouragement and support?
From these stories, we can see the value of being in relationship, of talking with others. Whether with family members, friends, or a therapist, coach, or spiritual director, it can be helpful to have someone else share our burdens and help us notice possibilities we might have missed. They might have a better view of the big picture, or help us notice patterns, or offer connections or insights.
It’s also valuable to stay open, not clinging too tightly to the past or the set vision we had for the future. Holding on too tightly to “the way we’ve always done things” can limit our capacity to imagine something different, and closes us off prematurely to other options.
Instead of dwelling on past decisions we could or should have made differently, or lamenting that we are stuck and wondering why me, why this, we can instead ask, “Now what?”
What has worked for you when you’re stuck? How have you imagined new possibilities?
Folks shared lots of great insights, here! Remember other times you were stuck and made it through; put one foot in front of the other; ask for help; take it hour by hour; trust; pray; go for a bike ride; and more!
As we read in the psalm, God’s new possibilities for us bring restoration and life.
After a night of weeping, the promise of joy in the morning.
From wailing, the possibility of dancing.
From being clothed in sackcloth to being clothed in joy.
We need the reminder that now is not forever. But God? God is forever. God’s presence, God’s promises are forever.
God is doing a new thing. Amen!
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