I have got to this Christmas 2022 and, for the first time that I can remember, I feel like I need a rest. It is not that I am physically tired, but I am tired – tired of all the uncertainty around us:

Uncertainty and division

• Vaccines are harmless … or the vaccines are racking up tens of thousands of reports of serious effects;
• There is a man-made climate crisis … or it’s just cyclical events which will run their course;
• We are in the middle of a food crisis … but governments are closing down farms to reach net zero;
• We are working towards a diverse & inclusive society … or we are breaking into smaller and smaller interest groups.

The list goes on and on and frankly, I am tired of it. What is worse is I suspect that this confusion has been augmented intentionally by some with this response in mind.

Tired, fragmented people. This bothers me, given that this is the exact opposite of what the Bible calls us to be.

Tired, fragmented people. This bothers me, given that this is the exact opposite of what the Bible calls us to be.

Rest and unity

Let us consider briefly a couple of passages of scripture.

Genesis 2:1-3 tells us: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

This lets us know that God operates out of rest, and we would do well to emulate that – unless we think we are better than God!

God operates out of rest, and we would do well to emulate that – unless we think we are better than God!

Acts 1:13ff demonstrates the opposite of being a fragmented people – unity.

After seeing Jesus ascend into heaven, “they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, ‘Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.’ … ‘For,’ said Peter, ‘it is written in the Book of Psalms: “May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,” and, “May another take his place of leadership.” Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.’ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.’ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.”

 

This echoes with Psalm 133, where we read “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! … For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

What else is needed?

Carrying burdens

I got really interested when I read John 4:1-30, when Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman. The story is well known (do follow the link to read the passage if you aren’t familiar with it), but I will retell some of it as I go along.

Jesus is walking through Samaritan territory. That in itself is unusual because, after several hundred years of hatred, the safe route to get from Jerusalem to Galilee was by going down to Jericho and then following the Jordan back to the Galilee. Jesus is having none of this – maybe He wanted to shake the disciples out of their comfort zone. Eventually they reach a town called Sh’khem (or Sychar), which is known for the well that Jacob dug. The disciples go into the town to buy food, but Jesus, we are told, is exhausted. Now here is a puzzler: Jesus exhausted? Well, you could say that they had had a long walk. Maybe, but the disciples had walked the same distance but still had energy to go into the town and buy food. But, although they had walked the same distance as Jesus, maybe they weren’t carrying the same weight. And I don’t mean the extra Christmas pud and chocolate weight many of us have gained here! Rather responsibility, in the case of Jesus, and emotional baggage, trauma, etc. It is the weight that you are carrying that wears you out. We need to be careful, as far too often, we Christians pass comments on somebody without having any idea of the weight they are carrying. We need to hold our tongues and understand the context.

We Christians pass comments on somebody without having any idea of the weight they are carrying. We need to hold our tongues and understand the context.

Living water

So, getting back to the story, Jesus is sitting by the well (maybe there was a patch of shade), when a woman arrives ready to collect water. She had chosen her time carefully. She didn’t want an audience and so had organised herself to arrive at a quiet time – right in the heat of the day. Maybe if she visited the well earlier in the day, the other women were prone to adding to the weight she has to carry, maybe she was tired of their comments. But this day was going to be different.

She is asked for a drink of water. This is a turn up for the books. Jews wouldn’t ask for the time of day from Samaritans, let alone a drink of water. Yet here was this Jewish man doing just that! (And how does she know He is Jewish? She expresses her surprise.

And this is where it gets a little weird. Rather than explain Himself, Jesus simply tells her that if she knew who He was she would be asking for living water that will give her complete refreshing. Note this lady's reply. She references Jacob, the patriarch, the man who tradition has it, dug this well. Essentially, she’s saying ‘I know my roots.’ Jesus responds, ‘maybe, but drink Jacob’s water and you get thirsty; drink my living water and you get restored’. Suddenly the penny drops: this is the rest from tiredness: this is restoration! ‘Give me this water, Sir’, she cries. ‘Whoa!’ replies Jesus, He is into this now. ‘Go fetch your husband’. Just like the patriarch Jacob wrestling with the divine being, the truth is looming large. She has the presence of mind to be honest, but not so honest as to reveal the whole picture. ‘I don’t have one’. ‘No, you don’t’, replies Jesus, ‘you have had five, and the one you live with now isn’t your husband’.

Now, before we go running off with ideas about a scarlet woman or something, we simply do not know the circumstances of her life. Maybe these husbands died, maybe they left her. And I don't want to dig too hard here, but this episode is positioning Jesus as the seventh key man in her life. The seventh man brings her rest, and in that rest, she is renewed, and she rushes into the town to tell everyone ‘about this Jesus’.

Jesus – the Real Thing

Jesus could see the thirst and tiredness in this woman. He knew her need, and, with a short, precise conversation, He brought her need to the surface and answered it. He met her need.

He knew her need, and, with a short, precise conversation, He brought her need to the surface and answered it.

I sometimes get frustrated in church: we don’t really look for people’s needs, rather we can have a one-size-fits-all approach that we dollop out – we’re not attuned to the needs of people.

Funnily enough the world is. The world’s money-making machines are very attuned. Not that their solution is the healthiest one, though. They know we get thirsty and they know we crave refreshment, and they know that their brand will keep you coming back for more, and more, and more.

Coca Cola uses the ‘Real Thing’ in their advertising, but the reality is that the ‘real thing’ is Jesus: Jesus and His living water. If I am going to break out of this tiredness, then I need to spend some time drinking of His living water, being in His presence, getting rested and refreshed, ready to spend every moment of 2023 walking in unity with Him and with my brothers and sisters.