Lent Week Three: Commentary (Seeking: Will you give me a drink?)

read John 4:5-42 | Exodus 17:1-7

commentary | Rev. Danielle Shroyer

“Give us a drink,” the Israelites ask. God hears them, readily responds, and calls Moses to bring forth water from a rock. But do the people know what they truly thirst for?

In the seasons of our lives, we all have felt frustrated and lost in the wilderness. During these times, our fear gets the better of us. Survival mode reigns. Sometimes our focus on survival is so loud we miss the cry underneath: “God, have you abandoned me?”

What would it have looked like, I wonder, if the Israelites had instead cried out for God’s assurance? “Show us you’re still with us, God,” they could have prayed with open hearts. “We feel alone and unmoored.” Where could the water have come from, if the question had come from a softer place than the rock of our human defenses?

This is the way Jesus himself taught us to pray. He gave us full permission to ask for what we needed, to request of God our daily bread. He knew, I think, that it’s also a prayer for God to walk with us. It’s an honest admission that none of us rely only on ourselves. We need God. We need each other.

Many years later, Jesus asks this same question of a Samaritan woman at a well. Everything he risks by speaking with her—crossing cultural, religious, and social lines—demonstrates his willingness to be vulnerable. When he asks for what he needs, he shows that even he cannot make it alone. What a risk for the Son of God to be so openly human. And yet, it is this question—and his willingness—that leads to this woman’s transformation. Despite a long list of good reasons why she shouldn’t be vulnerable to anyone, she boldly asks Jesus for living water instead. And she did so fully trusting he would give it.

 We often see this Gospel story as a bridge-building one. It’s a reminder to be brave enough to cross boundaries and offer a drink to those society may separate from us. And it is. And also, it reminds us that God designed this whole world to run on benevolent connection. And that requires us to not just be charitable, but vulnerable.

The question for us this Lent is not only whether we would extend a drink; it’s whether we will be brave enough to ask God for one when we need it.

Reflect: What are you truly thirsting for? Will you be brave enough to ask God for a drink when you need it?

*reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art