Presented as a dramatic monologue
TEXT: John 4:5-42
Hi!
My name is Ezekiel.
You know, like the famous prophet who was also a priest; he was the strange one in recorded in our Scriptures. My mother was a little on the religious side; she thought I needed to be named for a prophet-priest. I think she wanted me to be a priest—you remember those days of our mothers. I don't know if she thought that I was a little odd even when I was born, but she must have. And I didn't disappoint her. I do seem to be different from others in my village; I could never seem to do things the way other people did them. You know... normally. I could be a bit cranky... and cynical.. angry... rebellious.
And whenever Jews were around? Watch out. Remember, we Samaritans didn't like the Jews; well, they didn't like us either. They kept accusing us of perverting the Torah and mixing in other religious ideas and rituals and things. We didn't like that, being told that God wasn't with us. Fortunately, we usually don't mix—Samaritans and Jews, but when we do, things can get a little conflicted to say the least. I liked to provoke back in the day. I'm ashamed to say that now.
Let me back up just a bit. I'm Ezekiel. Oh yes, I said that, didn't I? Well, more importantly, I'm the one you read about in John's Gospel... you know, the beloved disciple of Jesus who wrote the gospel about Jesus? Oh, I'm not named in the story, or at least not directly. I was the husband—well, not legally—of the woman that Jesus of Nazareth, the Jew from Galillee, met at the well. Or more to the point, he accused my wife—I call her my wife—of not being legally married, she who had been married 5 times. Well, I'm that guy! I was the guy she was with when she met Jesus at the well. I guess we were a bit of a scandal at the time.
You know, she went to the well at mid-day when no one else was around to avoid people. She did that so that she wouldn't encounter the town gossips. And here was this man, this Jesus! He asked her for a drink. He, a Jew, asked a Samaritan woman for a drink! Scandalous.
Well, you know the story. Jesus confronted my wife, and me indirectly, and well, she had a conversion to make a long story short. The water that she gave to this Jesus seemed to stir something in her. Or stir up, rather. We always felt a certain amount of shame about living together as we were, but what Jesus said to her and what she said to me is that water washes shame away. Jesus said that God, blessed be, wasn't concerned about what we did, but was concerned about who we are. That was new. People used to make fun of us because we danced to our own rhythms. God loves us for who we are. It made my wife weep, it did. And me too, if truth be told. She told me what was going on and how it made her feel—this idea of being loved by God for who we are, not because we fit in or don't. That was radical stuff. We never fit in, my wife and I; that's why we got along so well. But we still felt shame. And then Jesus changed everything.
We decided to go to our families, my wife and I. There was reconciliation. Even with my mother whom I had disappointed so! You should have seen my mother! She danced and pinched my cheek. She said that now I was truly living according to my namesake Ezekiel. I was now living with honour rather than shame—that was God's doing. And so, we had a great feast; Jesus even said a few words and we got married. We were blessed by God, my wife and I! And the whole village! Imagine what a little love can do. That's what happened with me; instead of being beaten about the ears—well, not literally—more figuratively with a sense of judgement, I finally felt accepted for just being me. I wasn't proud of everything I'd done, but at least I didn't feel like the past was always in the present. I felt that I could let go of my mistakes and think about being different in the future. That was pretty radical, in my estimation.
Well, that's my story in a nutshell.
I hear you're followers of Jesus and that you're having an annual meeting. That sounds pretty serious. And at this meeting, you're going to celebrate who you are? That's good! Celebration is good. I also understand that you're going to talk about what it means to dare to be followers of the Way of Jesus, embodying the radical love of God? Is that right? I hope that you'll have a good turnout for this meeting.
It's good to look back and celebrate. You've had a hard year in some ways I've heard; both of your ministers were away for different reasons and yet you kept on. In fact, people came forward to do some things they've never done before. That's pretty exciting. This Jesus person does get us doing things we thought we could never do, doesn't he? Like change. Who me? Change? Well, yes; it wasn't that hard, actually. Especially knowing that I'm not alone!
And what about this purpose statement you've got happening? That's pretty exciting, too. I gather in your day and age it is rather daring to be people of the Way of Jesus. It sounds like you live in the same kind of conditions that I lived in; wars, conflicts, judgement. But Jesus teaches us that we can live in a different way, a way of peace, a way of accepting one another, a way of love. And we can embody that radical love to each other. That's pretty powerful stuff. Listen to me; I sound like that Zealot Simon!
It seems strange to speak of love and radical at the same time. Let's face it, any love is radical. All love is radical. It's easy to have fear and to live with suspicions. Just ask us Samaritans. We didn't get along well with anyone; we were generally suspicious of people who were different from us. And Jesus came and quietly talked about love. He accepted us all for who we are not for what he wanted us to be. He embodied God's love to us and we felt different; we felt changed. That can happen all over the world if we let love be more real in our lives and in the lives of people. And what we know is that we learn to fear and be suspicious. Love is really what we are about, deep in our hearts. We are born in love and out of love, but somehow because life can be challenging at times, we learn not to love; we learn to be afraid. Well, Jesus came to remind us that at our deepest levels, we are love, and we don't need to be afraid! So, embodying the radical love of God isn't that challenging after all. You just need to be who you are at your deepest human core!
Well, I won't keep you from your worship and your annual meeting. I wish you God's blessings as you celebrate the past and look to the future. Just remember that there are many of us who are with you. You are not alone. God is with you, but so are we, Jesus' friends and disciples! We've been down this road of change and transformation, this journey of love and it is life-giving. It will empower you to share that love in all you do with friends, with family and with all your neighbours in your community and around your world!
So know that you are blessed by God, and by those of us who live in God's love. We are with you.
Have a good meeting.
Bye.
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