Woman at the Well John 4:4-42

Last friday i had the opportunity to go to UNOH's Surrender conference "Fools for a Revolution". For me it was a really positive time to be able to connect with such a diverse group of people also passionate about the situation of Indigenous people in Australia. Hearing thier stories and experiences, it was further confimation to me that the relational approach that the regional team use in community is vital. By far the highlight of the weekend was hearing two aboriginal people talk, Aunty Jean Phillips and Ray Minniecon who are both very passionate about both seeing the Indigenous church grow in Australia and raising up the next generation of Indigenous leaders.

In the elective with Ray, he facilitated a discussion on the Story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:4-42) and the link with the situation of the Aboriginal people. Was very interesting and i was amazed at the discussion that came out of a couple of basic questions. I thought i would very roughly share a few thoughts we had.

The Questions that were posed to the small group discussions were:

1. What barriers did Jesus have to overcome in order to have a relationship with the samaritan woman?
2. Think about Jesus's approach and method. What principles can we learn for relationship building?

The barriers we mentioned included: Gender, Language, Social Stigma - cleanliness of associating with a gentile, Social Class, her history (the time of the meeting at the well is an indication that she herself was socially excluded, perhaps because of her history), physical barriers - Jesus went out of his way to pass by Samaria.

A good question to ask ourselves: who in your community/society represents the woman at the well?? We discussed the link to the Indigenous people in Australia.

Key Principles/Approaches:

1. There is a surprising bargaining power in the way that Jesus approaches the woman and asks her for a drink of water, he is the one in need. How often do we go to the community with things for them, rather than showing our own needs and vulnerability. There appears no power structure here - which surprises her.

2. Jesus is aware of her history, acknowledges it, but is not judemental - he continues to talk to her. He is 'informed' yet has compassion and is gracious.

3. Jesus being with her there at the well, and building a relationship with her, meant he put her above religous laws & norms. And surprisingly, the disciples didn't question it when they returned.

4. Jesus mixes the 'natural' (being the water) with the supernatural (living water)- which leads to transformation.

Just imagine if we could apply so perfectly the approaches that Jesus used in our own interactions with people!!!