Title: One More Cup
Scripture: Exodus 17:1–7; Romans 5:6-8

Good morning, church.

Today is the Third Sunday in Lent.
Lent is a season for honesty.
Not perfect words. Real words.

Even after living here for a while, I still feel like an outsider sometimes.
Not just with language. With everything.
I feel like I’m translating myself.

And when I feel that way, I notice something in me.
I want to stay polite.
I want to stay a little distant.
I want to stay safe.

That is a boundary.
It is quiet, but it is real.

And it is not only an immigrant thing.
It is a human thing.

When life gets hard, we pull back.
When we feel tired, we protect ourselves.
When we are not sure how people will treat us, we choose distance.

But Lent does not let us hide behind distance.

Lent asks a simple question:
Where are you, really?

What is your spiritual address today?

Many of us live in a dry place inside.
Not because we are bad people.
Just because life is heavy—and thirst is real.

And that is exactly where today’s Scripture begins.

The Wilderness and Our Thirst (Exodus 17, Psalm 95)

In Exodus 17, God’s people are in the wilderness.
They are thirsty.

Their thirst does not stay in their bodies.
It moves into their words.

They complain.
They get angry.
They blame Moses.

And then they ask a hard question:
“Is the Lord with us or not?”

That question is still here today.

When money is tight.
When the body is sick.
When family life is stressful.
When you feel alone.
When you pray and nothing changes.

We may not say it out loud, but we feel it:
“God, are you with me or not?”

Psalm 95 gives a warning.
It says, “Do not harden your hearts.”

Because that is what can happen in the wilderness.
We get thirsty, and our hearts get hard.

And when our hearts get hard, we build walls.

We make lines: “me” and “you.”
We sort people: “safe” and “not safe.”
We decide: “I will stay polite, but I will not get close.”

Sometimes we even do this with God.
We try to put God inside our expectations.
We say, “God must do it my way. God must fit my plan.”

So here is a simple truth:
Thirst can harden the heart.
And a hard heart builds boundaries.

What is the Gospel? (Romans 5)

Now here is the Gospel.
Let’s say it clearly.

The Gospel is not, “Try harder so God will love you.”
The Gospel is not, “Fix yourself first, then God will come near.”

The Gospel is this:
God crossed the boundary to reach you.

Romans 5 says:
“While we were still weak… Christ died for us.”
“While we were still sinners… Christ died for us.”
“While we were still enemies… Christ died for us.”

God did not wait for us to become worthy.
God moved first.
God came near.

That is the Gospel:
Love moves first.
Love comes close.
Love crosses boundaries.

And John 4 shows us what that love looks like.

Jesus at the Well (John 4)

Jesus goes to Samaria.

That matters.
People avoided Samaria.
There was a long history of hate and distrust.

But Jesus does not avoid.
Jesus does not take a detour.

He walks right in.

He sits by a well.
He is tired.
He is thirsty.

Then a Samaritan woman comes to draw water.

She comes at noon.
That is not normal.

People came early in the morning or later in the day.
Noon is hot.
Noon is lonely.

She comes at noon because she does not want to see people.
She does not want the looks.
She does not want the whispers.

She is carrying more than a water jar.
She is carrying shame.
She is carrying pain.
She is carrying loneliness.

And Jesus says something simple:
“Give me a drink.”

He does not start with a lecture.
He does not start with an argument.
He does not start with her past.

He starts with a simple request.
He meets her at eye level.

She is shocked.
“How can you ask me for a drink?”
She is naming the boundary: Jew and Samaritan, man and woman.

But Jesus does not let the boundary control the moment.

He says, “If you knew the gift of God… you would ask, and I would give you living water.”

Living water.
Water that moves.
Water that stays fresh.
Water that becomes a spring.

The woman does not understand at first.
She asks questions.
She pushes back.

And Jesus stays in the conversation.
He does not rush her.
He does not shut her down.

Then Jesus says, “Go call your husband.”

She says, “I have no husband.”

Jesus tells the truth about her life.

Now, this is important:
Jesus is not trying to crush her.
He is not using the truth to shame her.

If Jesus was shaming her, she would run away.
But she does not run away.
She stays.

She keeps talking.
She is still there.

This is truth that heals.
This is truth that opens a door.

Jesus sees her fully.
And Jesus stays.

And then Jesus offers the promise again:
“The water I give will become a spring in you.”

Where does the living water come from?

So we ask:
Where does this living water come from?

Isaiah 55 says,
“Come, all you who are thirsty.”
“Come to the waters.”
“Even if you have no money.”
“Come and drink.”

It is free for us.

But grace is not cheap.

Go back to Exodus 17.

God tells Moses to strike the rock.
But God also says something amazing:
“I will stand there on the rock.”

Think about that.

The people are the ones who are complaining.
The people are the ones who are testing God.
But God says, “I will stand where the blow falls.”

The rock is struck.
And water comes out.
And the people live.

That points to the cross.

In Lent, we look at Jesus on the cross.
He is the One who took the blow.
He is the One who was broken.

And from that broken place, grace flows.

The living water comes from the cross.
The love of Jesus was wounded so our souls could be healed.

So when Jesus offers living water, he is offering himself.
His love.
His mercy.
His life.

The change in the woman

Now look at what happens to the woman.

She leaves her jar.

That is a small sentence, but it is powerful.

She came to the well to get water.
She came to survive another day.

But after meeting Jesus, she forgets the jar.
She leaves it behind.

And she runs into the town.
She goes to the people she was avoiding.

She says, “Come and see.”

She is not hiding anymore.
She is not running from people anymore.

The living water changes her.

It turns shame into courage.
It turns isolation into connection.
It turns a quiet life into a sending life.

So what? (for Monday morning)

So what does this mean for us?

If we have tasted the love of Jesus, love will not stay private.
It will not stay locked inside us like water in a jar.

It becomes a spring.
It moves outward.

So here is the question I want to leave with you:

Who is coming to the well at noon near you?

Who is still showing up…
still working…
still smiling…

but doing it alone?

When you think of someone, don’t overthink it.
Make it small. Make it real.

Maybe it is one text:
“Hey, I was thinking about you. How are you doing—really?”

Maybe it is a phone call.
Not to fix them.
Not to give advice.
Just to listen.

Maybe it is a short visit.
A simple invitation.
A seat saved at church.
A name remembered.

Sometimes living water does not come as a big speech.
Sometimes it comes as presence.

It comes when we cross a small boundary:
awkwardness, comfort, busyness, fear—
and we choose love anyway.

This week, aim for faithful, not dramatic.

When you feel the temptation to stay distant and safe, notice it.
Name it.
And then take one small step toward someone.

Because love crosses boundaries.
That is what Jesus does.
And that is what Jesus grows in us.

Closing hope (Revelation 7)

And if you hear all this and think, “But I’m the dry one,”
then hear this:

Jesus does not shame thirst.
Jesus meets it.

Bring your thirst to him.
Bring your tired heart.
Bring the places where you feel hard inside.

Because the One who crossed into Samaria
is the One who went all the way to the cross.

And our story will not end in the wilderness.

Revelation 7 gives us a promise:

“They will hunger no more, and thirst no more.”
“The Lamb will guide them to springs of the water of life.”
“And God will wipe away every tear.”

That is where we are going.

So today, in this Lenten season:

Bring your thirst to Jesus.
Let him meet you at the well.
Let his truth heal you, not crush you.
Let his cross-shaped love become a spring in you.

And then—leave the jar.

Cross one small boundary with kindness.
Offer one small cup of living water.

Trust that God can turn a dry place into a spring.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.