Thirsting for Life

Rev. Melanie Marsh

When I consider our theme for the 2024 Annual Event, the image that continues to rise to the surface of my mind is one of a thirst for justice being quenched by living water – the spring gushing up to eternal life – in story of the woman at the well from John’s gospel.

For the Samaritan woman, her encounter with Jesus is an immense blessing, a quenching of her spirit when she may not have even realized how parched it had become. This moment doesn’t just reframe her story, it changes the whole course of her life. It changes the way people understand her in the community that surrounds her. For me, this calls up so many echoes of the journey I have taken into the life of ministry, and toward this role as leader for APCE 2024.

It is a deep blessing to be invited to preach for an organization like APCE. It is a privilege to share leadership with people who have been heroes and mentors along my journey. It is a joy to see familiar and friendly faces from across my years of church life, even before the conference has begun! Yet, there is something within me that deeply resonates with the woman from Samaria that meets Jesus at the well.

I think about the story of my own faith formation as a woman of color growing up in the PCUSA. I think about the story of my ministry as a black and female Clergy person in this 21st Century Church. I have to admit that even with the many blessings, even in the midst of great privilege and joy, it still often feels like being a stranger in a strange land.

I have known the thirst of the Samaritan woman – a thirst for belonging and understanding, a thirst to be seen and known, not simply by the stories people tell about you, but as a whole, complex person, beloved and created in the image of God. It is a longing so real, for so many of us, that exploring this idea in the context of faith formation and education feels like it could not have come at a better time. I can’t help but wonder: How long had that particular woman been coming to draw water from that particular well? How long had it been since anyone else acknowledged her, or spoke to her? How long had her spirit been aching for the Water of Life? How long had it been since she felt she had an ally in this world?

We often think that being an ally is as simple as claiming the title for ourselves, or worrying over the situation of others who don’t enjoy the same privileges or comforts that we do. But that is only part of our calling when we seek to quench our thirst for justice.

With the Samaritan woman, we see Jesus moving beyond the easy path of well-meaning concern for a cultural outsider. He stands with her in her places of suffering. He stands in spaces where she, as the outsider could not enter, and not only invites her in, but advocates for her, seeking justice on her behalf in places where the community refused to recognize her or hear her voice. He invites her people, and his own people, to see her with refreshed eyes, washed clear by the Living Water of Christ’s deep seeing, and understanding, and love.

We all need allies in this life of ministry and faith. It is a gift to recognize all the big and small ways that people in my own life have stood with me in the desert places, when I have felt like a stranger, thirsting for life and justice and belonging. It is an honor to stand with others in their desert places, and be called to the work of seeking justice and belonging and life for them.

I draw the greatest encouragement from the idea of Living Water when I realize that it gives renewed strength and courage to the outsiders and the insiders together.

To me, this is a reminder that I cannot allow myself to be satisfied with simply claiming the title of justice seeker without standing in the desert of injustice with those who are suffering. I cannot allow myself to be satisfied with well-meaning concern, without advocating for others when I have the access and power to do so. The spring of Living Water is infinite. God is calling on us to draw upon that spring of Life as often as we can, and to share it generously with everyone that we encounter. The Spirit quenches our every thirst when we draw near to one another, and to the holy presence of God. I am so excited to engage in conversation, and laughter, and wonder with all of you as we explore together the idea of God quenching the thirst of our spirits!