Facing and Learning From Our Failures
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For March 8, 2026:
Facing and Learning From Our Failures
by Tom Willadsen
Exodus 17:1-7
Someone said, “Nostalgia is a kind of English grammar lesson. People find the present tense and the past perfect.” In a moment when certain forces are working to erase struggles, failings, and difficulty from our history books and corporate memory and, thus, return to the “past perfect,” perhaps we should be like the Israelites, who memorialized their trials and tests rather than their dramatic rescue from dying of thirst in the wilderness.
In the Scriptures
Well, well, well, water is central to our readings today. The Wanderers were scared to death that they would die of thirst in the wilderness. They turned on Moses and Aaron, grumbling and complaining. This was the third time since their dramatic escape from Egypt, the house of slavery, the third time since the Lord’s strong hand and outstretched arm had provided what they needed to survive, that they grumbled and complained because of their great fear.
Today’s psalm begins with reasons to praise and worship the living God. Do that, it says, rather than hardening your hearts and testing the Lord — as you did in today’s lesson from Exodus 17.
Jesus’ having a conversation with a (gasp) Samaritan (gasp) woman about living water approaches the theme of water through a different channel. Nazish Naseem covers this reading in her article.
While the Romans reading does not explicitly mention water, it does extol the virtue of afflictions, because they produce endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. Fans of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes will remember that Calvin’s father is a big believer in character, which Calvin would presumably acquire through difficulty and enduring hardship. It’s not an easy path, but perhaps it’s the only way to be resilient and self-sufficient. The Wanderers’ fear and grumbling would be a great way to produce character.
Exodus 15 begins with Moses leading the Israelites in song because the Lord had triumphed gloriously, throwing Pharoah’s cavalry into the sea. You’ve seen the movie.
Then Miriam, tambourine in hand, and all the women get into the act, literally, singing and dancing. (Yes, dance can be an act of praise and worship.) The very next thing that happens, while the tambourines are still jingling, some of the people complain because there is no potable water. Oh, there’s water, but it’s bitter, and so are the Wanderers! The Lord showed Moses how to sweeten the water, still they named the place “Marah,” which means “bitter.” Marah is the name Naomi took for herself when she returned to Bethlehem after the deaths of her husband and sons. She did acquire a terrific daughter-in-law, so Naomi wasn’t ruthless. (I deeply regret that one.)
The Wanderers moved on to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees. The bitterness and grumbling subsided.
When they moved on from Elim, after they’d been on the road a month “the whole assembly” complained against Aaron and Moses, saying, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3, NRSV) The Israelites really recall the past perfect here. They did not sit around their backyard barbecue pits eating tasty morsels. They were slaves. They cried out so loudly that the Lord heard them and called Moses to lead them to freedom. But, in this moment, they were scared and hungry. This time the Lord came through with manna and quail.
They moved on and at the start of today’s reading they complained, as one, to Moses because there was no water to drink. The Hebrew literally reads, “why did you bring me out of Egypt….” The complaining was unanimous. Moses took the complaint to God. God told Moses to grab his staff, the same staff Moses used to strike the Nile. (See picture above.) Moses took some elders with him and struck the rock and — glory be! — water flowed out! The people were saved! Again! Their grumbling did the trick! Again! They’re going to grumble again when they get hungry, thirsty, and afraid. It’s a hard lesson to learn to trust the Lord, even when the Lord keeps coming through with the miracles. They’ve got short attention spans. Does that sound like anyone you know? Woody Allen said, “My Lord, what hast Thou done lately?”
Here’s the difference though: the Wanderers name this place, where the Lord led Moses to produce water when they were scared of dying of thirst “Massah” (מסה ) which means “test” or “trial” and “Meribah” (מריבה ) which means “quarrelling.” They memorialized the difficulties, not the happy ending! They didn’t bury their struggles and doubts; they gave this place two names that reminded them that that past was not perfect, but tense!
In the News
News from Philadelphia last month:
The Trump administration took down the historical materials, (plaques about nine slaves who were owned by President George Washington, and worked at the first official residence of a US President,) installed as part of a joint city-federal agreement in 2006, in late January, on the eve of Black History Month, part of the White House’s campaign to remove historical references to the history of slavery and racism in America.
“Donald Trump will not prevail in his attempts to whitewash our shared history — especially not here in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote on X.
In a scathing ruling on Monday, US District Judge Cynthia Rufe compared the Trump administration’s conduct to that of the totalitarian regime in George Orwell’s 1984 and ordered the exhibit restored to its previous condition.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” she wrote Monday. “It does not.”
All three above quotes from Slavery exhibit removed by Trump administration returns to Philly. (Accessed February 28, 2026)
In the book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, (New York: One Signal Publishers, 2024, p. 76) author Jason Stanley describes the Five Themes of Fascist Education; three of which are National Greatness, National Purity, and National Innocence.
In the Sermon
Life is difficult. Living the Christian faith is difficult. To grow, change, and live one must face difficulties, trials, hardship, pain, confusion, and lots of other unpleasant things. The same is true of congregations, communities, and nations. All of us, individually and corporately, have fallen short of our ideals. It takes courage to face them, admit them, learn from them, and resolve to do better. The misguided toxic notion that we are somehow exceptional or flawless is dangerous. No one likes to hear that they were wrong, or done or said things that are hurtful. No one. Our faith and integrity require us to hear, heed, and live the words of Zechariah: so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
SECOND THOUGHTS
The Thirst We Don’t Talk About
by Nazish Naseem
John 4:5-26
It feels loud out there lately.
Every day there’s another argument waiting. I catch myself scrolling past headlines that make my chest tighten. Before I even open an article, I’m already bracing for the reactions that will follow. The voices on the screen sound sharper than they used to — interviews, speeches, and comment threads seem to spiral so quickly. Even when I try to step away and clear my head, the tension doesn’t disappear right away. It does not go away.
And truthfully, I think a lot of us are simply tired.
In the Scriptures: A Conversation at the Well
When I read John 4, I notice something simple but profound: Jesus is tired too.
He sits down by a well at noon. The sun is high. The road has been long. There is no crowd, no sermon, no spectacle. Just a well in Samaria — a place shaped by generations of religious and ethnic tension and a woman who arrives at an hour when she likely expects to be alone. The first thing Jesus says is not a correction. He says, “Give me a drink.”
In a setting already marked by suspicion between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus begins not with debate but with need. Before speaking about worship. Before naming her past. Before clarifying theology. He speaks of thirst. The whole conversation unfolds from that image.
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,” he says, “but whoever drinks the water that I will give will never thirst.
Thirst becomes the doorway. And perhaps that is why this story feels so timely. Because if we look honestly at our public life right now, it is not only divided — it is thirsty.
In the News: A Nation Arguing at the Well
I have felt this weariness in ordinary places — not just in headlines, but in conversations. I have heard it in church hallways where people lower their voices before mentioning politics. I have seen it at dinner tables where a simple question about the news changes the tone of the room. There is a tension many of us carry quietly, unsure of how to speak without being misunderstood.
Our country is not short on arguments. Recent coverage surrounding the 2026 State of the Union address reflected deep partisan division even before the speech began. Lawmakers and commentators framed the moment less as shared civic space and more as a clash of competing visions for the nation’s future. The disagreement felt personal, not procedural.
In recent months, cities such as Minneapolis have seen public protests connected to federal immigration enforcement actions. What began as discussions about policy quickly became something more personal — questions about belonging and safety. Crowds faced counter-crowds, and the rhetoric shifted from technical debate to something that feels, for many, existential.
At the same time, long-standing national surveys show that Americans’ trust in major institutions — from government to media — has been eroding for decades. According to data from the Pew Research Center, trust in the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time” now stands near historic lows, far below levels seen in the mid-20th century. By some measures, only about one in five adults say they have that level of confidence in the federal government.
Similarly, polls from Gallup and other tracking surveys show that confidence in institutions such as the news media and Congress has sunk sharply over recent decades, with trust in the media falling to the lowest levels recorded since modern polling began.
When trust weakens, suspicion doesn’t stay far behind. And once suspicion settles in, our tone changes. Arguments feel less like exchanges of ideas and more like defenses of identity. We hold our positions not just because we think they’re correct, but because we feel unsettled, unsure what to hold onto. These headlines and polls are not just about policy. They reveal something deeper beneath the surface of public debate: We are not simply arguing about elections, immigration, history, or power.
We are wrestling with uncertainty.
We long for stability.
We long to be heard.
We long to belong.
In other words, we are thirsty. Like the woman at the well, we often begin at the level of defensiveness. “How is it that you…?” We protect our side. We guard our identity. But Jesus does not remain at the surface of conflict. He moves toward thirst.
Perhaps our loudest public moments are not only about power — perhaps they are about longing.
Theology and Sermon: Naming the Deeper Longing
Throughout scripture, thirst is never dismissed. It is named. The psalmist writes, “My soul thirsts for God.” The prophet Isaiah invites, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” Human longing is not a flaw; it is a sign of dependence.
Theologically, sin is often less about open rebellion and more about misplaced thirst. We draw life from wells that cannot sustain us. We look to political victories, cultural dominance, economic security, or ideological certainty to carry the weight of ultimate hope. But those wells, however important in their own sphere, cannot satisfy the deepest hunger of the human heart.
In John 4, Jesus does not shame the woman’s thirst. He names it. He gently reveals that the wells she has relied upon have not given her what she truly seeks. And then he offers something deeper — living water.
Notice his posture. He tells the truth, but within relationship. He does not inflame hostility at a contested well. He crosses into it. He does not begin with condemnation. He begins with encounter. For the church in this political moment, that posture matters.
We are called to truth. But we are also called to humility. We are called to conviction. But we are also called to compassion. If Christ could sit at a well-shaped by centuries of division and speak with clarity and gentleness, perhaps we can learn to do the same. Near the end of the story, the woman leaves her water jar behind.
It is a small detail, but it carries weight. She came for ordinary water. She leaves having encountered something deeper. She returns to her town not with a platform, not with a strategy, but with testimony: Come and see.
No political system was restructured that day. No public office changed hands. But a weary person met the Messiah — and that changed how she walked back into her community. We cannot resolve every national conflict. We cannot silence every argument.
But perhaps we can begin here:
By admitting our thirst.
By recognizing it in others.
By returning, again and again, to the one who offers living water.
Until thirst is addressed, the argument simply moves from one well to another. And in a divided and weary nation, that may be the most faithful place for the church to begin — not at the microphone, but at the well.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
John 4:5-42
Loneliness at the Well
Commentators on John 4 speculate that the woman at the well is lonely, coming to get water in the heat of the day. Perhaps so.
In Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes, Jessica Pan dives into her own loneliness and experiments with ways to make connections.
She reveals, “It’s taken me a long time to really believe, to know, that loneliness is circumstantial. We move to a new city. We start a new job. We travel alone. Our families move away. We don’t know how to connect with loved ones anymore. We lose touch with friends. It is not a damning indictment of how lovable we are. Introvert or extrovert, shy or outgoing — loneliness can catch you no matter who you are. And it’s common. It’s been described as an epidemic, and a minister for loneliness has been appointed in the UK.”
She continues, “It’s not just the obvious candidates — the elderly, people living in remote locations — who struggle, either. Today’s sixteen-to-twenty-four-year-olds report feeling lonelier than those of any previous generation. Between social media, email, and meal and grocery delivery apps, we can outsource most in-person encounters to our phones, and the reliance on this technology increases with each passing year. Everyone experiences loneliness at some point in their life.”
Pan says that when she confessed that she was lonely, people opened up to her. “I notice that loneliness naturally comes up a lot in conversations with others when I explain the impetus for starting my year of extroverting: sitting alone on my sofa, my best friends scattered around the world, and wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Once I explained this honestly, men I knew slowly began to open up to me. One man, a new friend’s husband, Tom, tells me that he felt loneliest when he moved to Geneva to start a PhD program. He’d been warned by a friend of his, who had recently moved to Paris for work: you will get so lonely that you will end up at a bar alone, sitting by yourself, looking to make friends. Tom had laughed — that was ridiculous. He’d never do that. He lasted a week before he broke. His friend was right. He was “going so crazy” that he went to a bar just to be around other people.”
Perhaps this conversation with Jesus was a welcome moment in a day full of loneliness. Jesus also fuels the woman’s connection back to her neighbors.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Water
Moses and the people are desperate for water, thirsty and complaining, and the water comes as a gift from God. In our world of abundant water, we have the luxury of taking water for granted. News site Morning Brew reports that “US households go through about 29 billion gallons of water a day — more during the summer — and close to one-third of that is used outdoors, mainly for landscape irrigation, according to the EPA. About half of the water that gets used outdoors is actually wasted, too. The EPA says that’s due, in part, to overwatering, noting if you can step on your lawn and the grass springs back up, you’re probably good to turn off the hose. To put it into perspective, if you water the average-sized US lawn for 20 minutes each day, for a week straight, that’s the equivalent of a year’s worth of showers for the average family, per the EPA.”
This story from Exodus tugs at us to see water as the gift that it is.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-17
Water in the Desert
Exodus conveys the anger and fear of the people of God, as they grow desperate for water. Gail Muller tells about a similar experience, recalling, “I was recently in the Sahara Desert, assisting on a charity trek…I was particularly interested in water, and the perceived lack of it. How could anyone ever survive out here?” There seemed to be nothing but dunes and sand.
Her guides told her to pay closer attention “Look around,” one man said. “Can you see anything growing?”
Muller says, “I scanned the horizon across 360 degrees of hot, baked distance and began to take note of some trees, seeming to grow out of the side of a dune, with nothing else for acres around them. And some small shrubs growing in another tatty cluster in another area. These weren’t lush green oases with palms and pools next to them, they were dusty and brown, with darkened leaves that blended into the landscape.
“There!” I gestured over toward the trees. “Over there are some trees, but no water to drink.”
They laughed. “Of course, there is no water ready to drink. You must look a little harder, then do a little work. The water is there, it just isn’t obvious. You need to use the logic that the tree must find water, then so can you.” And then they proceeded to explain how I would, if stuck, need to dig deep holes around any vegetation then sit back and wait. If nothing happened, then dig deeper, down toward where the tree roots must stretch. Eventually, water will begin to seep into the bottom of the hole you have dug, and you can drink.”
Muller adds a life lesson. “There is always something to quench your thirst for better days, even when the terrain of your life seems purely arid on the surface. You just have to use some tools, dig a little and be patient until you can see the energy, possibilities and potential seep in. Just because opportunity isn’t presented to you on a plate with a label and a bow, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
* * *
Romans 5:1-11
Getting Reformatted
Writing to the believers in Rome, Paul outlines the process by which we’re formed in our faith. Our faith grows deeper, Paul notes, because “affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
With all the time we spend on our screens, John Mark Comer notes a reverse process for modern people of faith. In Practicing the Way, Comer observes, “With the rise of social media empires and their spooky digital algorithms, these powerful forces now have direct access to our flows of consciousness every time we slide our thumbs across our phones. What we are led to believe are just ads, news links, retweets, and random digital flotsam are, in reality, mass behavior modification techniques intentionally designed to influence how we think, feel, believe, shop, vote, and live. To quote the tech philosopher Jaron Lanier, “What might once have been called advertising must now be understood as continuous behavior modification on a titanic scale.” The “world” (as it’s called in the New Testament) is forming us, constantly. But what is it forming us into?”
Our addiction to our screens is a call back into the formation process that Paul offers us.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Exodus 17:1-7
In today’s passage from the Hebrew scriptures, we once again find the people complaining, even threatening Moses, this time over the lack of water. Complaining can be an effective coping mechanism, but chronic complaining can have a negative effect upon individual mental health and group dynamics.
Chronic Complaining and Mental Health
According to Socio.Health, depending on frequency, intention, and social context, complaining can have a negative impact on individual mental health.
Complaining Shapes: How Groups Function
Studies show that chronic complaining within a group can shape how the group functions.
1. Amplification of negativity — Group psychology shows that shared focus on negative experiences can intensify group‑level pessimism. Mechanisms like the accentuation effect and intergroup bias can cause groups to exaggerate problems or blame outgroups, reinforcing a cycle of dissatisfaction.
2. Erosion of cohesion — Healthy groups rely on trust, shared purpose, and mutual support. Persistent complaining, especially when directed at group members, can weaken cohesion by undermining loyalty, creating factions, and increasing defensiveness or withdrawal, creating a toxic culture.
3. Stigma and stereotyping within the group — Complaints about certain individuals or subgroups can harden into stereotypes, which then shape how members interpret each other’s behavior. Research on prejudice and stigma shows how quickly these patterns can escalate into public stigma (negative labels applied by the group), self‑stigma (internalizing those labels), and structural stigma (norms or rules that reinforce exclusion)
4. Loss of psychological safety — When complaining becomes the dominant mode of communication, members may feel unsafe expressing vulnerability or new ideas. This reduces creativity, collaboration, and willingness to seek help — echoing the broader mental‑health consequences of stigmatizing group environments.
* * *
Complaint Humor
A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first ten years his superior called him in and asked, “Do you have anything you’d like to say?”
The monk replied, “Food bad.”
After another ten years went by and the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, “Bed hard.”
Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, “I quit.”
“It doesn’t surprise me a bit,” said the superior. “You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”
* * *
John 4:5-26 — Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
Who Were the Samaritans?
After the death of King Solomon the unwise actions of his son Rehoboam in the tenth century BC led to a schism in which the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, each with its own king. The capital of the southern kingdom was Jerusalem and the capital of the northern kingdom was Samaria.
Both kingdoms devolved into corruption and sin, despite repeated warnings from prophets sent by God. Thus, God warned, they would be overtaken by conquerors. The northern kingdom fared worse than the southern kingdom, with a long line of wicked rulers.
In 721 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the cruel Assyrians. Many of the people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captive slaves, but some remained in the land and intermarried with Assyrians and other foreigners planted there by the Assyrian army when they left. These half-Jewish, half-Gentile people became known as the Samaritans after the capital city and the area around it, both known as Samaria (cf. New York, New York). They considered themselves the true descendants of David and Solomon and the true inheritors of the Torah.
In 586 BC, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire once and for all, as the walls of Jerusalem were breached, the temple was destroyed, and the city walls were torn down. About two-thirds of the population was taken to Babylon as captives who could live freely in the city but could not leave. The remaining third remained behind and, like their Samarian neighbors, intermarried with the local population.
In about 539 BCE Cyrus the Great allowed all Jews to return to Judah but when they got home there wasn’t much left of Jerusalem or their homeland. And the Samaritans who still lived there opposed their return for fear they would want their land back.
The animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans grew out of their differences in history and culture, territorial disputes, and religion.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Exodus 17:1-7
No Water to Drink
The cry of God’s people for water will increasingly become a global reality, according to a report issued by the United Nations in January. “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post Crisis” provides a stark assessment of a global water crisis. According to the report, previous descriptions such as “water stressed” and “water crisis” no longer adequately describe the reality of the world’s water crisis.
Instead, the report “tells an uncomfortable truth” that “many regions are living beyond their hydrological means.” Critical water systems have already gone bankrupt, concluded the scientists who prepared the study. Societies have overspent their “water income” from rivers, soils, and snowpack, and depleted their “savings” of resources such as aquifers, glaciers, wetlands, and reservoirs.
The report was issued prior to the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in Dakar, Senegal, January 26-27, 2026.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Walking in the Desert
Because human bodies are 50%-70% water, life depends on regular rehydration. We are, notes Jonny Thomson, truly walking bags of water that are only days away from perishing.
In a 2021 article, Thomson shared the story of Italian ultramarathon runner Mauro Prosperi’s harrowing experiences running a race through the Sahara Desert. In 1994, Prosperi took part in the exceptionally grueling six day Marathon des Sables. The race pushes athletes to their limits in racing across the desert while experiencing temperatures exceeding 120-degrees — often requiring that runners drink 13 liters of water a day.
Prosperi, a former Olympian, experienced even greater challenges. A sandstorm pushed him off course, leaving him without water or a support team for more than 10 days. Prosperi relied on extreme measures to survive, including drinking his own urine and drinking the blood of bats. Eventually, he was found by a goat herder. His road to recovery proved to be another daunting adventure — within those few days, severe dehydration had damaged his eyes and liver. It was weeks before he could eat solid food, and his recovery took more than two years.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Grant us a little more time
In Mary Oliver’s poem “Thirst,” the urgency imposed by a thirst for questions and knowledge takes the form of a prayer. Oliver invites readers to follow the poet’s thirst “for all the goodness I do not have.” Like those caught in the wilderness, Oliver sorts through the difficulties imposed by this deep thirst. There is an urgency to her prayers. God had given so many “beautiful lessons” that despite all of her efforts, there is still more to learn. “Grant me, in your mercy, a little more time,” says Oliver. “Love for the earth and love for you are having such a long conversation in my heart.”
The poem concludes:
Who knows what
will finally happen or where I will be sent,
yet already I have given a great many things
away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
except the prayers which, with this thirst,
I am slowly learning.
* * *
John 4:5-42
Leading with vulnerability
Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well offers insights into the theological power of leading with vulnerability. It’s a term key to Dr. Brene Brown’s research into leadership. According to Brown, leaders willing to become vulnerable are able to take actions involving risk and uncertainty. Vulnerability leads to conversations involving risk and uncertainty. “When we build cultures at work where there is zero-tolerance for vulnerability,” Brown says, “where perfectionism and armor are rewarded and necessary, you can’t have [difficult] conversations. They’re not productive.”
When the woman encounters Jesus, he is alone, tired, and thirsting for water. The word made flesh is at its most vulnerable here, according to John. His conversation with the woman offers the church a powerful understanding of evangelism. The woman encounters a Messiah who is willing to lead by vulnerability. As Debi Thomas observes, “Jesus wins the woman’s trust by humbling himself. By naming his own thirst. By asking for something she can give. There is no triumphalism in his approach, no smugness, no arrogance. He’s thirsty, and he says so — and she responds.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: O come, let us sing this day to the LORD, our God.
All: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
One: Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving.
All: Let us make a joyful noise to God with songs of praise!
One: For the LORD is a great God and a great Sovereign above all gods.
All: O come, let us worship and bow down before the LORD!
OR
One: Come to the waters of life and drink freely.
All: We are thirsty and in need of life giving water.
One: To receive the water we need to be open to it.
All: We will open our lives to our Savior.
One: Christ will then be open to us and satisfy our thirst.
All: Thanks be to God for the living water of Christ.
Hymns and Songs
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
UMH: 79
H82: 366
PH: 460
GTG: 4
NNBH: 13
NCH: 276
LBW: 535
ELW: 414
W&P: 138
If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
UMH: 142
H82: 635
PH: 282
GTG: 816
NCH: 410
LBW: 453
ELW: 429
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
UMH: 175
H82: 642
PH: 310
GTG: 629
NCH: 507
CH: 102
LBW: 316
ELW: 754
W&P: 420
AMEC: 464
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
UMH: 361
H82: 685
GTG: 438
AAHH: 559
NNBH: 254
NCH: 596
CH: 214
LBW: 327
ELW: 623
W&P: 384
AMEC: 328
There is a Balm in Gilead
UMH: 375
H82: 676
PH: 394
GTG: 792
AAHH: 524
NNBH: 489
NCH: 553
CH: 501
ELW: 614
W&P: 631
AMEC: 425
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
UMH: 400
H82: 686
PH: 356
GTG: 475
AAHH: 175
NNBH: 166
NCH: 459
CH: 16
LBW: 499
ELW: 807
W&P: 68
AMEC: 77
STLT: 126
Fill My Cup, Lord
UMH: 641
PH: 350
GTG: 699
AAHH: 447
NNBH: 377
CH: 351
CCB: 47
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Word of God, Come Down on Earth
UMH: 182
H82: 633
ELW: 510
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who called creation out of the waters of chaos:
Grant us the faith to trust that you will give us living water
out of the turmoil of our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who called creation out of the waters of chaos. You created the dry land for us to stand upon. In the midst of our dryness and our turmoil help us to seek your living water. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our seeking to draw living water from brackish pools.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life. You have given yourself to us so that we might know life that is abundant and eternal. Yet we turn time and time again to drink from polluted wells. We ignore your gracious ways of love and draw on greed, hatred, and envy. Instead of seeking to share your love we seek to take. Forgive us and renew us with your living water. Amen.
One: God is good and God is gracious. Receive the water of life and share it will others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God. You are the one who brings life to creation. You are the one who is love and fills all with your love. You are the patient one who hears our complaints.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life. You have given yourself to us so that we might know life that is abundant and eternal. Yet we turn time and time again to drink from polluted wells. We ignore your gracious ways of love and draw on greed, hatred, and envy. Instead of seeking to share your love we seek to take. Forgive us and renew us with your living water.
We give you thanks for the abundance of your love for us. You have provided a world that has beautiful, fresh water and you supply us with the living water of your Son, Jesus Christ. We give you thanks for those who have shared that water with us throughout our lives. When grief, burdens, and sorrows have dried us up, you have sent your people to offer cool water for us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for you children in their need. We pray for those who do not have clean water available for themselves and their families. We pray for those who find themselves in places of war and violence. We pray for those who work for peace and for those who work to supply good water for others.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN’S SERMON
The Right Way To Worship God
by Katy Stenta
John 4:5-42
This is a story that actually starts before Jesus.
There are two groups of people who disagree about where to worship.
There are the Samaritans and the Hebrews. Both worship the same God, but they disagree about where the holy Temple was supposed to be built, so they squabbled and became separate denominations or religions. Because of this, the Samaritans and Hebrews do not like to talk or associate with one another, because they each think that they have the right way to worship God.
(Note for the leader: This may go back to the Temple being destroyed and one of the invasions or exiles.)
So, Jesus went to Samaria, even though he knew that he, as a Hebrew person, is not really welcome there. He goes to the well in the middle of the day, which is basically the center of town, and sits beside it.
Now, this story begins by explaining that Jews and Samaritans do not hold things in common — meaning they do not share things.
But Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink.
She says, “How are you asking this, when you know I’m a Samaritan woman and Jewish people and Samaritan people do not share things.”
And Jesus says, “Tell you what, if you were to ask me for a drink, then I would give you the kind of drink that would make it so you would never be thirsty again.”
This confused the Samaritan woman, who says, “How is that possible, you don’t have a bucket, and this is the well of our ancestor Jacob, so it is very deep. How do you have access to any water at all? But sure, I’d love some of that water so that I’m never thirsty.”
Then Jesus says, “Go get your husband and I’ll give it to you.”
Then the Samaritan woman admits she has no husband.
And Jesus says, “Not only do you have no husband, for the man you are living with is not your husband, but you had five husbands before him.”
And the woman is amazed, because Jesus not only sees the Samaritan woman, and talks to her, but also knows her and understands her.
The woman replies, “You must be a prophet. Tell me who is right — the Samaritans or the Jews? Which mountain should we be worshiping on?”
But Jesus is too smart to be drawn into a debate, and instead he says, “The time is coming when that won’t matter at all, and you will worship God in another way…”
And she says, “I know the Messiah is coming…”
And Jesus says, “I AM HE.”
This story is amazing because Jesus is not here to win an argument but to build relationships. He gets to know the Samaritan woman. He doesn’t let himself be drawn into a debate about who is right, but instead talks about a promising future to be built together. Jesus is so wise that way. The water he is providing is the good news of Jesus Christ.
Dear God
Thank you
For knowing us
And teaching us
To be in relationship
With one another
And you
Without having
To be the best
Or winning.
Help us to
Share good news
Together.
We pray,
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 8, 2026 issue.
Copyright 2026 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Facing and Learning From Our Failures by Tom Willadsen based on John 4:5-42, Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, Psalm 95.
- Second Thoughts: The Thirst We Don’t Talk About by Nazish Naseem based on John 4:5-26.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Dean Feldmeyer, and Chris Keating.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children’s Sermon: The Right Way To Worship God by Katy Stenta based on John 4:5-42
Facing and Learning From Our Failuresby Tom Willadsen
Exodus 17:1-7
Someone said, “Nostalgia is a kind of English grammar lesson. People find the present tense and the past perfect.” In a moment when certain forces are working to erase struggles, failings, and difficulty from our history books and corporate memory and, thus, return to the “past perfect,” perhaps we should be like the Israelites, who memorialized their trials and tests rather than their dramatic rescue from dying of thirst in the wilderness.
In the Scriptures
Well, well, well, water is central to our readings today. The Wanderers were scared to death that they would die of thirst in the wilderness. They turned on Moses and Aaron, grumbling and complaining. This was the third time since their dramatic escape from Egypt, the house of slavery, the third time since the Lord’s strong hand and outstretched arm had provided what they needed to survive, that they grumbled and complained because of their great fear.
Today’s psalm begins with reasons to praise and worship the living God. Do that, it says, rather than hardening your hearts and testing the Lord — as you did in today’s lesson from Exodus 17.
Jesus’ having a conversation with a (gasp) Samaritan (gasp) woman about living water approaches the theme of water through a different channel. Nazish Naseem covers this reading in her article.
While the Romans reading does not explicitly mention water, it does extol the virtue of afflictions, because they produce endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. Fans of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes will remember that Calvin’s father is a big believer in character, which Calvin would presumably acquire through difficulty and enduring hardship. It’s not an easy path, but perhaps it’s the only way to be resilient and self-sufficient. The Wanderers’ fear and grumbling would be a great way to produce character.
Exodus 15 begins with Moses leading the Israelites in song because the Lord had triumphed gloriously, throwing Pharoah’s cavalry into the sea. You’ve seen the movie.
Then Miriam, tambourine in hand, and all the women get into the act, literally, singing and dancing. (Yes, dance can be an act of praise and worship.) The very next thing that happens, while the tambourines are still jingling, some of the people complain because there is no potable water. Oh, there’s water, but it’s bitter, and so are the Wanderers! The Lord showed Moses how to sweeten the water, still they named the place “Marah,” which means “bitter.” Marah is the name Naomi took for herself when she returned to Bethlehem after the deaths of her husband and sons. She did acquire a terrific daughter-in-law, so Naomi wasn’t ruthless. (I deeply regret that one.)
The Wanderers moved on to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees. The bitterness and grumbling subsided.
When they moved on from Elim, after they’d been on the road a month “the whole assembly” complained against Aaron and Moses, saying, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3, NRSV) The Israelites really recall the past perfect here. They did not sit around their backyard barbecue pits eating tasty morsels. They were slaves. They cried out so loudly that the Lord heard them and called Moses to lead them to freedom. But, in this moment, they were scared and hungry. This time the Lord came through with manna and quail.
They moved on and at the start of today’s reading they complained, as one, to Moses because there was no water to drink. The Hebrew literally reads, “why did you bring me out of Egypt….” The complaining was unanimous. Moses took the complaint to God. God told Moses to grab his staff, the same staff Moses used to strike the Nile. (See picture above.) Moses took some elders with him and struck the rock and — glory be! — water flowed out! The people were saved! Again! Their grumbling did the trick! Again! They’re going to grumble again when they get hungry, thirsty, and afraid. It’s a hard lesson to learn to trust the Lord, even when the Lord keeps coming through with the miracles. They’ve got short attention spans. Does that sound like anyone you know? Woody Allen said, “My Lord, what hast Thou done lately?”
Here’s the difference though: the Wanderers name this place, where the Lord led Moses to produce water when they were scared of dying of thirst “Massah” (מסה ) which means “test” or “trial” and “Meribah” (מריבה ) which means “quarrelling.” They memorialized the difficulties, not the happy ending! They didn’t bury their struggles and doubts; they gave this place two names that reminded them that that past was not perfect, but tense!
In the News
News from Philadelphia last month:
The Trump administration took down the historical materials, (plaques about nine slaves who were owned by President George Washington, and worked at the first official residence of a US President,) installed as part of a joint city-federal agreement in 2006, in late January, on the eve of Black History Month, part of the White House’s campaign to remove historical references to the history of slavery and racism in America.
“Donald Trump will not prevail in his attempts to whitewash our shared history — especially not here in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote on X.
In a scathing ruling on Monday, US District Judge Cynthia Rufe compared the Trump administration’s conduct to that of the totalitarian regime in George Orwell’s 1984 and ordered the exhibit restored to its previous condition.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” she wrote Monday. “It does not.”
All three above quotes from Slavery exhibit removed by Trump administration returns to Philly. (Accessed February 28, 2026)
In the book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, (New York: One Signal Publishers, 2024, p. 76) author Jason Stanley describes the Five Themes of Fascist Education; three of which are National Greatness, National Purity, and National Innocence.
In the Sermon
Life is difficult. Living the Christian faith is difficult. To grow, change, and live one must face difficulties, trials, hardship, pain, confusion, and lots of other unpleasant things. The same is true of congregations, communities, and nations. All of us, individually and corporately, have fallen short of our ideals. It takes courage to face them, admit them, learn from them, and resolve to do better. The misguided toxic notion that we are somehow exceptional or flawless is dangerous. No one likes to hear that they were wrong, or done or said things that are hurtful. No one. Our faith and integrity require us to hear, heed, and live the words of Zechariah: so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)
SECOND THOUGHTSThe Thirst We Don’t Talk About
by Nazish Naseem
John 4:5-26
It feels loud out there lately.
Every day there’s another argument waiting. I catch myself scrolling past headlines that make my chest tighten. Before I even open an article, I’m already bracing for the reactions that will follow. The voices on the screen sound sharper than they used to — interviews, speeches, and comment threads seem to spiral so quickly. Even when I try to step away and clear my head, the tension doesn’t disappear right away. It does not go away.
And truthfully, I think a lot of us are simply tired.
In the Scriptures: A Conversation at the Well
When I read John 4, I notice something simple but profound: Jesus is tired too.
He sits down by a well at noon. The sun is high. The road has been long. There is no crowd, no sermon, no spectacle. Just a well in Samaria — a place shaped by generations of religious and ethnic tension and a woman who arrives at an hour when she likely expects to be alone. The first thing Jesus says is not a correction. He says, “Give me a drink.”
In a setting already marked by suspicion between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus begins not with debate but with need. Before speaking about worship. Before naming her past. Before clarifying theology. He speaks of thirst. The whole conversation unfolds from that image.
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,” he says, “but whoever drinks the water that I will give will never thirst.
Thirst becomes the doorway. And perhaps that is why this story feels so timely. Because if we look honestly at our public life right now, it is not only divided — it is thirsty.
In the News: A Nation Arguing at the Well
I have felt this weariness in ordinary places — not just in headlines, but in conversations. I have heard it in church hallways where people lower their voices before mentioning politics. I have seen it at dinner tables where a simple question about the news changes the tone of the room. There is a tension many of us carry quietly, unsure of how to speak without being misunderstood.
Our country is not short on arguments. Recent coverage surrounding the 2026 State of the Union address reflected deep partisan division even before the speech began. Lawmakers and commentators framed the moment less as shared civic space and more as a clash of competing visions for the nation’s future. The disagreement felt personal, not procedural.
In recent months, cities such as Minneapolis have seen public protests connected to federal immigration enforcement actions. What began as discussions about policy quickly became something more personal — questions about belonging and safety. Crowds faced counter-crowds, and the rhetoric shifted from technical debate to something that feels, for many, existential.
At the same time, long-standing national surveys show that Americans’ trust in major institutions — from government to media — has been eroding for decades. According to data from the Pew Research Center, trust in the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time” now stands near historic lows, far below levels seen in the mid-20th century. By some measures, only about one in five adults say they have that level of confidence in the federal government.
Similarly, polls from Gallup and other tracking surveys show that confidence in institutions such as the news media and Congress has sunk sharply over recent decades, with trust in the media falling to the lowest levels recorded since modern polling began.
When trust weakens, suspicion doesn’t stay far behind. And once suspicion settles in, our tone changes. Arguments feel less like exchanges of ideas and more like defenses of identity. We hold our positions not just because we think they’re correct, but because we feel unsettled, unsure what to hold onto. These headlines and polls are not just about policy. They reveal something deeper beneath the surface of public debate: We are not simply arguing about elections, immigration, history, or power.
We are wrestling with uncertainty.
We long for stability.
We long to be heard.
We long to belong.
In other words, we are thirsty. Like the woman at the well, we often begin at the level of defensiveness. “How is it that you…?” We protect our side. We guard our identity. But Jesus does not remain at the surface of conflict. He moves toward thirst.
Perhaps our loudest public moments are not only about power — perhaps they are about longing.
Theology and Sermon: Naming the Deeper Longing
Throughout scripture, thirst is never dismissed. It is named. The psalmist writes, “My soul thirsts for God.” The prophet Isaiah invites, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” Human longing is not a flaw; it is a sign of dependence.
Theologically, sin is often less about open rebellion and more about misplaced thirst. We draw life from wells that cannot sustain us. We look to political victories, cultural dominance, economic security, or ideological certainty to carry the weight of ultimate hope. But those wells, however important in their own sphere, cannot satisfy the deepest hunger of the human heart.
In John 4, Jesus does not shame the woman’s thirst. He names it. He gently reveals that the wells she has relied upon have not given her what she truly seeks. And then he offers something deeper — living water.
Notice his posture. He tells the truth, but within relationship. He does not inflame hostility at a contested well. He crosses into it. He does not begin with condemnation. He begins with encounter. For the church in this political moment, that posture matters.
We are called to truth. But we are also called to humility. We are called to conviction. But we are also called to compassion. If Christ could sit at a well-shaped by centuries of division and speak with clarity and gentleness, perhaps we can learn to do the same. Near the end of the story, the woman leaves her water jar behind.
It is a small detail, but it carries weight. She came for ordinary water. She leaves having encountered something deeper. She returns to her town not with a platform, not with a strategy, but with testimony: Come and see.
No political system was restructured that day. No public office changed hands. But a weary person met the Messiah — and that changed how she walked back into her community. We cannot resolve every national conflict. We cannot silence every argument.
But perhaps we can begin here:
By admitting our thirst.
By recognizing it in others.
By returning, again and again, to the one who offers living water.
Until thirst is addressed, the argument simply moves from one well to another. And in a divided and weary nation, that may be the most faithful place for the church to begin — not at the microphone, but at the well.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:John 4:5-42
Loneliness at the Well
Commentators on John 4 speculate that the woman at the well is lonely, coming to get water in the heat of the day. Perhaps so.
In Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes, Jessica Pan dives into her own loneliness and experiments with ways to make connections.
She reveals, “It’s taken me a long time to really believe, to know, that loneliness is circumstantial. We move to a new city. We start a new job. We travel alone. Our families move away. We don’t know how to connect with loved ones anymore. We lose touch with friends. It is not a damning indictment of how lovable we are. Introvert or extrovert, shy or outgoing — loneliness can catch you no matter who you are. And it’s common. It’s been described as an epidemic, and a minister for loneliness has been appointed in the UK.”
She continues, “It’s not just the obvious candidates — the elderly, people living in remote locations — who struggle, either. Today’s sixteen-to-twenty-four-year-olds report feeling lonelier than those of any previous generation. Between social media, email, and meal and grocery delivery apps, we can outsource most in-person encounters to our phones, and the reliance on this technology increases with each passing year. Everyone experiences loneliness at some point in their life.”
Pan says that when she confessed that she was lonely, people opened up to her. “I notice that loneliness naturally comes up a lot in conversations with others when I explain the impetus for starting my year of extroverting: sitting alone on my sofa, my best friends scattered around the world, and wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Once I explained this honestly, men I knew slowly began to open up to me. One man, a new friend’s husband, Tom, tells me that he felt loneliest when he moved to Geneva to start a PhD program. He’d been warned by a friend of his, who had recently moved to Paris for work: you will get so lonely that you will end up at a bar alone, sitting by yourself, looking to make friends. Tom had laughed — that was ridiculous. He’d never do that. He lasted a week before he broke. His friend was right. He was “going so crazy” that he went to a bar just to be around other people.”
Perhaps this conversation with Jesus was a welcome moment in a day full of loneliness. Jesus also fuels the woman’s connection back to her neighbors.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Water
Moses and the people are desperate for water, thirsty and complaining, and the water comes as a gift from God. In our world of abundant water, we have the luxury of taking water for granted. News site Morning Brew reports that “US households go through about 29 billion gallons of water a day — more during the summer — and close to one-third of that is used outdoors, mainly for landscape irrigation, according to the EPA. About half of the water that gets used outdoors is actually wasted, too. The EPA says that’s due, in part, to overwatering, noting if you can step on your lawn and the grass springs back up, you’re probably good to turn off the hose. To put it into perspective, if you water the average-sized US lawn for 20 minutes each day, for a week straight, that’s the equivalent of a year’s worth of showers for the average family, per the EPA.”
This story from Exodus tugs at us to see water as the gift that it is.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-17
Water in the Desert
Exodus conveys the anger and fear of the people of God, as they grow desperate for water. Gail Muller tells about a similar experience, recalling, “I was recently in the Sahara Desert, assisting on a charity trek…I was particularly interested in water, and the perceived lack of it. How could anyone ever survive out here?” There seemed to be nothing but dunes and sand.
Her guides told her to pay closer attention “Look around,” one man said. “Can you see anything growing?”
Muller says, “I scanned the horizon across 360 degrees of hot, baked distance and began to take note of some trees, seeming to grow out of the side of a dune, with nothing else for acres around them. And some small shrubs growing in another tatty cluster in another area. These weren’t lush green oases with palms and pools next to them, they were dusty and brown, with darkened leaves that blended into the landscape.
“There!” I gestured over toward the trees. “Over there are some trees, but no water to drink.”
They laughed. “Of course, there is no water ready to drink. You must look a little harder, then do a little work. The water is there, it just isn’t obvious. You need to use the logic that the tree must find water, then so can you.” And then they proceeded to explain how I would, if stuck, need to dig deep holes around any vegetation then sit back and wait. If nothing happened, then dig deeper, down toward where the tree roots must stretch. Eventually, water will begin to seep into the bottom of the hole you have dug, and you can drink.”
Muller adds a life lesson. “There is always something to quench your thirst for better days, even when the terrain of your life seems purely arid on the surface. You just have to use some tools, dig a little and be patient until you can see the energy, possibilities and potential seep in. Just because opportunity isn’t presented to you on a plate with a label and a bow, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
* * *
Romans 5:1-11
Getting Reformatted
Writing to the believers in Rome, Paul outlines the process by which we’re formed in our faith. Our faith grows deeper, Paul notes, because “affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
With all the time we spend on our screens, John Mark Comer notes a reverse process for modern people of faith. In Practicing the Way, Comer observes, “With the rise of social media empires and their spooky digital algorithms, these powerful forces now have direct access to our flows of consciousness every time we slide our thumbs across our phones. What we are led to believe are just ads, news links, retweets, and random digital flotsam are, in reality, mass behavior modification techniques intentionally designed to influence how we think, feel, believe, shop, vote, and live. To quote the tech philosopher Jaron Lanier, “What might once have been called advertising must now be understood as continuous behavior modification on a titanic scale.” The “world” (as it’s called in the New Testament) is forming us, constantly. But what is it forming us into?”
Our addiction to our screens is a call back into the formation process that Paul offers us.
* * * * * *
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Exodus 17:1-7
In today’s passage from the Hebrew scriptures, we once again find the people complaining, even threatening Moses, this time over the lack of water. Complaining can be an effective coping mechanism, but chronic complaining can have a negative effect upon individual mental health and group dynamics.
Chronic Complaining and Mental Health
According to Socio.Health, depending on frequency, intention, and social context, complaining can have a negative impact on individual mental health.
- Repeated focus on grievances can strengthen cognitive biases that emphasize threat, unfairness, or helplessness. This can increase anxiety and depressive symptoms by narrowing attention to what is wrong rather than what is possible.
- Habitual complaining without problem‑solving can erode a person’s belief that they can influence their circumstances. This dynamic parallels the “identity threat” and “self‑stigma” processes described in group‑based mental health research, where internalized negativity diminishes resilience.
- People who complain frequently may receive less empathy over time, which can reduce the emotional support that typically protects mental health. Research on group belonging shows that strong, supportive social ties buffer stress and improve well‑being; complaining that alienates others undermines this protective effect.
Complaining Shapes: How Groups Function
Studies show that chronic complaining within a group can shape how the group functions.
1. Amplification of negativity — Group psychology shows that shared focus on negative experiences can intensify group‑level pessimism. Mechanisms like the accentuation effect and intergroup bias can cause groups to exaggerate problems or blame outgroups, reinforcing a cycle of dissatisfaction.
2. Erosion of cohesion — Healthy groups rely on trust, shared purpose, and mutual support. Persistent complaining, especially when directed at group members, can weaken cohesion by undermining loyalty, creating factions, and increasing defensiveness or withdrawal, creating a toxic culture.
3. Stigma and stereotyping within the group — Complaints about certain individuals or subgroups can harden into stereotypes, which then shape how members interpret each other’s behavior. Research on prejudice and stigma shows how quickly these patterns can escalate into public stigma (negative labels applied by the group), self‑stigma (internalizing those labels), and structural stigma (norms or rules that reinforce exclusion)
4. Loss of psychological safety — When complaining becomes the dominant mode of communication, members may feel unsafe expressing vulnerability or new ideas. This reduces creativity, collaboration, and willingness to seek help — echoing the broader mental‑health consequences of stigmatizing group environments.
* * *
Complaint Humor
A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first ten years his superior called him in and asked, “Do you have anything you’d like to say?”
The monk replied, “Food bad.”
After another ten years went by and the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, “Bed hard.”
Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, “I quit.”
“It doesn’t surprise me a bit,” said the superior. “You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”
* * *
John 4:5-26 — Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
Who Were the Samaritans?
After the death of King Solomon the unwise actions of his son Rehoboam in the tenth century BC led to a schism in which the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, each with its own king. The capital of the southern kingdom was Jerusalem and the capital of the northern kingdom was Samaria.
Both kingdoms devolved into corruption and sin, despite repeated warnings from prophets sent by God. Thus, God warned, they would be overtaken by conquerors. The northern kingdom fared worse than the southern kingdom, with a long line of wicked rulers.
In 721 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the cruel Assyrians. Many of the people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captive slaves, but some remained in the land and intermarried with Assyrians and other foreigners planted there by the Assyrian army when they left. These half-Jewish, half-Gentile people became known as the Samaritans after the capital city and the area around it, both known as Samaria (cf. New York, New York). They considered themselves the true descendants of David and Solomon and the true inheritors of the Torah.
In 586 BC, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire once and for all, as the walls of Jerusalem were breached, the temple was destroyed, and the city walls were torn down. About two-thirds of the population was taken to Babylon as captives who could live freely in the city but could not leave. The remaining third remained behind and, like their Samarian neighbors, intermarried with the local population.
In about 539 BCE Cyrus the Great allowed all Jews to return to Judah but when they got home there wasn’t much left of Jerusalem or their homeland. And the Samaritans who still lived there opposed their return for fear they would want their land back.
The animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans grew out of their differences in history and culture, territorial disputes, and religion.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:Exodus 17:1-7
No Water to Drink
The cry of God’s people for water will increasingly become a global reality, according to a report issued by the United Nations in January. “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post Crisis” provides a stark assessment of a global water crisis. According to the report, previous descriptions such as “water stressed” and “water crisis” no longer adequately describe the reality of the world’s water crisis.
Instead, the report “tells an uncomfortable truth” that “many regions are living beyond their hydrological means.” Critical water systems have already gone bankrupt, concluded the scientists who prepared the study. Societies have overspent their “water income” from rivers, soils, and snowpack, and depleted their “savings” of resources such as aquifers, glaciers, wetlands, and reservoirs.
The report was issued prior to the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in Dakar, Senegal, January 26-27, 2026.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Walking in the Desert
Because human bodies are 50%-70% water, life depends on regular rehydration. We are, notes Jonny Thomson, truly walking bags of water that are only days away from perishing.
In a 2021 article, Thomson shared the story of Italian ultramarathon runner Mauro Prosperi’s harrowing experiences running a race through the Sahara Desert. In 1994, Prosperi took part in the exceptionally grueling six day Marathon des Sables. The race pushes athletes to their limits in racing across the desert while experiencing temperatures exceeding 120-degrees — often requiring that runners drink 13 liters of water a day.
Prosperi, a former Olympian, experienced even greater challenges. A sandstorm pushed him off course, leaving him without water or a support team for more than 10 days. Prosperi relied on extreme measures to survive, including drinking his own urine and drinking the blood of bats. Eventually, he was found by a goat herder. His road to recovery proved to be another daunting adventure — within those few days, severe dehydration had damaged his eyes and liver. It was weeks before he could eat solid food, and his recovery took more than two years.
* * *
Exodus 17:1-7
Grant us a little more time
In Mary Oliver’s poem “Thirst,” the urgency imposed by a thirst for questions and knowledge takes the form of a prayer. Oliver invites readers to follow the poet’s thirst “for all the goodness I do not have.” Like those caught in the wilderness, Oliver sorts through the difficulties imposed by this deep thirst. There is an urgency to her prayers. God had given so many “beautiful lessons” that despite all of her efforts, there is still more to learn. “Grant me, in your mercy, a little more time,” says Oliver. “Love for the earth and love for you are having such a long conversation in my heart.”
The poem concludes:
Who knows what
will finally happen or where I will be sent,
yet already I have given a great many things
away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
except the prayers which, with this thirst,
I am slowly learning.
* * *
John 4:5-42
Leading with vulnerability
Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well offers insights into the theological power of leading with vulnerability. It’s a term key to Dr. Brene Brown’s research into leadership. According to Brown, leaders willing to become vulnerable are able to take actions involving risk and uncertainty. Vulnerability leads to conversations involving risk and uncertainty. “When we build cultures at work where there is zero-tolerance for vulnerability,” Brown says, “where perfectionism and armor are rewarded and necessary, you can’t have [difficult] conversations. They’re not productive.”
When the woman encounters Jesus, he is alone, tired, and thirsting for water. The word made flesh is at its most vulnerable here, according to John. His conversation with the woman offers the church a powerful understanding of evangelism. The woman encounters a Messiah who is willing to lead by vulnerability. As Debi Thomas observes, “Jesus wins the woman’s trust by humbling himself. By naming his own thirst. By asking for something she can give. There is no triumphalism in his approach, no smugness, no arrogance. He’s thirsty, and he says so — and she responds.”
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: O come, let us sing this day to the LORD, our God.
All: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
One: Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving.
All: Let us make a joyful noise to God with songs of praise!
One: For the LORD is a great God and a great Sovereign above all gods.
All: O come, let us worship and bow down before the LORD!
OR
One: Come to the waters of life and drink freely.
All: We are thirsty and in need of life giving water.
One: To receive the water we need to be open to it.
All: We will open our lives to our Savior.
One: Christ will then be open to us and satisfy our thirst.
All: Thanks be to God for the living water of Christ.
Hymns and Songs
Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
UMH: 79
H82: 366
PH: 460
GTG: 4
NNBH: 13
NCH: 276
LBW: 535
ELW: 414
W&P: 138
If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
UMH: 142
H82: 635
PH: 282
GTG: 816
NCH: 410
LBW: 453
ELW: 429
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
UMH: 175
H82: 642
PH: 310
GTG: 629
NCH: 507
CH: 102
LBW: 316
ELW: 754
W&P: 420
AMEC: 464
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
UMH: 361
H82: 685
GTG: 438
AAHH: 559
NNBH: 254
NCH: 596
CH: 214
LBW: 327
ELW: 623
W&P: 384
AMEC: 328
There is a Balm in Gilead
UMH: 375
H82: 676
PH: 394
GTG: 792
AAHH: 524
NNBH: 489
NCH: 553
CH: 501
ELW: 614
W&P: 631
AMEC: 425
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
UMH: 400
H82: 686
PH: 356
GTG: 475
AAHH: 175
NNBH: 166
NCH: 459
CH: 16
LBW: 499
ELW: 807
W&P: 68
AMEC: 77
STLT: 126
Fill My Cup, Lord
UMH: 641
PH: 350
GTG: 699
AAHH: 447
NNBH: 377
CH: 351
CCB: 47
Let There Be Peace on Earth
UMH: 431
CH: 677
W&P: 614
Word of God, Come Down on Earth
UMH: 182
H82: 633
ELW: 510
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who called creation out of the waters of chaos:
Grant us the faith to trust that you will give us living water
out of the turmoil of our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who called creation out of the waters of chaos. You created the dry land for us to stand upon. In the midst of our dryness and our turmoil help us to seek your living water. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our seeking to draw living water from brackish pools.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life. You have given yourself to us so that we might know life that is abundant and eternal. Yet we turn time and time again to drink from polluted wells. We ignore your gracious ways of love and draw on greed, hatred, and envy. Instead of seeking to share your love we seek to take. Forgive us and renew us with your living water. Amen.
One: God is good and God is gracious. Receive the water of life and share it will others.
Prayers of the People
Praise and glory to you, O God. You are the one who brings life to creation. You are the one who is love and fills all with your love. You are the patient one who hears our complaints.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You have offered us life. You have given yourself to us so that we might know life that is abundant and eternal. Yet we turn time and time again to drink from polluted wells. We ignore your gracious ways of love and draw on greed, hatred, and envy. Instead of seeking to share your love we seek to take. Forgive us and renew us with your living water.
We give you thanks for the abundance of your love for us. You have provided a world that has beautiful, fresh water and you supply us with the living water of your Son, Jesus Christ. We give you thanks for those who have shared that water with us throughout our lives. When grief, burdens, and sorrows have dried us up, you have sent your people to offer cool water for us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for you children in their need. We pray for those who do not have clean water available for themselves and their families. We pray for those who find themselves in places of war and violence. We pray for those who work for peace and for those who work to supply good water for others.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
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CHILDREN’S SERMONThe Right Way To Worship God
by Katy Stenta
John 4:5-42
This is a story that actually starts before Jesus.
There are two groups of people who disagree about where to worship.
There are the Samaritans and the Hebrews. Both worship the same God, but they disagree about where the holy Temple was supposed to be built, so they squabbled and became separate denominations or religions. Because of this, the Samaritans and Hebrews do not like to talk or associate with one another, because they each think that they have the right way to worship God.
(Note for the leader: This may go back to the Temple being destroyed and one of the invasions or exiles.)
So, Jesus went to Samaria, even though he knew that he, as a Hebrew person, is not really welcome there. He goes to the well in the middle of the day, which is basically the center of town, and sits beside it.
Now, this story begins by explaining that Jews and Samaritans do not hold things in common — meaning they do not share things.
But Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink.
She says, “How are you asking this, when you know I’m a Samaritan woman and Jewish people and Samaritan people do not share things.”
And Jesus says, “Tell you what, if you were to ask me for a drink, then I would give you the kind of drink that would make it so you would never be thirsty again.”
This confused the Samaritan woman, who says, “How is that possible, you don’t have a bucket, and this is the well of our ancestor Jacob, so it is very deep. How do you have access to any water at all? But sure, I’d love some of that water so that I’m never thirsty.”
Then Jesus says, “Go get your husband and I’ll give it to you.”
Then the Samaritan woman admits she has no husband.
And Jesus says, “Not only do you have no husband, for the man you are living with is not your husband, but you had five husbands before him.”
And the woman is amazed, because Jesus not only sees the Samaritan woman, and talks to her, but also knows her and understands her.
The woman replies, “You must be a prophet. Tell me who is right — the Samaritans or the Jews? Which mountain should we be worshiping on?”
But Jesus is too smart to be drawn into a debate, and instead he says, “The time is coming when that won’t matter at all, and you will worship God in another way…”
And she says, “I know the Messiah is coming…”
And Jesus says, “I AM HE.”
This story is amazing because Jesus is not here to win an argument but to build relationships. He gets to know the Samaritan woman. He doesn’t let himself be drawn into a debate about who is right, but instead talks about a promising future to be built together. Jesus is so wise that way. The water he is providing is the good news of Jesus Christ.
Dear God
Thank you
For knowing us
And teaching us
To be in relationship
With one another
And you
Without having
To be the best
Or winning.
Help us to
Share good news
Together.
We pray,
Amen.
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The Immediate Word, March 8, 2026 issue.
Copyright 2026 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
