I pray that you are in the midst of observing a holy Lent through self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265).

If you are someone who is from a liturgical tradition, you will know that I am referring to that time frame, known as Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday with the imposition of ashes, and the admonition “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (BCP). For 40 days, there will be a commemoration of Jesus’ time in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, as well as the parallel to the 40 years that Israel spent wandering in the wilderness, known as the Exodus.

Lent, and the practices that are consistent with that period of time, is not something that is found in the Holy Scriptures, but is considered to be tradition in the history of the Christian Church. Initially it only consisted of two to three days long as a fast prior to Easter, but by the time of the Canons of Nicea (circa 325 AD), it was acknowledged as a period of 40 days.

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For approximately 1,700 years, Christians have been setting aside that period of time for self-examination, fasting and self-denial and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word. This form of tradition can only be thought of as a time for acknowledging God’s glory, our unworthiness through our own accomplishments and a desire to come into a personal relationship with our Lord.

As an example, let us compare what Jesus Christ came upon when He was traveling through Samaria, once again looking at the impact of tradition upon our faith.

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In the Gospel according to John, Jesus of Nazareth meets a woman in Sychar, in Samaria, and immediately starts up a conversation with the Samaritan woman who was drawing water from the well around noon. To those who are not aware of the relationship between Jews and Samaritans, most observant Jews would walk around Samaria rather than walk through it since they considered the Samaritans to be far beneath them, religiously, culturally and ethnically speaking.

Jesus was breaking every rule or tradition known about the relationship between the two of them. First of all, no observant Jew would speak with a Samaritan; secondly, a rabbi would never address a female (especially a Samaritan) in public. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, why would Jesus speak to someone with a different belief system about theological and ideological principles?

Jesus did not care about man’s traditions that did not glorify God. He was there to turn the world upside down in so many ways, to make people think about what was pleasing to the Lord God Almighty and not to worry about things along the lines of gender relationships, where a person was to worship and cultural norms. Ethnicity meant nothing to Jesus, but He concentrated on treating the woman with dignity and respect, allowing them to become a vessel for the proclamation of the gospel message. Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah to this Samaritan woman, and offered her the prospect of living water, where one will never thirst again, for the water that He gives “will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (NRSV). The Samaritan woman immediately leaves, even leaving her water jar behind, with the intent to bring as many of the towns people to see and listen to Jesus, and what better definition of a disciple is there than that?

A woman, a Samaritan who is ethnically and culturally impure, a person who worships at the wrong place, a person who has been married numerous times and is currently not married although living with someone. Jesus never even mentioned that the Samaritan woman came to the well at noon, when there would be no other women present. He knew that she was rejected by her own, there was no other reason she would be at the well at noon, yet it was to her that He chose to speak. Yes, Jesus turned everything on its head, turned normalcy upside down, and chose to disregard tradition when it did not glorify the Lord God Almighty.

Bain White is the pastor at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Craig.