2026.04.19 | Jesus the Changemaker
“Jesus the Changemaker”
John 4:7–26
Preached by
Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser
Eden United Church of Christ
Cherryland, CA
19 April 2026
I'll be honest with you this morning. There is no shortage of things to be angry about in our world right now. We are living in a time when people in power post AI images of themselves as Jesus Christ. Officials are quoting Pulp Fiction and passing it off as Scripture in order to justify violence and recast war as holy. We are watching the Pope told to stay in his lane while the name of Jesus is co-opted to baptize empire. It is blasphemous and it’s dangerous.
And we’ve got to be focused on not just what we’re against, but on what we’re for. What we’re building. And so today, we return to the person of Jesus, Jesus the Changemaker, and the Way he was making.
Our story begins at a well. A Samaritan Jewish woman comes during the heat of midday. Most women in first-century Palestine came to draw water in the cool of the morning, in groups, together. But this woman comes alone, likely avoiding others. And we can infer that she carries something heavier than her water jug.
And Jesus, a Judean Jewish man, reaches out to her, crossing boundaries of gender, ethnicity, and religion. Our Eden Bible Study members will know that the Samaritans and Jews, while cousins, did not get along.
The deep divide between Judean Jews and Samaritans goes back some seven centuries before Jesus, when the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and its capital, Samaria. The Assyrians forcibly deported thousands of Israelites and resettled the region with people from other parts of their empire, creating a mixed population through state-enforced migration. Over generations, some of those who remained intermingled with these groups and became known as Samaritans—a distinct group with their own version of the Torah, and their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Tensions only deepened when Judean Jews who worshipped in Jerusalem, the Hasmoneans, later destroyed that Samaritan Jewish temple. By the time of Jesus, this long history of political violence, processes of cultural differentiation, and religious conflict had produced deep hostility, so much so that, as John puts it plainly, Jews and Samaritans did not share things in common.
So, it is in this context that Jesus, the Judean Jew asks the Samaritan Jewish woman to share her water, de-centered place of worship, and centered human dignity. And from that unexpected encounter everything changed.
If we were to ask: What is Jesus’ theory of change?, this story gives us a powerful answer. Change doesn’t begin with charity, but with relationship. Jesus didn't speak for this woman. He spoke with her. He asked her real questions. He saw her fully and did not flinch.
And then he invites her into something deeper: “The hour is coming… when true worshipers will worship neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth.” Jesus is shifting the entire framework. From scarcity to abundance; exclusion to belonging; from ritual location to relational transformation.
En la iglesia no sólo estamos llamados a resistir aquello que está mal; estamos llamados a tener claridad sobre lo que estamos construyendo. Así que hoy, volvemos a Jesús, el agente de cambio. En el capítulo 4 de Juan, Jesús se encuentra con una mujer samaritana junto a un pozo, cruzando profundas brechas sociales, étnicas y religiosas arraigadas en siglos de conflicto. En lugar de evitarla, interactúa con ella, la escucha y le devuelve su dignidad. Al hacerlo, Jesús nos muestra que el cambio real no comienza con la caridad, sino con la relación. Él cambia el paradigma: de la exclusión al sentido de pertenencia, del ritual a la transformación.
Organizing teaches us something deeply aligned with the Gospel: That transformation doesn’t happen for people. It happens with people, and among people. As I wrote in a recent article on community organizing, organizing is not charity; it is solidarity. It is not about speaking on behalf of others, being a voice for the voiceless. Rather, it is about co-creating the conditions for people to speak and lead for themselves.
Jesus does not rescue the Samaritan woman. He doesn’t try to solve her problems. He centers her experience and entrusts her. And you know what? When people feel seen, valued, and connected, they stay engaged for the long haul, making change contagious. It clicked and she was onboard.
At Eden Church this year, we have been blessed to be invited by a funder to work with a cohort of changemaking Bay Area non-profits, being asked hard questions, taking the time to really dig into our our own theory of change: “When people most impacted by injustice are organized, resourced, and developed as leaders, they can transform not only their immediate conditions, but the systems that shape their futures.” That’s not just strategy, that’s the Gospel story, that’s living water.
Last week, Pastor Brenda shared with us the refreshed logo that our focus groups landed on with an open door you now see here. As part of our Capacity Development work, as we update our visual identity, we have been able to do so in ways that reflect the expansion of our work and our developing theory of change, which comes to life for us here at Eden through our interconnected four pillars of ministry that reflect pathways toward collective transformation. And I want to thank all of those who participated in focus groups for this work.
Community Resilience: meeting immediate needs, building trust, and creating a foundation for growth through our flagship community programs like Comida Para Cherryland, Comida Express, and the ChYLIs, Cherryland Youth Leadership Institute. Our community resilience ministry pillar displays the green color of our Eden Rainbow logo, representing the abundant greens offered at Comida. And the icon pays homage to both food and our ChYLIs. The hands also make a heart showing the love of our volunteers.
La semana pasada, la pastora Brenda presentó nuestro logotipo renovado: una puerta abierta. Como parte de nuestra labor de fortalecimiento de capacidades, esta identidad visual actualizada refleja tanto el crecimiento de nuestro ministerio como nuestra teoría del cambio en evolución, la cual se materializa a través de nuestros cuatro pilares interconectados que nos guían hacia la transformación colectiva. La resiliencia comunitaria: satisfacer las necesidades inmediatas, fomentar la confianza y sentar las bases para el crecimiento a través de nuestros programas comunitarios, tales como Comida Para Cherryland y ChYLIs. Este pilar luce el color verde del arcoiris de nuestro logotipo, el cual representa la abundancia de productos verdes que se ofrecen en Comida. Asimismo, el icono rinde homenaje tanto a los alimentos como a nuestros ChYLIs. Las manos también hacen un corazón mostrando el amor de nuestros voluntarios.
Newcomer Navigation: expanding access and accompaniment through the Newcomer Navigation Center, Interfaith Accompaniment Network, and the emotional wellness supports of our Mentes Fuerte program. Our Newcomer Navigation pillar displays the primary color blue, which can be found on many of the flags of the homes of origin of our newcomer clients. The icon evokes the migratory Monarch butterfly and a navigation star.
Navegación para Recién Llegados: ampliando el acceso y el acompañamiento a través del Centro de Navegación para Recién Llegados, y los apoyos de bienestar emocional de nuestro programa Mentes Fuertes. Nuestro pilar de Navegación para Recién Llegados se distingue por el color azul, un tono presente en muchas de las banderas de los países de origen de nuestros clientes recién llegados. Su icono evoca a la mariposa monarca migratoria que viene de México y a una estrella de navegación.
Faith & Spiritual Life: cultivating belonging and purpose through our worshipping community, deepening of faith, meaning-making, and mobilizing for good trouble along the Way. The primary color for our Faith & Spiritual Life pillar is one that does double-time in our liturgical year during Advent and Lent, and the color Christ the Changemaker wore, Purple. And its icon is the open door from the Eden logo.
Fe y Vida Espiritual: cultivar el sentido de pertenencia y el propósito a través de nuestra comunidad de adoración, la profundización de la fe. El color principal de nuestro pilar de Fe y Vida Espiritual es el color litúrgico de Adviento y la Cuaresma y que fue el color que vistió Cristo: morado. Y su icono es la puerta abierta.
Eden Power Collective: Developing leadership and agency, and transforming systems by working alongside the unincorporated Alameda County residents, addressing systemic barriers to economic security and well-being. The primary color for the Eden Power Collective is Red, and the Promotora-led coalition of certified community health workers and community advocates leading the anti-racism work that shapes their futures have their own Eden Power Collective logo.
Colectivo de Poder Edén: Desarrollando liderazgo y capacidad de acción, y transformando sistemas mediante el trabajo conjunto con los residentes de las áreas no incorporadas del condado de Alameda, para abordar las barreras sistémicas que obstaculizan la seguridad económica y el bienestar. El color principal del Colectivo de Poder Edén es rojo y las promotoras cuentan con su propio logotipo.
This is how we move from stability to access to belonging to power. This is how changemaking happens in the Eden Area. Because our work is not simply to meet needs, or fill individual water jugs, it is to build power that changes the conditions that produce those needs, for all.
[PLEDGE BREAK]
Durante años, la mujer samaritana vivió inmersa en un ciclo de mera subsistencia, regresando al pozo día tras día. Pero en su encuentro con Jesús, recibió algo más profundo: no solo lo suficiente para el momento, sino una fuente de agua viva que transformó su vida. Dejó atrás su cántaro y se convirtió en testigo, invitando a otros: «Vengan y vean». Gracias a ella, muchos creyeron. Así es como nacen los movimientos: una sola persona vista y transformada que comparte con los demás. De esto trata el compromiso de ofrendar: no solo de dar, sino de invertir en una misión y un futuro compartidos. Como iglesia congregacional, su ofrenda nos ayuda a planificar, crecer y sostener nuestro ministerio; es la manera en que ustedes contribuyen a dar forma a lo que construimos juntos. Es un compromiso con nuestros valores de amor, justicia y comunidad, y con ser una comunidad transformadora a largo plazo. Jesús forjó relaciones, formó líderes y los envió a cumplir su misión; y esa misma invitación se nos presenta ahora a nosotros: dar un paso al frente, comprometernos y formar parte del movimiento que hemos estado esperando.
For a long time, the Samaritan woman came to the well every day. Day after day. Getting just enough. Surviving. It's an exhausting way to live, always drawing water, always running out. What Jesus offered her was something different. Not just water for the day, but a spring of living water. Sustainability.
She is so transformed by this encounter with Jesus the Changemaker that she leaves behind the thing she came for, running back to her community to say: “Come. Come see. Could this be the Messiah?” She left her water jug, and became a changemaker. Because of her, many from her town believed. One encounter. One conversation. One person who was seen, who was changed, who went and told others. That is how movements begin.
Folks, pledging is not just about a donation, it’s a declaration. It’s about movement building. It says: I believe in this work, I belong to this community, I’m onboard with Eden’s mission and vision, and I’m investing in the future we are building together.
As a congregational church, we don’t move from the top down—we build from the ground up. Your pledge allows us to plan faithfully, set our budget, and sustain and grow our ministries. It’s congregational polity in action: you don’t just attend this church—you are this church. Your pledge is your vote for the future we are building, an expression of our core values: Love, Justice, Community.
So we invite you to take that step—from giving to pledging—not out of obligation, but out of shared vision. Because what we are building here at the corner of Birch and Grove is sacred: a changemaker community where people are seen, leaders are formed, systems are challenged, and love is made real.
Jesus the Changemaker built relationships, developed leaders, and sent them out. We are inheritors of that Way. So the question before us is simple: are we ready to drop the water jug and step out into something greater?
This is the moment. This is the season. Let us go and be the changemakers we’ve been waiting for. Amen.