Category: SPIRITUAL FORMATION

HALFWAY LIVING

Half obedience is no obedience at all! Half love is no love at all!

Hal Halfway loves the Viking Cruise motto, “Time is the only truly scarce commodity.” This invigorates him to severely economize his time, whether in relationships or affiliations. While having coffee with a friend, Hal abruptly leaves whenever he had finishes ½ of his drink. Hal does not care if the conversation is completed. If Hal meets a newcomer at church, he never travels beyond the initial pleasantries. Afterall, he only has so much time to spare. Mr. Halfway loves volunteering at his church but in honoring his new economy of time, he makes sure that in helping at VBS, he leaves every evening at the ½ way point. Hal cannot believe all the time he saves. He takes pride in his great reserves of time.

A HALF DONE OPERATION

Recent events have caused Mr. Halfway to reconsider his attitude toward time. He had a serious car accident. Serious injuries required immediate surgery. While getting prepped for surgery, Hal enthusiastically told the surgeon about his attitude regarding time. The surgeon was intrigued. Unbeknownst to Mr. Halfway, the surgeon stopped the Hal’s operation at the halfway point. Out the door exited the surgeon with Mr. Halfway still on the operating table. Think of all that time the surgeon saved!

JESUS NEVER SKIMPED

So glad that Jesus never subscribed to Mr. Halfway’s economy of time. Even happier that Jesus never skimped by economizing His relationship to both God and to people. Jesus lived for completeness, not economy. He always fully engaged. No miracles ever left ½ completed; no ½ resurrection; no ½ payment for our sins. All interactions fully settled.

ETERNAL LIVING

Jesus didn’t carry on distracted conversations, anxiously looking over the person’s shoulder, hoping to move on to someone of more important rank. He completely loved and loves individuals, giving them His full attention. Jesus never views time as the “only truly scarce commodity” because Jesus lives in eternity.

Who else lives in eternity? Believers! Right now, we are living in eternity. In such a landscape, there are two main pillars: obedience to God and love for God and people. Half obedience is no obedience at all! Half love is no love at all! Eternal living is as vast as God Himself.

Jesus said, I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing (John 15:9-17).

God wants us to live new lives in Him with complete and overflowing joy, not stuck in economizing. Jesus never does anything ½ way and neither should we. Mr. Halfway does not fit into God’s lavish plan of living fully. God’s design is obedience and love as expansive as God Himself.

THE LOOP OF FUTILITY

Going nowhere fast

Years ago, our family travelled to Annapolis, MD.  I have no clue as to the purpose of the trip, but we definitely got lost (days before GPS).  We repeatedly ended up at the guard shack at the Naval Base.  Of course, my father refused to ask directions.  He believed we would eventually get lucky and end up on the correct road. 

The miles clicked away. I’m not so sure he felt so lucky anymore. We cranky and hungry kids sweltered in the heat of the back seat. The interior emotional temperature of the car’s occupants ramped up.  We kids kept asking, “Are we there yet?”.

KEEP REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKES

Do you feel that way?  Maybe if you just keep at it, eventually you will get lucky and find your life’s great destination.  Yet you keep repeating the same mistakes, caught in a loop of futility.  You do not feel very lucky or favored by God (or by anyone else for that matter).

40 YEARS OF WANDERING

I wonder if that is how the Israelites felt during the 40 years they wandered around in the wilderness. As they progress, the Egyptian culture, mindset, and religion painfully shreds off their souls.  The process is lengthy because the Israelites keep repeating the same mistakes.

The majority of Israelites resist this journey.  When they finally view the Promised Land, they fall back in horror and fear of its inhabitants.  They hear the fearful reports of the scouting party. Numbers 14:1-4 records: That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

THEY PREFER A LOOP OF FUTILITY

They would rather go back into slavery than to go forward with God; rather go back into darkness than to travel to the light.  God’s people prefer a loop of futility, rather than trust this Holy God. 

During your life’s season, has your road map become confusing; a little twisted?  Have you, like the Israelites, decided to trust your own resources rather than the wisdom and resources of a Holy God Who loves you? 

THE INVITATION

This is the ideal season to stop trusting yourself and begin trusting God. He is truthful, honest, holy, loving and reliable.  Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  Want to break that loop of futility? Jesus invites you: “Come!”

THE UNFORGETTABLE LIKENESS

What does it mean to live life sealed by the Holy Spirit

Read: Matthew 22:15-22

It is a steamy summer night on the streets of Los Angeles as two groups approach each other with the sole intent of payback. One group is the Crips; bandanas and chains wrapped around their necks. The other group is the Latins. Their faces tattooed and scars running up and down their forearms. It does not take a genius from the LA Task Force to figure out who these hombres are and know their plans.

2 EVIL GANGS

Sometimes you can just look at someone and know their evil intentions. In this passage two gangs of religious leaders ask Jesus, “Should we pay to Caesar or just keep the money for ourselves?”  Their purpose is from the pit of hell. They think they have Jesus in an awkward position, but things reverse quickly.

THE TRAP

Honey drips off their lips as they pose their question: “Teacher, we know that You are sincere and that You teach the way of God truthfully, without concerning Yourself about [what] anyone [thinks or says of Your teachings]; for You are impartial and do not seek anyone’s favor [and You treat all people alike, regardless of status]. Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible [according to Jewish law and tradition] to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” 

CATCH-22

This is Catch-22. Jesus brilliantly counters by asking for the coin used to pay the poll tax. He asks, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  This specific coin is sacrilege to the Jews. Remember the first of the Ten Commandments? Glaring from the poll-tax coin is Caesar’s likeness; Caesar considers himself God.

GAME OVER

Jesus continues, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus’ enemies become speechless, game over.

SIGNATURE MARK

Great question, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ receive their own signature mark when birthed into the Kingdom of God. It cannot be erased. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

HOLY SPIRIT’S INSCRIPTION SEAL

“Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  The likeness and inscription seal on the life of a believer is the Person of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul writes: “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. . .. Don’t act thoughtlessly but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:15-20).  

When individuals interact with you, do they wonder: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”  Do they see the likeness of a tyrant; a person consumed by the pleasures of this world? In contrast, via the miraculous sealing of the Holy Spirit, they can view the likeness of a life transformed. Let them see the image and likeness of God.

GOD IS NO “BAD ACTOR”

I don’t know why Mr. R. instigated his reign of terror. He had great power to do good and evil in my life. He was a “bad actor”.

I was systematically emotionally kicked in the teeth by Mr. R., my junior high math teacher. Every time we had class, he loudly humiliated me. He delighted in the numerous occasions I gave the wrong answer. I recently saw a classmate I had not talked with for decades. Unexpectedly, the guy brought up Mr. R. and asked, “Why do you think he did that? It was awful!”

DEFINITION OF “BAD ACTOR”

I don’t know why Mr. R. instigated his reign of terror. He had great power to do good and evil in my life, yet he made every class an incredibly painful experience. Mr. R. never looked out for my well-being. Mr. R. was a “bad actor”: “an individual who engages in harmful activities, often with malicious intent.”

GOD’S CHARACTER

Exodus 34:1-14 begins with God again writing out His law for His people. However, this time, God adds some additional lessons about His character. This differentiates Him from the Egyptian idols: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness); keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”  God is no bad actor.

THEY STILL DON’T KNOW WHO GOD IS

At this point, most Israelites still do not understand Who Jehovah God is. Just a few months previously, the Israelites were miraculously expelled from the culture which worshipped about 1,500 deities. The Egyptian false deities were bad actors straight from hell. Relationships with these idols were strictly transactional; not relational. Those who revered them were illiterate in Truth. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. (Isaiah 45:20)

THE INVITATION TO KNOW HIM

In contrast, Jehovah God invites His people to know Him. Not just know about Him, but to experience His heart. He wants to prepare His people for the dangerous journey they are going to undertake both to Canaan and throughout Canaan. God wants them to deeply know Him.

WATCH OUT!

The wickedness indwelling the land the Israelites are traveling to is beyond imagination. It is a virulent contagion of sin. So dangerous, that God reminds the Israelites that if the Israelites became like the Canaanites, the same evil would overtake both the Israelites and their generations yet unborn. Watch yourself so that you do not make a covenant (solemn agreement, treaty) with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a [dangerous] trap among you. For you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His].  

GOD WILL NOT BE CHEATED

God is jealous when a person gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him. The compassionate, gracious, slow to get angry God Who overflows in loving kindness and truth will not be mocked. He will not be cheated by those He redeems. If you are a believer, you belong to Him and Him only. Get to know the One Who loves you.

INVITATION TO KNOW HIM BETTER

God has never been and never will be a bad actor. J.I. Packer wrote: “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.” A Bad Actor sought to teach me math. He only taught me failure. Choose to learn from the best. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:17)

PERK UP YOUR EARS

Why wouldn’t God clarify exactly how He was going to restore my life?

A few years ago, I lost my hearing.  No, it wasn’t the physical hearing associated with all the tiny bones in the ear. I lost the ability to hear God’s voice. Life circumstances had plummeted to rock bottom.  Where was God in the middle of it? Had He moved a million miles away with no forwarding address? I thought God zigged when I zagged. He left me in a dark forest with no path, no compass and no flashlight to find my way out.  All I wanted was for life to become normal again. I wanted my life rebuilt on my terms. Where was God?

THE DEPRESSION

For quite a while I sank into a deep depression. Anger and panic became my closest friends.  Why wouldn’t God clarify exactly how He was going to restore my life?  My support system had been washed away. This painful period took far longer than I ever wished.

STEPS TOWARD RESTORATION

That’s when I started to slowly begin looking for the path God laid before me; that which I previously refused to acknowledge.  I wanted my life to be reset to its old modes, but God said, “No.” When I finally demanding life as I imagined it, God began to clearly speak, but on His terms.  He pushed me to view life with gratitude, even for the smallest things.  I slowed down and read His Words no longer because I was supposed to teach them, but because they became my river of strength.  Even church attendance transformed into a thing of beauty, not a place of obligation. God was there all the time, I just had refused listen to His quiet voice.

THE FABRIC OF MY NEW LIFE

All those lovely and vital parts of God’s screenplay that I had missed, became the very fabric of my new life. What at first I considered a great tragedy transformed into one of the greatest gifts I ever received.

GOD’S WHISPER

For all of you who find yourself in the midst of crushing defeat, disappointment and failure, I want to let you know that there is hope.  The pain may be excruciating right now but I beg you to hold on and ride out the tide.  When you feel like you can no longer hang on and you can’t hear God’s voice, quiet down and listen. The prophet Elijah had to listen for the whisper. God is here. (I Kings 19:11-12)

UNRAVELED

Strength is scarce. I don’t know what to do with this weakness I feel.

Having lost my beloved job and all that went with it, my life – and I – fell apart. I experienced a four-year dark night of the soul.  My persona, the identity that I’d built to compensate for the inner sense of brokenness, crumbled. I began to look more deeply, mostly because there was no other option. I had to face the pain of my difficult and sometimes traumatic childhood. Whilst often desperate for some relief or solution, it became clear that this was a process of unbecoming, of unravelling.”  (shared by Fiona Robertson)

CHANGE IS PAINFUL

Have you ever felt that you are also becoming unraveled?  Maybe you knew that an upheaval process might eventually prove for the good, but in the back of your heart have you doubted? Change is painful. Maybe the worst type of change is when the rug is pulled out from under you and you didn’t even realize the rug was loose. In the process, we may actually need to be unraveled; to be taken apart at the seams.

THE “FEAR OF SCARCITY“

I wondered why I become unusually upset during seasons of change. I came up with a term which seems to fit: “fear of scarcity”. When something is scarce, there is a shortage, a famine, a drought. In my life there are times when I have asked for help, resources, or even love from believers and the supplies offered (or not offered) have been scarce. I adapt to such a life by trying hard not to ask for “too much”.  This fear of scarcity in asking help from people can color how I also view God.  I believe that God loves the world, but hey, couldn’t He be just too busy or short-staffed to personally have time for me? 

LOSING RESILIENCE

Then begins my unravelling.  With the tumult of circumstances, I come to the end of my own resources.  Maybe because of age, maybe because of yet another major change, I lose my resilience.  Strength is scarce. I don’t know what to do with this weakness I feel. I’m on the path to nowhere. I need God to unravel the knots I am in. Have I presumed that my God is too small?

GOD BREATHES TRUTH

Despite my fears of scarcity, God breathes truth into my soul. His perfect Word states: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. (Psalm 147:3-5) Regardless what my heart may feel, God sticks around for the hard work of reworking my life. He truly loves the unlovable and redeems the unredeemable. No matter what I think or how I feel, there is no scarcity with God. He has the strength, the love and the resources to unravel the largest knots which clutter my life.

HIS RESOURCES ARE ENDLESS

Do you also need to be unraveled? Are you tangled up in knots of fear? Please know that God has plans and knits together the most beautiful creations. You need not fear scarcity from the Father. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. Call on Him; His resources are endless. Allow Him to unravel at will – He can be trusted. Fear no more.

HOW TO LOVE YOUR BETRAYER

“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there. But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there,  Will you forgive me?”

How does one forgive a betrayer? In 1947, just two years after her liberation from a concentration camp, Corrie Ten Boom recounts that she came from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. “When we confess our sins,” I said, “God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever.” And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward through the crowd. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp where my sister and I were sent.

WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? “You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there. But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Will you forgive me?”

FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN EMOTION

I stood there with coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. “Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.” And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. As I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!” For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.”

THEY WERE ALL BETRAYERS

How does one love betrayer(s)? In John 13 we have more than the infamous and unrepentant betrayer (Judas). It is easy to forget the disciples who skedaddled off the Mount of Olives when the soldiers arrest Jesus. Then there is out-spoken Peter, who uses his oratorical skills this time to announce to everyone in earshot that he was not one of Jesus’ followers. All betrayers.

THE MOST DIFFICULT LAW

Jesus knew what was to come in the next few hours before the betrayals. After Judas leaves the room, Jesus gives His remaining disciples one of the most difficult laws in all Christianity: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

FAMILY TALK

This is family talk, a command from the Heavenly Father to His beloved children on how they are to relate to other believers.  How does one forgive their betrayer? Corrie recounted, “I forgive you, brother! With all my heart!” This type of love is the mark of the true believer that shouts louder to the world than any bumper stickers, t-shirts or emojis.

SINCE I HAVE LOVED YOU…

How do we love one another? Ray Stedman writes: “In this passage, the Greek, literally, says, ‘As I have loved you in order that you might love one another.’ One is the cause and the other is the effect. As in many places in Scripture, the word ‘as’ here can better be translated ‘since’: ‘Since I have loved you in order that you might love one another.’ Here our Lord is saying that his love for us will stimulate and awaken within us the ability to love other people.”

ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

This love was the cause and the identifying mark of Corrie Ten Boom’s love for Christ. Only through Christ could she stretch out her hand to her former enemy. Has Christ’s love stimulated and awakened within you the ability to love other believers, even your betrayer(s)?

WHAT’S NEEDED IN DESPERATE TIMES

Children of those murdered, were able to tell the shooter, “I forgive you; I condemn what you’ve done, but I forgive you.”

On July 17, 2015, a young man entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina and joined a Bible Study group. The ten people in the room welcomed the young man, even though his presence was unusual. They offered him a Bible and proceeded with their study. At the end they sang a hymn and then had a closing prayer. At that point the man pulled out a gun and shot nine of the ten parishioners in the room, leaving one alive to tell the world what he had done.

SHOWING COMPASSION TO A MURDERER

Out of that horrific act, there was a glimpse of the presence of Jesus in the courtroom. At the arraignment, several of the children of those murdered, were able to tell the shooter, “I forgive you; I condemn what you’ve done, but I forgive you.” Some other family members, neighbors, and certainly the media, were bewildered by what was happening. How could anybody show that much compassion for an individual that murdered your mother, your grandmother, or your friend? The answer comes from the One who gives mercy to an undeserving people. His name is Jesus!

MERCY TO THOSE WHO DIDN’T LOVE HIM

In Matthew 15:29-39 we see Jesus healing many of the people who followed him. He extended His mercy and made them well. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.  Once again, Jesus extended His mercy to individuals who probably had no love for him, beyond being glad He healed their broken bodies.  

MERCY AS GOD’S CHARACTER

As illustrated by Jesus, showing mercy is part of God’s character. We cannot show mercy to people begrudgingly or with ulterior motives if we are Christ followers. God displayed mercy to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In the same manner, Jesus says in Luke 6:36, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO FORGIVE?

Having enough compassion in your heart to reach out to the sick is one thing, but to forgive a killer, someone who has taken away a part of your family, is that possible? Paul says in I Timothy 1:15-16, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst, but for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.

THE MERCY THAT DISPLAYS JESUS

God’s mercy is something which we must live out in our own lives to show what God is like. Are you merciful to just the nice people? The people who deserve it? Or do you show mercy to others, just as God has shown mercy to you? God’s mercy is a cup of cold water in our dry and desperate times. The character of Christ was demonstrated by those individuals in the courtroom towards the man who had pulled out a gun and shot nine of the ten parishioners in that Bible Study Group. That type of mercy displayed to the world Who Jesus Christ is. How is God asking you to display this kind of mercy in your own life to others? Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

NO LONGER ALONE

God stuck around for the hard work, of loving the unlovable and redeeming the unredeemable.

Age sixteen, a passenger on a train to nowhere. I immersed myself studying the philosophy of existentialism; concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. Quickly, I arrived at an end of myself.  It was all meaningless. Despite having been a believer for about 3 years, I knew few genuine Christians.  Our family’s church was Presbyterian: “God’s Frozen People”.  A popular song of the day was entitled, “Is That All There Is?” Caught in the throes of teenage angst, I pondered those lyrics.

GOD STEPPED IN

God stepped in.  A pastor invited me to go to a Missions Conference in western PA.  I don’t know why he extended the invitation.  Possibly out of the crowd of disinterested teens in our congregation, he saw in me a glimmer of hope.  For whatever reason, I packed my bags to travel to an event where I knew absolutely no one.

IN THE MIDST OF MY BROKENESS

Among a crowd of strangers, I do not remember any of the week’s speakers, musicians, or activities, except for one afternoon.  That message carried an arrow which shattered my cold heart. For years, I had been positive no one loved me; there was no purpose to my existence.  God spoke in the midst of my brokenness.  The first time in my life, I finally understood that with all my failings, God loved me desperately just as I was.  I already understood that Jesus died for my sins, but I had never comprehended the depth of my salvation. 

I WASN’T LEFT ALONE

Christ didn’t save me and then go on His merry way, wishing me a cheery, “Good luck!” over His shoulder. Jesus redeemed me “to bestow on me a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3)

HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER

God stuck around for the hard work, of loving the unlovable and redeeming the unredeemable. I was His beloved daughter who would always be loved by her Heavenly Father. Of no consequence was my job performance and talents (or lack thereof).

MEANING DISCOVERED

Tears ran down my face. Pure joy and wonder now entered the equation. “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”  (Psalm 8:3-6) I knelt in awe, having realized I was not alone and life was not meaningless. My life finally had a destination as I discovered true eternity with Jesus Christ.

AN INCONVENIENT MEETING

The Savior Who could be anywhere else in the world, sought to be with the broken.

Jesus meets the serial adulteress in John 4:1-42. If there was TikTok in His time, this would be trending news. Jesus was exhausted and sitting on the edge of the village well. The sun was beating down. Often Jesus had dined with tax collectors and sinners, but here He extended Himself beyond the religious, social and economic barriers of the time. He befriended a woman, an outcast who repeatedly made wrong choices and had born the price.  Despite the opinions of His disciples, Jesus loved outcasts.

THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

One commentator calls this event the Gospel of John’s version of the prodigal son, but this is with the prodigal daughter. Everything valued in this culture she had lost – her good name, reputation, stable home and loving family.  She received a flood of contempt from those who knew her.

NOT IN THE “GOOD PEOPLE” SECTION

I remember years ago traveling to the Deep South and saw 2 different signs over the water fountains at a garage.  One said “White” and the other said “Colored”. I had no clue what the 2nd sign meant, except that I did wonder what color the water was. In John 4, we could group the individuals into the “Good People” and “People Who Can Only Obtain Their Water In the Middle of the Day So That They Won’t Contaminate the Good People”. This woman was not in the “Good People” section. In fact, because she was a woman, she was on a rung further down the social scale.

DROWNING WAS IMMINENT

Yet, Jesus specifically sought her out.  He went out of His way to have a conversation, just with her.  Why? Because the God of the Universe loved this woman deeply.  God wanted to have a relationship, despite all the barriers blocking such a possibility. It was no surprise to Jesus that this woman was unclean, impure and heretical. The Jews considered the Samaritans as half-breeds. Years previously, the Jews in this region had intermarried with the heathens and produced a religion which was a curious mix of paganism and Judaism.  Yet, God still sought out this Samaritan woman. She was “everyman” (her name is never mentioned).  She stands for each of us who have succeeded in getting deeply lost under the oceans of life; drowning is imminent. Jesus sought her.

HE SOUGHT TO BE WITH THE BROKEN

She was the most unlikely person for Jesus to seek out in a village of people who were all hated by the Jews. All her confusion about the encounter, all her attempts to divert the conversation elsewhere, all her sin, Jesus met head on.  He engaged in friendship with her. The Savior Who could be anywhere else in the world, sought to be with the broken. As a result, Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.”

GOD WANTS TO TALK TO YOU

Jesus calls us to minister to the broken, the most hated, the unlikeliest people to receive the message.  So, whether you are a man, a woman, or a “half-breed”, the God of the Universe wants to talk to you. Sit down…this may take awhile.