So much more than just healing...

(John 5:1-9)

1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.

Just to keep things in perspective. Jesus just left his hometown where there was alot of unbelief. And this was "some time" after. Makes me wonder what things were like during that "some time." I wonder if it was a time of prayer and heartache after the rejection from those he called his earthly family/neighbors. I wonder if the Lord was as hurt by such a thing as we seem to be. Rejection by family/hometown can be the deepest. Athough the details don't really matter I guess. I'm sure that it was not a pleasant thing for him... and perhaps, we can find some measure of comfort in that he understands our hurt when we feel similar rejection.

2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

Some times we look at such a question and we think, well, of coarse he wants to be well. What is the point of even asking such a thing? But it was actually a very valid question. It was not really a question of whether the sickness made his life more difficult and that it caused him certain pain and discomfort in life. All sickness does that.

What Christ was getting at was, "Do you want change?"

That's the real question we face any time we pray for ourselves or for any one. Do you really want things to change in your life? no matter the cost? no matter what may be required of you? no matter that it will bring increase of good things to your life, and that to whom much is given, much is required? Are you ready to be able to do more, and are you willing to do it?

For some people the answer seems glaringly yes! The question almost becomes insulting or ridiculous. But for others, such a question causes them to hesitate and to reconsider some things and to see some things about themselves they had never realized before. Perhaps this man had grown accustomed to a way of life as a cripple during those 38 years, and Christ was discerning something deeper than the superficial, seemingly obvious answer to such a question.

Perhaps, he recognized that this man needed not just a change in his physical body, but a change in his goals and ambitions about his life. Perhaps Jesus wanted not just complete physical health for this man but mental and emotional health as well. Perhaps Christ was concerned about wholeness and not just healing. That the whole man would be well: body, mind and spirit -- perspective and drive to accomplish all of the hopes and dreams that he had given up on so long ago. Prolonged sickness is a weight and it can smother way more than just physical ability. When you are robbed of health for such a long time, it can actually rob you of your will to live an ABUNDANT life. It steals your Hope and your Joy.

It was almost as if that question was Christ touching the psyche of this man first, and then his physical body. The result... well lets see....

7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

The initial response is one based on the minds of men, on doubt, on what is seen, rather than what is believed in Christ. For 38 years this man had hoped and sought a cure, and for 38 years everything failed. He had given up. He saw himself as unable, friendless, and destined to remain in that condition.

8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The question was like an unexpected slap in the face. "Do you want to get well?" Such a FOOLISH question that it could have easily ignited offense. But instead it ignited a flame in the mind and heart of this man to actually think thru so much that he had come to accept. That is all that is required for change... to question what you believe.

That change can be for good or for evil. This man had believed that there was no hope, but Christ challenged that belief and asked him if he really wanted change, did he really want his hope restored, was he willing to try, was he willing to believe that it was possible. Rather than to accept that it was impossible. Every choice we face, brings change for good or for evil.

15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
(Joshua 24:15)

I think something blazed up in the heart of this man at hearing the WORDS of Christ. I think he made a decision to believe that there was hope and that things could change after such a long time. And I think that was the mustard seed that Christ was looking for. I think that's all that he needed to work with, to bring life, to pull that tiny seed from the spirit of this man into the physical and to bring a miraculous increase. Change. Healing. Complete Restoration and Wholeness. Body, Mind, and Spirit. That is the goal. Christ doesn't want us to live a little... he wants us to have it all, ALL the good things that he has planned for us so that we can live ABUNDANTLY.

Oh if we could just see into the spiritual when God begins to manifest things in the physical. There is such a connection. Such a pulling from one realm into the other. We act in obedience, often not understanding many things, and suddenly Faith ignites in our spirit and we are able to move mountains. Other times, we believe with the tiniest fraction of faith in Christ, and suddenly the very ground moves under our feet and God shifts the entire earth on our behalf.

EVERYTHING Jesus does matters. There is no word that is insignificant or trivial or wasted. Everything, the tiniest drop, that permeates from him is like nitro, bearing powerful and explosively good events in every realm -- in every life that touches the situation.

Change is nothing to God. It is effortless, It is the stirring and moving and parting of the sea as he breathes ever so gently. I think sometimes we forget just how powerful and miraculous he really is. We allow the world and the enemy and our pain and sin to make him seem so small. But rather than blasting us for it, he simply asks us questions in the most gentle and still small voice imaginable. So loving and so kind is the voice of our God, that we can sometimes forget that the universe bows at his will and evil flees at his gaze and all things beautiful pale in his presence. He is remarkable to behold. And yet, he favors us and whispers to us and loves us.

He wants so much more than just healing for us.
He wants us to be whole.

Do you want to get well?
Do you want change?

Answering that question, allowing the possibilities to even enter your head, the slightest glimmer of hope, of faith... that's all he needs to pull a miracle from the spiritual into the physical for you. Believe him, trust him, hope in him... and he will make the unthinkable a reality that you can see and touch right where you're at, right where you're standing, before you can even get the word's out of your mouth...

He can change it.

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1 Samuel 1

1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"

God never intended more than one wife. Jesus clarifies this in the NT... he taught that it was always supposed to be one man and one woman. But God is merciful, and he doesn't zap us dead the minute we do something wrong. None of us would be alive right now if he did that. He still heard their prayers and still worked his plan in their life, but they walked with consequence in their life for every sin they committed outside the will of God.

Could you imagine the constant bickering and whining between two or more wives. Can you imagine the tensions constantly in your home over who would inherit what measure of authority or what possessions of value. The open door of jealousy, the invitation to envy and covet your brothers goods and blessing. We can be pious all we want and say, oh but some cultures do it and it works. No it doesn't. In their humanity, more than one wife will always result in a measure of forfeited peace and open doors of temptation for your children to sin.

Here we see how tormented Hannah was by the other wife. They lived in the same house, they shared the same husband. A husband that would never fully understand her hurt, because his emotions were spread out and stretched thin trying to keep the peace in his home. His heart was never fully hers as a husband should have loved her. Yes, he loved her, but it was a fragmented and fractionalized love. God didn't throw away his creation over any one sin, but multiple wives was never his plan.

9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple. 10 In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

How easy would it have been to have God answer this prayer and to back down after he gave you a child. But God knew her desperation and the faithfulness of her heart. He took pity on her. I kinda think that even if she would have been less faithful in keeping this vow, God still would have given her a son. Simply because of her anguish. But had she broken the vow, she would have had some hefty consequences to deal with. God is clear in his word, many times, to keep your vows made to the Lord or be left to reap what you willingly planted.

The other thing is that here was the first wife, popping out babies left and right, but you don't see her committing a single one to the service of the Lord. Blessing and Babies are poured out on her and what is her response. To ridicule and torment those without the blessing, and then to not even express any exceptional thanks to God for the favor shown to her. As a result, was it her son that was chosen for greatness. Was she honored for her motherhood... Was her name mentioned in the Scriptures as having honored God for his blessings?... nope.

She would have done well to have looked at Hannah with compassion and put herself for a moment in her place. She should have hurt for her, and knelt beside Hannah in prayer to God, petitioning God to bless her with a child of her own. We can ridicule this woman for her lack of integrity, but are we any different? How do we treat the people that we don't really like, that we feel in competition with, that we are subtly jealous of? Is our response truly any different that this woman's was toward Hannah?

That should be a challenge to each of us.

12 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine."

Isn't that just the way... in our deepest pain, in our greatest petition poured out before God... some holy Christian person comes along and slaps us with a false-accusation. Some person jumps to a conclusion about us or our behavior, some judgmental legalistic police squad blares things on the intercom that were never in our heart. Here was Hannah, as tho things weren't bad or difficult enough, the priest rebukes her. Did she accept his rebuke and just let it play out, she was a woman afterall.... she was a peon and who was she to tell the priest/pastor that he was mistaken -- that he was wrong?

oh what a can of worms this topic could open in the trendy contemporary church...
the post-post-modern church that naively thinks it's so far removed from reeking of legalism...

15 "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."

17 Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."

18 She said, "May your servant find favor in your eyes." Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

ELI! I LOVE YOU!
what a man of God.

He allows her to explain herself.
He immediately withdraws his rebuke by agreeing with her prayer, and sends her off with his blessing. He sends her off in peace, no condemnation, no blaming her for his judgmental attitude, no trying to excuse his error with a condescending aire... nope. He is honest and open to letting her explain, and that allows her to leave encouraged rather than weighted down. That is a leader, a man of God, a man who sees himself as a man and not as though he is God.

There's too much arrogance among many cutting-edge priests/pastors today.
I see way more compassion and sincere humility in the traditional churches rather than the current generation of churches that claim to "do the stuff." Doing the stuff in my mind is being like Christ and doing what he modeled/commanded in Scripture no matter who you are, peon or pastor. It almost feels like a Mason spirit -- a manipulative corruption empowered by a congregation that is content to follow an earthly king rather than their Heavenly King. It is a dangerous trend. Rule by absolute power. Leaders that indoctrinate congregations to believe that they are the pointman of a monarchy, and that their mandate over-rides the Scriptures.

They convince people that they are serving the Kingdom of God,
but they are actually building a kingdom unto themself. There are many kingdoms, and many thrones. There is only one Kingdom of God, and ONLY CHRIST sits on that throne... never a man, never a pastor.

We need God to raise up ELI's.
Pastors/Leaders that OWN HUMILITY
rather than wearing it like a mask to hide their selfish ambition.

I would gladly submit to the authority of an Eli despite his imperfections and humanity,
as long as he was submitted to the authority of Christ and was passionate that the Word of God trumps all else. The Church today cries out for such fallible men, such Pastors/Leaders that fight to defend mercy and justice and faithfulness (all three) -- who will fight beside us, rather than lording their authority over us on some high horse looking down.

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So I've been thinking alot about Elijah and Elisha -- my two very favorite Bible people. There are just so many things I love about the whole dynamic of their lives. I love that Elijah was so bold as to declare whatever God said to declare no matter the consequences. I love that in one breath he is walking in the power of God, and a couple chapters later he's crawled under a bush feeling as human and vulnerable as you or me.

I love Elisha and how he came into his own. How he wasn't so arrogant in his youth that he thought Elijah a fool. I love that he was so determined to walk with God with the same boldness that Eljah had, and that he owned it when it came his time. He didn't try to be Elijah, he recognized that it was all about God and never about a man. Though he loved and respected Elijah as a friend and father and mentor.

And even more, I love the relationship between the two as an excellent model of discipleship and mentoring. I don't see that in the church anywhere these days. It's all about SELF-esteem and coddling the fragile psyche of the next generation.. I love Elijah's technique...

If someone (anyone) wants it, let it be according to the measure they are willing to work to be where God is at. If they make up their mind to witness all that He is doing, if their heart is right, if God determines they are worthy of such a high calling, then they will see him and serve him in that dimension.

If they are not, then they can serve him according to all that they are willing to sow. So many have modeled and taught a generation that you can beg, borrow, and steal the fruit/harvest of another. But that is not what God meant when he said that one will sow and another will reap. That statement in no way belittles the promise that you will reap what you have sown. Or that it will be measured back to you as you have measured it out.

The first comment speaks of teamwork, of God's will being performed by the church as a whole. That you should focus on the work you are called to, and let God worry with the fulfillment of all things that he has promised. The other comments are referring to getting after it. Work, chase, grab a hold of whatever it takes to serve God to the level that you have made up your mind to serve. That kind of faith and belief is what pleases him.

How bad do you want it? How distracted will you allow yourself to be by what you don't have, by mean people and hypocrites, by prosperity? Will you fight just as passionately without an audience as you would with one? Is the approval of God a good enough reward for you?

Think about that last one, before you commit to a textbook answer? God's not looking for a textbook answer cuz pat-churchy-answers make him wanna puke (Rev).

Elisha walked alot of lonely miles across that desert. He knew what it was to be outcast, rejected by people you love, unpopular, picked last, hated, laughed at, hunted/stalked/harassed, and having nothing to call your own. That's the deeper (real) meaning of that question...

Is the approval of God good enough for you?...

Just wondering... so anyway... I love Elijah and Elisha. I mean, God sent a Chariot of Fire to pick Elijah up and carry him to heaven. Despite his imperfections, his humanity, and all that. He sowed (planted) incredible faith and obedience into many not-so-fun dirty things. Elijah farmed, and farming is hard and risky  work... it involves things that can't be seen or controlled on our part -- things that matter most to God.

God rewarded Elijah not for his syrupy talk and dreamy ambitions and happy thoughts, but for the callouses on his hands and the blisters on his feet, for the sweat stains in his shirt and the scars upon his heart. God was first, Self was last. That's what it means to be created in his image, in the image of your Heavenly Father. We all have the potential, it's how we were created. Now it's just a matter of to what extent we wanna live up to it.

God gives each of us control over our destiny. We can't blame anyone or any situation. It's not what hits us from the outside, it's what we fight back with from the inside. Is God our source, are we allowing him to move thru us to affect everything in this world? That's what Elijah and Elisha did. The power displayed in their lives was because they were completely yielded to the will of God. It's like being a power tool maneuvered by the hand of God. There's nothing in this world (fire, air, earth, or water) that the Carpenter can't control and use to build/create amazing things.

It's all a matter of letting him move thru us by agreeing with his will and not our own. Obedience is teamwork in action. It's working with God, carpenter and tool, musician and instrument. Anything less than total obedience is working against Him, and eventually causes a fiasco. That's why it's so important.
 
Obedience (submission) and Love define unity.

That's how God remains one. That's why women are to submit to their husbands and husbands are to love them for it -- because the reward (divine reaction) to submission is love. That is unity, That is God. Without obedience, the external breaks apart. Without Love, the internal breaks apart.

That is why leaders/pastors should be obeyed and submitted to as the spiritual authority, and why their reaction should be one of love rather than arrogance. That's why so much is out of balance, because people have lost an understanding of the dynamic of teacher/student, submission/love, obedience/unity. The enemy has redefined so much, and much of the church has believed the liar..

Father <3
open our eyes to your Truth.
Return understanding according to your wisdom and your mercy.
Raise up mentors like Elijah, and students like Elisha, and help a generation to yield to your perfect will, so that they may know your Power and Authority --

and so that their heart's desire and only passion is to PLEASE GOD.
When that is our center, there will always be peace no matter what chaos surrounds us. In the name of Jesus.
Amen..

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It just got Personal

(John 4:39-54)

There is just so much that I could pull out of this passage of Scripture about the woman at the well, but I must move on. Maybe next time, I'll discuss another facet of her story. That's what I love about the Word of God, it speaks into every situation no matter what portion you are reading. It is not just another book, it's not even just another holy book, it is the breath and Life of God, it lives. Just like speaking face to face with someone would result in them addressing the conversation at hand... the word of God is no different. God speaks to you face to face every time you open it to any one passage. We have only to listen to the leading of his Spirit and trust him in order to hear him <3

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.

Here once again we see... the power of His Words.

42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

Ah see here is the trick. So many people want to tell someone about Christ and then insist that they believe them. But that's not our job, we were never called to beat anyone over the head until they accept Christ as Lord. That is not how Christ works and he gets pretty frustrated when people try to represent him like that.

The woman told her story. She shared what Christ did and said to her. She invited them to come and hear for themselves. That's our role. We testify, God convicts. When people try to do the convicting -- it comes across as condemnation every time. God doesn't guilt people into salvation, he woos them into relationship with him because he genuinely cares for them. That should be our heart.

When it becomes a strategy, a ritual, a machine, it steps out of his will and fails to look anything like Christ at all.

It amazes me how quickly people/pastors/leaders can base everything on the strategies of men, how quickly they can confuse their own face with the face of God, how convinced they can be that they are bringing men into the kingdom of God when they are actually bringing them into a kingdom that leads to death.

25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matt 23:25-28)

A title of Pastor or Leader becomes a license to kill in such matters. Farfetched?...
Sadly not. I have seen more examples of such cases than I have of genuine men of God.
Though I HAVE seen genuine men of God, not perfect men, but definitely genuine in seeking to follow the heart of God -- and I treasure them as should you.

It has become a sad phenomena among contemporary cutting-edge pastors that they seek to be eccentric and they call it revival. It is not being eccentric that has caused the presence of God to manifest in a generation in revivals past -- it has been a bold and fearless return to the unapologetic mundane basics of the Christian faith.

Simplicity... not as a mandate to obey the pastor or "spiritual authority" (a nice phrase for manipulators to abuse). Rather, a return to our first love, to Christ rather than to legalism in any form (no matter how eccentric/trendy emerging church leaders want to dress it up).

So back to the passage. Christ remains with the Samaritans two days, answering their questions and sharing the heart and Truth of God with them. I wish I had been there. I wish I could have heard it straight from the lips of our Savior. I wish I could have heard him laughing as he spoke with such humor and joy, and I wish I could have heard the calmness as he switched to more serious matters. I wish I could have sat at his feet (or on the well beside him) and watched the excitement and passion in his expressions as he talked about the Truth of God. I wish... I wish so much...

some day.

43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

Home. A blessing and a curse. A strength and a stumbling block. Family are often the ones that don't want your testimony out there. All too often the things God brought you thru as a child are the last things they want the whole town to know about. They are raising their kids there, they are working and living there, just because you are free from your shame doesn't mean that they are. Home is often not a place where people want to hear the Truth, whether your birth place or your church home. Dirty Laundry. Christ would love nothing more than to run it thru a wash/rinse cycle... but boy will you suffer the wrath of many if you pull that basket out of the closet.

Don't expect to be popular with anyone when you do what Christ asks of you.
He received no honor among his own country and townspeople for living according to the Truth.

18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'
26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
(John 15:18-27)

Some people call themselves by his name but they are ruled by the spirit of this world (such selfish ambition). People in the church, even pastors are not infallible. We are to hold each other accountable, even our leaders. Title and position in the church do not justify living/leading according to the world's standards. It will never be the popular thing to appeal with family, friends, church leaders, or strangers to turn from their sin. They will not honor you, they will hate you all the more. Are you ready for that? Have you really thought about the cost? Can you continue to love them, to wash their feet, to heal the children of their officials (as in the next passage below)?

Why are we so shocked and blind-sided by something that Christ so clearly said would happen?
Why does it hurt so deeply when those you love are the biggest hindrance to your walk?
Why does it absolutely leave you bloody on the ground to know that they are willing to not only attack you but to kill you to get what they want?

idk...

But it happens.
How should we respond? Even when we can see the attack coming, we could run, we could strike first, we could back down... how did Christ handle it?

46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

Jesus spoke the truth, he was always straight-forward and honest. He didn't sugar-coat it and tell them how wonderful they were, he didn't drip honey from his mouth to convince them how holy and self-righteous and Christian he was, and he didn't put on a show to impress all the bystanders to see him rather than God.

Jesus had a way of letting people know that he could see how ill-intentioned they were (especially here in his hometown). He seldom went there because of their unbelief and dishonorable attitude, not in the sense that he was arrogant and wanted them to sing his praises. He wanted them to acknowledge and honor the will and love of God -- to have a right heart, rather than one of judgment and selfish gain.

This guy didn't see Jesus at all. He had heard about the possibility of a cure, so he was going thru the ritual just like Christ was some kind of doctor or medicine man. He didn't get that Jesus was God who had come to bring Life and Love and Freedom to an unworthy creation. Not at this point anyway.

But despite all of this, Christ gave. Christ did what was right no matter how wrongly they treated him. He ministered to the need and to what would bring God glory --not with false humility and a typical patronizing aire. He turned his focus to the will of God and did not let the will of man and the spirit of the world hinder the will of God from being accomplished. That is our example. Not the lame hypocritical model that we all too often see in Christian circles these days. He wasn't fake, he was brutally honest -- at the same time that he was merciful.

The official in this story believed after the miracle because it was just so... miraculously accomplished. Unlike anything he had seen.

I like to think that he also believed because somehow he was convicted of the dishonor he showed the One so worthy of honor. I think after the fact, he stood their shocked and walking back thru the whole incident in his thoughts. I think he was dumb-founded at how dumb he had been. I think he was kicking himself that he didn't show greater honor to Christ in that moment. Here was the one person that had the power to heal his son, and that cared enough despite his bad attitude and lack of reverence.

I think this man suddenly saw alot of things about Christ and about himself after the fact...

But I also think he somehow knew in that instant that he was forgiven. I think the brutal honesty and sincerity of Christ showed thru and this man recognized and understood the character and person of Christ for the first time. I think it caused a commitment that would never be shaken. Something so deeply understood that it affected his entire household.

That is how we should react in such instances. Like Christ did.
And some people will accept it, and some will reject everything we have to say and everything about us. But if we remain focused on performing the will of God above our own will, they reject not only us but the God who sent us. We should pray for them, and we should continue moving forward to seek out others that God has called us to encounter. Leaving no one behind, but being unafraid to shift our focus as God leads us along.

Do not judge them as they judge you... but at the same time keep in mind that pearls are of no value to swine.

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matt 7:1-7)

We must not judge, We must be about the Father's business always, We must keep the door open and the invitation to approach Christ extended...

But there are times when we must move on and leave people to make some decisions for themselves. Some people love their sin more than God, and that becomes a matter between the two of them. We testify, God convicts, but once they know Him, they have some decisions to make. Things that we are limited in helping with.

It's important to remember that our walk is about family,
but it's also a personal one.

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There is no other qualifying factor

(John 4:18-39)

28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,

I love this image of a choice being made. She didn't forget her water jar, she left it. She laid aside earthly things as being of lesser importance and she was consumed with the spiritual water that Christ had given her. The good news, Messiah is here, God is with us just like he promised, just like he was in the garden with Adam.

There was no need to worry with the water jar to carry water back to those she loved. Now she was the vessel and the water that Christ had promised would be poured out from her to the people she would share it with. As always, God keeps his promises. He does exactly what he says he will, all things happen just the way he declares... not always in ways that we can predict or wrap our minds around -- but always in ways that are glaringly clear after he performs whatever he has promised.

29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

And here we see, that life-giving water, the good news that Christ has come, being poured out. Just a taste of Truth is sampled from a voice that they know and trust, and they begin to thirst for that water that was Christ Jesus. It was truly life-giving. It gave life and hope to this woman, multiplied itself from that life to the lives of others who walked in darkness, and a flood of rebirth and renewel had begun. Isn't it funny to think that a flood once took away life from the earth, and here we see a flood that restores it.

31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

We read about how clueless the disciples were at times, and we think we are all that because we see what was happening... but in truth, we would have been just as clueless if we were among them in that moment. What Christ was doing was so new, it was merely the beginning of the fulfillment, the disciples had no way of knowing the extent of what was happening. They were like newborn pups whose eyes didn't open in a day, it took a little time. But their sight and understanding came soon enough.

It's so easy to look at someone else and to think them a fool for not getting it. I don't mean that as harshly as it sounds in print, but there is a tendency sometimes for people to just want to yell, "Oh come on, enough already, can't you see it, don't you get what's happening, it's as plain as the nose on your face?!" But sometimes, as they say... being in the middle of the forest, allows you to see the trees, but not the forest itself.

Christ didn't rebuke them, nor did he belittle them. He merely dropped some clues that I'm sure they picked up on eventually. And I'm sure that like us, they had a good laugh at themselves as the light went on and they remembered Christ saying this. I think they enjoyed his sense of warm patience and clever humor as much as us.

34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."

This passage contains so many things that are not written out for us to read. Again, I love that God asks us to sit and consider the Scriptures, knowing full well that there is so much (hidden, cunningly unspoken) in every passage.

The disciples are traveling with Christ, but at some point they part ways. Jesus ends up sitting by the well, and the disciples are off on an errand that Christ has sent them to do (probably to find some food). Maybe they were to find the food and Christ was to find the water. Who knows.

But the disciples return as he is talking with this woman and they are totally focussed on getting something arranged to feed their physical needs... food and water. They have missed the deeper thing that Christ is training them to understand, he wants them to see it in ways that make it real to them... He wants them to realize that going to get the physical food to share must always be accompanied by the giving of spiritual food to share.

They were supposed to be modeling the actions and heart of their teacher, Jesus. Just as he found water and gave water. They were supposed to be finding food and giving food. Is that a lesson for us or what?

Let's take it a step further. The water that Christ gave began to multiply life. And each person that received it, became like the giver of it and began to share it with others and to multiply it. Everyone and anyone that will do that will become his disciple. Whether Peter or John, this Samaritan woman or the President, a con or an abortionist, whether us or even our worst enemies. Anyone.

Jesus had trained and sent the disciples to walk in the truth and the mission that he had shared with them, but here was a seemingly insignificant woman doing what they should have been doing. She was living life and giving life. That's what he was trying to get the disciples to see and understand and do...

so, ok, maybe there is a little bit of a rebuke. But more in a teaching kind of way than a discipline kind of way ^_^

The point is that anyone who will remember to give life as they live the life that has been given them is qualified to be a disciple, to minister, to preach, to teach, to share the Gospel in whatever way God has skilled them. There is no other qualifying factor to share LIFE other than to receive the LIFE that Christ has come to offer to every single person on this earth.

If ever there was a selah-moment, this would be one...

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Why Are You Talking with Her?

(John 4:27)

27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

Why would they be surprised at seeing Christ talking to this woman? And why would they not ask Christ about it if it surprised them so much?

There are a couple possibilities, none of which I'm positive really capture what was happening in that moment. Perhaps it was because she was a Samaritan woman, and was thought to be unclean culturally. Perhaps it was because it was somehow apparent that she had a reputation of living with men in adultery?

There is also the possibility that their surprise rested in the fact that women were expected to be more genteel and less acquainted with discussing such holy/political issues with men. Somehow thru time the place of a woman had become demeaned and lowered. She was created from Adam's rib to be his helper, to let him lead, but to have great influence in his decisions. If he is like the Son, she is like the Spirit. Both important, both equal, both with very different roles to perform. Yet both called to accomplish the will of God for the good of all.

It could be that it was part of the curse. When Christ said that she would look to her husband, perhaps it meant that she gave up a portion of her influence upon her husband (and men in general) in some sense. Maybe that curse due to her sin and her part in the temptation her husband to sin caused a gradual slide to that lower place of influence in some respect.

But here is Christ in his ministry, restoring the place of the woman, removing portions of the curse until all could be fulfilled and fully restored in the end. There are many instances where Christ elevates the role and the favor upon women. He often speaks with them before the men in an attempt to emphasize that their opinion and involvement in significant issues matters. During his ministry on earth he began to re-establish her seat at the table of decision-making. Not that she was to dominate, but that she had a voice once again, a voice that was to at least be considered.

By giving significant issues/messages/wisdom to women as much as to men, it requires men to reconsider the role of women. It makes GODLY men think twice about moving them to the background or solely to the kitchen/bedroom. The woman becomes the daughter that the Father cherishes, rather than mere cattle for men to breed and own.

Christianity reinstates and elevates women to a place beside men.

Still requiring her to submit and to let him have the final say in certain matters of proper authority, but not without a knowledge that he will be held accountable... It is God who will call him into account according to the measure of respect and love that he returns to her as the weaker/lesser vessel. By voicing her heart to her husband/authority and letting him weigh it and measure it out as he determines, she does not lose, she wins. She fulfills her role, and God makes sure that male and female alike are treated justly.

Although matters of abuse and sin change the measure and method of submission greatly.
But that's for another thread.

I have strayed from the topic.... oh yes, possibilities of why the disciples were surprised that Christ was speaking with the Samaritan woman....

His disciples wondered at all of this, but they did not ask him about it. Quite often Jesus was going against the traditions and the things that they were taught growing up. I'm sure there were many times when Christ did things that offended them or went against the grain of their nature.

But they had learned that there was a reason for everything Christ did that seemed to contradict the teachings of men and religion. They began to see that there was a greater Truth at work, a Truth that was more real and that was pulling back the veil -- bringing clarity to many things. Often times, there were things that Jesus did and said that made no sense to them at first. But then later down the road, after the fulfillment of each and every one, the disciples stood in wonder and often tears as divine understanding came to them.

At this time, they were confused about the attention that Christ gave to this woman. That he would discuss the things of God with her. That he would speak to her as openly and warmly as he spoke to them....

But later, after the many things they would walk thru together, male and female, throughout the ministry of Christ up to his resurrection, the teaching that Jesus imparted to ALL of them, the respect that he measured out equally despite sex or race or culture... the Twelve began to no longer think it strange that God would talk to women as freely as men. They were all his disciples now.

In the upper room, men and women alike prayed and called upon God. Each shared what the Lord had spoken to them and all that he had directed them to do and say. Each testified about the same Christ and glorified his name in all things. Each performed a distinct role, but they were one because Christ had taught them to be one -- just as Father, Son, and Spirit are very different yet they are One.

As the disciples looked around that room while praying and waiting on the arrival of the Promise, they saw one another as believers, no one above the other, each equally important, each significant, each with specific things to perform and to accomplish for God. There were no longer questions or surprise at what each was called to do based on race or social issues. They understood that ALL (anyone) who would believe in Him is called according to his purpose...

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:27-28)


20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
(John 17:20-23)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

One last random thought:

I think that maybe women are commanded to submit, because one of the most difficult parts of their role/calling is to diligently seek out the will of God and then step aside -- fully trusting the man with the well-being of all that she holds dear. (Her role is symbolically the Spirit and the Bride, one who comes along side to help)

Men are commanded to love, because one of the most difficult parts of their role/calling is to cherish the sacrifice of the woman (her will to submit to him) more than the thrill of the hunt/victory/winning -- accepting the responsibility and pressures of not failing God or the people that he loves. (His role is symbolically Christ, the weight of saving the world is upon him and only him).

That's why women often fear broken trust and find it difficult to recover from.
While men often fear failure and struggle to regain their confidence and courage when they experience it.

Not that women don't have to love, or that men never find it necessary to submit. It just requires a different amount of effort according to gender (calling) for each of us.

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Believe Me, Woman

(John 4:19-26)

19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

Not only was the spiritual thirst of this woman apparent, but here we see her great hunger for acceptance by the people of God as well. In other words she is saying,

"Okay, I am convinced that you are a preacher that is really honest about trying to help people understand what God says is Truth. I trust you and your opinion. So let me ask you something. I was raised in a church where we worshiped God a little differently than that powerhouse church over there. What they claim seems to be more accepted, but I love God just as much. Is there any chance that God would accept my worship of him even tho I go about it a little differently than them?
I'm feeling kinda rejected by his people, is there anyway that he would accept me and my expression of worship?"

I would attempt to answer that, but Christ does it so much better.

21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Basically, Jesus is saying, how or where you worship him is less of an issue. What matters is that you worship the right God and accept who he is as he reveals himself to you -- that you worship the one True God, which is the God of the Jews (Israel). No matter how much animosity may exist between your peoples, no matter how imperfect they may be at times, they remain the people that God will fulfill his promises through.

We may not get that he was speaking about recognizing the Messiah... but she understood.

25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

And she acknowledged that she believed in Messiah, the Christ, and was watching for him. That she was passionate and committed about serving him and obeying him. But she had no idea who he was or when he would come or how he would reveal himself to her (or that he would be a Jew).

She felt very ignorant about the specifics, she felt very cut off from the people who seemed to have the answers about Messiah directly from God. How could she ask them about him when they considered her and her people too unclean to approach him or to know him? How could she know hope, if she was made to think that she was unworthy to know Christ?

That Samaritan woman was not so foreign to many who are hungry and thirsty, even today. There are those that feel rejected and unworthy, especially when they measure themselves to certain regulations laid out by the very people that are supposed to tell them about Christ.

Kinda breaks your heart, doesn't it.

Kinda grieves your spirit.

Kinda leaves you sick and nauseated.

Kinda makes you wanna go examine yourself and check for the slightest judgmental, legalistic imperfection that may have attached itself to those secret places, those covered places, those places of the heart that no one sees but you and God and the Samaritans that encounter you along the way...

How will they know him if we do not GO to them...
How will they know if we do not tell them.

6 Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I."

7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
(Isaiah 52:6-8)

There were solid, loving, voices of humility that shared the good news with Samaritans like you and me despite our quirkiness and our weirdness. Now it is our duty and our command to become those voices for others. Voices that are so grateful for the loving kindness that they have come to know in Christ that they remain humble in all that they do in his name. Loving God and Loving People.

But even if men fail, Christ does not.

Jesus speaks with this woman face to face, just as he will speak with anyone that calls upon him at any given moment in time. Those who pray and ask to encounter him, to learn of him, to know him... will not be disappointed. He will find a way to answer you, and you will hear him just as this precious woman did at the well that day. He WILL reveal himself to you... intimately.... boldly... by sitting down beside you from no where, by speaking about things you thought no one knew, by guiding you and correcting you ever so gently with kindness, by whispering assurance that you matter to him and that he loves you...

He will accept you though you think him a stranger --
until you realize just how present he has been all along.

He will accept the best you have to offer --
no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to you and others, and
he will cherish it so that it becomes glorious
because you are loved by him.

Your only part is to ask God to reveal himself to you,
and to believe the same truth that he spoke to this woman at the well...

26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

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It's never too late

(John 4:10-18)

10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

Talk about grace, about second chances...

It sounds like she missed her chance. If she had only known. But that is the wonderful and amazing thing about Christ, there is always hope for another chance if we will just ask.

In truth, in the past, under the law, under the prejudice of other holy men, she would have had no hope. She would have been locked into missed opportunity, been disqualified, rejected and turned away. But Christ wanted her to understand that this is now, this is today, this is the day of salvation, the day of another chance... the day for hope. It was that day for her, and it is that day for us. Right now, in the midst of our sin, in the midst of our imperfections, in the midst of being judged by everyone around us.

Christ sits down with us and offers us hope for change.

11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Here is the mindset of the world. It cannot see into the deeper things, eternal things, the plan that God has laid before us to take us beyond just what we can see and touch. He takes us within this physical realm into the spiritual realm. He takes us to things that cannot be seen -- but that can be claimed and pulled into the here and now by Faith. We have more muscle to affect change than we realize. Christ wants to pull back the veil and open our eyes as to who we truly are. So much more than just our physical appearance.... so much more than the world would have us to believe.

Here she is, this Samaritan woman, measuring up Christ in the same manner that the world has measured her. But Christ is about to show her a new way to view people. He is about to help her to see those around her and even herself in a new light.

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

What is this water? It is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of Truth. That is what brings change. And what is that Truth?... That God has sent his son into the world to bring change, to offer hope, to communicate his great love for us as his children, his heartache at being separated from us, his desire to have us with him again... what he is willing to do to make a way.

In this passage, this encounter with the Samaritan woman, Christ has poured out a taste of the Truth for her to sample. Would it be palatable to her? Would she ask for more? Was her nature and character one that would reject it with disdain and offense? Or would she ask him to explain more? How thirsty was she for hope, for change?

15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Yes, she was thirsty for more.
She did not fully understand what he was talking about, but she was thirsty for Truth. She recognized and acknowledged that Christ was walking in it and could be trusted. She wanted to understand. She wanted to a better life in many ways. She wanted Truth.

Now was she willing to own it, to commit to it, to walk in Truth in all areas of her life and being.
Here was the test...

16He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."

17"I have no husband," she replied.

Rather than presenting some bogus story, she takes that first step down that road of Truth. "I have no husband." And that is all that is needed. To be willing to move in the direction of what is right and true. If we would only do that, Christ will often stop us and declare that it is enough. Like Abraham offering Isaac, the test confirms so much to so many... often times, just in the first step or only a little ways into it.

The key is that we are willing to see it thru to the end if necessary.

The choice lies in deciding to take that first step in the direction of Truth. That is the path we must defend and fight to follow, whether against our own fleshly desires or against the spirit of the world. We must always be moving in the direction that Christ has walked as our example, Truth.

Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."

Before we ask, he has answered. Before we can realize the depth of anything that he asks of us, he has set increase in place and planned great things for us. The one thing we must do is to -- choose.

Christ knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the perfect father, unlike our earthly fathers (who try as they may, will never be perfect). He disciplines with love to guard our well-being, he devotes all to the good of the family as a whole as well as to each individual. He plans all things to be that perfect Father... not to fulfill a role, but to build that relationship with his children that he longs for as much as they do.

He knew the situation of this woman, yet he approached her so gently. He sat down beside her and wanted to let her know that he sees her, that he sincerely cares about what's going on in her life personally. He doesn't see her as that Samaritan woman, as that woman living with some guy on the corner... he sees her as Mary or Lakisha or Sam or Kyle.

He sees you.

There is nothing you have done, there is no sin that you are walking in, there is nothing that can shut the door on the hope that he died to offer you. He sincerely cares. And he will bring change for a better LIFE if you are willing to just taste Truth and see for yourself.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
(Psalm 34:7-9)

Christ loves you.

It's never too late. Today is the day of salvation then and now, for her and for me and for you. There is hope even when it seems hopeless, a way out -- an escape is not a negative thing when it allows you to enter into freedom and a second chance at Life. All you gotta do to have it, is decide to accept the offer. Christ has already paid for it all, and he can make it happen for you. That's what he's offering. If you don't believe me, just ask him for yourself (right now, right where ur at).

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Like a Good Neighbor

(John 4:1-9)

1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Jesus had gone to John the Baptist to be baptized, and he said it was right for every man to do the same. So people continued to come to be baptized by the disciples of both John and Jesus. I think it is interesting that Jesus didn't actually do the baptizing. I'm not sure why, but perhaps it comes down to free-will. Being baptized into Christ, dying to yourself, must be a choice. If Christ did the baptizing, then symbolically it would suggest that such spiritual death was less out of obedience and sacrifice.

Either way, it is stated that Jesus never actually baptized anyone.

I also love that when Jesus heard that the Pharisees were concerned about his ministry as they were John the Baptist, he left for Galilee. He had seen how the Pharisees hounded John and tried to engage him in lengthy debate to entrap him. Christ knew that he would also be challenged by them in verbal debate eventually.

But at the moment, there was an open door to occupy himself with more important ministry -- teaching those that were willing to hear about the love of God. So rather than debating with the Pharisee, he continued to be about his father's business whenever a door was opened to him. And on his way to Galilee, a great door was opened to him when he crossed paths with a Samaritan woman drawing water from a well.

4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

I love that as Christ was led by the Spirit of God from moment to moment, he finds himself continually walking into ministry opportunities. He is on his way to Galilee, and here is a very key encounter along the way. We should learn from his example. Sometimes it's not necessary to prove a point, or to try to establish our identity or our calling or our authority. Sometimes, walking away from unnecessary tensions in order to put ministry first is where the Spirit of God is leading us to go. Like Christ, our hearts should be looking past the bickering among those in the church and searching out more important matters -- broken hearts, bruised lives, hurting people, lost and dying and not even aware that they are leprous. We must deal with the bickering eventually, but our heart should be drawn to ministry first whenever the door is opened to us.

7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus was tired and thirsty from his journey. We so often are tired or not feeling well or have some minor stress to deal with in life, and it causes us to be distracted from ministry. It is so easy to make excuse or to put ourself before some hurting soul that God has brought across our path. Yes, there are times when we need to guard our own health or keep one of our two coats for ourself. We cannot help others is we allow ourselves to be neglected or to become a doormat. But all too often, it's easier to throw out that excuse rather than to truly sacrifice and do what God had called us to do in that moment. Sometimes we are more able than we care to admit.

Samaritans and Jews were at odds with each other. There was much prejudice and animosity between the two groups of people. Samaritans were considered unclean, because they had not kept certain aspects of the law. But here was a Jewish holy man, not only acting as though this Samaritan was not unclean, but actually asking her for a drink of water. He was speaking to her as though he had no prejudice, as though he wasn't looking down his nose at her, as though he wasn't judging her. It was shocking.

This one point speaks to so many things, so many relationships among the people of God and concerning the people we encounter in the world. We all know that aire of judgment, that critical twinkle in someone's eye as they smile at us and greet us so cordially. All too often people in the church do it to one another. They do it to people that come to visit our sunday school classes. They go to lunch or the store after service and gaze upon the people they pass with that same condescending or uncaring glance.

People in the workplace, at school, on the sidewalk, during the bus ride. They measure your appearance, your mannerisms, your conversation, even your quietness. Each of us is sized up within the church, and as we wade thru the world day to day. Some people we know will treat us based on some insignificant aspect of our appearance. They may have only introduced themselves a time or two, discussed their children on some random occasion. But they have already decided that they know everything about us. No matter how wrong they may be.

Here was a Samaritan Woman... judged her entire life by Jews and their holy men because she lived on the wrong side of the tracks. He was addressing her as tho he was her neighbor, as tho there was any chance that they had anything in common or any connection that would give him the right to talk to her -- or even the desire to talk to her. Immediately, before responding at all, she must have thought, "who is this guy?"

She was about to find out, and it would not only affect her in that one distinct moment, but her entire future, her very being, and the lives of everyone that her life would touch.

What if we were Christ to such people? What if rather than being like everyone else and sizing people up and measuring everything about them with some random stick in our hand... we approached them as a neighbor?

Even tho we may be entirely different people with entirely different pasts from very opposite sides of town or even the universe... what if we just sat down in our busyness and said, "hey, what ya got there? mind if I have a little? got a minute to chat? what ya been up to? you matter in the world? do I matter to you?..."

Whatever comes to mind, whatever the Spirit of God leads you to say to break the ice and bring down that cold hardened wall that keeps people distant and separated from one another. For Christ and this Samaritan woman, the conversation was about a cup of water and a well. There are conversations that will be j