Leaving the water jar behind

In hearing the gospel reading today about the Samaritan woman the part of the story that really stood out today was that the woman left her water jar and went back to the city.  (John 4:5-42)

This woman came to a well expecting to draw water, she found someone there from another place, a place that pretty much had an instruction not to go to that particular well for water – (simply speaking there were issues of ownership rights and a social structure that kept people from mingling with folks who weren’t ‘their own’) But Jesus, called and calls everyone to be ‘his own’ – and Jesus was always reaching out to people who were considered outcasts – this woman had three strikes against her – according to baseball rules she was definitely a “three strikes and your out” kind of person.   First strike against her – she was a woman;  Second strike against her – she was a Samaritan and Third Strike – She had been married 5 times but now had no husband.  (Had all those previous husbands died?  Had she been divorced? Was she an adulterous woman?  Well – that’s not the point in question is it? And if it is for anyone  the answer is probably found in the story about the men who wanted to stone a woman who had been caught in adultery – Jesus basically called them all adulterers when he said if anyone is without sin cast the first stone – they all left their stones behind.)  The point is that this man Jesus knew everything about her and she was so astounded that she left the water jar behind, without getting what she came for.  The underlying truth is – Jesus knows everything about each one of us, women and men, children and grown ups and Jesus Christ is filled with spiritual truth that wells up in and through him to us and when we continually drink from the water of life he freely pours out upon us and into us, then we speak with words full of eternal life to one another. We stop treating others as outcasts . . . we stop treating ourselves as outcasts, we have courage to let others know we’ve experienced a conversation with someone who considers us worthy to be in his presence and he in ours.

Have you ever gone to a place expecting to get something? Have you ever gone to a store or a restaurant or maybe a public well or spring expecting to get something and unexpectedly have someone say something to you that was so astounding you left what you came with behind, you left without getting what you came for,  just to go tell people about Jesus and ask them to come and hear some spiritual word of truth?

Have you ever been called ‘out’ by the world?  Can you hear Jesus calling you to ‘come into the presence of the Lord’?

Have you ever left the water jar behind?  Have you been willing to let Jesus fill you with words of truth that give you life instead of tear you down?  So that the words that come out of your own mouth build people up instead of tear them down?

I don’t know about you – but I know I can tell when I am spiritually dry and I don’t like the words that come out of my mouth during those times. It is then that I know I must return to Jesus for yet another filling.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Lent as a Season of New or Re-Birth

Often Lent is spoken of in terms of repentance and/or forgiveness, and yet those two actions lead to a birthing of new love in our hearts and minds.
What are we to repent of? We give up stuff, but what good is giving up something if our minds and hearts aren’t changed? With New and with rebirth we give up old ways of thinking – Jesus began his preaching ministry saying – ‘Repent and believe in the good news.’ Maybe more people would participate in a Lenten discipline or program of some kind if more churches began the season with those words instead of reminding everyone about how wretched we are . . . how we aren’t worthy . . . Think about when John the Baptist told his own followers he wasn’t worthy to untie the thong of Jesus’ sandles – What was Jesus’ response? Jesus told John the Baptist to baptize him. To me this is certainly a message about John the Baptist’s worthiness according to Jesus, according to God. Later Jesus told his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.

So, what do you think about your own baptism? I’ve talked with people over the years who fear they are not worthy to be baptized with water much less the Holy Spirit. And I’ve talked with some people who say they don’t want the Holy Spirit because they don’t want something weird to happen to them. But the power that the Holy Spirit gives us is power to overcome wilderness experiences of temptation that Jesus overcame.

What do you think about forgiveness? So many people talk about the challenges of forgiving other people. I’ve heard people say “I’ll never forgive so and so!” And I’ve heard people say “I can’t forgive myself!” In having conversations over the years I’ve learned that if a person thinks they can’t forgive themselves or other people they often believe that God has not forgiven them. It seems to me that when we experience lack of forgiveness we are experiencing a sort of spiritual death. For our spirits to come alive, we must receive the Holy Spirit, in the same way that Jesus encouraged his disciples to receive the Spirit.

The Spirit helps us to Repent and Believe in the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness towards us and other people. We have not received authority to condemn, we have received a command to forgive. Let your spiritual birth or rebirth begin with forgiving yourself, for seeking forgiveness for your own wrong actions and thoughts and then forgive others.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Father, Forgive Them . . .

Yesterday evening my husband and I went to see the movie Son of God. Two scenes are embedded in my mind and heart both have to do with forgiveness . . .
The first is the scene of Jesus asking ‘Which is easier to say; Your sins are forgiven. or Get up and walk.? The Son of Man has the authority to forgive sin.’

The thing about saying ‘get up and walk’ to someone is that most of us could say this to someone and that would not happen, the person wouldn’t get up and walk. But it did happen for the paralyzed man when Jesus reached toward him and helped him up. It was after the man got up and walked that Jesus looked around and then said ‘The Son of Man has the authority to forgive sin.’

Throughout the New Testament Jesus is called The Son of God and also The Son of Man . . . Jesus had the authority to forgive sin because of who Jesus is. But what has Jesus said to us about forgiving sin committed against us? He said we must forgive other people the same way He has forgiven. Now which is easier for you to say to someone? Get up and walk? or ‘Father forgive them’ or “I forgive them.’ Think about that for a time . . . Who gives us desire to forgive? Who gives us authority to forgive? Who gives us ability to forgive? Who has the final say when it comes to forgiveness?

The other scene from the movie that is embedded in my mind and heart is Jesus on the cross saying ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’
So often we think that people are fully aware of the wrongs they are doing toward us or other people or even God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. What is our reaction then? What action do we take? A lot of times we assume what might not be true. Maybe not everyone is really aware of what they are doing all the time . . . the people chose to release a murderer back into their population rather than Jesus who would never murder anyone . . . I mean, what seems more crazy than that? Really? What is our response supposed to be? Wouldn’t it seem the sane response would be to say – put that murderer back in jail and release Jesus? Jesus was executed and what did he say? Father, forgive them . . . How do you think his followers responded? I think they too, forgave . . . but they told the story and the story continues to be shared . . . Now what are we going to do with this knowledge in our generation? It’s a good question for us to ponder and discuss . . .

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Thoughts about Being Still

Today when I woke the words ‘Be Still and Know’ were rolling through my mind as I walked down the steps into the kitchen, made a cup of coffee and began getting ready for the day. My heart it’s true was full of wonderings and some worries and I just kept trying to push them away . . . and when I left the house I fell into the trap of letting worries and wonderings begin to take root. It was a horrible experience, one I’m sure many other people have endured, at least the Bible and the stories about the saints and holy men and women of God let me know that feelings of anxiety have crept into everyone from time to time. ‘Be Still and Know’ . . .

Know what? I wondered – – – I know the ending of the verse is ‘. . . that I am God.’ so why, I wondered, don’t those words roll through with the first?

Now, bear with me as I share this because maybe this answer is for you as well. The verse is from Psalm 46:10 and there may be times in your life when you need to be reminded that God is who God is and that he will be exalted . . . and then there are times that you need to be reminded that you yourself need to be still so that God may be exalted through your stillness rather than your anxiousness or doubt or wonder or stubbornness or hurt or broken heart.

Be Still and Know that . . . sometimes being still is enough. Sometimes it’s what God wants from us . . . we don’t have to do everything, we don’t have to say everything and we don’t have to worry . . . we can give it all to him . . .our worries, our wonderings, our stubborn, hurt and broken hearts . . . we can just be still and let him exalt himself in us so that once again we may exalt God . . .

Sometimes just being still and listening to the word of God as it comes to you or as you read it or listen to it is prayer enough.

This is a good season for us to be reminded that he wants some of us to just be still and be quiet. We can rest in this knowledge, that we can trust God to handle the work of changing the world while we work a little more at changing our own hearts and minds so we may love and think and live in a more godly way.

What do you think? How do you feel about being still?

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ