I wrote this for my preaching class at Princeton Theological Seminary and I preached it this week. I wrote it with my classmates in mind, but it is a message for everyone to hear.
The scripture is John 4:1-26
When I was nine years old, I went to an annual family church camp that we went to
every summer. One afternoon I was hanging out with some slightly
older kids at the camp. The only reason I clearly remember my age is
because the older kids wanted to go on a walk without me, so they
told me that only people who were double digits in age could go on
that particular walk. I was disappointed. I remember thinking, "But
I will turn 10 in two months," as they went walking away and I
was left out of a cool adventure: Going to the railroad tracks to
throw rocks. I was outcasted because of something so trivial as my
age, something I couldn't change about myself.
Often times I feel
that is how the church feels to outcasts in our communities, even if
we try to deny it. We say everyone is welcomed, but really is
everyone welcomed at our churches? Would the town outcast be welcomed
at your church like any other person? How would we end up acting if a
woman, who reeks of cat odors, comes in for the 11 o'clock service?
Would we give her the same time or attention that we give the
matriarch of the family who comes to church each Sunday and sit in
the fifth bench? Do we openly invite these people in and offer them
grace?
In the scripture,
we just heard, Jesus shows us what it means to really invite someone
into the church. He offers grace and the Living water to a Samaritan
woman. She is an outcast and we do not exactly know why she is an
outcast. But she is at the well at a rather unusual time. We know
that she has had many husbands, so that may be a reason. Maybe this
town was her husbands' family town and the family despises her now
that her husbands are gone. Let just say dealing with in-laws is not
always easy, right? Whatever happened to her, it is clear that she is
not part of the in-crowd in this small town. She has internalized
this: Why would anyone want to have anything to do with me, much less
a stranger hanging out by the well?
This Lenten season
I have devoted myself to writing about my anger and with the source
of this anger. Through therapy over the last year, I have found out
that I have had a lot of anger towards God and Christianity. Growing
up I was picked on by Christians and saw others being picked on by
Christians. "Why did God let this happen?" I thought. Their
actions didn't look like God's Love to me. I started to internalize
the taunts and the mistreatment I faced. I thought that God hated me
and gave me this impediment for some sort of misdeed I did in a past
life. Why else would God give me a speech impairment? Why else would
God do this to a kid? I remember crying at night when I was young and
saying, "Why me? Why God?" just wanting a clear answer yet
never receiving one. I felt like the Samaritan woman at the well. I
felt outcasted.
In the last year, I
have realized that, even through the painful times, God was/is always
with me. I stand here today bringing the word of the Lord by God's
grace alone. There were times, I thought about leaving the faith.
During these dark times, I doubted myself and what I had to offer the
world. There were times when I couldn't feel loved by anyone, but now
I know that God and my family always loved me. They all loved me even
when I was a difficult person to be around, in the midst of an angry
rage. When I felt alone, the Living Water was still available to me.
God did not give up on me because, like the woman at the well, I did
not immediately understand what God was offering me through Jesus.
God was still there when I decided to come back and accept what was
being offered to me. Now I do not wonder why I am the way I am. I see
my life as a gift, not a daily burden. I have stumbled along the path
to God, but God has always been waiting to receive me.
Jesus shows us that
the living water is available to all that seek, to all despite who
they are, even if they are an outcast or feel outcasted. Before this
scene in the Gospel of John, Jesus had only encountered other Jews
and the disciples did not fully grasp how far Jesus' grace extended.
After this scene with the woman at the well, the disciples are
surprised, "What are you doing, Jesus, with that woman? We went
to get some meat and now you are talking to an outcast?" Jesus
was showing them and is showing us through His actions that Love,
Grace, and the Living Water are available to all, not just a select
group at a select time. It is available to people we meet in everyday
life, whether it is in a church, at a well, on the street, or in the
check-out line, even if they are the worst sinner. If they ask for
forgiveness or the Living Water, it is always available to them.
Even if they do not understand at first, what is being offered, it is
still available to them. Jesus could have left the woman at the well
after her first misunderstanding by saying, "I give up! Bye!
That was your only chance." But Jesus does not give up, He
remains there with the woman in her time of need and continues to
offer a new path for her. God has offered us that same thing time and
time again. Do we have that kind of patience for others?
That is the good
news! The Living Water is always available to anyone who thirst,
anyone, despite their pasts, despite our misdeeds. Although our
churches can often function like a social clique, where only certain
people are welcomed, we can change this. We can reform the church
with our leadership saying that anyone and everyone is welcomed. We
can choose to treat everyone like they are a child of God. Jesus
shows us in the Gospel of John that the Living Water is open to all,
who thirst, not just the privileged, or the morally righteous or even
the people whose ages are in the double digits.
In our future lives
we need to be asking ourselves: How can we spread this vital message
in our ministries? How can we change our churches to better reflect
Jesus' message at the well, that everyone is welcomed for a drink, no
matter what. The church needs to make this change and we are the ones
God have called to this path. If we allow ourselves to be God's
implement, God will use us to continue offering the Living Water to
everyone who wants it. Just as Jesus sends out the Samaritan woman to
go tell all about what happened at the well, God is sending us out to
tell all about God's love and forgiveness that is available to
anyone.
Are we ready for this challenge?
Hey Greg,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. This is some powerful stuff. What's most amazing to me is that, as you said, the Living Water is always available not only for people who've been outcast through no fault of their own, but for people who've been outcast because of the things they've done to alienate other people. No matter how many times that simple idea of grace crosses through my brain it still seems amazing. It's a long and continuing process for that idea of God's grace to actual sink down from my head to my heart. I think it's often still about shoulder level. You're a great fellow Greg. I hope I get to see you soon, but I don't know when that will be. I'd love to make it to the wedding, but I just have no idea about my future at this point, and no money to do much of anything. Cheers buddy. Keep writing, thinking, seeking--you're doing great.
Ben