December 4 - Soul Winner

December 4 – Soul Winner (John 4:7-29)

Most of us lead pretty insulated lives.  We don’t spend a lot of time with people outside our own culture, lifestyle, and even religious preference.  We stick pretty close to home, raise our children among people that look like us, talk like us, go to church with us, play the same games we play, eat the same foods.  While there are a few that skirt the edges of our societal norms, we know that with a little work and maybe some prayer, they’ll probably come back to the center and all will be well.  I suspect that some of us broke out of that mold for a few years while we were in college, but once that experience was over, we dropped right back into the patterns that we were comfortable with. We lead very insulated lives and we’re content to stay that way. 

Jesus really wasn’t.  The day He walked into a Samaritan village and actually spoke to a Samaritan woman, He announced to the world that He saw things differently.  He asked her for a drink of water and from her viewpoint was practically willing to drink from her cup.  This was simply unheard of. But, Jesus crossed the boundary because there was something very important at stake. 

It seems obvious, but her relationship with God was more important to Jesus than His perceived place in the world. Once they moved past the difference that separated them, He moved right into deeper things with her.

Jesus spoke in metaphors a lot … didn’t He?  He talked about being born again with Nicodemus and with the Samaritan woman at the well, He talks about living water.  A spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Just like Nicodemus, this metaphor seemed to fly right over the woman’s head.  Of course she would want water that would quench her thirst so she could save the time it took to travel to the well. Who wouldn’t?

Then, just to confuse the issue, Jesus asked for her to bring her husband.  Before they got to the bottom of the issue, we discover that she had gone through five husbands and was with a man who wasn’t her husband.  She sidesteps the issue and Jesus doesn’t return to it.  But, He has made it very clear to her that He knows her better than she could imagine. 

She asks Jesus about the difference in worship between the Samaritans and the Jews.  If Jesus is as close to God as she thinks He is with His intimate knowledge of her life, He should be able to explain which the correct way to worship is. 

While salvation will come from the Jews in the form of Jesus (John 4:22), a time is coming when neither the mountain the Samaritans worship on nor the temple in Jerusalem will house true worship.  True worship isn’t about the location, it is about the relationship worshippers have with God.  Those that worship Him must do so in spirit, for God is spirit, and in truth.

Do you have a question as to whether or not Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah?  To the Samaritan woman at the well, the answer was given.  When she told Jesus that she knew the Messiah was coming, Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:26)

Jesus would do anything and go anywhere to bring people into relationship with God.  That was His purpose for coming to earth.  Believe it or not, that is our purpose as well.  But, it’s not going to do us much good if we stay comfortably in our small communities with those who bring us safety.