Belong Part 1: Every Corner—Exodus 17: 1-7; John 4:5-26, 40-42
A friend of mine shared a story of a church that sent a letter to one of its members. The letter essentially addressed that the member had not been attending church for several weeks. They said, “After attempts to discuss this situation with you, we fear you are no longer convinced in the need to assemble with the church.” The letter the goes on to address another problem about her un-Biblical living situation and her failure to avoid all appearance of evil. They say to her in closing their first duty is to her soul, then their second duty is to protect the congregation by making sure none of them associate with her disorderly walk. They wrap up by giving her a deadline to come and publicly repent before the church or they’ll kick her out. It’s signed by the elders…in Christ’s love.
To say that walking in faith is a discipline does NOT mean that it should also be a punishment. The goal of the church is to draw others unto Christ and into fellowship of faith, love, and hope everlasting. There are a few things we can learn about this work from the Gospel for today. In this Gospel story, we see Jesus coming through Samaria on his way to Galilee. The scriptures say Jesus had to go through Samaria. As we read this encounter, keep in mind that the journey through Samaria was not just because of geography, but also for theology.
Jews and Samaritans hated one another. Samaritans were constantly treated as second class citizens and in many ways as sub-human. At the heart of this hatred wass a fight over the location of a holy site of worship. Jews said it was only Jerusalem, and Samaritans said it was Mount Gerizim. Now, there was a lot of ethnic hatred and bigotry as well, but folks of that time would say that the battle was the location of worship. Thus, the two people were never to have contact with one another. They didn’t worship together, didn’t associate, and it was sinful for Jews to even associate with a Samaritan, for it would make them unclean according to the law.
Jesus broke that rule all to pieces. First, he was a Jewish male teacher associating with a woman, which was forbidden. Second, he was a Jewish person associating with a Samaritan, which was also forbidden. He even drank after her at the well. Jews and Samaritans could not share the same water source. It was illegal, not tolerated by the religion, and socially unacceptable. Why would Jesus do this? It broke every custom, rule, and regulation of the day. Why?
Jesus knew that she needed his teaching and his gifts more than society needed its rules. Jesus knew the Samaritan people needed the love and welcome that faith in him could give. And he knew that no matter what society, religion, and the law said, their souls were worthy and deserving of grace too. Now, she didn’t get away completely free. There were some things in her life that were a bit problematic. Jesus hints that she may have had some adultery in her past or in her present. There’s not much detail given about why Jesus brings all this up, but likely it’s an area she struggled with in life. She’s not condemned, called a floosy, or turned over for stoning by Jesus. He simply speaks the truth of where she falls short, then he introduces her again to God’s love and redeeming grace. In the end she believes. And because of her belief and testimony in this man who spoke so prophetically to her, others come to Jesus, and eventually many people of Samaria believe simply because they met Jesus through her.
The church of today has gotten trapped in playing the game of identity politics of society and wild fervor of our country to legislate morality. As a friend of mine said, legislating morality is no more helpful than a 65-mph speed limit on the interstate. Our morals and ethics are not found in a legislature; they’re found in hearts that follow the love of a Savior. Everywhere we look there is panic over whether a person is gay, trans, speaks another language, different races, is too conservative, too liberal, pro-police, anti-police, capitalist, socialist, on and on, x-y-z, to the nth degree. There is some kind of fear attached to every characteristic we can find in a person these days. Why? Where has it gotten us? Why do a person’s characteristics matter on whether we should tell them of God’s love or not?
When Jesus met the woman at the well, he did comment upon her life in a challenging way. He noted behavior that seemed somewhat problematic. Maybe she had 5 husbands die, but likely there were issues of divorce, adultery, and a departure from God, a withdrawing from that holy presence. She had awareness of God, of grace, and of a Messiah, but she seems detached from faith. Jesus calls her back to faith, calls her out of ways that seem to have caused problems in her life. But you know what he never called out, shamed her for, or even questioned—that she was a Samaritan. Never once did Jesus make her feel less than worthy because of who she was—a Samaritan living in a society which hated them.
The church cannot be a place where we act or react based on the characteristics of others. To us, every single person, regardless of who they are, is a soul created by God in need of God’s redeeming love and the church’s support. I fear the church has lost its urgency to share God’s love because the church is so caught upon the details and characteristics of a person’s life. We’ve been given a mission here on earth, and that is not to be the arbiters of who is and is not worthy of society’s concern, but to simply introduce others to the God who loves them.
The church ought to be a haven for those who feel abused by society. Jesus went to the Samaritans, to those who would be stoned, to those that the Jewish religious leaders scorned him for healing and loving. He took their lives, their situations, and he made something beautiful because all are created by God, and all are deserving of God’s love. There’s an old chorus titled, “People Need the Lord.” It says, “People need the Lord, at the end of broken dreams, [God’s] the open door. People need the Lord; when will we realize people need the Lord?”
It’s like the question in the Exodus scripture where the people asked, “Is the Lord here with us or not?” The answer is yes. God is with us and people see Jesus in our lives each and every day, so long as we let the love of Jesus shine from our lives. But that song is true now more than ever—people need the Lord, not our judgment, questions, conditions, and uncertainty, but they need to see God in us, shining out from us, and sharing that wonderful love.
Jesus broke the rules and shared water and conversation with a Samaritan woman. He stayed for two days with the Samaritan people, sharing meals, living in homes, teaching, and showing love, even though his own people would call this an abomination. The church cannot forget the urgency of its calling here in this world. May those who are Samaritans in our world see the Jesus in us come and sit down beside them.
Service Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/1330932250809608