God provides

In a couple days, I will post about yet another parable. But before we get to that, here is a bit of a refresher course on the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is talking...

4-7 “I didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead, the longer I’ve talked, the sadder you’ve become. So let me say it again, this truth: It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.

8-11 “When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

12-15 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’ John 16:4-15 MSG

So here we have it. We have the eager running father, the knowing and loving and willing to travel to a hostile land Jesus, and now the Holy Spirit. “...the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is…”

Look at this! Jesus again reveals how much he KNOWS about his disciples; he provides for what they need. This is amazing. Why wouldn’t we assume he is also doing the same for us?

God. Jesus. The Holy Spirit. For us. What will be our response?

Having problems is not necessarily a problem

31 In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?”

32 He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.”

33 The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?”

34-35 Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!

36-38 “The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.”

39-42 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!” John 4:31-42 MSG

We leave this parable and I invite you to allow these words to sink in and soak in the deepest regions of your heart. I challenge you to consider that the decisions you make are bigger than your personal preferences, your individual needs, your wounds or even your hurt feelings.

God is not waiting. He is a running father, aggressive in his seeing and loving. Jesus as the Son of God sees and knows us intimately. Tomorrow we will learn more about how God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit work for our good. But know this: God’s plan waits for no man. He is the Savior of the World and it seems we are all in desperate need of salvation as we continue to live with a competitive, fearful spirit. We continue to live in the us versus them mentality that has plagued insecure, freaked out humanity from the beginning of time (think Cain and Abel). What are we going to do about this?

Changes in seeing lead to changes in living

27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.

28-30 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves. John 4:27-30 MSG

A recent retreat was literally and spiritually mountain top experience for me and others. Coming home was a bit of a culture shock. It is easy to appreciate spiritual disciplines and a sense of community with God and others in an beautiful but artificial setting. Coming back into life on life’s terms can feel like a bumpy reentry.

But this is where we live and breathe. The key, I think, to understanding if our spiritual encounters with God have been absorbed by us is what happens AFTER the retreat. What changes for us?

In this story, the woman has just had this amazing and intimate encounter with Jesus and that is immediately disrupted by the typical and culturally expected responses of those darn disciples (we are all doing the best we can but sheesh!). In her confusion, which I imagine is a lot like coming out of the snow covered Colorado mountains and returning home to hot and humid Richmond (metaphorically speaking), she forgets her water pot (this is a big faux pax) AND she does something wild and crazy and radically different.

She speaks up. She shares what she knows. She invites others into her experience. She even asks them their opinion, allowing them to consider the situation and make their own decisions.

I have had a series of spiritual experiences that I can either hoard or share. But what I cannot do is coerce others to agree with me. What I will not do is stand silently by without at least inviting others to think about this amazing thing: Jesus sees us and knows us, even the least among us. He is showing up for us. Will we inquire about this mysterious, God-showing-up-for-us or will we just trudge along living life according to our past experiences, our prejudices, our comforting, self-soothing compulsions? Are we willing to CHANGE in the hopes of experiencing transformation? Jesus SEES and KNOWS and without blame, shame or condemnation, invites others to join him in this “gushing fountains of living life”. If this isn’t your life today, then maybe consider making some changes.

You are seen and known

He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”

“I have no husband,” she said.

“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

John 4:16-18 MSG

In many translations this parable is artificially named by bible translators “A Woman At The Well”. Much like the parable of the prodigal son is called, “The Prodigal Son”. In previous posts I mentioned how much I like how Dr. Dale Ryan calls the prodigal son story “The Running Father”. This fits with scholars who teach us that parables are stories primarily intended to teach us one small thing about God.

Applying these principles to this story, I would like to take the liberty of renaming this story, “Jesus Sees and Knows”. Because I suspect this is the larger point of this exchange.

Jesus knew things about this woman that make no sense. He doesn’t beat around the bush in getting to the point either. She reveals a partial truth to a guy she shouldn’t trust “I have no husband” and he replies with the full truth of her current situation.

The reasons why she has had five husbands and is now living with a man are not given. Women were often married off to older men at very young ages. It is conceivable that her previous husbands have died due to natural causes, since life expectancy wasn’t great in those days. This could happen without her being a serial husband killer. Obviously, something about this is not socially pleasing. Clearly she is withdrawn and isolated from the women in her community. But we do not really know why, do we? But Jesus knows and this is such a big deal. Here’s what we can surmise from the text without going crazy with speculation. Jesus “had” to talk to this woman; in this meeting, Jesus is revealing as much about himself (which is the point of a parable) than he is about her.

Here’s what I love - I love that Jesus continually allows the “least of these” to be let in on the love, grace, mercy, and “gushing fountains of endless life”. Feeling marginalized? Being told you are “less than”? Always feeling outside the inner circle? Maybe these feelings are valid, maybe they are not. But either way they hurt, don’t they? Consider the fact that Jesus knows your part in your isolation, the part of others in creating distance, and none of that matters as much as who he is and what he offers to us all.

Think about that!

Living in hiding is a form of pride

A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!” John 4:8-15 MSG

Notice the following:

* Jesus was behaving extremely inappropriately. He was initiating engagement with and asking for help from a foreigner he was supposed to despise.

* Jesus chooses to reveal himself to her, not as just some guy who has a hankering for cool drink of water, but he indicates who he is - the guy who gives “gushing fountains of endless life” - the Samaritan woman is the first person Jesus outs himself to.

* Jesus expresses a need. Outrageous!

* Women don’t go to the well in the middle of the day to draw water. We will discover more about why she was choosing to isolate herself from the community in future verses. Going to the well felt difficult for her; it was a potential point of exposure. She could only think in terms of survival and did not initially understand the possibility of a gushing fountain. She just wanted to avoid the well.

Notice that Jesus is willing to do uncomfortable things and behave in strange ways to reach out to the ONE. He was not efficient and uninterested in following the societal norms when they did not serve his purpose (That’s a big deal; he’s not being a rebel just to stick it to the man.). Tomorrow, we will find out another amazing thing about Jesus.