Sharing the good news
Sunday 9th July 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At our prayer gathering on Wednesday we were sharing and praying about particular people we know, on our roads, in our workplaces and sports clubs, wherever we are, who we’d like to ‘love dearly’ and ‘speak clearly’ to about Jesus.
But where do we begin? John 4 and the ‘woman at the well’ (which we’ll be looking at at the Praise Evening on Sunday evening) is instructive.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus crosses a whole host of boundaries, in order to meet her with the eternal life he had to offer. Not only was he in Samaria, a land strict Jews bypassed to avoid defilement, but he was speaking to a woman in public, which was considered highly inappropriate in that culture.
Evangelist Becky Pippert in her book ‘Stay Salt’, which helps us as we think about sharing the good news of Jesus with others, says about this episode with the Samaritan woman:
“the disciples took one look at her and seemed to conclude “that woman? Become a follower of Jesus? No way!” But Jesus looked at her and came to the opposite conclusion. What Jesus saw in her going from one man to another wasn’t just that she was a woman with loose morals. Her behaviour indicated a hunger for God…we must follow Jesus’ model and ask ourselves how we interpret the needs and lifestyle of the people we meet. Do we look at their messy lives and say “that’s wrong” and walk away? Or do we take the time to get behind the mask and discover who they are by listening to their story?” (p.189, Stay Salt)
I guess that’s the challenge for us all. As we remember the astounding grace that we have been shown by Jesus. Will we like Jesus, look beyond appearances, for signs of spiritual openness, even in the most unlikely people?
Let’s pray that we’d have eyes to see those in our communities and networks who, despite appearances, are spiritually open. Who can you this week ‘love dearly’ and ‘speak clearly’ to about Jesus?
With love in Christ,
Ben Wells (Associate Minister)