Weekly Message: 10/09/2023

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to Him be the Glory, Power, and Dominion forever and ever and to the Holy Ghost that is yet abiding in the body. This month’s key phrase is the same as the month of September, “Be Different”.  God’s word tells us that to endure in this life we must fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus interacted with all kinds of people, but there is something  beautiful, convicting, countercultural, and transformative about Jesus’ interactions with the Samaritan Woman at the well.

As we come to the scene in John 4, to a well in Samaria at midday, there are invisible lines in the sand; unknown to some, but well known to John’s first audience. Cultural lines, religious lines, ethnic lines, and gender lines mark dramatic rings around that particular well the Samaritan women visited at midday. But Jesus was not afraid to cross lines. These crossed lines forever changed the woman of Samaria and she learned to be different! Jesus did not sin by speaking with the woman alone. Nor did He sin by speaking with a Samaritan, someone culturally and religiously unlike Him. If Jesus had followed the prejudices of His day and not spoken to her, she might never have heard the good news. The people in her village might never have believed. Jesus lifted up and honored those who were culturally marginalized, dismissed, ridiculed, and rejected.

The interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman teaches us lessons of confrontation, compassion, and freedom. She did not have a great life, but she was kind. Although Jesus was a male, Jewish stranger, she was kind enough to grant His request for water. She could have carried on the tradition of hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, but she did not. Her kindness is also shown when she runs to announce to the entire community that the Messiah had come. She could have kept it to herself. (Like so many Christians like to do). But she made a different choice. The Samaritan woman speaks to us about kindness and treating people like human beings, even when we ourselves get the rotten end of the stick. To be kind is rare with all the prejudice and racism in the world today.

In closing, the Samaritan woman had a past. Jesus acknowledged her past but He did not define her by it. He saw her potential to become a fully committed daughter of God. Hence, no matter who you are or what your past is, God is interested in you. Jesus took her through the process of seeing her need to change her life and what it meant to truly worship God. She was not living her best life, but she was living in expectation of Jesus’ coming. All those details combined made her different and ready to receive Jesus; and so Jesus revealed himself to her. The Samaritan woman at the well reveals that there is hope for everyone. God does not have favorites and He does not judge or condemn. Jesus was especially interested that day at the well in the ministry to save women, and to show the blessing for the ministry that women have to offer to help others. How ready are you for God to reveal Himself to you. Until next week, remember, “…with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26b).

In His Service,

Bishop Dr. Calvin Worthem

General Chief Overseer/Senior Bishop