A WOMAN WITH A STORY

This morning my annual journey through the Bible brought me face to face with this incredible story... It's a story most of us are familiar with, but it speaks volumes to where we're at with the launch of a2.

Jesus had just finished an amazing encounter with a lady we've come to call, "the woman at the well." Two thousand years later, she still remains nameless...

But this is a woman with a story... A story that probably includes pain, sin, misspent passion, lust, loneliness, failure, and more pain... While the events surrounding her life, and while her "drug of choice" might be somewhat different than mine, her story is a lot like my story and a lot like yours...

She was desperate for grace, and she found it in the eyes of Jesus.

All of a sudden Jesus' "one on one conversation" with this woman was interrupted by the disciples. They've been out on a reconnaissance mission, looking for food.

John 4:27- (NLT), Just then his disciples arrived. They were astonished to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why he was doing it or what they had been discussing.

The initial response of the disciples as they walked upon Jesus engaged in a conversation with a woman was not, "Hi. My name is Pete. This is Andrew. That's John."

Their initial response was astonishment. Embarrassment. Judgment. Condemnation.

I know... I know... I know it was against the traditional mores of polite Jewish society for a rabbi to speak with a woman, much less a woman with this kind of reputation. But couldn't they have at least treated this woman with a little dignity? Couldn't they at least extend a little kindness?

No. They were "astonished."

John 4:28 (NLT), The woman left her water jar beside the well...

What's just as amazing as the way Jesus' disciples respond to this woman, was the way this woman responded to them. "The woman left her jar beside the well..."

QUESTION: Why was this woman comfortable around Jesus, but the moment his disciples showed up, why did she feel the need to "get out of dodge"?

ANOTHER QUESTION: Two thousand years later, why is it that many of the "unchurched" in our neighborhoods and community feel the same way about the church?

Ouch!

Now, the next phrase in the story is going to let us in on the fact that she feels urgent about the mission of sharing the encounter she has just had with Jesus with her friends. But couldn't it be that part of the reason the woman left so quickly is because she liked being around Jesus a whole more than she liked being around his disciples?

Just asking...

John 4:28 (NLT), The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, 29 "Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?" 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat. 32 "No," he said, "I have food you don't know about."

33 "Who brought it to him?" the disciples asked each other.

34 Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, 'One person plants and someone else harvests.' And it's true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and you will gather the harvest."

Wow!

This morning I was struck by the fact that right on the heels of modeling the kind of lifestyle interactions and love for other people that Jesus wants his followers to have with the people they rub shoulders with, he also used that encounter as a platform to say, "There's a huge harvest out there... Nothing less than eternity is at stake... You're an important part of something God has been up to for quite a while... Don't blow this moment... Be an agent of God... People matter to the Father."

Even more challenging... Right on the heels of reminding his disciples about the fact that people really matter to the heart of God, the unnamed woman that had just experienced a personal encounter with Jesus personally brings an entire block out to meet Him... Once again, modeling the truth Jesus had just presented... People matter to God...

Here's the way the story closes:

John 4:39-41 (NLT), Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did!" 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay at their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many of them to hear his message and believe.

Remember this: You've never locked eyes with a person that doesn't matter deeply to the heart of God... Regardless of their lifestyle, they have a name and they have a story... A story that's probably filled with some of the same kind of pain, loneliness, rejection, sin, lusts, failures, hurts and woundedness that your story contains...

Will you be like Jesus? Will you love unconditionally, even while you ask penetrating questions that provoke an honest assessment of life?

Or will we be like the disciples, "They were astonished..."

Don't know about you, but I've got some work to do on this one...