BIBLE READING FOR THE DAY:
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” (John 4:16-29)
THOUGHT: Sometimes, Jesus stings us with his truth. Maybe you've felt that already this Lent. It's not harsh or condemning, but it's just well, true. That's what happened to this Samaritan woman when Jesus dared to cross racial and gender boundaries to share life with someone very different from him. Even in pointing out the truth of this woman's unfaithfulness in marriage, Jesus remains in relationship with the woman to the point of asking her plucky theological question. Maybe, that's why Jesus can be honest with us. He doesn't leave us once he's shared his truth. Instead of abandoning this woman, Jesus responds with something profound: It's not about where you worship; instead, it's about how you worship - with spirit and truth. What does living in Spirit and Truth look like? I think the Samaritan woman gives us a model. Be yourself and pursue God with all your questions, all your earnest faith, all your gifts while never stopping to silence or at least ignore the cynciscm, disillusionment, and even confusion that can come from the pursuit of the spiritual life. Imagine yourself going to a mountain or a city to worship and warring over that fact with another people group. It'd be easy to get pretty cynical about what religion or God meant if that was the case. Yet, many of us find a modern day metaphor in most religions, demoninations, and even religious cliques that develop. This woman fights through that religious baggage and even her own behavior to pursue the one she eventually confesses is the Messiah, her help: Jesus. Somehow, his person could do what religion failed to do for this woman, Instead of shame, he offered life. If you reathe whole story, you'll find he called this "living water." How many of us need that living water to keep us from the religious dryness that can come through a wrong headed pursuit of rules-based religion or avoiding God altogether?
CHALLENGE: Identify what cultural or personal issue you're fighting when you think about your pursuit of the spiritual life. Is there a memory, an event, or a troubling pattern that is keeping you from pursuing more of God? Find a way to keep your personal wrestling and your questions as you pursue God in prayer, scripture, and relationship with others about the topic that comes up. Lastly, reflect on how Jesus, himself, is a Messiah - a Savior - to the struggling that you have discovered. Do not be afraid to imagine Jesus as if he was walking today when thinking about how Jesus would help you. Bring this internal conversation to a friend in order to bring to life more of Jesus' ways of dealing with personal and religious issues that are often used to divide and dismiss rather than unify and acknowledge.
Peace,
Josh
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