A Woman Transformed / A Community Transformed

John 4 - a woman so completely transformed from the inside out

a community so transformed by the simple witness of this one changed woman

a church transformed to include those who would never be together otherwise see Acts 8:5-25

Jesus love, care and inclusion of 'the other'

finding his fountain in dry and difficult circumstances

when I feel unloved

when I feel I cannot do this one more day

Jesus is enough to fill me

Jesus is enough to know me

Jesus is enough to transform me

my deepest desires

perceptions

interactions

Jesus is able to use me, even me, 
regardless of my past and my sin to reach others

Jesus treats me with dignity, respect, caring honesty and truth 

Jesus is patient with my self defensive and self deflecting questions/discussions

I can be a refreshment to Jesus

He was weary with the journey

and yet, 

He found his sustenance, his nourishment in doing your will 

He transformed a woman who came to the well alone, 

quite possibly avoiding the other women of her community

very possibly avoiding the other men in her community

most certainly wanting to avoid the Jew she encountered at the well

she came to the well alone because she thought she would be safe from critical eyes and the judgements of others

how surprised she was that this Jewish man would even acknowledge her presence

attempt to speak with her

make a simple human request of her

as any human to another

The way he spoke with her showed such respect, dignity, compassion
 yet

no patronizing sticky sweet condscenion or over simplication 

but a genuine dialogue

he encounters her as a fellow human 

He treated her as if none of the barriers that separated them even existed: race, gender, class and religion

Truth and love

He is patient and loving and kind

but he does not avoid the glaring need in her life

He does not just make polite small talk 
avoiding the volital, dangerous, uncomfortable and taboo subject

He address the need in her life calmly, squarely and directly

He does more than address her need

He invites her to a life she cannot imagine

to a relationship she cannot imagine

He tells her the truth about herself

yet in such a way she wants to tell everyone she meets, 

'Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did'

She responds to him in truth, 'I have no husband'

she is not afraid to admit 
what she probably does not talk to anyone else about

maybe even herself....

but with him, 

she can face the truth because she is seeing Him and not herself

she sees hope

she sees love

acceptance

true care that intends true change

a lasting love

a lifetime friend

the love of a lifetime and more

Transformed to love

It is in this brief exchange that she is changed so completely 

that she is no longer hiding away from people 

but was running towards them

not ashamed or afraid to invite them

'Come, come see a man who told me everything I ever did!'

she knew, he knew her deeply, completely, absolutely

faithfully committed, and forever unchanging

so that even when he pressed on that most painful of areas in her life

she did not run away 

like a divine chiropracter or a diving physical therapist

you press on me

you press right where it hurts the most
the tangled ball of over-tight nerves

right where I do not want you to put any pressure
the tender and swollen hurt

why can't you put pressure somewhere else?

somewhere I could handle it?

it is because you want to heal what is hurting

what is out of joint

what is tense, strained, inflamed, twisted

pressing on it releases the tension

increases blood flow
bringing extra oxygen

and releasing endorphines
which speed healing

right where I need it the most in the most painful areas of my life

all you desire of me 

is to be honest 

open, vulnerable

cooperative

talking to you about it

willing to let you touch, press, stretch, move

heal

willing to let the truth of your Word penetrate, convict, bring desire for change and hope for healing

Ephesians 4:10-20

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

speak the truth in love to grow up in all things like him who is the head even Christ 

It was through this one woman
that many in her community were also brought to saving faith and loving dependence on Jesus. 

She was not wise
she was not an eloquent speaker
she did not know any apologetics
she only knew Jesus and his deep love for her

she no longer cared about what others thought of her
she just cared about inviting them to know this wonderful saviour too

Regardless of my circumstances
my past 
the limitations of who I am 
who I am around and why

I can know Jesus
know that fountain of living water springing up in my soul

not just changing me
but pouring out to change all those around me as well.

not because of me at all
but because of you

I only need to live with an audience of one

Oh praise you Jesus you are so beautiful!
so amazing!
I love you.

John 4

The Message (MSG)

The Woman at the Well

4 ^1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

^4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

^7-8 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.)

⁹ 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.)

¹⁰ 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.”

^11-12 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?”

^13-14 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.”

¹⁵ 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!”

¹⁶ He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”

^17-18 “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.”

^19-20 “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”

^21-23 “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

^23-24 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”

²⁶ “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

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.

It’s Harvest Time

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!”