“Different” People

“Who is my neighbor?” — Luke 10:29 How do you react when you meet someone who contrasts brazenly with things you hold dear? Maybe it’s someone in your neighborhood, extended family, workplace, or church. Maybe they differ from you politically, or they dismiss the way you interpret some teachings in the Bible. It seems they just don’t get it. Worse yet, they don’t seem interested in considering another point of view. That can be frustrating.That was how most of the Jews in Jesus’ day saw the Samaritans— as people who refused to “get it.” They were considered “impure,” and their way of serving God was an affront to everything that the “real people of God” stood for.How do you respond to people who seem not to “get it”? Most of us keep our distance. We’re polite at family gatherings or at work or church, but when it comes to actually discussing issues with those individuals, we’ve learned to avoid conflict and not “go there.” That just makes sense, right?Interestingly, Jesus didn’t have that kind of “sense.” So when he met the Samaritan woman at the well, he wanted to free her from a life of hiding and show her that God’s salvation was for her too. And by the end of the day, his visit had a profound effect not only on her life but also on the life of her entire town (John 4:39-42).Whom might God be wanting you to connect with? God, teach us patience and understanding with all who may differ with us. Help us to respond with grace, seeing opportunities to share your love rather than becoming frustrated or distant. Amen.

Jesus declared, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” — John 4:13-14 When I meet people and they find out what I do for a living, they sometimes launch into a religious conversation. Before long, they can get surprisingly deep into the differences between religious backgrounds.At the well in Samaria, Jesus and the woman he met got talking about religion. Jesus invited her to wonder about “the gift of God,” about who he (Jesus) was, and about what he had come to offer. Long story short, his grace collided with her shame, her defenses crumbled, and the Lord changed her life. By the end of that day a wave of grace had rolled through her entire town.Christ’s work in our lives is central for us all. Yet it can be surprisingly difficult to discuss that with others, so we tend to play a sort of spiritual hide-and-seek game. Why? Sometimes we’re uncomfortable talking about personal matters, even with close friends. Other times we may honestly feel that we don’t have much to say. We may have heard about God’s salvation so often that it seems commonplace in our lives and sort of “goes without saying.” This can be true for a lot of people who go to church.It can be important to talk about our religious views. But what really counts is sharing with others what Christ is doing in our lives and how he is changing us, making us new.When was the last time you talked about these things? Lord, help me to share my faith authentically, focusing on what you have done in my life. Give me courage to speak of your work with honesty and love. Amen.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. — Psalm 139:23 Repentance can seem like something we should outgrow. It’s great for spiritual beginners, but it’s hard to imagine Christian role models having to repent very much. Do they?The more I grow in faith, the sillier it sounds to think I could outgrow repentance. I’m not hiding scandals in my life, but I’ve still got plenty to repent of. In fact, I think I’ve probably got more raw material for repentance than I had when I was younger.Lately God has been nudging me to look into my motives behind doing good things. For example, if I’ve been a faithful husband or a responsible pastor, whom have I really done that for? I’ve probably been the one who has benefited most from not wrecking my marriage or my career in ministry. Rather than being motivated by holiness, my actions might just be smart!So where does that lead me? Ultimately, into gratitude. One of the amazing things about grace is that it doesn’t stop when an introductory period has passed. My freedom to waltz into God’s presence like an heir doesn’t depend on my ability to do good; it depends on the amazing, mind-boggling love that God has shown me through Jesus Christ. And that will never change—no matter how much I try to work on my motives. Realizing this today leads me to repent even more freely tomorrow.What about you? In which areas are you getting better at repentance? God, guide me in examining my motives. Lead me to repent sincerely, not just out of obligation, and to rely fully on your abundant grace. Amen.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. — Romans 7:15 Sometimes church can get in the way of repentance.Repentance plays a huge part in our becoming followers of Christ. We pivot from our previous direction, turning toward the Savior.But then something happens. We get better. We heal and grow in faith. The Bible calls this sanctification, and this is a good thing.As we grow in faith, it can seem like we have less to repent of. And that makes sense. Our lives should change as we mature in our faith in Christ. But is that the whole story?Personally, I have grown in my resistance to some of the sins of my younger days. But I have to admit that other, quieter temptations can easily line up to take their place—sins like pride or defensiveness. When I see progress in resisting one kind of sin, I soon notice a new one cropping up. In Romans 7, Paul explains that sin grows inside us. I get that.I’m learning to adjust my idea of what spiritual growth looks like. As a boy, I sometimes wondered if grown-ups needed to repent. Now, as a grown-up, I realize that I’ll never move past my need for repentance. But, thanks to the work of God’s Spirit in me, I’m getting better at living faithfully.I hope you have experienced repentance. And, as your faith grows, I hope you keep experiencing that, with God’s help all along the way. Lord, keep us humble as we grow in faith. Remind us that we always need your grace, and help us continually to turn back to you, realizing we need you always. Amen.

I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. — Romans 7:23 Repentance isn’t complicated. It can be as simple as saying “I’m sorry.” Yet for all its simplicity, repentance can be surprisingly elusive.When I was a child, my parents taught me the basics of repentance. When I broke a rule or did something hurtful to my brothers, they instructed me to say I was sorry (whether I actually was or not!).If you think of repentance, how do you picture it? Does it show the relief of a reunion with a long-lost friend? Or is it more like the grim resignation of a driver pulled over for speeding in traffic—or, similarly, like an athlete called on a foul by a referee: sorry, not sorry!Actually, repentance is amazing, if we think about it. It gives us the chance to name our sins and have them taken away.Oddly, though, we don’t often think or talk much about repentance. And, perhaps more strangely, we can tend to think about it less and less the more we gain experience as believers. It’s almost as if we think we somehow outgrow our need for repentance. (More about that later.)And so we hide.When was your last experience of repentance? Can you remember it? God, remind me that true repentance brings freedom. Help me not to shrink from confessing, but to embrace turning toward you with joy and trust in your mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9 Shame creates distance from God, just as it did for the woman at the well. Since the fall into sin (Genesis 3), a sense of having spoiled God’s best for us has caused us to keep our distance from him. Even today we carry bad memories, broken expectations, and accumulated regrets. In our shame we subtly back away from God.How do we fix this problem? In the Bible God calls us to repentance for our sin. At its core, repentance involves complete honesty with God: a recognition of not only what we have done but also who we have become. Honest repentance provides a step toward the miracle of having our sins washed away, with our debts charged to Christ’s account. It furthers the process of our sanctification, God’s way of making us new.There is also a relationship side to repentance that is important to remember. Repentance involves more than simply acknowledging that a rule was broken. It involves recognizing that a relationship was damaged. The biblical word for repentance refers to “turning around.” When I repent of a sin, I turn away from that behavior and back toward the way God calls me to live. Repentance involves a new realization that we have in some way left God and are turning back toward him.When was the last time you repented, turning back to God? Lord, help me to be honest with you. Show me where I have sinned, and help me to turn fully toward you, with my heart open to renewal. Amen.

[Jesus] told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” — John 4:16 In this story we find hints that the Samaritan woman was accustomed to hiding. Her personal life had fallen into ruin, and her sense of shame affected her daily routine. She came out to draw water at the hottest time of day, when most people preferred the shade. She was hiding in plain sight.We, too, often hide. Ever since Adam and Eve crouched in Eden with those forbidden-fruit stains all over their faces (Genesis 3:6-10), we have tried to hide when we have felt guilty or ashamed.Sometimes we hide in our sin, like rebellious sons and daughters far from home. We may not even do this on purpose— it just becomes easier to do as we please when the people who know us aren’t watching us or telling us what to do.At other times we may try a different approach—hiding behind our “goodness.” We instinctively aim to act our best when we realize we have failed in some way. Think of how we put on our best behavior after sliding back into a sinful habit. We may not even be aware we are doing this, but our instinct to try to cover up and “clean up our act” runs deep. Like the woman who came to the well at midday, we tend to hide in our shame.How does shame show up in your life? Do you notice when you are trying to cover up? How do you respond? God, forgive us for trying to hide in our shame. Replace our fears with assurance of your grace and forgiveness, that we may enjoy the freedom you give us through new life in Christ. Amen.

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” — John 4:9 Most of us like to have a place to call home. We prefer to be in familiar territory and with people who are like us.Jesus was different. That’s why in John 4 we see him chatting with a foreign woman at an unfamiliar well at the least comfortable time of the day. Jesus seems to have loved skipping across social and territorial boundaries that other people had marked with “No Trespassing” signs. (Note: As a Gentile whose ancestors lived a long way away from both Judea and Samaria, I’m personally thankful for that.)Have you ever felt like an outsider— perhaps even with people in familiar surroundings, or maybe even among your own friends and family? If so, how did that affect you? Whom do you know who might be feeling like an outsider among God’s people today? What might God be saying to you about caring for them?In our reading today, we may sense that the Samaritan woman wasn’t exactly thrilled to meet a Jew at the local well and to have him ask her for a drink of water. (Was Jesus trespassing on her territory?) Yet Jesus replied with some words about God and said that he could give her “living water.” I’m glad Jesus didn’t just stay in familiar territory. He knew he was on earth for a reason—and every conversation he had was shaped by that awareness.What relationships in your life could God use in order to reach someone? Lord, help me to notice people I might overlook. Give me courage to approach them with care and to point them to you. For your sake, Amen.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” — John 4:7 To read this story well, we need to understand who this Samaritan woman was. As we saw yesterday, the Samaritans were a minority group that was distantly related to the Jews. And most “respectable” Jews in Jesus’ day kept their distance from Samaritans, having determined that they were “not their kind” of people.Further, we need to look at this woman’s place in her own community. As we noted a couple of days ago, she was lugging her heavy water jug to the local well in the heat of midday, though everyone else did that in the cool of the morning. She was keeping her distance even though it made her life more difficult. She was an outcast among outcasts.John 4 observes later that the disciples were surprised to discover Jesus talking to this woman (v. 27). And that’s probably an understatement. Any decent rabbi (teacher) would rarely talk to a woman, much less a Samaritan one. But here was Jesus, having a conversation with this woman at the well near Sychar.This encounter reveals something important about the kind of kingdom Jesus had come to bring. This wasn’t a kingdom where you spent your time with only the people who were like you and could help you get ahead. Jesus seemed drawn to people who had the least to offer him.What about you? Whom has God placed in your life who has little to offer you? Lord, help us to follow your example of seeking people who are overlooked or outcast. Give us the heart to love everyone, trusting you will use it to do good. Amen.

Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. — John 4:4 The story at Sychar is all about outsiders. Samaritans were racially mixed former Israelites who had intermarried when Israel was conquered and exiled (2 Kings 17). To the Jews, then, the Samaritans were no longer really God’s people. They were more like the embarrassing family secret that people didn’t like to talk about at get-togethers. Yet they lived next door to the Jews in Jesus’ day, so occasional run-ins were inevitable.In those days, most Jews traveled around Samaria to avoid going through it. But Jesus led his disciples right through the land of compromise as he traveled from Judea to Galilee. No hiding for them!Who are the “Samaritans” in your world? Perhaps they are people who live across some border near you? Or they align with another political party? Or they have a lifestyle that contrasts with yours?How do you react to your “Samaritans”? Often we bristle against them. We stiffen inwardly if we see them going against our convictions. Or, at times, we may feel intimidated and try to get them to like us. Sometimes they can also begin to change us, leading us to become more and more like them, for better or for worse. In Jesus’ day that kind of compromise was the religious leaders’ worst fear for Israel.How do you tend to respond to the “Samaritans” in your life? Lord, give us courage to cross boundaries without fear or compromise. Help us to reflect your truth and love among people whom we might otherwise avoid. In your name, Amen.