Sermon 5th March 2017
Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adjoa Andoh-Cunnell, preaches. The reading is from John 4: verses 5-15.
I was so so tempted to introduce this morning’s passage from I don't know Matthew or Habakuk.. and then do the Oh I’m so sorry I seem to have been handed the wrong envelope.. Ah...as last Sun- day’s Oscars remind us, only God is perfect...
And given the imperfection of the rest of us, Lent is a good time to reflect on how we’re doing as imperfect followers of Christ..
So questions this Lent..
Are we confident that all sorts and every sort of the worlds popula- tion are aware of the offer to them of God’s grace, and if they are aware would they consider the grace of God something they would want? And if not why not?
These are the questions raised by the writer of our Lent Book, Philip Yancey.
He titled the book - Vanishing Grace - a companion piece to his ear- lier book - What's So Amazing About Grace?
Vanishing Grace invites us to confront the reality as Philip Yancey sees it, of a world that views with suspicion and even down right hostility and ridicule, the evangelising mission and message given to Christian believers by Jesus himself.
Yancey headlines that mission and message at the opening of his book, with the instruction from Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one misses the grace of God.
What is it about Christ's Good News promise of the creator's un- conditional love, forgiveness, guidance and support for us all, in all circumstances that creates such a response of suspicion, ridicule and hostility?
I was so so tempted to introduce this morning’s passage from I don't know Matthew or Habakuk.. and then do the Oh I’m so sorry I seem to have been handed the wrong envelope.. Ah...as last Sun- day’s Oscars remind us, only God is perfect...
And given the imperfection of the rest of us, Lent is a good time to reflect on how we’re doing as imperfect followers of Christ..
So questions this Lent..
Are we confident that all sorts and every sort of the worlds popula- tion are aware of the offer to them of God’s grace, and if they are aware would they consider the grace of God something they would want? And if not why not?
These are the questions raised by the writer of our Lent Book, Philip Yancey.
He titled the book - Vanishing Grace - a companion piece to his ear- lier book - What's So Amazing About Grace?
Vanishing Grace invites us to confront the reality as Philip Yancey sees it, of a world that views with suspicion and even down right hostility and ridicule, the evangelising mission and message given to Christian believers by Jesus himself.
Yancey headlines that mission and message at the opening of his book, with the instruction from Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one misses the grace of God.
What is it about Christ's Good News promise of the creator's un- conditional love, forgiveness, guidance and support for us all, in all circumstances that creates such a response of suspicion, ridicule and hostility?
And how can we as individuals and as a church community attempt
to remedy this response?
These are matters we will try to approach in this Lenten series. Yancey writes
‘As a Christian, I have a deep concern about how we represent our faith to others.
We are called to proclaim good news of forgiveness and hope, yet I keep coming across evidence that many people do not hear our message as good news.’
I hope that as we travel along with him through this Lenten time we too will reflect on how we are carrying Christ's gracious mes- sage of forgiveness hope and love to our broken world in need and how we are not.
Philip Yancey asks
In a time of division and discord, grace seems in Vanishing supply. Why? And what can we do about it?
Practically over the next four weeks we will delving into the book, reflecting on some his responses to those questions, according to the book’s 4 sections.The 4 sections are:
Part one - A World Athirst
Part 2 Grace Dispensers
Part 3 : Is it really Good News? Part 4 Faith and Culture
As some of you who have heard me preach before will know, I find Philip Yancey a helpful companion alongside me in my imperfect journey of faith.
These are matters we will try to approach in this Lenten series. Yancey writes
‘As a Christian, I have a deep concern about how we represent our faith to others.
We are called to proclaim good news of forgiveness and hope, yet I keep coming across evidence that many people do not hear our message as good news.’
I hope that as we travel along with him through this Lenten time we too will reflect on how we are carrying Christ's gracious mes- sage of forgiveness hope and love to our broken world in need and how we are not.
Philip Yancey asks
In a time of division and discord, grace seems in Vanishing supply. Why? And what can we do about it?
Practically over the next four weeks we will delving into the book, reflecting on some his responses to those questions, according to the book’s 4 sections.The 4 sections are:
Part one - A World Athirst
Part 2 Grace Dispensers
Part 3 : Is it really Good News? Part 4 Faith and Culture
As some of you who have heard me preach before will know, I find Philip Yancey a helpful companion alongside me in my imperfect journey of faith.
He is a journalist and commentator raised in a very conservative
and he would say in retrospect, racist Southern American Christian
community.
He studied at a Conservative Theological College, had a crisis of faith and has since considered over many years the impact on his faith of that early conservative tradition, how he came to a restora- tion and deepening of his personal relationship with God and his own path and response to the world as an apostle of Christ.
So a bumpiness that ultimately strengthened his faith, as is the case for many of us, and although some of the American context may not be our own, I think Yancey is nonetheless a helpful guide.
And along the way in my bumpy journey of faith, about 14 years ago an old friend of mine, a composer, returned after 3 years studying at the prestigious JuilliardJuilliard school of music in New York. While there he joined an AA meeting to support him off his addiction. As some of you may know part of theJuilliard AA pro- gramme involves a prayerful response to the inevitable struggles that becoming released from an addiction involves. As result of his being involved in AA meetings, he found himself a welcoming New York church complete with gospel choir, and inevitably ended up as the choir master, taking the choir into prisons and correctional facil- ities across New York. He is now head of a major music department in a British University and is hugely inspiring to his students. However on that evening he came round for dinner with me 14 years ago, freshly back from New York, he said to me,
”You do the God thing don't you?"
"Yup, I said, “I do, why?"
He studied at a Conservative Theological College, had a crisis of faith and has since considered over many years the impact on his faith of that early conservative tradition, how he came to a restora- tion and deepening of his personal relationship with God and his own path and response to the world as an apostle of Christ.
So a bumpiness that ultimately strengthened his faith, as is the case for many of us, and although some of the American context may not be our own, I think Yancey is nonetheless a helpful guide.
And along the way in my bumpy journey of faith, about 14 years ago an old friend of mine, a composer, returned after 3 years studying at the prestigious JuilliardJuilliard school of music in New York. While there he joined an AA meeting to support him off his addiction. As some of you may know part of theJuilliard AA pro- gramme involves a prayerful response to the inevitable struggles that becoming released from an addiction involves. As result of his being involved in AA meetings, he found himself a welcoming New York church complete with gospel choir, and inevitably ended up as the choir master, taking the choir into prisons and correctional facil- ities across New York. He is now head of a major music department in a British University and is hugely inspiring to his students. However on that evening he came round for dinner with me 14 years ago, freshly back from New York, he said to me,
”You do the God thing don't you?"
"Yup, I said, “I do, why?"
"Don't know,” he said, “I'm missing the New York church..."....
There was a moment there... he was asking for an invitation to our
church ... I knew it and he knew, I knew it... and I didn't offer
one....
Why?
Because.. and I am ashamed and embarrassed to say.. because he is a joyously, proudly gay man and at that time I wasn't sure of the welcome he would receive, perhaps judgement.. and I didn't want him to be potentially hurt or put off continuing with this new found church habit.
‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God.’
I didn't see to it that evening with my friend, I failed, and it still shames me deeply.
My friend was thirsty for God and in that moment, I did nothing to help him quench his thirst...
When I was training as a reader at Southwark cathedral, I remem- ber a tutor saying, as preachers we often preach the sermon we need to hear, so I hope the Adjoa who was a block to god’s grace to her friend is becoming the Adjoa who would step back reveal god’s grace, and leave the anxiety and the blessing to God and follow the Hebrew’s instruction to
‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God’ - Hebrews 12:1
So when Philip Yancey wrote Vanishing Grace I was curious to hear his take on how the world is responding to God's message of Grace,
Why?
Because.. and I am ashamed and embarrassed to say.. because he is a joyously, proudly gay man and at that time I wasn't sure of the welcome he would receive, perhaps judgement.. and I didn't want him to be potentially hurt or put off continuing with this new found church habit.
‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God.’
I didn't see to it that evening with my friend, I failed, and it still shames me deeply.
My friend was thirsty for God and in that moment, I did nothing to help him quench his thirst...
When I was training as a reader at Southwark cathedral, I remem- ber a tutor saying, as preachers we often preach the sermon we need to hear, so I hope the Adjoa who was a block to god’s grace to her friend is becoming the Adjoa who would step back reveal god’s grace, and leave the anxiety and the blessing to God and follow the Hebrew’s instruction to
‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God’ - Hebrews 12:1
So when Philip Yancey wrote Vanishing Grace I was curious to hear his take on how the world is responding to God's message of Grace,
Are they hearing it, are we sharing it, are we barriers to their re-
ceiving it?
Like Yancey, I have experience of many people, who say they do not believe in religion, any religion, they see only damage, division and exclusion, judgement and nay-saying. They hear nothing that feels like an offer of enrichment in their lives. They hear rules and regulations, they see hierarchy and disapproval and they are baf- fled that thinking, reasoning people could slavishly follow this me- dieval mumbo jumbo practiced by ungenerous guilt mongerers... And they are frequently vociferous in their denouncing of christiani- ty in particular.
Why?
Regarding the level of hostility to the Christian message, Yancey wonders if there is a matching level of longing for meaning that haunts the critics? He talks about
Pre Christians - those who have had no involvement or interest with faith or church.
Christians - those actively involved in a relationship with God
Post Christians - those often raised in a Christian environment who have rejected the faith.
...here he quotes British writer, psychiatrist and non believer Theodore Dalrymple - a pre Christian in Yancey’s terms, Dalrymple writes
‘It is not as easy as one might suppose to rid oneself of the notion of God...however many times philosophers say that it is up to us
Like Yancey, I have experience of many people, who say they do not believe in religion, any religion, they see only damage, division and exclusion, judgement and nay-saying. They hear nothing that feels like an offer of enrichment in their lives. They hear rules and regulations, they see hierarchy and disapproval and they are baf- fled that thinking, reasoning people could slavishly follow this me- dieval mumbo jumbo practiced by ungenerous guilt mongerers... And they are frequently vociferous in their denouncing of christiani- ty in particular.
Why?
Regarding the level of hostility to the Christian message, Yancey wonders if there is a matching level of longing for meaning that haunts the critics? He talks about
Pre Christians - those who have had no involvement or interest with faith or church.
Christians - those actively involved in a relationship with God
Post Christians - those often raised in a Christian environment who have rejected the faith.
...here he quotes British writer, psychiatrist and non believer Theodore Dalrymple - a pre Christian in Yancey’s terms, Dalrymple writes
‘It is not as easy as one might suppose to rid oneself of the notion of God...however many times philosophers say that it is up to us
ourselves , and no one else to find the meaning of life, we continue
to long for a transcendent purpose...the heart hath its reasons that
reason knows not of.’
and then French Philosopher, an activist Christian, Simone Weil, who writes
‘The soul knows for certain only that it is hungry...A child does not stop crying if we suggest to it that perhaps there is no bread. It goes on crying just the same.’
And finally famous atheist philosopher, Bertrand Russell - a Yancey termed-post Christian.
Bertrand Russell’s daughter says of her father’s atheism
‘..(his) whole life was a search for God....Somewhere at the back of my father’s mind, at the bottom of his heart, in the depths of his soul, there was an empty space that had once been filled by God, and he never found anything else to put in it.’
Russell’s daughter, a Christian herself, tried to convince her father that his search was not in vain..
‘But,’ she says,’it was hopeless. He had known too many blind Christians, bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life and perse- cuted their opponents; he would never have been able to see the truth they were hiding.’
All three speak of a deep longing, the transcendent purpose, the bread for the hungry soul, the filling of the empty soul space that
and then French Philosopher, an activist Christian, Simone Weil, who writes
‘The soul knows for certain only that it is hungry...A child does not stop crying if we suggest to it that perhaps there is no bread. It goes on crying just the same.’
And finally famous atheist philosopher, Bertrand Russell - a Yancey termed-post Christian.
Bertrand Russell’s daughter says of her father’s atheism
‘..(his) whole life was a search for God....Somewhere at the back of my father’s mind, at the bottom of his heart, in the depths of his soul, there was an empty space that had once been filled by God, and he never found anything else to put in it.’
Russell’s daughter, a Christian herself, tried to convince her father that his search was not in vain..
‘But,’ she says,’it was hopeless. He had known too many blind Christians, bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life and perse- cuted their opponents; he would never have been able to see the truth they were hiding.’
All three speak of a deep longing, the transcendent purpose, the bread for the hungry soul, the filling of the empty soul space that
logic and reason appear not to satisfy, the heart that has reasons,
the mind cannot understand, that longing...
Philip Yancey imagines that longing as a thirst, indeed this first part of Vanishing Grace is called A World Athirst, a longing as deep and as necessary for life as drinking water.
In this mornings reading Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink of water from the well and offers her the Living Water of a life forgiven and Grace dispensed.
Last week Cameron picked out some wonderful Yancey definitions of Grace - nuggets perhaps to carry around in our pockets and take out in moments of need.
“Grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more. And grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less.”
And here I agree with the vicar, one of my all-time favourites: “Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
That Grace is the truth that Russell’s daughter says her father was unable to see, hidden as it was by those bleak joyless moralists whose Christian example he had experienced.
What sort of Christian examples are we?
As Christians are we hiding the truth of God’s grace by the way we respond to the world, as Bertrand Russell experienced?
Philip Yancey imagines that longing as a thirst, indeed this first part of Vanishing Grace is called A World Athirst, a longing as deep and as necessary for life as drinking water.
In this mornings reading Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for a drink of water from the well and offers her the Living Water of a life forgiven and Grace dispensed.
Last week Cameron picked out some wonderful Yancey definitions of Grace - nuggets perhaps to carry around in our pockets and take out in moments of need.
“Grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more. And grace means there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less.”
And here I agree with the vicar, one of my all-time favourites: “Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
That Grace is the truth that Russell’s daughter says her father was unable to see, hidden as it was by those bleak joyless moralists whose Christian example he had experienced.
What sort of Christian examples are we?
As Christians are we hiding the truth of God’s grace by the way we respond to the world, as Bertrand Russell experienced?
Or are we grace dispensers offering up the hope of Living Water to
a thirsty world as Jesus did to the Samaritan woman at the well?
There's nothing you can do to earn God's love, nothing you can do to lose it, you can't be good enough, you can't be bad enough, you can't be righteous enough you can't be fallen enough, all is God's Grace.
To be unconditionally loved for no reason other than that we exist. Stop and think about the world today, this morning, this hour, how much unconditional love do we see and what would happen to any given situation you can think of, if everyone was experiencing being unconditionally loved!!
What world would we be living in! One with all the best bits!
Why would the world not want to hear about a message of uncondi- tional love and see it in action in their daily lives, changing every- thing?
At the opening to chapter 1 of his book Yancey quotes from the American Novelist John Updike's novel A Month Of Sundays
'In general the churches...bore for me, the same relation to God that billboards did to Coco-Cola; they promoted thirst without quenching it.'
It's interesting isn't it, the contempt that those raised in a country founded on Christian principles can have for Christianity, is it the familiarity, the closeness?
What does it tell us that the longest recorded conversation in the Bible Jesus has, a conversation in which he offers living Water of grace, is with a not respectable, woman, from Samaria, Samaritans
There's nothing you can do to earn God's love, nothing you can do to lose it, you can't be good enough, you can't be bad enough, you can't be righteous enough you can't be fallen enough, all is God's Grace.
To be unconditionally loved for no reason other than that we exist. Stop and think about the world today, this morning, this hour, how much unconditional love do we see and what would happen to any given situation you can think of, if everyone was experiencing being unconditionally loved!!
What world would we be living in! One with all the best bits!
Why would the world not want to hear about a message of uncondi- tional love and see it in action in their daily lives, changing every- thing?
At the opening to chapter 1 of his book Yancey quotes from the American Novelist John Updike's novel A Month Of Sundays
'In general the churches...bore for me, the same relation to God that billboards did to Coco-Cola; they promoted thirst without quenching it.'
It's interesting isn't it, the contempt that those raised in a country founded on Christian principles can have for Christianity, is it the familiarity, the closeness?
What does it tell us that the longest recorded conversation in the Bible Jesus has, a conversation in which he offers living Water of grace, is with a not respectable, woman, from Samaria, Samaritans
being the despised enemy of the Jews, with much the same enmity
as Catholics and Protestants, or Shia and Sunni Muslims,
Serbs and Croats, Hutus and Tutsis.
Neighbours, families, at war. Mistrust and hostility.
Why is the story of Jesus and Samaritan woman so beloved an en- counter, why are there so many paintings of this encounter?
Philip Yancey speaks of the Spiritual Thirst that Jesus’ offer of Living Water responds to. He says
‘I look inwards at my own spiritual thirst, and think also of people I know. What are the symptoms? A restless search for pleasure, fear of death, boredom, addiction - any of these can betray a longing that is at root spiritual, the cries and whispers of someone who has lost their way.’
There was a young woman Philip Yancey writes about in What's So Amazing about Grace, the earlier companion book to our Lent Book, who a pastor friend of his encountered on the streets of Chicago. She was in a very distressed state, extremely poor with an all con- suming drug addiction, which she paid for by pimping out, prosti- tuting her young child. The pastor asked her if she would like to come in to his church, to which she replied, “Why would I want to do that? I already feel bad enough about myself.”
When we hear about that woman’s behaviour I am sure a part of each of us feels an instant revulsion.
When some people hear about my friend’s joyful gayness they may also feel revulsion - not that I am in any way equating the two, since for me the latter is as little a personal choice as the colour of one’s skin.
But here’s the thing, as Christians our task is to
Serbs and Croats, Hutus and Tutsis.
Neighbours, families, at war. Mistrust and hostility.
Why is the story of Jesus and Samaritan woman so beloved an en- counter, why are there so many paintings of this encounter?
Philip Yancey speaks of the Spiritual Thirst that Jesus’ offer of Living Water responds to. He says
‘I look inwards at my own spiritual thirst, and think also of people I know. What are the symptoms? A restless search for pleasure, fear of death, boredom, addiction - any of these can betray a longing that is at root spiritual, the cries and whispers of someone who has lost their way.’
There was a young woman Philip Yancey writes about in What's So Amazing about Grace, the earlier companion book to our Lent Book, who a pastor friend of his encountered on the streets of Chicago. She was in a very distressed state, extremely poor with an all con- suming drug addiction, which she paid for by pimping out, prosti- tuting her young child. The pastor asked her if she would like to come in to his church, to which she replied, “Why would I want to do that? I already feel bad enough about myself.”
When we hear about that woman’s behaviour I am sure a part of each of us feels an instant revulsion.
When some people hear about my friend’s joyful gayness they may also feel revulsion - not that I am in any way equating the two, since for me the latter is as little a personal choice as the colour of one’s skin.
But here’s the thing, as Christians our task is to
See to it that no one misses the grace of God - Hebrews 12;15
That woman is not to miss it, my friend is not to miss it, no one is
to miss God’s grace.
The judgement is not ours to make, the offer of grace as Christ fol- lowers alone is ours to make..
So it is high noon on a hot day outside the town of Sychar in Samaria. Jesus, tired from traveling, chooses a sensible rest stop— Jacob's well—while waiting for his disciples to go into town for food. When the Samaritan woman appears to collect water in her clay jar, Jesus makes a simple request:
"Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:7).
‘Uh-oh’ observes writer Liz Curtis Higgs
Jews weren't supposed to speak to Samaritans.
Men weren't permitted to address women without their husbands present.
And rabbis had no business speaking to shady ladies such as this one.
Jesus is willing to toss out the rules, but our woman at the well isn't. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she reminds him. "How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9).
The woman focuses on the law; Jesus focuses on grace. And be- cause of this grace filled space, there is such honesty shared in this conversation.
As a Samaritan, a descendant of Jacob as she tells Jesus, from the same religious roots, this woman believes in the coming of the
The judgement is not ours to make, the offer of grace as Christ fol- lowers alone is ours to make..
So it is high noon on a hot day outside the town of Sychar in Samaria. Jesus, tired from traveling, chooses a sensible rest stop— Jacob's well—while waiting for his disciples to go into town for food. When the Samaritan woman appears to collect water in her clay jar, Jesus makes a simple request:
"Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:7).
‘Uh-oh’ observes writer Liz Curtis Higgs
Jews weren't supposed to speak to Samaritans.
Men weren't permitted to address women without their husbands present.
And rabbis had no business speaking to shady ladies such as this one.
Jesus is willing to toss out the rules, but our woman at the well isn't. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she reminds him. "How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9).
The woman focuses on the law; Jesus focuses on grace. And be- cause of this grace filled space, there is such honesty shared in this conversation.
As a Samaritan, a descendant of Jacob as she tells Jesus, from the same religious roots, this woman believes in the coming of the
Messiah. Jesus not only tells her everything she has ever done, he
also tells her that He is this Messiah.
I’m a Samaritan woman she says you're not supposed to speak to me let alone drink from my cup, and the man I live with, no I’m not married to him
‘Yes I know. I am God,’ says Jesus. ‘I know EVERYTHING about you and I am offering you Living water, the greatest godly blessing there is, there’s nothing you can do to make me love you less, there’s nothing you can do to make me love you more.’
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a wo- man in a patriarchal society where women were of less worth - that is significant.
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a per- son with a dubious sexual history - that is significant.
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a member of the Samaritan community - the sworn enemy of the Jews - that is significant.
Let me just add - Such was the hostility between them that Jews travelling between Judea and Galilee normally went around Samaria adding 6 days to their journey.
In all these significant ways, a non respectable woman from the loathed Samaria, Jesus is modelling how we are to ensure that no one misses His grace. No opportunity is to be squandered when it comes to sharing the Good news. And we can take guidance from Jesus’ conversation style.
I’m a Samaritan woman she says you're not supposed to speak to me let alone drink from my cup, and the man I live with, no I’m not married to him
‘Yes I know. I am God,’ says Jesus. ‘I know EVERYTHING about you and I am offering you Living water, the greatest godly blessing there is, there’s nothing you can do to make me love you less, there’s nothing you can do to make me love you more.’
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a wo- man in a patriarchal society where women were of less worth - that is significant.
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a per- son with a dubious sexual history - that is significant.
Jesus had his longest recorded conversation in the bible with a member of the Samaritan community - the sworn enemy of the Jews - that is significant.
Let me just add - Such was the hostility between them that Jews travelling between Judea and Galilee normally went around Samaria adding 6 days to their journey.
In all these significant ways, a non respectable woman from the loathed Samaria, Jesus is modelling how we are to ensure that no one misses His grace. No opportunity is to be squandered when it comes to sharing the Good news. And we can take guidance from Jesus’ conversation style.
From the woman there is push back.
GN
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get that life-giving water? (John 4:11). NIV
11 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
The woman’s natural curiosity prompts her to ask questions, as seekers do today. Such queries are no cause for nervousness. Jesus knows how to handle doubt and disbelief. Likewise we are to em- brace the curiosity and questioning of those in search of faith, rather than feel affronted or intimidated by them.
Intervention - Speaking the Truth in Love in the verses following this morning’s passage we hear,
16 “Go and call your husband,” Jesus told her, “and come back.”
17 “I don't have a husband,” she answered.
NIV
16, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.(John 4:16).
Not an odd request, since women couldn't converse alone with a man in a public place. But Jesus' request was more about uncover- ing truth than about following society's rules, as this leads into a frank conversation about the woman’s history, that convinces her of who Jesus is and transforms her life forever.
Jesus didn't shy away from truth but an open loving exchange al- lowed the woman to stay in the conversation until her life changed.
GN
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get that life-giving water? (John 4:11). NIV
11 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
The woman’s natural curiosity prompts her to ask questions, as seekers do today. Such queries are no cause for nervousness. Jesus knows how to handle doubt and disbelief. Likewise we are to em- brace the curiosity and questioning of those in search of faith, rather than feel affronted or intimidated by them.
Intervention - Speaking the Truth in Love in the verses following this morning’s passage we hear,
16 “Go and call your husband,” Jesus told her, “and come back.”
17 “I don't have a husband,” she answered.
NIV
16, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.(John 4:16).
Not an odd request, since women couldn't converse alone with a man in a public place. But Jesus' request was more about uncover- ing truth than about following society's rules, as this leads into a frank conversation about the woman’s history, that convinces her of who Jesus is and transforms her life forever.
Jesus didn't shy away from truth but an open loving exchange al- lowed the woman to stay in the conversation until her life changed.
Do we allow that loving interaction in our sharing of God’s grace ,
or do we shut the conversation down with our own sense of right-
eousness?
God’s concern for the lost and his joy when they are found is a pri- ority that Philip Yancey highlights.
Amazing Grace How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see.
How wretched do we have to be, how lost, how blind before we val- ue the grace on offer to us ?-like the prodigal son who, as Cameron put it, ‘shamed himself to the pig-sty.’
How put off are we by the wretched state of another person, by their lostness or their blindness to their own behaviour - does it put us off them so much that we don't get close enough to offer God’s grace?
How do we reclaim the Good News and be the grace dispensers we are called by Christ to be? For here by the well we see how Christ-inspired love cuts across racial and cultural prejudice, in this case affirms women, and engages and loves the sinners, that we all are.
Lets just pause a moment.
With whom do we have no dealings?
Is there a person for whom we have contempt, is that too strong? A person we can’t bring ourselves to like, respect, or even speak to - it may be a family member, a work colleague, a boss, someone we study with, an ex partner, someone in our social group, a stranger on the street, That’s the person for whom we are responsible.
God’s concern for the lost and his joy when they are found is a pri- ority that Philip Yancey highlights.
Amazing Grace How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see.
How wretched do we have to be, how lost, how blind before we val- ue the grace on offer to us ?-like the prodigal son who, as Cameron put it, ‘shamed himself to the pig-sty.’
How put off are we by the wretched state of another person, by their lostness or their blindness to their own behaviour - does it put us off them so much that we don't get close enough to offer God’s grace?
How do we reclaim the Good News and be the grace dispensers we are called by Christ to be? For here by the well we see how Christ-inspired love cuts across racial and cultural prejudice, in this case affirms women, and engages and loves the sinners, that we all are.
Lets just pause a moment.
With whom do we have no dealings?
Is there a person for whom we have contempt, is that too strong? A person we can’t bring ourselves to like, respect, or even speak to - it may be a family member, a work colleague, a boss, someone we study with, an ex partner, someone in our social group, a stranger on the street, That’s the person for whom we are responsible.
Our job is to see to it that they don't miss the grace of God.
So how do we effectively do our job?
My step mother is a Quaker and the Quakers have a very demand- ing but helpful saying
An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.
Yancey calls the Bible, beginning to end, the story of how God gets his family back.
God knows the story, the story we have not heard yet, the story of each of our lives, the woman by the well with her multiple hus- bands, the woman who pimped out her child, every inch of my sto- ry, every inch of all our stories and everyone one of us here every person in the world is part of the family God wants to get back. “Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
Well, in weeks to come Yancey’s reflections on grace dispensing, the reality of the Good news being good news, and the challenges of faith and culture will have their own in-depth outing, for now I want to draw to a close with a couple more Yancey inspired thoughts on our World Athirst - that’s the great thing about Philip Yancey’s writing on grace both Amazing and Vanishing - he is in- spired by God’s grace to inspire us, that we may inspire others.
As NT Wright puts it
‘What you do in the present - by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, cam- paigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbour as yourself - will last into God’s future.’
We are to be Kingdom Builders.
So how do we effectively do our job?
My step mother is a Quaker and the Quakers have a very demand- ing but helpful saying
An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.
Yancey calls the Bible, beginning to end, the story of how God gets his family back.
God knows the story, the story we have not heard yet, the story of each of our lives, the woman by the well with her multiple hus- bands, the woman who pimped out her child, every inch of my sto- ry, every inch of all our stories and everyone one of us here every person in the world is part of the family God wants to get back. “Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
Well, in weeks to come Yancey’s reflections on grace dispensing, the reality of the Good news being good news, and the challenges of faith and culture will have their own in-depth outing, for now I want to draw to a close with a couple more Yancey inspired thoughts on our World Athirst - that’s the great thing about Philip Yancey’s writing on grace both Amazing and Vanishing - he is in- spired by God’s grace to inspire us, that we may inspire others.
As NT Wright puts it
‘What you do in the present - by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, cam- paigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbour as yourself - will last into God’s future.’
We are to be Kingdom Builders.
Philip Yancey ends this section of the book talking of Agua Viva, a
very low priced restaurant in Lima Peru, run by a Christian order of
women, who pour their faith without fanfare or fuss, into their food
and outreach work in the poor local community where they are
based, and yet their faith shines through.
‘You are a most eloquent living evidence for non believers. Someone comments
‘You are a gift from God; the Holy spirit breathes here.
Through good cooking God is transmitted too.’
Well, through good cooking we hope to transmit God too, in the weekly lenten recipes to accompany our study, which you’ll find on offer on the back table. If you’ve given up butternut squash or pumpkin for Lent then this week’s recipe may prove problematic.
If not then it may perhaps be a fun way to travel through Lent - Nourishment for the body reminding us of the nourishment of the Living Water Jesus offers. May we be as effective as the workers of Agua Viva in our thirsty world, christians sharing God’s grace, as we share this spicy Lenten soup.
As Yancey reflects
‘We respond to healing grace by giving it away’.
And as grace dispensers he writes,‘We serve others not with some hidden scheme of making converts, rather to contribute to the common good, to help humans flourish as God intended.’
And isn't that part of the challenging of Bertrand Russell's despair- ing view of Christians as,
‘bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life and persecuted their opponents’?
‘You are a most eloquent living evidence for non believers. Someone comments
‘You are a gift from God; the Holy spirit breathes here.
Through good cooking God is transmitted too.’
Well, through good cooking we hope to transmit God too, in the weekly lenten recipes to accompany our study, which you’ll find on offer on the back table. If you’ve given up butternut squash or pumpkin for Lent then this week’s recipe may prove problematic.
If not then it may perhaps be a fun way to travel through Lent - Nourishment for the body reminding us of the nourishment of the Living Water Jesus offers. May we be as effective as the workers of Agua Viva in our thirsty world, christians sharing God’s grace, as we share this spicy Lenten soup.
As Yancey reflects
‘We respond to healing grace by giving it away’.
And as grace dispensers he writes,‘We serve others not with some hidden scheme of making converts, rather to contribute to the common good, to help humans flourish as God intended.’
And isn't that part of the challenging of Bertrand Russell's despair- ing view of Christians as,
‘bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life and persecuted their opponents’?
That rather than hiding the truth of God’s grace behind bleak
moralising, we can dispense grace from the gratitude of having re-
ceived it. That by our actions, by constantly being encouraged and
humble in our faith, by coming alongside others we make the
promise of God’s grace known and available, remembering that
there is no merit on our part that earns God’s love, because,
“Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
Hallelujah! Amen
“Grace comes free of charge to people who don’t deserve it; and I am one of those people.”
Hallelujah! Amen
posted by Sharren Taylor at 6:09 pm
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