Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit? Maybe you got onto a team and just never seemed to find your place… or maybe, like happened to me on more than one occasion, you tried out for a squad only to find they were looking for a different type of player than you… or possibly you just weren’t good enough… I’m 55 yrs. old and still have days when I wonder where I belong… I no longer can physically cut it on the floor, and even as a coach/trainer often feel the game has passed me by… so I question.
The reason this intro is on my mind is because of a question in Scripture and the observation of my pastor. In John 4, which I have taught on many times, we find Jesus and His encounter with the Samaritan woman. I always point out the fact that she is drawing water during the heat of the day as proof that she was an outcast (due to here lifestyle) even with her own people, and that she for sure would have felt an outcast when talking with a Jewish man. You wanna talk about feeling like a misfit… out of place… not good enough…
Let’s pick up at a point where she makes an observation about Jesus and asks a very curious question:
John 4:19-20 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Matt, my pastor, pointed out something here about the woman… in the midst of recognizing how different/special Jesus is, she also recognized a need to worship… YET, where could she go to do that? The Jews didn’t like the Samaritans, so Jerusalem was out of the question; and the Samaritans didn’t like her, so that mountain wasn’t an option.
Let’s make sure that our attitudes toward others are not creating a hindrance for them in approaching God… and make sure they know they can approach Him right where they are at!
Anyone ready to sing a few stanzas of “Just As I Am”? The “altar call” is to make sure folks know the heart of “spirit and truth” based upon what Jesus has done for us is what grants us access to the throne!
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