The Love of God
No Boundaries
A well known story about Jesus is the one where he was thirsty and went to a well to get a drink of water. As he sat by the well a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus asked he for a drink. Two things are already strange about this story. In the first place Jews and Samaritans did not mix. This was why Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, showing that even enemies were neighbours to each other in God’s sight. The second point is that it was thought correct for a man to speak to an unaccompanied woman.
So Jesus was crossing two separate boundaries in speaking to the woman. He gave her a clue as to his identity in his comments when asking for a drink. "If only you knew who you were talking to you would have asked for water, living water." said Jesus. He then proceeded to tell her about "living water" and how it was such that a drinker would never thirst again.
At the very end of the conversation Jesus told her that He was the Messiah. So she went off to bring her fiends to meet Jesus. I have deliberately missed out part of the narrative to concentrate on how Jesus crossed taboo boundaries to get over his message. The story tells us something very important. It tells us that though we might have prejudices against other people and faiths that Jesus did not.
So, no matter who you are, what your faith is, what your skin colour, is this story is for you. I tell it to emphasise that there is no-one for whom Christ did not die for on the cross. We all qualify for the living water that ensures we never spiritually thirst again.
It was Sunday and the clergyman, sailing to a new life in the United States after the death of his wife, chose to preach on the love of God at the ship’s service. His seven year old daughter was with him later, as he leaned on the deck rail and gazed out over the sea. "Does God love us as much as we loved Mummy?" asked the little girl. "Look out over that ocean," said her father. "God’s love stretches further than that. Look down and think how deep the water is. God’s love is deeper. It is higher than the sky above us." The child pondered for a while and then suddenly her face opened up into the most beautiful smile. "That wonderful, Daddy. We are right in the middle of it!"
One day I attended the funeral of a work colleague. His friend, a Welsh clergyman, spoke to the mourners. "I only have one sermon that I preach," he told us. "It is about the love of God!" As a preacher I know that this is true of all preachers. Whatever we say in our sermon, the subject is the Love of God. That love is for you and you can reach out for it, because, as I have just said, you stand in the very middle of it.
A well known story about Jesus is the one where he was thirsty and went to a well to get a drink of water. As he sat by the well a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus asked he for a drink. Two things are already strange about this story. In the first place Jews and Samaritans did not mix. This was why Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, showing that even enemies were neighbours to each other in God’s sight. The second point is that it was thought correct for a man to speak to an unaccompanied woman.
So Jesus was crossing two separate boundaries in speaking to the woman. He gave her a clue as to his identity in his comments when asking for a drink. "If only you knew who you were talking to you would have asked for water, living water." said Jesus. He then proceeded to tell her about "living water" and how it was such that a drinker would never thirst again.
At the very end of the conversation Jesus told her that He was the Messiah. So she went off to bring her fiends to meet Jesus. I have deliberately missed out part of the narrative to concentrate on how Jesus crossed taboo boundaries to get over his message. The story tells us something very important. It tells us that though we might have prejudices against other people and faiths that Jesus did not.
So, no matter who you are, what your faith is, what your skin colour, is this story is for you. I tell it to emphasise that there is no-one for whom Christ did not die for on the cross. We all qualify for the living water that ensures we never spiritually thirst again.
It was Sunday and the clergyman, sailing to a new life in the United States after the death of his wife, chose to preach on the love of God at the ship’s service. His seven year old daughter was with him later, as he leaned on the deck rail and gazed out over the sea. "Does God love us as much as we loved Mummy?" asked the little girl. "Look out over that ocean," said her father. "God’s love stretches further than that. Look down and think how deep the water is. God’s love is deeper. It is higher than the sky above us." The child pondered for a while and then suddenly her face opened up into the most beautiful smile. "That wonderful, Daddy. We are right in the middle of it!"
One day I attended the funeral of a work colleague. His friend, a Welsh clergyman, spoke to the mourners. "I only have one sermon that I preach," he told us. "It is about the love of God!" As a preacher I know that this is true of all preachers. Whatever we say in our sermon, the subject is the Love of God. That love is for you and you can reach out for it, because, as I have just said, you stand in the very middle of it.
posted by Keith Alexander at Saturday, January 07, 2006
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