Let Grace Talk

Imagine with me, you meet this lady who just can’t seem to make a marriage work. She’s got 5 ex.’s and she’s currently dating another guy. In fact, she’s beginning to think marriage is the problem so they’re just living together and calling it good. We shy away from her, we look down on her. Or maybe we confront her, we share judgment with her, and wag our finger.

But then I read how Jesus treated her. She’s the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4) The lady we’d be able to pick out of a crowd anywhere because gossip told us all about her.

Jesus sought out a conversation with her. He offered her living water, everlasting life. And when her living arrangement came up, it was because he was reaching out to the people important to her. “Go get your husband.”  And when she says she doesn’t have one, Jesus responds, I know. I know everything about you, and I didn’t hold back from offering you my gift of salvation. (Rom.5:8) In fact, go get the guy you’re living with because I’m interested in saving him, too. (1 Tim. 2:4)

I wonder if we’d be like the disciples looking on, wondering why Jesus is associating with this woman. Or would we be like Jesus? Seek them out and tell them the gospel of grace?

Who’s our “Samaritan”? The person we’re uncomfortable around, you know, the person we believe we’re better than? It may be the girl who just can’t seem to wear a proper outfit for church, or the guy who lets curse words slip into his conversation. Maybe it’s the old man next door who harps on every little way we live your life. Maybe it’s the shady character down the grocery aisle we avoid by “remembering we need bananas”, or the talkative lady who sits down next to us at the theater and refuses to exit our bubble. I wonder if there’s not someone every day we avoid because we judge them. But if Jesus were here, He’d be busy talking grace and forgiveness, meeting needs, and welcoming them home.

What if we were to not lessen our consciousness of sin, but our condemnation of those in sin? To remember we are not far off from any of those who have fallen prey to the flesh. Are we not one decision away from being in their place? (1 Cor. 6:11) The decision to accept our Savior’s offer of eternal life. A decision they too can make, if someone, like us, interested in being like Jesus, took the time to seek out conversation, offer hope, and show love.

Because the interesting thing about this story is how Jesus tells his disciples about the whitened harvest right after his encounter at the well. While the disciples are attempting to wrap their mind around Jesus’ actions, guess who was already harvesting?

The Samaritan woman.

Read vs 39-42 and see how a sinner-turned-child-of-God beat the seasoned-disciples to leading others to Jesus. She had a message worth sharing, a message of grace. And so do we.

When we live IN the reality of God's grace toward us, we live OUT the reality of grace for others. Let grace talk.