Maria, Jesus, You & me.

I met the lady at the well yesterday. Her name is Maria and she let me drink from her cup.

Who are those your current faith community avoids or shuns? Yesterday, I met Maria the women with three teeth and an alluring smile, who is present and tolerated, but overlooked. She’s the woman who naps on the church’s lawn, never attends mass, but always shows up for cookies and cake at the coffee hour. She reminds me of the lady at the well. When I gaze into her eyes and smile I recognize something deeper in her soul. It feels as though God is smiling back at me. She offers me a drink from the well of humanity and allows for me to recognize my own loneliness and brokenness. I don’t have to hide or pretend when I talk to Maria. Maria allows me to be real and authentic. That is when I know that I am in the presence of Jesus. If you seriously thirst to encounter Jesus look for the Maria’s of this world that is where you’ll find Jesus. She's the lady at the well.

To avoid the dominant religious voice who has all the answers and can define who is "in or out" in God’s community, Jesus decides to hang out with the symbol of one scorned, one belonging to the heretical group-- a Samaritan. This was a "dirty word" to the Pharisees who once referred to Jesus as a Samaritan. Who are those that your faith community or denomination is absolutely convinced are the heretics? The group who did not accept or read scripture in the same manner and therefore were actually hated. God goes out of God’s way to visit those who the religious world claims has it all wrong—those shunned by the establishment. Who are those your current faith community or denomination claims has it all wrong?

Isn’t it amazing that God goes to the shamed, scorned, and shunned and actually avoids the dominant righteous religious voice? Think about those in your faith community, who are those who are the shamed, scorned, and shunned based on their beliefs, ethnicity, or social class? As I sat in church yesterday hearing the words from the John 4 about the lady at the well my heart was gripped by the reality that God meets folks whose souls thirst for love and acceptance. Funny, Jesus meets the lady in the heat of the day when she knew that she would not encounter other people. In the loneliest region of my soul is where I have often encounter the One who offers to refresh my life. God will visit those places in our lives where we attempt to hide our shame and pain. God cleanses our wounds with the living water of hope and life and applies the healing balm of love to our core pain.

The presence of God is where we never have to hide form our shame and we will never be shunned. Getting it wrong and missing the mark seems to be the prerequisite to hanging out with God. It is only in getting it wrong that God can reveal one’s beauty and restore one to wholeness.

My friend Steve has a very unique post about the folks at the well and the shocking gospel.
Check it out!