This Sunday - March 8th 3rd Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7 ~ Psalm 95 ~ Romans 5:1-11 ~ John 4:5-42

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Three strikes and you’re out!  This is a familiar idea to us.  It’s not just in baseball, but it has influenced repeat offender laws and found its way into all sorts of places.  While this idea wasn’t present in first century Palestine, the woman Jesus meets by the well in the Gospel lesson, has three strikes against her.

First, she’s a woman.  The culture was extremely patriarchal and unrelated men & women didn’t mix.  Proper etiquette would not permit Jesus to talk with this woman beyond expecting her to serve him.  

Second, she’s a Samaritan.  Samaritans were essentially cousins of Jews, but were considered unsophisticated, unclean, and generally to be avoided.  A fine upstanding Jew of Jesus’ day would have considered it beneath them to talk with a Samaritan.  

Third, she’s an outsider.  Drawing water was a social opportunity.  Women would gather at the well to chat in the morning and evening.  No one came mid-day, unless you weren’t welcome at the more popular times.  We don’t know exactly why (maybe it’s her living arrangements) but this woman’s timing suggests that she’s being shunned by her community.

Three strikes, but she’s not out.  Jesus defies convention (to the shock of his own disciples) and welcomes her.  Instead we see the radical inclusion of Jesus’ grace.  It’s a different passage, but you can almost hear Jesus saying “Come to me all who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28).  This story reminds us that when Jesus says “all” he really means it.

After reading the scriptures for this day, discuss the following questions with someone else:

1. Share a time when you felt unwelcome because you had a “strike" against you.  How did it make you feel? 

2. Share a time when you felt compelled to welcome someone others were excluding.

3. Do you think there are limits to the love of God?