Due to weather conditions, all in-person daytime and evening programs have been canceled across the church’s locations for Wednesday, except for the Recovery programs and Food Pantry at Overland Park. Decisions for Thursday daytime programs will correspond with local school district decisions and will be posted on the church’s website.
Scheduled programming has resumed for Thursday, February 13 at all Resurrection locations.
7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.
9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)
10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”
In the hot Middle East, most women enjoyed morning or evening social time as they drew water at the town well. This woman came alone at noon, which probably meant the other town women shunned her. John gave non-Palestinian readers a key explanation of why this conversation was remarkable—”Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.” Jesus made the first move, asking matter-of-factly, “Give me some water to drink.”
Dear Jesus, you were willing to ask for, and to accept, help even from unlikely people. Give me an openness to understand and share how your living water can quench the deepest thirsts of my heart. Amen.
Lydia Kim serves as a pastor of Connection and Care at Resurrection Leawood. An avid believer that growing in faith pairs well with fellowship and food, she is always ready for recommendations on local restaurants and coffee shops.
I was told at a young age that I asked too many questions. Did that ever happen to you? My curiosity was a hassle, overwhelming for some, and inconvenient for most. I was told to stop asking, and after being corrected many times, I stopped. My questions weren’t wanted, and I was told that if I was “good,” I wouldn’t ask and that something was wrong with my faith. So, I learned to hide what I was really thinking and feeling. And I learned to wear a mask in front of everyone, thirsting for anyone to see me.
After meeting Jesus, it took a lot of time, therapy, and relearning to trust that I was accepted–no matter what my thoughts, fears, feelings, and questions were. And if I’m honest, there are moments where I still question, even though I know that Jesus accepts me wholly for who I am-–it’s hard to give up the mask I wore for so long.
In this story, I am reminded that Jesus frees the woman at the well because he really sees her. He sees behind the masks we wear and the walls we put up. He takes the first step towards us, reaches out to us, and says, “I see you and love you.”
Friends, what would it be like to put down the mask and live in the love and freedom that Christ has to offer? Jesus is willing and waiting to share this living water. Believe me, it changes everything.
* NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (p. 9245). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
** Quoted from a 1968 address in Malcolm Muggeridge, author, and Ian A. Hunter, ed., The Very Best of Malcolm Muggeridge. Vancouver, B.C.: Regent College Publishing, 1988, p. 190.