Thirsty for Acceptance?
by Pastor Bill Pevlor
What a complex culture we live in. We’ll fight viscously for our rights
of individuality and then do our best to blend in with the rest of the crowd. A
good deal of effort and personal resources are spent on “fitting in.” People
will go to great lengths and expense to drive the right car, wear the right
clothes, have body parts surgically altered and live in the right neighborhood
simply to be accepted. You would think, as much as we desire to “fit in,”
that we would be more inclined to include as many others as possible.
Ironically, the more exclusive a group is, the more we tend to want to be a part
of it…and keep others out.
A very
interesting episode of unusual acceptance occurred in the fourth chapter of the
Gospel of John. Jesus was on His way to Galilee. On the way he stopped to rest
for a few moments at a well in Samaria. A local woman came to the well to draw
some water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. This surprised the woman. She
recognized that Jesus was a Jew, and she was a Samaritan. Their racial and
religious differences had created centuries of division between the two people
groups. In fact, the Jews often referred to the Samaritans as dogs. They were
definitely considered second-class citizens; not part of the “in crowd.”
This scenario
has a hauntingly familiar ring to it. In America we have not only dealt with
racial prejudice and hostility, we have fought a war over it. Our very nation
was divided. Families were even split over the basic issue of whether or not
blacks should be considered equal to whites.
The Civil War
took place a little over one hundred and fifty years ago. That is a long time to
most of us, but historically speaking, it was relatively recent. While those of
us living in America in the dawn of the twenty-first century may like to think
that we have far surpassed the cultural level of our racially prejudiced
forefathers, we may be surprised to find how much misunderstanding and hatred
still lurk within our nation’s borders, and possibly even our own hearts.
Let us examine
how Jesus responded when confronted with this issue. When the Samaritan woman
approached the well, Jesus spoke to her first. He did not snub her or try to
ignore her. He spoke to her and asked her for a courtesy, a drink of water. As
we continue reading, we see that thirst was not the Lord’s only purpose in
speaking. Jesus began to look into the heart of this woman and see not a social
outcast, but a thirsty soul. He began to tell her that if she drank of His water
she would never thirst again. Jesus went on to do something He did for few other
people. He actually revealed His identity as the Messiah to her (John 4:26).
This scene with
the woman at the well was not the only time Jesus broke the rules of socially
acceptable behavior by ministering to those considered unworthy by society. In
fact, He rather made a habit of it. One of the twelve men chosen to be His
disciples, His closest followers, was a publican named Levi, or Matthew. This
man may have been a Jew, but he was as despised as the Samaritans and considered
a traitor because he was a fraudulent tax collector for the occupying Roman
government. Yet Jesus looked at Matthew and saw another thirsty soul in need of
a drink. Jesus offered him the refreshing, cool water of acceptance, and Matthew
left his trade behind and became a devoted follower of Jesus.
In Luke 15:2,
the Jewish religious leaders were indignant with Jesus who they said,
“...receives sinners...” Thank God He did, and He still does! The Bible says
in Romans 3:23, that we have all sinned. There is not one among us who does not
qualify to be received by Jesus!
Let us look upon
our neighbors with the same compassion with which Jesus viewed Matthew and the
woman at the well. Rather than focusing on physical or socio-economic traits
that may cause us to view someone as less valuable than ourselves and exclude
them from our “in crowd,” let us remember that in God’s eyes, we are all
stained with the guilt of sin. We are all in need of the living water of love
and forgiveness that Jesus has to offer, and we are all qualified to receive it!
God does not
look at the color of our skin or the figure in our bank accounts. He sees us all
the same, thirsty souls in need of a drink. This same Matthew, tax collector
turned disciple, is the only Gospel writer to record the following passage, “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
(Matthew 5:6)
Are
you thirsty? Why not come to Jesus today and take a drink?
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