Pastor's Reflection 2024-10-17
by Rev. John Oda
"Jesus said (to the Samaritan woman), “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever. The water I give will be a spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” John 4: 13-14 (The Message)
When I was in High School, a friend and I decided to go on a big Spring Break adventure. We wanted to camp for seven days at El Capitán State Beach near Santa Barbara. (Thank you Mom, for trusting two teenage boys to drive almost 350 miles from Stockton!) It was a great trip. The weather was perfect, and the warm waters of Southern California were memorable. Unfortunately, we were not the best at planning out our meals (did I mention we were two teenage boys?) so by the evening of the 5th day we had completely run out of what little food we had brought, and we only had enough money to buy gas to get us back to Stockton. Without food, we decided to head back home. On the morning of 6th day, we walked to the cliff overlooking the ocean to take one last look at the blue sea. Just as we were about to walk back to the car, I noticed something fluttering in the breeze amongst the rocks a few feet below us. I reached down to grab it and to my utter surprise it was a $20 bill. That $20 would be enough to buy us both breakfast at the local diner and leave a nice tip. Our stomachs full, we drove back to Stockton, feeling blessed by that unearned gift. That was grace.
Grace is an unearned, freely given gift from God. It could be an act of kindness that comes into our lives unexpectedly without us having done anything to deserve it. It might be like those moments where everything falls into place, like hitting a series of green lights or finding a cherished parking space or finding a $20 bill. These things happen when we’re happy or sad and even when we feel unworthy, imperfect or broken.
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42) is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful and moving examples of this type of grace in the Gospels. The Samaritan woman, who came to the well for water, found herself in an unexpected conversation with Jesus. She ventured out to the well in the middle of the day, which was evidence that she had been marginalized by her community because all of the other women would visit the well in the morning when it was cool. It was not only a time for the women to collect water, but it was also a time to socialize. However this Samaritan woman was not welcomed to the well with the other women. One can easily imagine how she was shunned once or twice when she tried to go in the morning and then quickly learned that she was better off visiting the well when no one was there. She was not welcomed probably because she had five husbands, and the man she was living with was not her husband. Despite all of these things, Jesus saw her, spoke to her, and offered her grace without hesitation, knowing her flaws, knowing her past, and knowing her struggles. He broke every social barrier of his time - gender, ethnicity, and moral judgment - to meet this woman where she was and offered her something far beyond what she expected or even deserved in the eyes of society. Jesus offered her living water to quench her thirst – her thirst to be accepted, her thirst to feel whole, her thirst to be happy. This was grace.
God will meet us where we are and offer us grace despite our imperfections, our brokenness or how we feel about ourselves at the moment. It’s not given because we deserve it; it’s given because God loves us.
And because we have received this grace so generously from God, we are called to extend that same generosity to others. The grace that Jesus extends to us is not just a gift for ourselves – it is a gift to be generously shared.
When we think of generosity, we are not just talking about money or resources. Generosity in the light of grace goes beyond that. It is also about offering love, time, forgiveness, and compassion to those around us. Just as Jesus gave the Samaritan woman the living water, we are to be generous with what we have, knowing and trusting that the grace of Jesus will never run dry.
I want to invite you to participate in this year’s Stewardship and Capital Campaign at Wesley called “Abundant Grace, Abundant Giving”. We are offered the opportunity to share our time, our talents, our resources with others.
We hope that the grace you have experienced in your lives will inspire you to give abundantly and know that God’s grace will never be in short supply. Together, we will continue to work to be a community that mirrors God’s grace and offer love, support, and resources to those in our community who need it most.
Grace is an unearned, freely given gift from God. It could be an act of kindness that comes into our lives unexpectedly without us having done anything to deserve it. It might be like those moments where everything falls into place, like hitting a series of green lights or finding a cherished parking space or finding a $20 bill. These things happen when we’re happy or sad and even when we feel unworthy, imperfect or broken.
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42) is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful and moving examples of this type of grace in the Gospels. The Samaritan woman, who came to the well for water, found herself in an unexpected conversation with Jesus. She ventured out to the well in the middle of the day, which was evidence that she had been marginalized by her community because all of the other women would visit the well in the morning when it was cool. It was not only a time for the women to collect water, but it was also a time to socialize. However this Samaritan woman was not welcomed to the well with the other women. One can easily imagine how she was shunned once or twice when she tried to go in the morning and then quickly learned that she was better off visiting the well when no one was there. She was not welcomed probably because she had five husbands, and the man she was living with was not her husband. Despite all of these things, Jesus saw her, spoke to her, and offered her grace without hesitation, knowing her flaws, knowing her past, and knowing her struggles. He broke every social barrier of his time - gender, ethnicity, and moral judgment - to meet this woman where she was and offered her something far beyond what she expected or even deserved in the eyes of society. Jesus offered her living water to quench her thirst – her thirst to be accepted, her thirst to feel whole, her thirst to be happy. This was grace.
God will meet us where we are and offer us grace despite our imperfections, our brokenness or how we feel about ourselves at the moment. It’s not given because we deserve it; it’s given because God loves us.
And because we have received this grace so generously from God, we are called to extend that same generosity to others. The grace that Jesus extends to us is not just a gift for ourselves – it is a gift to be generously shared.
When we think of generosity, we are not just talking about money or resources. Generosity in the light of grace goes beyond that. It is also about offering love, time, forgiveness, and compassion to those around us. Just as Jesus gave the Samaritan woman the living water, we are to be generous with what we have, knowing and trusting that the grace of Jesus will never run dry.
I want to invite you to participate in this year’s Stewardship and Capital Campaign at Wesley called “Abundant Grace, Abundant Giving”. We are offered the opportunity to share our time, our talents, our resources with others.
We hope that the grace you have experienced in your lives will inspire you to give abundantly and know that God’s grace will never be in short supply. Together, we will continue to work to be a community that mirrors God’s grace and offer love, support, and resources to those in our community who need it most.
Posted in Newsletter 2024-10-17