Marlys and I would like to say thank you to the many who have been praying for us these past few days.  On December 5, Marlys' mother went home to be with the Lord.  She had had a rugged couple of months.  In early October she had emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer.  Followng a time of recovery in a nursing center, the day before Thanksgiving she fell and broke her ankle in two places.  That necessitated a return to the nursing center, where she later developed a severe infection.  We are comforted in knowing that she is really at home this Christmas.  We miss her prayers - what a prayer warrior she was.  And we miss her encouragements. 

The world continues to be an interesting place.  The Middle East continues to be shrouded in uncertainty.  We have recently learned that Iran stopped their nuclear program back in 2003, but yet have bragged about what they were capable of doing.  They are still a country that bears our discriminate watch.  In our country, politics and weather continue grabbing headlines.  Even as a write these few lines, a major storm is paralyzing the East Coast after having crippled the nation's heartland with snow and ice.  Winter does not officially begin for another week, yet many are have had too much winter already.  In the world of politics all eyes are focused upon Iowa, where the first caucuses will be held on January 3.  Races seem to be tight in both parties.  Yet polls mean very little in Iowa.  I remember being part of the caucus system for many years while we lived in Iowa.  Those gatherings in living rooms, farm bureau halls, and library rooms really are what politics is all about.  I told someone recently that polls are thrown out the window when those meetings occur.  This certainly promises to be a very interesting year.  From time to time we shall try to look at the political landscape through the lens of scripture.

Now, let's dig into the Word.  We are back into John 4.  In our Musings early in November we examined this important encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman which occurred at a well.  I would like to pick up our story with verse 16.  There Jesus instructs her to go and to bring her husband to Him.  In verse 17 we have the woman's honest answer - she has no husband.  Now we can say many things about this woman regarding her morality, but we must admit to her integrity.  She did not cover up who she was.  She did not pretend to be something that she was not.  And, in verses 17 and 18 Jesus commends her honesty.  Which brings me to an interesting thought: In Jesus Christ we truly see ourselves as we are.  In Luke 5, after Jesus has instructed Peter and a few others on how to catch fish, Peter realizes who he is with these words: Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man (verse 8).  In order for us to have a right relationship with God, we must first have a right understanding of who we are.  Remember that little statement about the prodigal son as he was slopping the hogs?  Jesus tells us that he first came to his senses and then he admitted who he really was: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son (Luke 15:18-19).  We can never rationalize our sins before God.  We can never make excuses for our sins before God.  We can only admit to God that we are sinners. 

I think at this point in their dialogue, the woman began to sense that Jesus was no ordinary person.  Perhaps she became somewhat uncomfortable with someone who knew her life almost better than she did.  So, what do you do when you are uncomfortable?  You change the direction of the conversation.  The woman now asks Jesus about the location of worship.  In essence she asks Jesus, "Where can I find God?"  I think she is concerned about the proper place to go and to offer sacrifices for her sins.  As a Samaritan, she believed that the location was nearby on the Mountain of Gerizim, believed by the Samaritans to have been the place where Abraham met Melchizedek.  Jesus' response was this: "Woman, you can find God right here at this well."  How wonderful to know that we can worship a God who is not confined to any particular building or religious denomination.  God is present right now wherever you are.  I love the promise of Matthew 18:20: For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. 

Finally, Jesus gives this woman some guidance in how she should worship God.  But first he shares with her how not to worship God.  False worship selects what it wishes to know and understand about God and omits what it does not wish.  We cannot worship God by bringing along our scissors so we can excise what we don't like from the Scriptures.  False worship is also predicated upon fear - the fear of what might happen if you did not worship.  Sort of like not walking under a ladder or wearing the number 13 - you just don't know what might happen.  Many people today are drawn to worship - not out of a sense of rejoicing, but out of a sense of fear - a fear of what God might do to them if they failed to attend church, for instance.  Yet true worship flows from the heart.  Jesus told this incredible woman that she needed to worship God in spirit and in truth.  We need complete sincerity and complete reality in our approach to God.  True worship happens when our spirits speaks to and meets with God. 

Friends, the more I ponder this amazing story, the more I come to understand the significance this scene had for the ministry of Jesus.  In many ways, Jesus felt more liberty in discussing spiritual things with this pagan woman than with the religious leaders of the Jews.  Jesus truly ministered to her heart.  And that is what God wants each of us to do this Christmas Season 2007 - to minister to the hearts of those around us.  Perhaps there will be some Samaritans we can bring into the presence of the living God.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: I love this quote from C. S. Lewis: "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.