Savior to All

The ones who get the message are not always the ones we targeted.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me everything I have ever done.' So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.' - John 4:39-42

In todays Gospel reading, Jesus does something that would have caused the Pharisees to judge him harshly.  He accepts an invitation to stay with the Samaritans, a people considered unclean.

But the significance of his change of plans to stay with these people indicates a willingness to spread his message beyond the borders of the Jewish people.  He, in all aspects, is reaching out to the world, which is acknowledged by the Samaritans who say they recognize him as savior to all.

What begins with a chance encounter with a woman at the well, ends with the conversion of a whole town.  What does that tell us about our ministry to serve?

If we follow Jesus' lead here, we will go to where others might not consider safe or even possible.

We have no way of knowing who will get the message and take it to heart, so why not share with everyone we encounter? 

We can get all caught up in an argument over who is considered saved, just believers in Christ or everyone.  The fact that John shows us Jesus is savior of all tells me Jesus has his sights set on the whole world.

We may not need to understand how that will work, whether those who believe in God but not in Jesus need to be converted or not, but that shouldn't stop us from going out to share what we believe.

If members of all faiths reach out to those with no faith, eventually all will believe, and no one will be left who has no faith.

Then, we can sit down and argue points of faith.

But until then, there is much work to do.  There is a big unbelieving world out there, and someone needs to talk to it.

More to come...