In the name of Jesus. Amen.
This long lesson was adapted into a poem that I want to share with you. If you go to the church facebook page you can find link to a video in which a young woman performs the poem in a spoken word, slam poetry style. It's really powerful. Let me share it with you.
Jesus knows. He knows the woman at the well. He know about how she is living with a man who is not her husband, he knows how (for whatever reason) she has had five other husbands in the past, he knows that she does not believe in God, he knows that she is at the well at midday, instead of the morning with the other women, he knows that she is rejected by society, by her family, by her friends, by her town. Jesus knows her, maybe even better than she knows herself.
As the poem suggests, to be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known. Have you ever had anyone who has known you? Who has known everything about you? Have you ever had someone who knows your deepest, most painful secrets? Have you ever had someone who knows you for the real you?
We all long for this. We all yearn to have someone know everything about us. We all hope that someone in this world will understand who we are, and how we are, and why we are.
At this well, Jesus knows this woman. He knows everything about her. And for this woman to be known completely by this man of God, changes how we should see the world. Here is a woman, an outcast, a failure, a sinner, a disappointment, and yet, Jesus, God in the flesh, knows her. He doesn't have to take the time to get to know her, he already does. This woman, on the total outside of life, is known by God, and she is loved.
She is loved so deeply that she comes to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. She is loved so deeply that her entire life is changed. The way she sees herself and the way she sees the world are completely changed.
If you've ever longed for someone to know you, then you should know this: God does know you. God knows you better than you know yourself. God knows your every secret, your every desire, your every hurt, your every hope. God knows you and God loves you.
And if that were the end of the story, what an incredible one it would be. But this woman at the well is loved so deeply that she can't help but want to bring this good news to others. Because Jesus knows her and because he loves her, she can't help but bring this good news to the rest of the city. The same is true for us. When you know how much God knows you and loves you, it's hard to not want to share that with others. To be known and loved so deeply by the God who made everything will change your life and will change the world.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
