I just got done listening to Greg Boyd preaching on worship (I listen while I dig holes in the road with a pick). He taught and then they had a prolonged worship with communion tables set up. He made the invite to everyone and followed by saying they had open communion, "Jesus never did background checks and neither do we". So when I got back to the office I talked about this with Dave and we joked about the background checks and such and got to talking about the woman at the well. We like to really look at each moment as scripture tells the story. The very first thing that Jesus did, knowing her background and everything, was to ascribe worth to her by asking her for a drink. No Rabbi would have dared speak to the woman much less let her touch a vessel from which he would drink.
What kind of world would it be if the first thing we did when we met someone is to ascribe worth to them? Not in a 'hey I want to sell you a set of tires' or 'hey nice dress' kind of way but to find a way to ascribe worth to someone that would speak to their very humanity.
It'd be like a mustard seed, or like yeast, or like what God put between the water below and the water above on the 3rd day.
Shalom
1 comment:
The thing that came to mind reading this was how we treat the low end service type workers. Do I throw the change on the counter, grunt something and leave, or treat the person like a person.
The amazing thing about Jesus, well there are a few things, but one amazing thing was how he combined grace and love with truth. For me the politeness thing would come easier, but speaking the truth to her and really doing it in love would be hard. When Jesus valued her and spoke truth to her it set her free.
In terms of your question of what kind of world it would be, I just keep thinking what would happen to a community if a church or two really took this on. I think there are glimpses of it here and there and it'd be a blast to be in the middle of something like that.
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