COMMUNICATING THE STORY by Eleanor Shepherd

 Recently I read a FaceTime post from a friend who was reflecting that the removal of all of our Christian influence from the schools. She recognized this means that children are growing up without the stories that were familiar to us and influenced so much of the classic literature we knew.

As I thought about that, I realized that these were the stories that also created the values that are important to us and knit us together in many ways. They gave meaning to our lives. This morning in my private prayer time, I was reminded of one of the stories that I have always appreciated.

It is the story that John recounts about the woman who was getting some water at a well in a town called Sychar, when Jesus stopped there to rest. He asked her for a drink of water, and she was quite surprised that he addressed her, as she was a Samaritan and He was Jewish.  Usually, the two groups kept their distance from one another. Not only that, but she was also a woman, and he was a man who was not part of her community and for him to speak to her was rather unorthodox, let alone ask her to give him a drink.

What I like about this story is that as their conversation continues, she discovers that this is a man that she can talk to, and he listens and answers her questions respectfully. In reading her story, I found that it was easy for me to image the backstory, listening to the conversation she had with Jesus. What I loved most of all was that when he asked her about her husband, she told the truth, and Jesus confirmed it, even if it was not the whole truth.  She said that she did not have a husband. Jesus affirmed that what she said was true, by letting her know that he was aware that she had had five husbands and that the man she was living with now, was not her husband. Knowing all of this about her, he still spoke to her with respect, and this convinced that this was no ordinary man.

I used the backstory that I created about her from what I read in the Bible, in my book, More Questions than Answers to show how Jesus was able to use the questions that people have about faith to help them to discover who God is and how much He loves them. This is the good news of the Bible and why I regret that today people do not have the opportunity to find themselves in such stories.

There are so many people who, like this lady so long ago in Sychar, are searching for love in all the wrong places. We who have been exposed to the powerful message of love know that there is One who loves us unconditionally and His story and His presence have transformed our lives. Often, because we have failed in living out what we have believed and discovered, folks around us do not know the depth of love that they could experience. Since the Bible is not popular, perhaps we will have to be clearer in showing the love that it expresses. We can graciously communicate the message to those we meet. Maybe for us that will be a way that we can offer them a drink of living water that their thirsty souls long for.