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In John 4:15, the Samaritan woman states, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” She is thirsty for acceptance and a new way of living. She is searching for hope. She realizes that this water is life-changing and wants to drink deeply of this living water.
In our society, people are thirsty for justice, hope, forgiveness, acceptance, and, most of all, love. Jewish people in Jesus’ time did not accept Samaritans. This not the mind of Christ. We, as a society, need not bypass the marginalized. We are to embrace all to reflect the mind of Christ.
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman put a crack in the dam, which allowed living water to flow to the Samaritans. Living water is passing on the knowledge of Christ by giving honest testimony, both in our words and actions. This will allow people who do not know Christ to enter in a believing relationship with him.
We need people to crack the dams of racism, classism, and genderism in our society like Christ did with this conversation.
This message is excerpted from “With God, all people matter” by Rashion Santiago from the December 21, 2022, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is the Third Sunday in Lent. Today is International Women’s Day.