Nougat 2

Ever been challenged with our past when sharing the Gospel? What did you do? Consider today’s Holy Nougat

“Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!” … “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”” ‭‭John‬ ‭4:26, 29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It didn’t add up. Jesus had just self-revealed; and yet that woman was unclear about Jesus’ identity. It really does not make sense.

Except …

When considered that for all intents and purposes the woman was an outsider in her own community; it makes more sense to me. Just think, this was the woman who labeled immortal by the community and was definitely not likely to be counted as a theologian. And, though she might have deserved it, her assertion would not have gone over positively.

Who would have taken her assertion seriously – the seven men with whom she’d been intimately familiar? Assuming that they were all alive; what would their response be? – Would they be comparing the unknown ‘Messiah’ with themselves? And, how would the wife-family of that last ‘husband’ receive the woman’s con-fident statement about Jesus’ identity? It may not have been readily accepted.

You see siblings in Christ, although we are new creatures in Christ, not every one can accept us as we are. There are those who take pleasure in reminding us of our past, unable to accept any other pictures of us beyond who we were. This does not mean that we no longer have a mandate to share the Gospel. So many of the same people who are focused on our past need to experience the hope that Jesus Christ brings.

So –

What do we do?

Well … maybe like our sister (yes, she is our sister in Christ!) we find a way to share the news that invites others in, but doesn’t compromise our beliefs. I remember Rev Sylvan Hinds, one of my home church’s evangelists, telling some youth that we begin with our personal experience. What our encounter with Jesus has been. Then we invite others to join us for their own encounter. And that’s what our sister did and said.

She began with the invitation: ’Come see’;

followed by her experience: ’Who told me’; and

concluded with the hope of transfor-mation: ’Could he be the Christ?’

Interestingly, she offered no judgement nor condemnation. Not a one!

May we, like our sister, move past our past and offer God’s loving grace to a hungry and dying world.

—

May all we seek be found in Christ