The Well

Let me tell you story about my life. Many of you can relate and many can at least imagine themselves in my story. I was born in a little town outside the small city of Miami in a barrio called Hialeah, FL in the year of our lord 1990. Both of my parents were in their young twenties, not a lot of money to their name matter of fact almost no money to their names, but where rich in so many other ways. My father was a young Puerto Rican man who, His english was not very good looking, and my mother, well She could speak your ears off in two different languages as she was finishing her degree in college for something in art, I cant quit really remember. I was just a new born give me a break! What I do remember was the smell of the hot summer days as the pavement continued to take a beating from the sun, the sound of screaming, yelling (Here, here, I’m open) sounded in the distance and the smell of fresh cut grass and the sound of a baseball hitting the mitt. What at the time seemed to me to be the most glorious sound. You see this was the sound of the local park, where everyone gathered to hangout, take a couple people to school and hand out a lesson in many things, weather that was Handling class101 or How to drive a ball in the gap, Or how to get beat by the local latino playing slamming the dominoes on the table and yelling “capique,” which signified that the game was over. Oh, and the wonderful smell of Bar B Que in the distance, and loud amazing music being played in the background! Oh what a lovely smell and sound to recall back to memory! You see this was my local well, this, this was where everybody came to refresh, and even re-hydrate. Some came for the social environment others for the physical aspect of life at “The well” or as we would call it, The Park!

One thing was for sure, that those at “The well” those at my “Well,” well they wouldn't be necessarily be considered apart of the rest of society. They were considered poor, mixed racially, a bunch of young wild kids, and even college age students that weren't in school and so they were label trouble makers, bottom of the barrel no good for nothing class of people that could not intermingle with the rest.

My well represented my community, to me, it was beautiful but to others, well they saw it as a group of people that needed to be pushed out of society, outcasted, pushed under the rug and maybe even forgotten about.

You see my story is not much different from the story that we will encounter today. Our story takes place at a well in a community that was considered, un-clean, a place that you would not want to be caught at especially If were a Jew. A place called Samaria!

There are two main characters in our story the first you know very well, Or at least you have herd of often. The second well, she’s gotten some popularity as of late but not as well known as the first. You know this story though, its been spoken of often, preached about many times, its the story of the Samaritan women and Jesus who have an encounter at “The Well.”

As we close our series on “NEXT: A fight fought by all” I want to retell this story from a different perspective. Because I believe that there is something very interesting about this story, something that we can take away from not only the story but also from the actions of both of our main characters.

My Sermon in a sentence is this;

Are we willing to Endure Social, Physical and even emotional hardship to bring Hope, Restoration and Redemption to those considered “un-worthy” for the Kingdom of God?

Let’s see if we can find the answer to this in our story today!

Turn with me to As your turning just know were not going to have time to read this whole story so I would encourage you to please go home and read it in its entirety today, because its a great and powerful story!

1: Jesus is willing to risk it all for the one

My first Point : Jesus was willing to risk it all for the one, even though He was exhausted

Look what the text say’s- v4-6

English Standard Version Chapter 4

4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

How often have we not gone through a place because we considered it unfit or not good enough for us to travel through because we don’t want to be seen in that place.

How often have we walked on the opposite side of the club or bar, a cigar lounge, a College sorority or fraternity house because we don’t want even a small misconception that we may have been in that place.

For some reason when Christ opens our eyes to who he is and what He has done for us we get this sense of superiority like well I”m saved and I’m better than them. We used to be them, if it wasn’t because of God’s Grace we would still be lost in our wickedness.

Praise God that someone decided to go into the unwanted place to bring this good news of Hope, to tell you and me about Jesus.

Praise God that Jesus was willing to go into the unwanted place to bring Hope to the hopeless to set free the captive, Praise God that He was willing to walk and endure tiredness to speak to the outcasted. To sit at the well and wait for this Samaritan women.