LOVING THE OUTCASTS (Pariahs)
John 4:1-18, 6/11/2017
Introduction: One of the more
remarkable movements of modern times is Alcoholics Anonymous or AA, a
fellowship of men and women who share their experiences, strength and hope with
each other in order to help each other to recover from alcoholism. A striking
feature of AA is the degree to which social barriers are broken down. AA
meetings are attended by diverse groups of people who would not normally
associate with each other. If you were to attend an AA meeting in Boston tomorrow,
you could well end up sitting between the Mayor, and someone who has just been
released from prison; or between a famous basketball player and someone who has
spent the last few years living under a bridge. You would meet people who are
very different from each other, yet have all been outcasts in their own
individual ways.
Nowhere
is this more evident than in strife-torn countries where people who would
otherwise have been enemies have found common ground in AA. I recently read an
article about AA in Israel where Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Arabs, both men
and women attend AA group. There was no animosity between them. For all of
them, AA was a haven away from suicide bombings and counter strikes and a place
where they could accept each other for who and what they were. In AA, there are
no barriers of gender, class or race, and they find unity.
AA
seems to be doing a good job at reaching out to outcasts, we as church I
believe can do a much better job because we have Jesus Christ, the only one who
can truly embrace the outcast to heal and to restore their dignity. Can you
imagine what difference would that make in our society if churches learn to
embrace the outcasts among us? I want to
share with us a familiar story in the bible where Jesus reaches out and saves a
social outcast of his time. I title this message, Loving the Outcasts.
(pariahs). John 4:1-18
Before
we delve deep, let’s look at the definition of an outcast. (pariah) “A person who is avoided or not accepted by
a social group, esp. because he or she is not liked, respected, or trusted;”
In John 4th chapter, we come across a group called the Samaritans
who were treated as the Outcasts by the Jews. What do we know about the
Samaritans?
I
WHY WERE THE SAMARITANS TREATED AS OUTCASTS?
SAMARITAN,
SAMARITANS usually this term refers to a person who belonged to an Israelite
sect located in the territory of Samaria between Judea and Galilee. According
to II Kings 17, when the Assyrians conquered the Northern regions of Israel,
they brought people from the surrounding nations to settle in Samaria. This was
a military strategy of the Assyrians known as population shifting. The mixing
of foreigners with the people living in Samaria fostered syncretism. Foreigners
brought their gods, customs and culture with them. There were interracial
marriages, hence the Samaritans were no longer considered as pure Jewish race.
The
Samaritans were rejected by the Jews in the intertestamental period. If you are
an avid reader of the Bible you will know that God always reaches out to the
marginalized, and the social outcasts, so even the mixed group of Samaritans
are not beyond the scope of God’s salvation plan. Keeping that in mind Jesus
was reaching out to the Smartian woman at the well.
II BREAKING
DOWN THE FENCES
We
pick up our story from here. During his ministry one day Jesus left Judea and
went back to Galilee. Vs 4-6 reads, “Now he had to go through Samaria. So, he
came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had
given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was
from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.” When the Jews
conveniently avoided Samaria, why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? Out of
all the towns why Sychar, and why near the plot of Jacob? Let’s look for answers.
Jews
for all practical reasons avoided traveling through Samaria, not because it was
too far and a roundabout way to get to the sea of Galilee, indeed it was the
shortest and the most straightforward route only 30 miles to the north. Yet
they avoided like a pest because of their past historical prejudices and cultural
hang ups. The Jews, simply did not like, and trust the Samaritans, let alone travelling
through their cities.
The
following scripture in Lk 9: 51-54 depicts the prejudice and attitude of the
Jews at that time: As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,
Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who
went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there
did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples
James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from
heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.”
Is
this kind of attitude of indifference and prejudice familiar to us? How do we
react when we come across people who are different than us and may not
necessarily share our religious and cultural values? Everything that Jesus did
during this encounter with the woman was to break down the fences that
separated Jews and Samaritans and raise an awareness that in God’s eyes there
are no social outcasts. Let’s see the imaginary fences that Jesus broke in his
pursuit of the outcasts.
Firstly,
his intentionality to go through the town of Samaria, challenged the long-held
misconception and the unreasonable avoidance of the Samaritans by the Jews. Secondly,
by going to the city of Sychar, near the plot Jacob had given to Joseph, Jesus
connected the Jewish people with their ancestral History. Thirdly, by reaching out
to the Samaritan woman in the broad day light, Jesus broke the racial, religious,
gender, and class fences that were strictly and at times unreasonably imposed
by the religious leaders of that time.
What
was the significance of the plot and the well? The plot is Israel’s ancestral
inheritance. Jacob’s well though it is only mentioned here in John, may have
been historically very significant. Later in the story we will find out by the
confession of the Samaritan woman, Jacob and his sons and probably the
subsequent generations might have drunk from it. Jesus used Jacob’s well as a
bridge to love the Samaritan woman and present Himself as the life-giving
Messiah, not only to her, but through her to the whole village of Samaritans.
III.
JESUS LOVES THE OUTCASTS
Let’s
continue with the conversation that took place between Jesus and the Samaritan
Woman. Jesus said to her, Vs 7 “Will you give me a drink?” The Samaritan woman
said to him how can you ask me a drink? (for Jews do not associate with
Samaritans) or do not use dishes Samaritans have used. In her question, we can
sense both a shock and a surprise.
She
must have thought, how could he being a Jew wanted to drink from a Samaritan,
not only that a Jewish man talking to a woman in public, that too a woman of
her reputation, which was not so great. Jesus let her remain in that state for
a while and said, Vs 10, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks
you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Jesus went on to say, Vs 13 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty
again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal
life.”
The
Samaritan woman must have been intrigued by this offer of the living water and
on top of that the continual supply of it, (if you are living in DR or Cape
Virden you wouldn’t pass up this offer easily), so she quickly responded, Sir,
“give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to
draw water.”
While
the Samaritan woman was only concerned about her physical needs, Jesus cleverly
lead her to recognize her real thirst her Soul thirst, so he offered her the
Living Water. What is this Living water all about? The Living water in the
Bible is often referred to God himself. God had something to say to the
Israelites who had given up on him in the pursuit of the gods of other nations
and earthly pleasures. Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They
have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken
cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Rev
7:17, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he
will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes.” Here Jesus was promising to the Samaritan woman his very own
presence that would later on will be in the hearts of all the believers through
the Holy Spirit indwelling in them.
Jesus
gently convicted the Samaritan woman of her sins and revealed himself as the
messiah. The Samaritan woman runs back into her village and tells everybody, to
come and see the Messiah. The whole village turns up to see Jesus, and because
of his words many more became believers. After this encounter, they too
recognized that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world. What a powerful story
of Jesus’ love towards the outcasts.
What
are the implications of this story for us today? Who are the outcasts or the Pariah’s? Where do we find them? Let’s face this
question honestly. When we think of outcasts, we tend to think of people in
other countries. For example, I know in India this is a huge problem. But how
about here in our country? Do we know anybody who perhaps might be feeling that
they are not accepted in their family or in a social group? How about the
lonely kid in your class who has been bullied by others because he or she is
from another country or race? How are we
to respond to gender and racial discrimination in the work place?
How
about the recent developments in our country, within minutes of signing of the executive
order banning the entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, suddenly
Muslims became the new pariahs. We have heard and witnessed horror stories. Mothers,
fathers, children, students, employees from this community suddenly feel they
are not wanted here or they do not belong here. We take pride in our diversity
in Sharon. There are people from 88 nationalities call Sharon their home. Sharon
is also home to 80 Muslim families (coming from 20 nations) and the Islamic
Center of New England, one of the largest mosques and Muslim elementary schools
in the Commonwealth.
Recently,
from our Interfaith Clergy association several Rabbis and clergy went to the
state house to submit testimony in support of the Safe Communities Act. How
would Jesus respond to the discrimination and prejudice that goes on unchecked
on a daily basis? It looks like the AA, groups and the Inter Faith clergy
groups seems to be getting the message. What can Hope Church, do to reach out to
the Outcasts or the Pariahs? When it comes to reaching out to the Outcasts,
Jesus is our model, he showed in his Word, some principles and best practices.
Here are a few steps we can take in our
pursuit of loving the outcasts. First,
we must recognize, that all of us once were outcasts because of our sin. But
thank God, because of God’s love, mercy, and abundant grace we have been saved,
therefore we are no longer the outcasts, we belong to the family of God.
Secondly, get to know our neighbors, befriend them, invite them to our church
events, get involved in the community activities. I encourage you to attend, a
“Neighbor 2 Neighbor event”, an Inter Faith Community Picnic that is planned
for June 29th. Finally pray
for them so that the Holy Spirit will convict them. My prayer is that we, the
Hope Church will bring hope, by building bridges, breaking down fences, and by
sharing the gospel of love and embrace the outcasts wherever we might find them.
Amen
