Once we were outcasts

Yesterday in our church family worship the wind of God was blowing through our service. The music was very meaningful, and the fellowship was strong especially during our potluck. It shouldn't, but it always surprises me when I see God's power move through people. God orchestrated the day obviously, but it was interesting to see how everything came together. I prepared my message earlier in the week to speak about the woman at the well found in John chapter 4, and had found a video about a woman who was in need of Christ`s love called "An Unspoken Plea". I did use these on Sunday, but the movement of God started in our Adult Sunday School class. The lesson was from Luke 8:40-56, Jairus`daughter and the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. We looked at this woman for a few moments and came to the understanding that likely she felt the judgment of her community and felt like an outcast. She felt so unworthy, that she thought she needed to sneak up to Jesus to try and be healed. Here is this unclean woman who simply by touching Jesus made him ceremonially unclean, but somehow knew Jesus could help. She was desperate for help. As soon as she touches him, she is healed and Jesus knows power has left him. So he puts her on the spot an asks who has touched him. She confesses that she did with fear and trembling. And in that moment that Jesus recognizes her faith, she is no longer an outcast, she  is accepted into God`s kingdom.

So that was Sunday School, and then I shared about the woman at the well and how Christ accepted this woman and changed her life. She too, felt the judgment of her community, hence why she was at the well alone in the middle of the day. She was an outcast in her village, and it`s to this outcast that Jesus confesses he is the Messiah. Her life is forever changed and she too accepts the welcome into God`s kingdom. The morning was a real reminder to me and others that once we too were outcasts, and yet God`s love embraced us and Jesus changed us forever. The other reminder for me was if Christ can do that for me, why would I not believe he could do that for others. We must never forget that Jesus accepts the outcast, whether they look like a hobo or a lawyer. Which means we must too. Embrace others with love and not judgment, and see the power of God work in their lives. Remember, we too were once outcasts.