The story of the woman at the well is one of my favorites. It's is commonly held that she was a social outcast because she came to draw water in the noon day heat. Couple that with the fact she had five failed marriages and was then living with a man and you can see how commentators suggest her troubled social standing.
Jump forward twenty centuries and the woman is not that much different from a woman who lives just down the street from you or me. Or the man who has spent time in prison and not having any luck finding friends in your community.
No doubt there are just as many people living in our own communities who have, shall we say, "messed up." They have in one way or another been on the wrong side of society's laws or norms. Result? --- A past to deal with and zero friends to help them turn their life around.
As pastors, what are we doing about societies "throw aways?"
He is a good pastor who knows where to go to find the desperate souls in need of help. He leads others into "active" concern for the hungry and the poor and those who are pushed to the margins of society.
He realizes he must remind God's people that those living on the streets, in ditches, in vacant lots, in condemned houses and under bridges are just as deserving of God's love and help as they are.
Now, go back and watch again the previous video, "What does God say about poor people?" Ask God to make you sensitive to how you should respond to those in need in your community?
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