by The Rev. Brent Kuhlman
John 4:5-26 / Romans 5:1-8
The way Jesus works is so, so, scandalous. Jesus does the unthinkable. The outrageous. He dares to speak to a woman in public. That’s strike one. She’s a half-breed gone astray from God’s ways Samaritan. Strike two. She’s a very naughty still in her sins Samaritan woman. Been through five husbands. Now she’s with a sixth man. But he’s not her husband. Strike three!
“Jesus, want a little advice? Stay away from sinful women like that. She may just be brash enough to put the moves even on you! Don’t tarnish your reputation. Hang out with some reputable folks for gosh sakes. Three strikes and you’re out I always say.”
We wouldn’t give her the time of day. We believe that we’re better than her. Compared to her we’re not so bad. We think. But we’re not.
And here, together with Ms. Naughty Sinner Samaritan comes the Lord Jesus Christ. When you’re squared up before the Lord all the comparisons with others stops. You, me and this naughty woman are all equally sinners before the Lord.
And yet Jesus deals with sinners. Ungodly sinners. He comes to them. To the naughty Samaritan woman at the well. To you and me. We’re all in the same boat. Deadbeat sinners. Dead in our trespasses and sins sinners. No Jesus! No salvation! Keep Jesus safely at bay and all that’s left is your dead sinful self. And you all know where you’ll end up without a Jesus whose glory it is ALWAYS to have mercy on sinners.
So Jesus comes with forgiveness. Forgiveness for all your sin. What sin do you have? What haven’t you done that needed to be done? What did you do that shouldn’t have been done? What is the sin that you want to stop doing but just can’t muster the will and strength to quit? It’s all forgiven. Not counted against you. For Jesus’ sake. He died. For you.
What love! What mercy! It’s stunning. After all, “while we were still weak . . . Christ died for the ungodly.” You. Me. This woman. The world. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And with forgiveness for Christ’s sake, there’s life and salvation. Jesus is the water. He’s the drink. The elixir of eternal life. Drink from Jesus (believe in Him) and there’s the true worship of God! Yes, that’s right. The highest worship of God is faith in Jesus! That’s worshiping God in spirit and in truth.
So drink up! Deeply! As much as Jesus avails Himself for you. Guzzle down His Word of Absolution with your Amen. Imbibe His most holy Body and Blood in the Sacrament. There He comes. In the divine service. For sinners like you and me. And there you see His glory! The divine glory to always have mercy and to be gracious to you and me.
And so because of Jesus you have peace with God. Everything is all right with God. Everything is restored with God because of Jesus and His dying for you.
And now for some more amazing stuff from the Lord. Now because of that Good Friday Jesus did for you, you can rejoice even in whatever sufferings you have. That’s right. Rejoice even in sufferings. Why? Because the Lord uses your sufferings to strengthen your faith muscles. Do you realize that?
What are your sufferings? A broken marriage? An illness? The loss of a loved one? Your everyday sins? Well, when you’re the lowest, when you’re the weakest, there’s Jesus. Your sufferings teach you to trust in Him all the more. To count, to trust, to pray and to rely on more than ever! And when you’re the weakest, then you’re strong. Strong in Jesus who died for you. Now you know that God’s cup of tea is working His power in weakness. So you rejoice in your suffering because the Lord uses them to strengthen your faith in Him.
And as the faith muscles are exercised through your sufferings the Lord gives you endurance. To trust in Him (that’s the worship in spirit and truth remember) for the long haul. Not just for the sprint! But for the marathon!
And then more giving from the Lord. Endurance produces character and character hope. Through your sufferings you learn that God’s grace is sufficient. That Jesus will not ever leave you or abandon you. His promises are always certain and sure.
For the glory of God Jesus is to always have mercy. To be gracious to you and bring you back to Him with penitent hearts and steadfast faith. He did it with the Samaritan woman. He’s done it with you. What a wonderful Savior!
Happy worshiping Jesus in spirit and in truth: FAITH.
Reverend Kuhlman is Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Murdock, NE. He also serves on the Higher Things Board of Directors.
In a few months, the citizens of the United States will elect a new president. Are you afraid? Does the idea of a close race make you worry about your home being burnt down? Will protesters murder anyone in your family because they voted the wrong way, or are the wrong ethnicity or race? Thanks be to God, this isn’t something we usually have to worry about after elections in our country.
By 5:00 a.m. the wood needs to be lit so you can boil water for porridge. If you’re fortunate, you have chickens (which run around outside during the day, but at night they sleep inside the house with you) and can cook some eggs too. You glance around, automatically looking for the school uniforms – oh, that’s right, no school today.
At least Pastor Meeker said he would have church on Sunday. Finally, a little bit of normalcy. You will pray together for help, order, and mercy. It’ll be great to see friends and know you’re safe for a while, even though it still smells like smoke. There is order in church. It is the one thing you can count on right now. The familiar words of the liturgy feel safe because they are from scripture. You need God to be present in your life, especially now.
So starts an average day in the Kibera slums since the presidential elections on December 27, 2007. When school starts again, students will learn to read and write in a room with no roof, the smell of smoke and wet ash hanging in the air, and probably half of the children missing… hopefully just because they moved away from the rioting. But in just a couple of months, over 1,000 Kenyans have died throughout the country since the rioting started.
Higher Things is excited to announce that a familiar face on your website will be a permanent fixture for years to come. The Rev. Mark Buetow, formerly the “interim” Internet Services Executive, is interim no more! By action of the Board of Directors, Mark is now our Internet Services Executive. Pr. Buetow serves as as pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, Illinois. He and his wife, Susan, have three children – twins Naomi and Anna and Emily. He received his STM in 2000 from Concordia Seminary – St. Louis and served in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina washed his congregation away.
A few months ago when I heard about Cashmere Mafia (Wednesdays on ABC) and Lipstick Jungle (Thursdays on NBC), I thought “Cool! That’s an article!” Both are basically the same show about power women in New York City, and people on both projects had ties to Sex and the City. The article was going to be Cashmere Mafia vs. Lipstick Jungle. Better title? Best shoes, best cast, best plot, best acting. You know, compare them in several categories and see which one comes out on top.
To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, in the last TWO WEEKS I have: sung for a major fundraiser (complete with a REALLY CRAZY 60’s hairdo and literally a half a can of Aquanet); sold 40 dozen enchiladas for my kids’ school; written my previous article; had workmen replacing the windows in the kitchen of the parsonage; choreographed and taught the opening number for the 4th grade musical; had two family birthdays and my 10-year-old daughter’s first sleepover (where the basement was transformed for an “Under the Sea” theme; went to NINE stores looking for a Whitman’s chocolate heart with a stuffed Snoopy (don’t ask – that would be a whole other article). Oh yeah, and it’s Lent. Plus the headache.
Why should you care about my February to-do list? Because we all over-do it at some time, especially women and work-a-holics. I heard a joke once that goes something like this: I know of IRREFUTABLE proof that God is a man and not a woman . . . on the 7th day of creation he RESTED. I know there are some of you out there – both guys and gals who haven’t had a break that really need one.
Silence. Complete and utter silence. That was Jesus’ response to her. Her daughter was terribly vexed with a demon, a horror we can only imagine. She was at her wits end. All the parenting skills in the world could not help her daughter. She was at the end of her rope. She went to the one Man who could help her. She went to Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah. Surely He would help her! Surely He would look at her plight and would have mercy upon her by healing her daughter.
First of all, we have to remember what God’s goal is for your life. God’s goal for your life is not that it be without troubles. That may be our goal for life. I think sometimes that all we really want is for there to be no problems or worries. That would make life pretty easy, wouldn’t it? No, God’s goal for your life is to bring you to heaven to be with Him forever. That is a very clear goal for him, but the problem is that because we are beset with sin, we cannot always see the path. What may be the most direct route for us may look like a terribly hard road. It’s kind of like looking over the top of a hill. You just can’t get too much of a sense of how much is left or even what’s on the other side as long as you are on the journey.
What this Canaanite woman understood was that when everything else is stripped away, when her trust in herself is gone, when her trust in her family and lineage is gone, when every ounce of self-worth and fulfillment lie in the dust, then, and only then, can God’s work of healing and life begins. In other words, she had hope in Christ and not in herself.
Our Canaanite woman had nothing to cling to on her own. She had no family. She had no name. She had no resources. Doctors couldn’t help. Nothing could help her daughter. All she had was God’s promise of mercy. And she grabbed on to that like a dog to a bone. She would not let God’s promise for a blessing go, no matter what. Just like Jacob in our Old Testament reading, she was willing to wrestle with God Himself in order to receive the blessing that He had promised.
With just nine days remaining in the regular registration period, two-thirds of the 
Why do these things happen? Why do college students die? What motivates someone to do something so horrific? And on Valentine’s Day too! We cry out to God for an answer, and He is silent. He says nothing. What then? What do you do when something hits you so hard that you have no clue why God did that or even allowed for that to happen?
