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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2013-11-21, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013. By Pastor Gary Van Leeuwen Blyth Christian Reformed Church In John 4 when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, he quizzes her about her life. It becomes evident rather quickly why this woman is at the well at this odd time of the day. She has had five husbands, and the man she is living with is not her husband. Reading the story from our perspective, it would seem that she made bad choices in men or perhaps she couldn’t keep a commitment. But in her context, an entirely different scenario is possible. That part of the world at that time was dominated by men, and, if they were not married, women had few, if any, rights. In order to have a decent quality of life, it seems that this woman got married simply in order to gain respect. She wanted to be recognized as a human being with value. When rejected by one man, she married another in the hope of gaining a place in society only to be rejected by him as well. After five such tries, she simply gives up and allows herself to enter into an entirely unstable relationship, one that does not give her a place in society but which will, at very least, ensure that she has some food to eat. As a result, she has become an outcast, and that is why she is at the well, alone, at an odd time of the day. When Jesus meets this woman, he senses her need. As we read John 4, we notice that the conversation twists and turns, but in the end he does offer hope to this woman whose life is in shambles. When Jesus’ disciples return from buying food for the journey, they are astounded that Jesus would be talking to a Samaritan woman (Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along), and they question him on it. It is then that Jesus reveals that in this woman he saw an opportunity and he spoke to her in such a way that she knew that she was a person of value. She had value in God’s eyes and a place in his kingdom. Not only was his message of hope for this woman; it was for the entire village. The woman brings the people of the village to meet Jesus and in meeting him, they too are given hope. Jesus turns the woman’s need into an opportunity. Even as I am writing this, I am aware that things could have gone in an entirely different direction had it been anyone but someone with the integrity of Jesus at that well that day. Far too often we see people taking advantage of those who are in need. (No doubt some of her previous husbands married her for their own advantage and not for her wellbeing.) In our world, the elderly, for example, are particularly easy targets and are often the victims of phone scams or house maintenance fraud. It is easy for an employer to underpay an employee who is desperate for a job. The lonely child is an easy mark for the bully at school. Sadly, we live in a world where the weak are seen as opportunities for gain by unscrupulous characters. We abhor that kind of attitude and activity. We call it opportunism. We tend to be more aware of opportunism in others than we are in ourselves, for we more readily see hypocrisy in others than in ourselves. (The tendency for opportunism is in us too, of course.) Thus, when a country goes to war, supposedly to help an oppressed people, we who are observing quickly see that underlying the willingness for a nation to put their soldiers’ lives on the line is the desire to obtain a steady supply of cheap oil. Or, when a store-front loan company talks about how freely they will give you a loan, we see right through supposed generosity to their exorbitant fees and interest rates. That is not generosity; it is opportunism. But Jesus was truly generous. He didn’t want anything from either the woman or the village. He simply had hope to offer, and he gave it. When we are truly generous, we see the needs as opportunities to give what we have simply so that others might be blessed. We don’t think of the return for ourselves; we simply give because we have been blessed and we want others to be blessed as well. This kind of perspective begins with a generous spirit. Jesus gives us two memorable sentences which help us understand the kind of generosity he expects from us. In Matthew 6:3 he tells us that we should not let our right hand know what our left hand is doing. What he means is that if one of his disciples is walking down the street, and there is a beggar on left side of the street and he has already given to him, and he encounters another one on the right side of the street, his right hand should not ask the left hand if it has given already, but rather reach into the pocket for to give to the other one as well. Or, in our context, if yesterday we gave to the Heart and Stroke Foundation at the office, that should not stop us from giving to the canvasser who visits our home the following week. This is generosity: giving without inhibition. The second memorable sentence from Jesus comes to us in Matthew 26:11 when Jesus says that we will always have the poor with us. He is quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11 where we learn that there will always be poor people among us and therefore we should always be generous. I am relatively new to Blyth, and I am not entirely familiar with this THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. An Adventurous Life Awaits You... Sunday @ 10:30am huronchapel.com Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, November 24 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary Van Leeuwen You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Sunday, November 24 “Colour Me” Worship Service & Sunday School at 10 a.m. PASTOR Sandra Cable, DLM MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.getlivingwater.org Living Water Christian Fellowship 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School Tuesday - Wingham Bible Study 7:30 pm Thursday - Youth Group at CRC 7:30 pm Women At The Well - 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Nov. 24: Lk. 21:5-19 Evangelical Missionary Church “”Witness not Worry in Frightening Times” 250 Princess St., Brussels 519-887-6388 www.bmfchurch.com Pastor Jim Whitehead Guests Welcome Jesus Is Lord! Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Worship Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:15 am MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 Nursery care available 519-887-9017 Worship & Sunday School - 10 am Coffee & Snacks - 11 am We invite you to join our church family in: Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. BRUSSELS Sandra Cable, Pastor Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com SUNDAY SERVICE 11:00 am Sunday School Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship United Church From the Minister’s StudyTake advantage of generous opportunities Continued on page 17