Day 25 - Love First: In the Face of Abandonment

Love First: In the Face of Abandonment

Now he [Jesus] 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 a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
John 4:4-8 (the entire account is found in verses 1-38)

There are several remarkable things about this encounter. First, if you are familiar with the background, you know that Samaria was considered undesirable for the Jews. There were bad feelings and bad blood between Samaritans and Jews that had been going on for generations. Second, the time of day for this encounter was interesting. Women would come to draw water from the well in the morning and in the evening. This woman was there at noon—probably to avoid the other women. Third, it was against societal custom for a man, especially a Jewish man, to engage a Samaritan woman in conversation in a public place like the well.

Abandonment (and its other names: desertion, jilting, cast off, rejection, invalidation, withdrawal) is characterized by feeling like nobody cares about you, feeling like you’re all alone, feeling like you don’t matter. When you face this challenge, everyday chores can seem insurmountable.

Reading the account of the encounter reminds us that Jesus, and his gospel, is for every person, everywhere, in every circumstance. Living Love First means we represent Jesus to every single person we encounter—not just the ones we know. It means we are kind to the cashier who checks our grocery out. It means we smile and speak to the person in the dry cleaners. It means we are pleasant through the drive-through window. Love First means we are more concerned with the person we are interacting with than we are with ourselves.

When Love First becomes our way of life, the people we don’t know will be able to see Jesus in us. They may not understand. They may not respond well. They may ignore us. That doesn’t change how we live Love First. Because they might just store that away and think about it...and the next time we see them and respond to them in a Love First way, it will have made a difference in their life.

Your Mission
Many people feel they’ve been abandoned by a church. What is healthy way of communicating God’s love to such people?