John 4

When I was in seventh grade, I was kind of an idiot. Actually most of the kids I went to middle school with were idiots. We would do stupid things and think they were funny. One of the things we would do is slam shut the lockers of other students after they opened them. We'd walk down the hall and think we were cool. We did it to everyone.

One day I did it to a girl that rode my bus, her name was Catherine. Unfortunately, when I slammed her locker shut, her finger got caught in the seam. The locker closed and locked, and her finger was stuck... It was crushed. She started screaming and crying. I ran back to her, she told me her combination and I was able to re-open her locker, but the damage had been done. I felt terrible.

The who school knew what I had done. I was ashamed and embarrassed. I wanted to disappear.

John 4 is the story of Jesus meeting a woman at the well. She was there at noon, when no one else was there. Everyone else went to the well in the morning and at night, when it wasn't so hot. She went at noon, during the hottest part of the day, because she didn't want anyone to see her.

She had been married five times, and was living with a man that she wasn't married to. She had a reputation, people must have pointed at her, and hurled insults at her. She was too embarrassed to come to the well when everyone else was there. I can relate to how she felt.

She must have been surprised to see Jesus there. Maybe she was worried about what he might say to her, but she probably hoped he would just ignore her. Instead he asks her for a drink of water.

He doesn't preach to her or condemn her, but he hasks her for help. He doesn't come across as self-righteous, but he treats her as a human being, he treats her as an equal. He is kind to her.

I think at times in our lives we know what it's like to be this woman, we know what it feels like to be embarrassed and ashamed. In those times Jesus is not ashamed to be our friend.

I pray that I'm never ashamed to be a friend.