More food?

John 4: 27-44

‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work….’

Have you ever noticed that it’s the most unlikely people who influence your life for the better? The Samaritan woman was so changed in her view of herself by Jesus that she couldn’t help herself in telling those back in her town about Him. She never thought for a minute that a Jew would change her for the better.  Our racism does that to us, it disempowers us to all the possibilities for good that those with a different background and identity from ourselves can bring to our lives. Jesus did not tolerate racism. He included all ethnicities in the invitation to community in His Kingdom; especially Samaritans. This was food to Him; it was the strength of His life and the origin of His sustenance. He was prepared to live amongst those that others rejected. Jesus was fed and was satisfied that His message of inclusion and diversity was heard and acted upon. His disciples had to learn this. We are not sustained by bread alone; we are more than the physical genetics that drive us to satisfy our inbuilt personal hungers. It matters how we earn our food, it matters how we think about others, it matters how we live and treat other people; our task in life is more than simply acquiring more and more at the expense of other people. We are called by Jesus to live in the dangerous places that generosity and inclusion will lead us; to live among those who are rejected by others and to sustain and be sustained by the life giving food of the good news of Christ centred valuing, inclusion and diversity.