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Now he had to go through Samaria.\xa0So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.\xa0Jacob\u2019s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.\xa0 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her,\xa0\u201cWill you give me a drink?\u201d\xa0(His disciples had gone into the town\xa0to buy food.) (John 4:4-8)

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We\u2019re reflecting on how Jesus came as our Immanuel, the God who is with us.\xa0 Part of Jesus\u2019 coming to be among us was not just His presence here among us, but was also his total identification with our humanity.\xa0 He quite literally walked in our skin, taking on our humanity as his own.\xa0 He was completely God.\xa0 But he was also completely Human.\xa0

That meant that before the great plan of salvation got anywhere, God first submitted it and Himself to the human responses of a mother (\u201cmay your word to me be fulfilled\u201d Luke 1:38) and a father (Joseph \u201ctook Mary home as his wife\u201d and \u201cgave him the name Jesus.\u201d Matthew 1:24-25) who agreed to participate in the plan.\xa0

God\u2019s humanity also meant that God attended wedding parties and made wine, because he was a member of a family and of a community and he shared with them in the honor and joy of a feast gone well.\xa0 Pastor Michael reminded us of that story yesterday.

God\u2019s humanity also meant that God got tired and thirsty.\xa0 And so that very God put himself in a position where he needed someone\u2019s help: \u201cwill you give me a drink?\u201d\xa0 He had no bucket to draw water.\xa0 He was in the middle of a desert and a journey through that desert.\xa0 The guys with the supplies had left him there.\xa0

And so the Almighty God found Himself tired, parched, and in need of some help.\xa0 From a woman, no less.\xa0 And a foreign woman at that.\xa0 The story that unfolds from here about the \u201cwoman at the well\u201d has caused the church a lot of reflection on Jesus\u2019 relationship with foreigners, women, ethical outcasts, and how he himself is the living water who refreshes every one with salvation.\xa0

But it all begins with Jesus being tired from the journey, sitting down, and asking for help.\xa0 All quite humble, human stuff.\xa0 Indeed, \u201che did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage\u201d (Philippians 2:6).\xa0 And perhaps because of that lack of pretentiousness and his fullness of humanity, a conversation opens up across the lines of race, gender, and the hard stuff of broken relationships.\xa0 Immanuel, our God was with us.

Pastor Michael mentioned yesterday that our participation in the Kingdom of God is about offering our generosity, yes.\xa0 But it is just as much about our ability to receive humbly with joy and grace.\xa0 It is both giving and receiving.\xa0 An offering and a needing.\xa0 Because without a healthy ability to receive, how on earth can we take joy in what God has done for us?\xa0 And God does intend for us to receive his gifts with joy!\xa0

Jesus did.\xa0 He, the Almighty God, was not afraid to reveal his fully human needs and limitations, nor was he averse to receiving help with joy and thanks.\xa0 We are called to follow Him.

So on my ornament today, I\u2019ve drawn a well in the desert with the words \u201cWill you give me a drink?\u201d over it.\xa0 Because, sometimes we\u2019re the ones who need to ask that question, and at other times we\u2019re the ones to answer it with a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

As for an idea of how to live it, the reciprocal mutuality of giving and receiving is the foundation of relationships and of hospitality.\xa0 Last week, our Youth Group, led by Ruth Ann, talked about hospitality as a Spiritual Discipline.\xa0 Here\u2019s one of the ideas she gave: Take time to really listen to someone today\u2014when someone is talking to you, actively listen to them and receive what they\u2019re saying.\xa0 Give them your full attention and ask questions to show that you\u2019re interested.\xa0 It is a way to both give and receive at the same time.

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