I am going to start with some stories, stories to remind us of some of the wonderful characters of the Old Testament, for when we see God's hand at work in their lives, it might just throw light on the impact of Jesus conversation with the Samaritan woman. For God has a knack of using unlikely people!
Think of Gideon hiding wheat from the Midianites in a wine press, calling himself the least member of the weakest tribe, called to lead an army ( an ever diminishing army at God's hand) to victory, and to destroy the altars of Baal!
Why, because the Spirit of the Lord had taken hold of his courage!
Take a look at Ruth, a pagan from a pagan land, although she was a grieving widow, her heart was soft, she cared for her mother-in -law, and she chose God over the pagan god's of her homeland. Ruth travelled with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem, and listened for wisdom's ways, and so she takes her place in the genealogy David and ultimately of Jesus.
Why, because the Spirit of the Lord had taken hold of her heart!
Take a look at David the shepherd boy, the youngest in his family, anointed to be king. Famous for his victory over the Philistine Goliath, David certainly wasn't perfect, but again and again, through mistakes and wrongdoing David choose God's way. He was no stranger to repentance, and yet he is known as a man whose heart was after God.
The Spirit of the Lord had taken hold of him!
These three characters are but a few examples offered to us by the Old Testament, I would encourage you to read their stories, to hear their voices speaking to us today, to see how the Spirit of the Lord took hold of them.
But what on earth, you might ask has this got to do with a Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at a well hundreds of years later?
Let's listen to her question to Jesus again, looking beyond the preconceived ideas we might have about her morals, ignoring the fact that we might have been told she was only asking questions to divert Jesus from seeing who she really was. I would like to introduce you to the Samaritan woman, as a theologian.
She has already had a conversation with Jesus about water, ordinary water as drawn from the well, and living spiritual water, promised by Jesus, her thirst for spiritual truth has been awakened;
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshipped?”
Her thirst grows deeper with Jesus answer:
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”
I am the Messiah. I am, she heard those words, and not even the censure of the returning disciples could dampen the fact that the Spirit of the Lord had taken hold of her, and she ran back to the town calling the towns folk...
Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah? The story goes on to tell us that many of the Samaritans believed because of this woman's testimony, and they came and begged Jesus to stay with them, and for a few days he did.
The Samaritan woman, turned theologian, had become an evangelist.
We might say she was an unlikely evangelist, but in God's plan there are vast wells of potential within each one of us; Moses was a murderer, David a murderer and an adulterer, and yet when push come to shove they chose God's ways- because the Spirit of the Lord had taken hold of them and turned their hearts towards him.
I believe that God is at work amongst us today, wooing us, calling us to choose her living water, to choose life.
Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to take hold of you? Have you heard her call? Are you thirsty for her living waters to flow in your life?
For the Spirit comes to guide us, to lead us into all truth. By the Holy Spirit the word of God is opened to us afresh, she is gentle, and she provokes us, she comforts us and she stirs us to change. She empowers and equips us to live in God's ways, and it is by the Holy Spirit that we are able to worship in Spirit and in truth.
God is calling us to be open to his work amongst us, to become alive in him we need to receive the Holy Spirit, and not just once, but as we walk with God through the daily decisions of life we can ask for him to be present in and with us, listen to his questions to us in a hymn we often sing here:
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
Will you let my life be grown in you? Then receive the Holy Spirit, allow God to pour life giving water out upon your life.
If you find the invitation to receive difficult? Then listen to another verse from that hymn;
Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
God is wooing you, calling you to dare to lay aside that fear today, to dare to say I want to go from here changed, I want to make a difference in this world! To dare to acknowledge that in order to do that we need ( every one of us) to accept the Holy Spirits work in our lives, to allow her streams of living water to bring life to the desert places of our hearts and minds and wills, to be changed. To be among those who say, The Spirit of the Lord has taken hold of me, and I am his!
You may think that you are an unlikely to be called by God, but then as we have just heard, God chooses unlikely people all of the time.
Picture by He Qi
Will smama and Songbird over at Revgals say; It's Leap Day!! Whether you're one of the special few who have a birthday only once every four years, or simply confused by the extra day on the calendar, everyone is welcome to join in and play our Leap Year Friday Five.
In some ways when we moved to Texas from the UK we leapt before we looked. Tim's company were the supposed experts but were hopeless when it came to recognising the difference in school systems etc, and so we entered a huge learning curve. But we are glad we did it. Both Emma and Joanne had their passion for music nurtured in Texas, and they will both make music their careers! We are also glad to be home again now!
We were sailing, it was a beautiful day, and we'd enjoyed being out on the open water, and now we were coming in to shore...
In my mad romantic moments I would love to live in a converted lighthouse, something unique, and different, round rooms appeal to me, as does the view over the sea, I love watching storms. 
I want to hear the words, "Well done my good and faithful servant, welcome home!", I don't expect fanfare or any particular welcome but to find myself in that place where I fit, where I am welcomed. Heaven will be heavenly because it will be the place where sickness, sighing and pain are no more... I guess that that is what Singing Owl wants for her sister..
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