A Kingdom of Weirdos

The Kingdom belongs to the weirdos.

From the beginning, the Kingdom was not made up of the elite in society. It was made up of people who were whores, tax collectors, drunkards, and common fishermen. The elite didn't have much interest in the kingdom and often left when it called for too much sacrifice. Throughout his ministry, Jesus seemed to be a lot more concerned with the outcasts and his buddies were the ones no one wanted to hang out with. Not to mention the eccentric characters (i.e. John the Baptizer, aka the bug-eating wilderness man). I think this is clearly seen with Jesus' conversation with  the Samaritan woman at the well.

On his journey, Jesus goes through Samaria and to a town called Sychar. Not much until your realize that Samaria was the scorn of the Jews and Sychar was regarded as the worst town in Samaria. The worst town in the worst country in the world. So Jesus walks straight there and gets to the well at noon. In those days, hoses didn't have plumbing for baths or drinking or cooking water. women would get their water from a well. Usually they would go in the morning, when it wasn't blazing hot like it has been lately, but at noon a woman comes walking up. A woman who was talked about, cold shouldered, and treated so badly by the Sycharians that she would carry gallons of water for a good distance in the heat of the day. Jesus also perceives that she has had 5 husbands and is living with a man who is not her husband. We often lump her in with the other whores and loose women, but woman in the that time couldn't divorce her husband. This means that this woman was forsaken and betrayed five times and the guy she was living with wouldn't even give her the respect of marrying her. The most scorned group of people even rejected her because of things that were out of her control.
First of all, she was a woman and it was scandalous for a man to talk to her. Second, she was a Samaritan, one from Sychar at that, and Jesus was a Jew. Third, she was a used and abused woman who was the outcast of an outcast society. Jesus reputation was on the line. What was his decision?
Jesus talked to this woman. Not only that he offered her the Living Water and showed an interest in her. He even had a word of knowledge for her and told her that God was seeking worshipers from all peoples and nations, even the Samaritans. When the disciples came back, they didn't understand why he was talking to her, but she went away rejoicing. She told many people, brought them to Jesus, and many were saved.

What should we do with weirdos? Forget your reputation and talk to them. Tell what Jesus has done for you. And as a result, many may be saved.

The kingdom is a place where whores become evangelists. Fishermen and crooked bill collectors become apostles. Law enforcers become powerful preachers who are thrown into prison for it. The poor become rich in Christ and the sick are healed. The kingdom of God is for the weirdos.

These are the people that God cares about. These are his precious ones. These are the ones who need Him. Us middle class, white people in the USA are excited if someone cracks a smile in our church. Churches in the poorest places in Africa have the greatest joy on the planet and are the fastest growing as well. Maybe Jesus had the right idea. a kingdom full of people who actually wanted and needed him.

Jesus proclaimed his mission when he read from the prophet Isaiah, who was speaking of him, in Luke 4:18-19

      “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
             for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
      He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
             that the blind will see,
      that the oppressed will be set free,
             and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”

A kingdom of weirdos.