Psalm 56, 57, 58
Jeremiah 1: 11-19
Romans 1: 1-15
John 4: 27-42
She said to the people, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
Contrary to what the Bible tells us, we all think we have secrets about ourselves. And many of us keep these secrets hidden from people in our lives we love the most---friends, spouses, our children, God. Much of the time we keep these parts of ourselves hidden for fear that if our loved ones knew the “real” us, they would not love us anymore.
Essayist Tim Kreider calls this our “Soul Toupee.” He writes, “Each of us has a Soul Toupee. The Soul Toupee is that thing about ourselves we are most deeply embarrassed by and like to think we have cunningly concealed from the world, but which is, in fact, pitifully obvious to everybody who knows us.”
Jesus, in all his mercy, blows our Soul Toupee wide open. He exposes us for who we really are. And he tells us he loves us and came to save us from ourselves, our secrets, and our sin. The story of the woman at the well may be my favorite grace drenched story in the gospels. Because Jesus tells the woman to be honest about her life and sin. And then he does the opposite of what a “Messiah” should do. He should chastise the woman. He should turn this encounter into a “teachable” moment about divorce and fidelity. He should condemn her for withholding information. But what does he do instead? He tells her, “Lady, I know all your secrets. I came to save you from them.”
Sarah Condon
Jeremiah 1: 11-19
Romans 1: 1-15
John 4: 27-42
She said to the people, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
Contrary to what the Bible tells us, we all think we have secrets about ourselves. And many of us keep these secrets hidden from people in our lives we love the most---friends, spouses, our children, God. Much of the time we keep these parts of ourselves hidden for fear that if our loved ones knew the “real” us, they would not love us anymore.
Essayist Tim Kreider calls this our “Soul Toupee.” He writes, “Each of us has a Soul Toupee. The Soul Toupee is that thing about ourselves we are most deeply embarrassed by and like to think we have cunningly concealed from the world, but which is, in fact, pitifully obvious to everybody who knows us.”
Jesus, in all his mercy, blows our Soul Toupee wide open. He exposes us for who we really are. And he tells us he loves us and came to save us from ourselves, our secrets, and our sin. The story of the woman at the well may be my favorite grace drenched story in the gospels. Because Jesus tells the woman to be honest about her life and sin. And then he does the opposite of what a “Messiah” should do. He should chastise the woman. He should turn this encounter into a “teachable” moment about divorce and fidelity. He should condemn her for withholding information. But what does he do instead? He tells her, “Lady, I know all your secrets. I came to save you from them.”
Sarah Condon