Change Course

When I was a kid growing up, the sport I wanted to play was baseball. Our town had an active Little League program, and I was excited about the season ahead. You didn't pick the team you played for; they picked you. I wanted to play for Swafford's Shoes. They were, that were the team that everyone wanted to play for.

I thought I had a good shot, not because I was particularly good at baseball, but because my father was Mr. Swafford's pastor. I thought that would help. I realize now that Mr. Swafford only sponsored the team. He wasn't the coach. He likely didn't even know who was on the team.

Well, I was not asked to play on that team. Instead of wearing a jersey that said Swafford's Shoes, mine said, and I'm not kidding, Morningside Cemetery. Morningside Cemetery was our sponsor. It was not a ten-year-old's fantasy to represent a cemetery. The other teams were merciless. I can still hear the laughter today.

We're gonna look at a story from the fourth chapter of the book of John. Jesus is sitting at a well in the heat of the day. John tells us that it was noon. The disciples were off buying food, and Jesus was by himself. While he was there, a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink.

Now, Jews and Samaritans were not on speaking terms, and the woman was shocked that Jesus even acknowledged her presence. John says that the woman said, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" Jesus probably smiled, and he began to speak, and he told her that if she knew who he was, that she would ask him for living water. The conversation turned spiritual quickly, and Jesus asked her a question that she didn't want to hear. He asked her about her husband.

It was a touchy subject. This woman had no husband. She was living in sin with a man, and it was her pattern. She'd had five husbands in the past. Her reputation was horrible.

She was shocked that Jesus knew all of her story. She guessed that he was a prophet. She was at the well at noon because she thought no one else would be there in the heat of the day. Women usually came early in the morning, and they had a time to visit with the other women. She wanted no part of that, because she was talked about, she was laughed at, she was a woman of bad reputation.

So Jesus and the woman continued to talk, and she said that she knew a Messiah was coming. Jesus told her that he was the Messiah. About that time the disciples came back, and they were astonished to see Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman. He assured them everything was okay, and the woman ran back to the village and let everyone know that the Messiah was at the well.

John tells us that many came to believe in Jesus as a result of her testimony. One minute an outcast, and the next minute she was a missionary. I love that. I love the fact that Jesus can use us in spite of our past failures. I love it that his forgiveness is for all of us. As Jesus changed that woman that day, and so many others, he changes people today, doesn't he?

Years ago I found the story of the law of the lighthouse. There's a beautiful lighthouse here in Saint Augustine. It wasn't here, I don't believe, but two battleships were at sea on maneuvers and very heavy weather. The visibility was minimal because of heavy fog. The captain of the battleship remained on the bridge that night because of the dangerous conditions.

Shortly after dark, the lookout reported that there was a light on the starboard bow. The captain asked if it was steady or moving a stern, and the lookout replied, "Steady, Captain." That meant that they were on a collision course. And so the captain told the signalman, "Signal that ship: We're on a collision course. Advise you change course 20 degrees."

Back came a signal: "Advise you change course 20 degrees." The captain was not happy with the response, so he said, "Send: I'm a captain. Change course 20 degrees." Back came the reply: "I'm a seaman second class. You had better change course 20 degrees."

By that time the captain was furious. His next message said, "I'm a battleship. Change course 20 degrees." Back came the reply: "I'm a lighthouse."

All of us need to look at our direction. All of us need to change course when it isn't right. The woman at the well changed course. All of us need to make adjustments, don't we?

Over the years I've seen drunks become sober. I've seen takers become givers. I've seen marriages that were hanging on by thread become strong. I've seen God use unlikely people in amazing ways.

50 miles south of me, that way, is Daytona Beach. It was 1950-something. Charles and Ann were on their honeymoon. While at Daytona, Ann was run over by a car. Here cars are allowed to drive on the beach.

So just a few days after walking down the aisle at her wedding, she never walked again. I knew Anne. Actually, I never called her Aunt; I called her Mrs. Bailey. I knew her from church. She and her husband raised two sons.

She started one of the first wheelchair basketball leagues in Atlanta in the 1970s. I remember that she was always happy and smiling. That day on the beach she had an event that changed the direction of her life, but because she knew Jesus, she persevered in spite of her difficulties. I pray today that all of us are able to change direction and make adjustment to our lives. Whatever it is, Jesus, the light, can help us.

Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for heroes of mine like Ann, who, well, she shined brightly in a difficult situation. Thank you that you can take us, no matter who we are, where we've been, what we've done, and use us. Thank you for the unlikely missionary at the well, the Samaritan woman.

And Father, thank you for using people to show off. Use us as best for this planet, for this world, as you can. Father, help us to be the men and women of God we ought. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.