God’s ḥesed (חֶסֶד) That Goes Viral

One person at a time. One community at a time

3.8.2026

3 Lent

[Texts]

Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 95 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42

Lenten greetings to you, the lights of the world.

Last Sunday, we left worship remembering that we are lights — like stars in the sky — and that we would keep shining as we returned to our daily lives.

Later that afternoon, an image appeared on my phone… a photo taken at an airport.

Refugees fleeing war zones, holding suitcases, looking down at their phones as if searching for any sign of good news — or bracing for more bad news. Behind them on a wall, a bright airline advertisement with flight attendants smiling joyfully.

How ironic. The world we live in now.

Then another image I saw the next day — a map glowing with yellow lights marking every region currently at war.

How revealing and necessary. Two kinds of light,

The light of suffering from ongoing wars,

and the light of hope that God places in our lives.

And into this world — our world — we meet Jesus in Samaria today.

I want to point out that the Bible never calls the story in John 4 a coincidence, as some might suspect. In fact, Scripture rarely speaks in the language of coincidence at all.

That includes your presence — your showing up today.

God meets each of us not by accident, but by grace.

Just as Jesus arrives at that well at the exact hour the Samaritan woman comes — not by accident, but by grace.

And this is what Scripture calls God’s steadfast love —

not a coincidence,

not a lucky moment,

but God’s unwavering, covenant‑keeping love at work.

Scripture consistently shows God as active, present, and involved in the unfolding of human lives. God’s timing is not shaped by our decisions alone, but by the needs of humanity — by the longing for a better tomorrow.

We don’t know the woman’s name Jesus meets. But we do know she comes from a people shaped by centuries of displacement, carrying a complicated story.

And to understand just how powerful this moment is, we need to remember who she is and where she comes from.

As we know, the Samaritans were descendants of the northern tribes of Israel — people who had lived through the Assyrian conquest, the Babylonian exile, and the Persian Empire.

For this reason, many Jews did not want to associate with Samaritans.

• Her ancestry was mixed.

• Her identity was layered.

• Her story was marked by survival.

And that matters, especially now, when our own world is shaken by conflict — including the tensions and violence between Israel and Iran.

• Their ancestries are also mixed.

• Their identities are layered.

• All our collective stories are marked by survival, and that reality weighs heavily on many hearts these days.

Jesus lived in a world like this.

A world full of uprisings, rebellions, and political violence.

A world under Roman occupation.

A world where people longed for safety, dignity, and peace.

And what does Jesus do in such a world?

He shows up.

He sits down.

He listens.

He stays.

He speaks truth with gentleness.

He restores dignity.

The dignity of a woman whom many avoided — a woman who made the effort to come for water at a time when no one else would be there.

Jesus crosses a boundary that had stood for hundreds of years.

And the Good News of Jesus begins to spread — not by force, not by fear, but through one honest conversation.

Jesus listens to understand her.

She listens to understand Jesus.

A way that makes room for God to work.

And how often, friends, do we do the opposite?

We listen to react — especially in an upheaval conversation.

We quickly form our response while the other person is still speaking, preparing our defense instead of opening our hearts.

But the Spirit and Truth set her free to listen for understanding.

And that understanding becomes contagious.

Her testimony spreads through her village because of that understanding.

People come to see for themselves.

And they believe.

One person at a time.

One community at a time.

God’s steadfast love story goes viral.

This is not the first time God meets people in their fear.

• In Exodus 17, the people quarrel and distrust Moses in uncertainty — and God stays with them, providing water in the wilderness.

• In Psalm 95, the psalmist remembers that story well and urges the people of God not to harden their hearts as their ancestors did.

• In Romans 5, Paul gives us a promise we need right now:

  • Affliction produces endurance.

  • Endurance produces character.

  • Character produces hope.

  • And hope does not put us to shame —because God’s steadfast love is poured into our hearts, not by accident, but by grace.

So here is the Good News for a world in conflict:

• God stays.

• God saves.

• God crosses every boundary we build.

God’s steadfast love spreads through ordinary people, one life at a time.

And in a world lit up with the suffering of war,

we shine as lights of hope.

we listen to understand.

we cross divides with compassion and empathy.

Friends, this is our calling in Lent — to let God’s steadfast love go viral through us.

May God’s steadfast love spread through our daily lives, our conversations, our presence.

Let us pray.

Holy God, God of steadfast love,

You meet us

in the heat of the day,

in the places where we are weary,

in the moments when the world feels heavy with conflict.

Pour your living water into us again.

Soften our hearts where they have grown hard.

Teach us

to listen with compassion,

to speak with truth,

to shine with your light in a world longing for peace.

Let your love go viral through us— one person at a time, one community at a time— until all your children know they are seen, they are loved, and they are not alone.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.