{"id":213,"date":"2021-12-24T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/?p=213"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:06:17","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T17:06:17","slug":"scandalous-grace-transforms-broken-lives-like-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/2021\/12\/24\/scandalous-grace-transforms-broken-lives-like-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Scandalous Grace Transforms Broken Lives like Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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This post is in loving memory of my friend, “Jennifer.” I sure wish we could have one more cup of coffee together. Yet I know she will be waiting to greet me at Heaven’s gates.<\/p>\n

\"\"What does a cup of coffee have to do with grace? Well, the Bible mentions numerous occasions when Jesus was found engaging with some rather questionable characters. For example, he recruited Matthew, a greedy tax collector to be a disciple, and the hot-tempered and outspoken Peter to lead His rather motley crew. Then at a public supper, the Messiah allowed a woman referred to as an \u201cespecially wicked sinner\u201d to wash his feet with her tears. You can bet that this caused quite a stir.<\/p>\n

Also intriguing are the messy circumstances when we find Jesus assisting in the midst of some\u00a0crisis like sparing the life of an adulterous woman from an angry mob, or healing blind Bartimaeus as he cried out for mercy. So, why should it be of any surprise that Jesus took time out for a heart-to-heart chat with a woman of Samaria?\u00a0The rather infamous \u201cWoman at the Well\u201d\u00a0can be found in the fourth chapter of St. John\u2019s\u00a0 Gospel. This narrative paints a vivid portrait of a socially outcast Samaritan female who was from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks.<\/p>\n

Besides, Jesus was born Jewish, and the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. Yet, Jesus asked the woman of ill-repute to draw him a drink from Jacob\u2019s well where he had come to rest. Then He prophetically told her that she had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband, while explaining that the living water that only He could provide would satisfy the thirst in her soul.<\/p>\n

Some speculate that the Samaritan woman\u2019s infamous reputation probably forced her to visit the well in the noon day heat when no other women were there in order to avoid their scornful stares. This lost lady\u2019s encounter with Jesus changed her so profoundly that she became the first female Evangelist by proclaiming the Good News of the savior to all who would listen. As a Christian speaker, I have shared her\u00a0story on many occasions to portray the shockingly scandalous nature of God\u2019s grace that often touches the most unlikely of candidates.<\/p>\n

For example, it is the same grace that reached out to the woman of Samaria who found acclaimed author, Brennan Manning in a gutter struggling with alcoholism. The former Catholic priest found his own sobriety, and then went on to become a sought-after interdenominational speaker who penned countless books. The Jesuit scholar\u2019s testimony and writings are particularly healing to those wounded by life\u2019s circumstances. In his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, <\/em>he writes, \u201cWhen you have made a slobbering mess of your life, as many of us recovering alcoholics have, compassion becomes a\u00a0tad easier\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I think it was reading Manning\u2019s works that made me realize about the\"\" scandalous nature of God\u2019s grace in a personal way. After all, like the famous scholar, I, too, am a Ragamuffin since Christ\u2019s grace came to me in 1986 while I was a young patient on a psychiatric ward battling substance abuse and depression. In those days, I had a college friend that I will refer to as \u201cJennifer\u201d who tried to rescue me by faithfully taking me to her church, because she had also struggled with addiction. More than two decades ago, it was Jennifer\u2019s pastor who stood at my hospital bedside on the psychiatric floor praying that God would heal my broken life.<\/p>\n

A couple of summers ago, my path crossed with Jennifer again after years of separation. I saw her when I was passing through the small town where we both once lived while stopping in the local coffeehouse. Through the shop\u2019s window, I spotted a woman who looked vaguely familiar. Although her heavily lined face, thinning\u00a0hair, and emaciated body had little resemblance to the vibrant Jennifer I once knew. But through the transparent glass when I looked deeply into the eyes of the female passing by, I\u00a0saw my old friend Jennifer trapped inside that decaying body. It wasn\u2019t just age that had taken its toll. Rather it was addiction that had ravaged her so greatly.<\/p>\n

Recognizing me, Jennifer ran inside the shop and we hugged each other tightly. Then for the next few hours over coffee, I listened as Jennifer\u2019s tragic tale of relapsing into addiction tumbled out of her like smoldering lava creeping down a volcano\u2019s surface. That night, the woman who had once helped me was in desperate need of God\u2019s grace herself. She said that seeing my transformed life was a reminder to her that His grace is still available.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gospel of grace continues to scandalize,\u201d writes Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel<\/em>. After all, Jesus can always be found by hurting people; whether it is at a deserted well, a street gutter, on a psychiatric ward, or in a coffee shop. If you are in need of the healing power that only God\u2019s grace can provide, remember all you have to do is ask. Like Blind Bartimaeus let your heart cry out, \u201cJesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.\u201d I know firsthand that Jesus always answers our heartfelt prayers requesting His help to transform our broken lives.<\/p>\n

\"\"Christina Ryan Claypool is an Amy Award winning freelance journalist and Christian speaker, who has been featured on CBN\u2019s 700 Club and Joyce Meyer Ministries. Contact her though her Website at www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is in loving memory of my friend, “Jennifer.” I sure wish we could have one more cup of coffee together. Yet I know she will be waiting to greet me at Heaven’s gates. What does a cup of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-spiritual-path-on-the-road-less-traveled"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1799,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/1799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}