Have you ever experienced unlikely conversations with someone you didn't expect and which stuck in your mind? In my travels around the world, I have encountered many unlikely conversations. One that stands out was a plane ride from Tokyo to Seattle next to Charlie Daniels. He wore a hat with the Biblical reference Romans 5:8 on the front. If you don't remember, that verse says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So I innocently said, "Charlie, what does Romans 5:8 mean?" He quoted the verse and explained it to me. I looked at him and said, (Remember this is the guy who wrote, "The Devil went down to Georgia to see what he could see"), "I didn't know you were a Christ-follower." He smiled and said, "I accepted Christ as a young kid, but I didn't live most of my life close to Him." We continued to talk about spiritual things and it turned out he was returning from doing a ministry concert in Japan.

I love unlikely conversations. Jesus was a master at them. Take His famous exchange with the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee, and it says he had to go through Samaria. Now it is true that going through Samaria was the fastest route to Galilee. Still, the truth is that Jews routinely walked around Samaria rather than through Samaria. Samaria was like the neighborhood or part of town you don't want to go through. It was populated by Samaritans, who were considered cult followers and sinners by the Jews. But, of course, that is just the kind of people Jesus specialized in, so He takes that route.

We pick up the story in verse 4 of John 4. 

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you—I am he." 

I love this conversation. Jesus loved to engage people, draw them out and turn an ordinary and unlikely conversation into one that brought life. This was unlikely because most Jews would not have been on that side of the tracks. It was unlikely because Jews didn't talk to Samaritans and most Jewish men would not have engaged a Samaritan woman. It is a fascinating conversation as Jesus skillfully turned the conversation from water to living water. It was a humorous conversation as Jesus knew more about her than she thought He knew. And it was a grace-filled conversation because Jesus never condemned her for her lifestyle but introduced himself as the one who gives living water. In fact, not only was she not offended by Jesus's honesty, but she brought her whole village down to meet Jesus.

I have learned to look for unlikely conversations, and I invite you to do the same. Rather than hanging back, let's find ways to engage people like Jesus did. That's what I did with Charlie Daniels and his hat. As Jesus illustrated, even a cup of water can turn into a conversation if we let it. Some years back, I lived in Nashville and, in my spare time, was a Lyft driver. I did precisely 5,000 rides. What always amazed me was that I could engage people and be in a deep conversation within three to five minutes. All I had to do was be willing to ask some questions, and they engaged. And I am by nature an introvert, so it wasn't my bubbly personality.

During this Lenten season, as we consider the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, let's pray that God would give us opportunities for unlikely conversations. We happen to have the best news that anyone could have regarding a Savior who has radically changed our lives. We don't need some special gift of evangelism. What we need is to keep our eyes out for unlikely conversations and let them go where God leads them. 

Father, I confess that I am often shy or don't pay attention to opportunities for conversations you put in front of me. Remind me to look for those conversations that can lead to spiritual things. Surprise me, Jesus. Amen.

The Question for Today: Who can I have an unlikely conversation with if I pay attention?