Storage.googleapis.com



The Message for March 15, 2020John 4:5-42Living the Faith in a Faithless World – Samaritan WomanRob Miller, Pastor40938451143000Today is week three of our five-week worship series we are calling (picture) Living the faith in a faithless world.In this series we are learning from various people in the Bible and how they lived the faith. Hopefully, their stories will inspire us and empower us to live the faith too. In week one -- we looked at how Jesus was the perfect example for us to follow when it comes to living the faith. He took time for prayerful discernment before doing any kind of ministry. When tempted by the devil -- Jesus resisted by turning to the word of God every time. In week two -- we learn from Nicodemus and how he lived the faith struggling to see what Jesus meant about being born again from above and how entrance into the kingdom of God is a spiritual thing. Nothing else is more important than participation in God’s kingdom work here on earth. Today we consider the story of the Samaritan Woman at the well. John 4:5-42When it come to living the faith -- we learn at least five things from the woman at the well…Jesus operates outside of the box of normalcy.The conversation between this woman and Jesus was not the norm – it should have never happened. Like Israeli and Palestinian today - Samaritans and Jews did not get along. Enemies even though they were blood relatives. Both were Hebrew. Both were people of God. The Samaritans were from the northern kingdom of Israel -- the Jews were from the southern kingdom of Judah. The Samaritans in the north inter-married with non-Jewish peoples, and lost most of their ethnic identity, while the Jews in the south maintained theirs. They both had their own temple, their own way of worship, and their own place to worship. They both thought they were better than the other.Jesus had no business being in the Samaritan territory. He had no business having a conversation with this Samaritan woman.In those days in that culture men and women did not talk to one another in public. It was not proper. Especially for someone like Jesus, a rabbi, a teacher – his world and her world should never mix. When the disciples returned with lunch, they were surprised that Jesus was having a conversation with this woman.This woman encounters Jesus as she goes about her daily routine.Her day started off like any other day. She was doing her thing -- rejected by her own people. She comes to the well alone at noon to draw water. Noon is the hottest time of the day. Morning and evening are times to do the hard work of drawing water from the well, and hauling it home. This is work that women did in company with other women. It is a chance to chat, to socialize, to catch up. But this woman goes to the well at a time when she will be alone. It’s her daily routine. She knows that she is a misfit. Everyone in town knows about her. She is that woman. Stay away for her. She is bad news. She avoids others – to avoid their hurtful words, their judgmental attitudes, their glaring stares. We know how people can be.When I think of this woman at the well, I think of the song from Linda Ronstadt, 1974. I picture people going around pointing and singing -- You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, baby you’re no good. She knew she was no good. She lived it every day.Maybe you can relate. Maybe you go about your daily routine feeling as though you are no good – that you’ve done something so bad or you failed to do something you should have done -- that God will never, ever forgive you and you will never, ever get over it.It’s your skeleton in the closet. Truth is -- we all have a closet and we all have a skeleton in it. We all have something in our life. Something we are ashamed of. Something interfering with life – interfering with the abundant life that Jesus offers. If that’s you then this woman’s story is for you. BTW we all have something that interferes with our ability to live life to the fullest – it’s called sin. We are all sinners – a special kind of sinner. We are forgiven sinners.Jesus often spoke metaphorically and spiritually pointing to something more for life. Jesus offers living water t this woman. But he is not talking about water. He’s talking metaphorically and spiritually.Jesus and the woman met beside an ancient well. A well that was more than a hundred feet deep and seven feet wide. The woman thinks that Jesus is talking about some hidden stream he knows about. She wants want we all have - a faucet in her kitchen, so she won’t have to haul buckets any more, and who can blame her? Jesus offers a source of life in her heart, so she can truly live. But she is confused. She understands what Jesus is offering her – it is exactly what she needs. But it doesn’t make sense to her. Jesus points out that he knows all the details of her life. Things that only God knows. Those details remain unclear to us, but it’s clear she’s had a painful and unhappy time of it. She’s had five husbands. Did the marriages involve death, divorce, desertion? Why is her current husband not really her husband? We don’t know, and we do not need to know. What we need to know is this – the woman feels alone and shunned and treated less than human.Jesus knows the truth about her and accepts her just the way she is.She is surprised. Jesus knows the truth about her and accepts her. He does not judge her like everybody else did. He does not tell her to stop sinning. This was a God moment. She no longer sees Jesus as a stranger but as a prophet – a messenger from God.Since he is from God then surely, he can resolve the long-standing issue about who is right: Jews or Samaritans? Which is the correct temple: Gerizim (Samaritans worship) or Jerusalem (Jews worship)? Jesus takes the issue to a new level. He points out that true worship will no longer be dependent on a location or a building, but is a matter of spirit and truth. In other words - Jesus is saying we are to worship God wherever we happen to be. God is omnipresent – everywhere at the same time. God is not stuck in some building somewhere – God dwells in our hearts. So when you come to worship -- come expecting to meet God in the gathered community. God is here int his place. The woman confesses her faith in the messiah who is to come, and Jesus says that he is that messiah. Jesus reveals his identity not to his disciples, not to his own people, not to the religious leaders, but to this person on the margin of society – three times over: she is a Samaritan, a woman, and in exile among her own people. We do not even know her name, yet Jesus entrusts her with his deepest secret, the truth of who he is.Then this woman does the unthinkable. She leaves her water jar there at the well. It is her most valuable possession and heavy with water. She runs back into the city as fast as she can.The woman tells others about Jesus and they come.She needs help to interpret the God moment she experienced. She tells the people to come and see Jesus. Saying, “He told me everything that I did! Could he be the messiah?” A crowd follows her out to the well. The crowd is so large that Jesus compares it to fields ready for harvest. These people have accepted the woman’s story – her testimony, and they come to Jesus.How odd… here is a woman reject by her people, a woman with no name, no social standing, an outcaste. Her experience with Jesus is brief very brief, she has no training, no special calling. And yet, the people listen to her. There is something attractive, compelling, authentic about her story.Here are six key aspects of her story and how she lived the faith… She participated in God’s kingdom work and didn’t even know it. (We often participate in God’s kingdom work and don’t even know it.)She was a woman of questionable character, a lot of personal experience with the rough edges of life. And yet - there was still a place for her in God’s kingdom work. (There is a place in God’s kingdom work for everyone.)Her understanding of Jesus was far from complete. (So too is ours and it always will be.)She shared her personal experience of Jesus with others. (So too should we.)She remained focused on Jesus, not on herself. (So too should we.)She pointed people to Jesus and showed them where to find him. (So too should we.)She helped people see Jesus as the Savior of the world by sharing her story. When it comes to our relationship with Jesus, we all have a story to tell. We don’t need to have our lives all put together and everything worked out. We don’t need to know all there is to know. What we need is to simply tell others about Jesus, and leave the results up to God.In other words -- we are called to live the faith in this faithless world so that more and more people will say to us like they said to the woman at the well --We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that Jesus really is the Savior of the world.Amen ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download