Yesterday I spoke in church again. What a great time it was. I really felt the pressure and the pleasure. Normally I struggle with what to preach on but this time I saw so many signs of confirmation from God (I will post on those later). Here is the main body of my talk. There were a few ad-libs which I haven't included. One major change though; I dealt with the two interpretations of the passage differently. I ended with the call to talk to Jesus if you felt like the woman at the well. Hopefully, if you make it through the sermon it'll all make sense
When I started to go to church, I expected it to be very different from what
it was – I didn’t have any real experience of church, beyond what I had seen in
films or on tv. I expected cries of sinner! Backslider! Other judgemental
calls. I expected to be told that I needed to repent or I would go to hell
I Never experienced anything like that though. Instead I found a family,
I found acceptance, I found love (of all sorts). I rarely heard about sin.
Outside of occasional personal reading of the Bible, it never really came up. I
knew that I was a sinner, the Bible was clear on that. However, nobody had ever
confronted me about it. Was I free and clear? Had I done enough? Turns out I
had been confronted about it, just confronted in the most remarkable way.
Please turn with me to John Chapter 4.
4 Now Jesus learned that the
Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was
not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through
Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in
Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son
Joseph.6 Jacob’s well was there,
and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about
noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman
came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you
give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone
into the town to buy
food.)
9 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.[a])
10 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.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said,
“you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this
living water? 12 Are you greater than our
father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons
and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 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.”
15 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.”
16 He told her, “Go, call
your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she
replied.
Jesus
said to her, “You are
right when you say you have no husband.18 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.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I
can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on
this mountain, but you
Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe
me, a time is coming when you
will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship
what you do not know; we worship
what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is
spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know
that Messiah” (called Christ) “is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the
one speaking to you—I am he.”
This is a very well-known passage and contains someone who, if anyone
does, deserves to be called a sinner. This passage shows us several things
about both the woman and Jesus.
She is a Samaritan Woman who was at the village well at around midday.
This is an interesting point and fairly easily explained. In the Middle East at
this time, women generally went to get water early in the morning and in the
evening. At other times it was too hot or too late in the day. She was probably
avoiding the other women.
She has had 5 husbands and is with another man right now who is not her
husband. Even today this would probably cause a lot of tongue wagging. In the
First Century this would have been utterly scandalous.
I grew up in a village where gossip was almost a second currency.
Everyone knew everyone’s business. I know what it is like to be on the receiving
end of that and, to my shame, I know what it is to be on the giving side too.
She is a fallen woman. A loose woman as my Gran would have called her.
She is at the bottom of the rung and Jesus talks to her.
What does Jesus talk to her about? Water! I have never understood what
this was all about. If you just read the passage it doesn’t make any sense. The
woman is surprised that Jesus asks her for water (more on that in a little bit)
and then he offers her living water. Water that will mean she is never thirsty
again.
Have you ever been really thirsty? Really really thirsty? It must be a
common thing in the middle east but not so here in Fort William. When you are
truly thirsty though, that first draught of water can be so sweet. But it
fades. Eventually you will be thirsty again.
So what is Jesus on about? The woman wants the water he offers but look
at her reasons for it – she wants to avoid having to come to the well again.
You see, we as humans have been sinners for almost all the time we have
been humans. Being a sinner means wanting to go our own way. Wanting to get
what we want, when we want it. Having desires is what makes us a sinner. Desire
for money, for fame, for power, for love. They are all wrong desires and they
all lead us away from God. The Bible is clear on this, all have sinned and all
have fallen short of the glory of God.
At the heart of every human being is a longing for something. We have a
hole that seems unfillable. Christians believe that it is a Christ shaped hole
but what about those who don’t know Jesus?
Having dreams is fine. It is ok to be aspirational but the woman at the
well has tried to get happiness from sex and relationships. She has had five
husbands and yet there isn’t any satisfaction for her. If these all worked,
there would be no shame. She wants to hide from her shame and her pain. She keeps changing the subject. She keeps trying
to distract Jesus, not wanting to confront her past and her present. She is not
a fulfilled person. If she were fulfilled, she would be happy. She is not
happy.
All sorts of people have tried to fill the hole with all sorts of
things. Sophia Loren – ‘In my life, there is an emptiness that is impossible to
fulfil’ despite the fame and the beauty and the money she was empty. Boris
Becker ‘ I was rich, I had all the material possessions I needed … but I had no
inner peace’.
It is this hole, this emptiness, that drives people to search for things
and, sadly, drives all too many to drink or drugs or worse when they find out
that the things they wanted are no longer enough. It was this hole that had
driven the woman at the well to become what she had become.
What Jesus offers is a true satisfaction. A complete answer to this
spiritual thirst. Complete and utter satisfaction and gratefully she received it.
Later in this chapter we see a complete change in the woman. This scared,
unhappy woman, ashamed to be seen by the other women in the village, goes and
gets the others. She drags them to the well to see the man who had finally
shown her where true satisfaction lay.
What a remarkable encounter that she had with him.
What I have said already doesn’t begin to touch the surface of the
remarkableness of this passage. Not only is Jesus’ offer remarkable, everything
he does is remarkable.
You see, Jesus, a single man, talks with a woman! A Samaritan woman! A
fallen Samaritan woman! Jewish men were forbidden from talking with women but Jesus broke that
religious taboo.
But she was a Samaritan. A member of a mongrel and traitor race that had
intermingled with foreigners and lost their Israelite status. So, ethnically
she was lower than low. Worse though, The Mishnah, a Jewish religious document,
says that Samaritan women were considered to be menstruants from an early age.
She, and anything she touched, was unclean. Anyone who touched it would be
unclean and Jesus broke this ethnic taboo and was prepared to become unclean
just to share the good news with this woman.
She was a fallen woman. An adulteress. A harlot. A Whore. Good men didn’t
mix with such people and yet, this moral taboo is also shattered by Jesus.
Jesus’ whole approach to this woman is amazingly gentle. He, of all
people, had the right to judge her and to call her a sinner. He doesn’t. He is
gentle and compassionate.
Compare this approach with the way he treated Nicodemus in chapter 3.
Here was the ultimate insider, a Pharisee, a member of the council and someone who
should have had it all. Jesus is harsher on him.
What he really says when he tells Nicodemus that he has to be born again
is that his whole life up to this point has not been good enough. He tells him
that his obedience and his rules and his position mean nothing.
At no point does Jesus tell the woman at the well that her life is not
good enough. He knows all about her life but he doesn’t condemn her.
Even though he is gentle, Jesus is firm with her. She tries to turn the
tables by talking about how he doesn’t have what he needs. She tries to bring
up the religious differences between Jews and Samaritans. Many Jews would have
got angry about the temple thing. They would have easily been riled up. Jesus just ploughs on with telling her the
Good News.
Right at the end of this little interaction with the woman at the well
Jesus does something almost unique in the gospels. Hardly ever does Jesus reveal
his true identity. When he is being questioned by Caiaphas he dodges the
question about his nature till the very end, when he is called the messiah by
peter and the others, he tells them to be quiet. Here, in this quiet part of
the wrong town in the wrong country, talking to the wrong woman from the wrong
race, he freely admits that he is the messiah. Would you share your most
important secret with someone you have just met? Someone who is like this
woman?
I have been reading a book called ‘Preaching’ by Tim Keller. It talks
about how to get the most out of a passage from the Bible. How does it apply to
our lives is one of the key questions it points out.
There are two ways in which I think this passage applies to our lives.
Firstly, are we the woman at the well? Maybe we have spent out lives
searching for something to fill that gap. Maybe we have tried something like
sex. Or alcohol. Or drugs. Maybe it is something different. This passage tells
us that it is ok to be like this. People will get like it and they can find
help. If that’s you, and you feel a longing today for finding out more about
Jesus, that’s the Holy Spirit prompting you. There is satisfaction available.
That hole can be filled. Please don’t leave here today without talking to
someone about it and praying about it with us. Speak to me, or Gary, or anyone
really! If you can’t talk to any of us today, please talk to Jesus. I promise
you he is waiting and will listen to you.
Please remember that with the woman at the well, Jesus was prepared to
break any amount of taboos to speak to the woman. Nothing you have done is bad enough
to stop him wanting to speak to you or help you.
Most of us here however are probably not identifying with the woman at
the well. Most of us are probably more likely to read this and identify with
the person offering the truth about Jesus. Here is something very important.
Jesus models how we should approach sharing the good news about him.
The thing is, what has your Christian life been like? If you are like me,
I suspect you have spent a long time in the Christian Bubble. Going to church,
reading Christian books, meeting with Christian people, listening to Christian
music and having Christian thoughts.
I don’t mix with many people outside that bubble and that’s something I
hope changes. You see, one question that God is asking me through this passage
today is, who is your woman at the well?
I remember a few years ago listening to a speaker who shared a story
that impacted me so much. I make no apology but every time I have read it this
week in preparation for talking today It has had me blubbing like a baby
(welling up?)
It is a story told by Tony Campolo and it is a little bit long but
please bear with me
Up a side
street I found a little place that was still open. I went in, took a seat on
one of the stools at the counter, and waited to be served. This was one of
those sleazy places that deserves the name, "greasy spoon." I did not
even touch the menu. I was afraid that if I opened the thing something gruesome
would crawl out. But it was the only place I could find.
The fat guy
behind the counter came over and asked me, "What d'ya want?"
I said I
wanted a cup of coffee and a donut.
He poured a
cup of coffee, wiped his grimy hand on his smudged apron, and then he grabbed a
donut off the shelf behind him. I'm a realist. I know that in the back room of
that restaurant, donuts are probably dropped on the floor and kicked around.
But when everything is out front where I could see it, I really would have
appreciated it if he had used a pair of tongs and placed the donut on some wax
paper.
As I sat there
munching on my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door of
the diner suddenly swung open and, to my discomfort, in marched eight or nine
provocative and boisterous prostitutes.
It was a small
place, and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt
completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard
the woman beside me say, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be
39."
Her
"friend" responded in a nasty tone, "So what do you want from
me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing
'Happy Birthday'?"
"Come
on," said the woman sitting next to me. "Why do you have to be so
mean? I was just telling you, that's all. Why do you have to put me down? I was
just telling you it was my birthday. I don't want anything from you. I mean,
why should you give me a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my
whole life. Why should I have one now?"
When I heard
that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I
called over the fat guy behind the counter, and I asked him, "Do they come
in here every night?"
"Yeah!"
he answered.
"The one
right next to me, does she come here every night?"
"Yeah!"
he said. "That's Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here every night. Why d'ya
wanta know?"
"Because
I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday," I told him. "What do
you say you and I do something about that? What do you think about us throwing
a birthday party for her—right here—tomorrow night?"
A cute smile
slowly crossed his chubby cheeks, and he answered with measured delight,
"That's great! I like it! That's a great idea!" Calling to his wife,
who did the cooking in the back room, he shouted, "Hey! Come out here!
This guy's got a great idea. Tomorrow's Agnes's birthday. This guy wants us to
go in with him and throw a birthday party for her—right here—tomorrow
night!"
His wife came
out of the back room all bright and smiley. She said, "That's wonderful!
You know Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind, and nobody
does anything nice and kind for her."
"Look,"
I told them, "if it's okay with you, I'll get back here tomorrow morning
about 2:30 and decorate the place. I'll even get a birthday cake!"
"No
way," said Harry (that was his name). "The birthday cake's my thing.
I'll make the cake."
At 2:30 the
next morning, I was back at the diner. I had picked up some crepe-paper
decorations at the store and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard
that read, "Happy Birthday, Agnes!" I decorated the diner from one
end to the other. I had that diner looking good.
The woman who
did the cooking must have gotten the word out on the street, because by 3:15
every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes and me!
At 3:30 on the
dot, the door of the diner swung open, and in came Agnes and her friend. I had
everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the M.C. of the affair) and when they
came in we all screamed, "Happy birthday!"
Never have I
seen a person so flabbergasted so stunned so shaken. Her
mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to
steady her. As she was led to sit on one of the stools along the counter, we
all sang "Happy Birthday"' to her. As we came to the end of our
singing with "happy birthday, dear Agnes, happy birthday to you," her
eyes moistened. Then, when the birthday cake with all the candles on it was
carried out, she lost it and just openly cried.
Harry gruffly
mumbled, "Blow out the candles, Agnes! Come on! Blow out the candles! If
you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna hafta blow out the candles."
And, after an endless few seconds, he did. Then he handed her a knife and told
her, "Cut the cake, Agnes. Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake."
Agnes looked
down at the cake. Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly
said, "Look, Harry, is it all right with you if I…I mean is it
okay if I kind of what I want to ask you is is it O.K. if
I keep the cake a little while? I mean, is it all right if we don't eat it
right away?"
Harry shrugged
and answered, "Sure! It's O.K. If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake.
Take it home, if you want to."
"Can
I?" she asked. Then, looking at me, she said, "I live just down the
street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I'll be right
back. Honest!"
She got off
the stool, picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail,
walked slowly toward the door. As we all just stood there motionless, she left.
When the door
closed, there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do,
I broke the silence by saying, "What do you say we pray?"
Looking back
on it now, it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer
meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the
morning. But then it just felt like the right thing to do. I prayed for Agnes.
I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed and that
God would be good to her.
When I
finished, Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his
voice, he said, "Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of
church do you belong to?" In one of those moments when just the right
words came, I answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties
for whores at 3:30 in the morning."
Harry waited a
moment and then almost sneered as he answered, "No you don't. There's no
church like that. If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"
Wouldn't we
all? Wouldn't we all like to join a church that throws birthday parties for
whores at 3:30 in the morning?
Well, that's
the kind of church that Jesus came to create!
I have been reading the Bible every day this year and I have learned so
many things. The one that has stood out for me this year is simply this – God has
no favourites. It’s in Romans 2:11 and it’s in Acts 10:34. It shines out
through Psalms and through the whole New Testament. God is a god for everyone. He
doesn’t give us a choice about this. We cannot limit God or who he wants us to
minister to.
Jesus makes it clear in his last message to people before he goes to Heaven.
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel we have the great commission and in it Jesus says
Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The word used in Greek is actually Ethnie and this doesn’t mean country.
It means people group. It means every type of person. It means rich people, it
means poor people, it means teenagers, it means old people, it means
alcoholics, it means drug addicts, it means whores and it means saints. It
means muslims, it means atheists and it means people who have been going to
church their entire life. It means gay, straight and everything else. It means
criminals, it means murderers, it means rapists and worse. It means the
disabled and the physically perfect. There are no exceptions.
If God moves you to a well you have to talk to the women who come along.
We don’t know where our wells will be. Maybe it is work. Maybe it is out
in town. Maybe it is going to be in the life groups we are moving to in a few
weeks. Wherever God puts us, we need to be watching out for those people who
are in a bad way and who need to know about the living water
Jesus offers.
I know it is difficult. I don’t like speaking to people. Telling people
about Jesus is even more difficult. Usually because of where they are when God
lets us meet them. Jess and I were having a long chat yesterday about various things
and she said to me that being a Christian means being prepared to meet people
at their worst. She was absolutely correct.
We could do worse that use the model that Jesus uses in this passage. We
need to acknowledge their sin but sit alongside them. It is no use admonishing
that young mother for smoking in front of her kids when she is stressed out.
Instead, buy her a packet of fags and take her for a coffee. Don’t get that the
couple upstairs are arguing again, invite one or both of them to yours for
dinner. When was the last time we had a cup of coffee with a prostitute? When did
we last buy a homeless person a meal?
Remember that it’s ok to confront them with what they have done wrong in
their lives but be gentle. Tell them there is something that is better. Offer
them the living water of Jesus. Share your story of how you found out what it
was and don’t give up. If they change the subject keep going!
That’s the only way to go. Remember at the start I said that I realised
eventually that I had been confronted with my sin. This was the way it
happened. I went to a church that modelled Jesus at the well. They sat with me,
they had me round for dinner, they showed me that I was looking for happiness
in the wrong place and they showed me the inexpressible joy that could be found
in Jesus.
That’s the church that Jesus came to build. He came that we could have
life and have it in abundance. He came to show us the way to build that church;
the church which holds birthday parties for whores at half three in the
morning. He came to show us the way to build a church that gives food to the
hungry, shelter to the homeless and hope to the hopeless.
