Living Water
Introduction
- I want you to think for a second about feeling isolated.
- I’m sure we’ve all had a period in our life where we felt so badly about ourselves that we avoided something or someone.
- When I was in high school, we had a weekly advisory group meeting
- Our leader was MR. Timson, a really nice math teacher
- But we had a tradition
- Someone brought doughnuts every week and these were not to be any average doughnuts, they were to be Krispy Kreme
- And ONLY gotten fresh at one of the stores
- We rotated through a schedule and one week, it was my turn
- In order to do it though, you had to wake up an hour early.
- I overslept
- So, I did the best thing I could, I went to Harris-Teeter and got some day-old doughnuts
- IT didn’t go over well and I spent that day in a humorous but annoying form of shame and isolation from my friends.
- IT’s a humorous way to introduce the idea that sometimes we feel badly about ourselves, our behaviors and all, and our actions start to change for the worse.
- Here, in this morning’s reading, we meet a woman who, by choice and by circumstance, is a bit of a pariah.
- Jesus meets her and her life is changed.
- To begin with, meting a woman at a well and having a life changing experience isn’t uncommon in our Bibles
- We meet Isaacs wife at the well
- Jacob encounters Rachel at a well
- Moses meets Zipporah at the well
- Wells were significant places in Jewish culture
- But instead of a betrothal, Jesus offers something else.
- I overslept
- In order to do it though, you had to wake up an hour early.
- Someone brought doughnuts every week and these were not to be any average doughnuts, they were to be Krispy Kreme
Some Things to Know
- Jesus is travelling in Samaria
- This region had a lot of hostilities towards the Jews
- They were kissing cousins; Samaria is what’s left of the Northern Kingdom after its destruction in 744
- Sadly though, there were great hostilities between the two sides during this era
- During this era, both sides massacred the others on a couple of occasions during the first century
- So, there was a lot of bad blood between these two cultures and yet Jesus CHOSE to travel there.
- But Jesus also did some strange things, at least according to customs of the time.
- First, he was speaking with a Samaritan
- Second, he was speaking to a woman to whom he was not betrothed
- Third, he speaks theologically with someone untrained in belief
- Jesus goes through a lot of culturally sensitive stuff to reach this woman.
- It should tell us something about Jesus, about how he will come to whom are his regardless of the conditions of the time.
- Jesus breaks through cultural taboos in order to deliver the good news of the Gospel.
- And what about this woman?
- We know she’s coming to the well at an odd hour.
- This would’ve been blazing hot, a time no one would be out
- Why?
- The belief is shame
- Jesus confronts her about her many betrothals not as a means to shame her but instead to simply reveal he knew a lot about her.
- Shame and isolation lead us to make terrible mistakes and even hurt people unintentionally
- With amazing speed, I failed out of Carolina. I remember struggling how I would avoid family events, I felt just so much shame.
- The woman is physically thirsty but Jesus recognizes that she’s really seeking something deeper.
- This is a profound insight into all of our lives
- We tend to find ourselves divorced at times from our real path of knowing Jesus and more on the path of life, so to speak
- That is to say that we all mis prioritize from time to time.
- Jesus requests a drink of her and the woman is surprised
- She’s aware of the cultural taboos being broken
- But she answers him
- Jesus in turn flips the switch, doesn’t he?
- John 4:10 – “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.”
- But the woman still doesn’t’ understand
- John 4:11 – “11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?”
- She remains focused on physical things while Jesus is pressing her towards spiritual awarenesses
- So, what is LIVING WATER
- The idea that God is the source of living water is deeply scriptural in the Old Testament
- Jeremiah 2:13 – “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.- God is the true source of life and Isreal abandoned Him for idols is the point of this passage
- Cisterns represent man-made efforts but God’s living water is so much better.
- Jeremiah 17:13 – Lord, you are the hope of Israel;
all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water- Again, God is the fountain of life, turning from him leads to spiritual dryness
- EXCURSUS ON SPIRITUAL DRYNESS
- That’s a time where our spiritual disciplines are gone and we’re just living life, painting by the numbers so to speak.
- When that happens, it’s like we’re cars riding along without doing oil changes
- Things are going to get bad
- But despite things getting bad in the Old Testament, God’s living waters were going to flow
- Zechariah 14:8-9 – “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
- When that happens, it’s like we’re cars riding along without doing oil changes
- That’s a time where our spiritual disciplines are gone and we’re just living life, painting by the numbers so to speak.
- EXCURSUS ON SPIRITUAL DRYNESS
- Again, God is the fountain of life, turning from him leads to spiritual dryness
- Jeremiah 2:13 – “My people have committed two sins:
- The idea that God is the source of living water is deeply scriptural in the Old Testament
- John 4:11 – “11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?”
- But the woman still doesn’t’ understand
- John 4:10 – “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.”
- We tend to find ourselves divorced at times from our real path of knowing Jesus and more on the path of life, so to speak
- This is a profound insight into all of our lives
- The belief is shame
- We know she’s coming to the well at an odd hour.
- It should tell us something about Jesus, about how he will come to whom are his regardless of the conditions of the time.
- This region had a lot of hostilities towards the Jews
9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
- Jesus isn’t offering the woman well water, he’s offering himself to her as living waters
- JESUS knows the woman is searching for contentment
- We find this in her many husbands but she isn’t being truly filled.
- Jesus offers her real and total spiritual contentment in Him,
Jesus Knows us Completely and Loves us Anyway
- Despite this woman’s troubles and sins, Jesus comes into her life in a way that I think many of us would find troublesome
- Who likes to recall their mistakes, yet Jesus calls them into question without rancor or spite, he simply makes it known that he knows us.
- EXCURSUS – God knows us
- Do we think about how deeply God knows us.
- There’s nothing we’ve ever done that’s escaped him
- Nothing we will ever do here or into eternity will escape him, either
- And that awareness sometimes can lead us away from God
- Shame can be such a powerful thing
- But what God is telling this woman of Samaria, what God is telling us is that no matter our faults, flaws and foibles, God is with us and God loves us.
- Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- AS Jesus presents this truth to her, she switches the subject
- Where is real worship, she wonders, but Jesus returns her to the matter at hand
- Worship isn’t about a location but instead it is about a relationship to God.
- Excursus – relationship to God
- Does that feel like what you have
- Sometimes yes, sometimes no
- Think about what a relationship entails.
- Are you doing the deal, yes or no?
- Are you in the Word
- Are you in prayer
- Are you in service to the Lord in the World?
- These are the elements of relationship with Christ and if we’re not doing them, we’re not consuming living waters and will ALWAYS Feel like we’re lacking something
- Notice how Jesus does this,
- HE REVEALS HIMSELF AS THE TRUE MESSIAH
- This is the first time in the Gospel and it shouldn’t be overlooked that the revelation is to a Samaritan
- There is literally no one who is immune to the Gospel as Jesus presents it to them.
- Application
- Jesus already knows our failures, our wounds and our sins and meets us there, anyway
- We can’t hide from God but we don’t need to because h loves us no matter what.
- This is the first time in the Gospel and it shouldn’t be overlooked that the revelation is to a Samaritan
- HE REVEALS HIMSELF AS THE TRUE MESSIAH
- Are you doing the deal, yes or no?
- Does that feel like what you have
- Excursus – relationship to God
- Worship isn’t about a location but instead it is about a relationship to God.
- Where is real worship, she wonders, but Jesus returns her to the matter at hand
- But what God is telling this woman of Samaria, what God is telling us is that no matter our faults, flaws and foibles, God is with us and God loves us.
- Shame can be such a powerful thing
Jesus Transforms Us and Sends Us Out
- Notice the end of this passage, how the woman changes from skeptic to evangelist.
- She leaves her water container showing her changed priorities
- She came for water but found something far better
- She immediately testifies
- Come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?
- Many Samaritans believe not because of her words but because they get to meet Jesus, too/
- Jesus tells his disciples,
- The fields are white for harvest.
- He’s letting them know that the world is ready for the Gospel
- Application
- A real encounter with Jesus changes us and when we are changed, we can’t keep it to ourselves
- Who in our lives needs an invitation to “come and see?”
- Let’s invite them to join us next Sunday as we talk more about John’s Gospel
- The fields are white for harvest.
Conclusion
- The Samaritan woman’s story is our story
- Jesus meets us in our thirst
- When we long, Jesus comes
- Jesus knows us fully ad still offers grace
- Jesus transforms us and sends us out to share the Good News.
- Jesus meets us in our thirst
- Nadia Wilder
- A writer speaks about living a dissolute life in the big city filled with sadness, longing and loneliness
- IT was in that mess that she had an encounter with Jesus
- Now married, she considers herself a “Jesus’ girl” in a loving active relationship with her savior.
- A writer speaks about living a dissolute life in the big city filled with sadness, longing and loneliness
Sermon Applications
- Jesus Sees and Knows Us Fully
- The woman’s past did not disqualify her from receiving grace.
- Jesus sees everything about us—and still offers living water.
- True Worship is Not About Location, But Spirit and Truth
- Worship is about relationship—not a particular church building or denomination.
- God seeks those who worship from the heart.
- Evangelism is for Everyone
- The woman was not a trained theologian—but she brought an entire town to Jesus.
- Evangelism is as simple as inviting others to “come and see”.
- The Gospel is for Outsiders
- Jesus intentionally sought the lost and marginalized.
• No one is too far gone for God’s grace.
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