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One summer Joyce and I had come up from
Texas to spend a week or so on Lake Ouachita. There
is a spot where we would camp out every year when
we were able, starting when Ashton was in a playpen.
This particular week was rainy. In fact not just
rain but some real storms came through. After 4 days
cool and soggy, we packed up our stuff and left the
lake. We decided that we would get on the train to St
Louis and ride through the night, get to St Louis and
see some sights and then take the train back to Little
Rock the next night. Which is what we proceeded to
do.
We had a rental car waiting for us at the station.
Our first destination was to be the city zoo. However,
we had never been in St Louis before, and promptly
got lost, even with the map. To make it worse, the
clouds were hanging heavy over St Louis, too, and I
never got my bearings the whole time we were there.
We decided that it would be good to grab
something to eat before we went to the zoo. We saw a
subway and decided that would be just fine. We got
out of our car, went into the Subway. As I was
ordering, I wanted to ask directions to the zoo.
I began by saying something to the effect that I
thought we were in the wrong area.
The attendant looked at me and said, "You
surely are."
Then I looked around for the first time and we
were the only white faces in the whole building.
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I tried to explain what I meant, though I am not
sure I ever got through.
In our passage today, Jesus was in a place where
he was not expected. He had to go from Judea through
Samaria to Galilee. Unlike our adventure in St Louis
though, Jesus knew very well where he was and why
he was there.
Though one woman was destined for a life
changing experience. And through her, a whole
village.
In my mind I see it this way.
Let's call her Becky, for Rebecca.
As the sun begins to rise, she rolls up her mat
and puts it to the side of the room. Time to start
making the bread for breakfast. She works at that for a
few minutes then she sees that Moz, her live-in, is not
up yet so she gives him a playful nudge with her foot.
"Time to get up, sleepy head. Its harvest-time,
and you cannot sleep all day or we will starve to
death."
Moz sleepily rolls over and asks, "So what's for
breakfast today? Something new?"
"What do you think?" Becky asks. "Same as
yesterday."
With that little conversation, the day begins as
usual.
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After breakfast Moz goes off to the fields, and
Becky goes about the chores. The first, right after
breakfast is to buy a few things for dinner. She enjoys
shopping this time of the day because the other women
are at the well getting water and gossiping. Too much
of it about her. Anyway that gives her the freedom to
do a little flirting with the men in the market without
being caught by their wives.
She heads back to her house with the items she
had picked up. Does a little more house-work, then it
is time to go down to the well to get some water. All
of those gossiping biddies would be gone by now.
She grabs up her clay water pot and heads for
the well.
To get to the well, one had to squeeze through a
narrow passage to the well. Once through that there
was a little room to move around the well. From top
to bottom was about 135 feet. There was usually
about 15 feet of water when you could finally get to it.
As she was about to go through the narrow
portion when she noticed a man sitting near the
entrance. This made her a little nervous at first. She
could tell that he was a Jew by the blue ribbon around
the border of his garment. This was not too good. She
had been verbally abused and cheated by Jews before,
so her guard came up.
"Give me a drink," the man asked her.
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That got her attention. There was one thing that
a Middle Easterner never refused to anyone, even his
enemies, and that was a drink of water.
But her curiosity came through and she just had
to ask the question. She looked down and noticed the
blue border on his tunic.
"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink
from me, a Samaritan woman?"
She knew that the Jews would have no dealings
with Samaritans.
Neither the Samaritans with the Jews if it could
be avoided.
The man, whom she came to know as Jesus,
replied; "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is
who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have
asked Him, and He would have given you living
water."
This brought a picture to her mind. She had
seen streams of pure clear water running off of the
mountains in the spring. She had often thought how
great it would have been to have that water running
right to her town or her block, or even her house!!
But that thought was ridiculous.
She responds "Sir, You have nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that
living water?
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Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us
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the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons
and his livestock?"
In a place like hers, just being able to find any
water was a near miracle. No one ever thought of
having running water that did not have to be hauled.
Why, running water would save her at least an hours
work every day, not to mention the effort of carrying 4
or 4 gallons of water back from the well each time.
Jesus answered Becky and said: "Whoever
drinks of this water will get thirsty again, but whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him will never be
thirsty again. But the water that I give will be like a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
This was an offer that was just too good to be
true. This offer would take care of two continuing
parts of her life.
"Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be
thirsty again and won't have to keep coming here to
get water."
Jesus now gives a strange request. "Go and get
your husband, and come back."
This was a strange request in her opinion. What
difference did it make if her husband was there? Men
did not haul the water from the well. That was
woman's work. Besides Moz was probably in the
fields working right now.
Becky said, "I don't have a husband."
That was technically true.
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But Jesus comes right back, "You are right.
You do not have a husband, but you have had 5 and
you are living with someone that is not your husband.
You told the truth.”
This rather startled Becky. I can see a wary
look at Jesus, a moment of hesitation, then in her direct
way, she says, "Sir, I can see that You are a prophet.
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews
say that Jerusalem is the place where you are supposed
to worship."
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Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the
hour is coming when you will neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
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You worship what you do not know; we know what
we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
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But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
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God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth."
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The woman said to Him, "I know that
Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He
comes, He will tell us all things."
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Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
Let's note what has gone on so far in this
encounter. Jesus saw a need in this woman, and he
saw that she was the key to the city. There was
probably no one else in that city that could have made
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the impact that she did. She was smart, quick on her
feet, and felt deep needs that she could not express.
She had acquaintances in the city. But I
sincerely doubt that any one respected her. The
women no doubt hated her, and the men probably used
her. She was at the well at noon because the other
women would not be there at that time. In short, she
was a social outcast with nothing to lose.
Then Jesus walks into her life.
Her curiosity makes her stay while Jesus is
talking. But she displays her expertise at theological
dodgeball because every time Jesus gets close to the
real need, the real hurt, she starts talking theology.
When he started prodding the heart, she deflected to
the head.
But Jesus had the key. Water. A daily necessity
making daily trips to the well necessary. Long, hot,
dusty trips. No doubt when she would arrive at the
well, she would begin the whole process by taking a
deep drink herself before filling the jug.
So Jesus:
1. Asks a favor, one that she could not refuse.
BTW, we do not know if Jesus ever got that drink of
water.
2. Jesus creates a dialogue based on her most
pressing perceived need.
3. Then he moves her thoughts from physical to
the spiritual.
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4. He demonstrates that he is the Messiah.
5. He offers her more than she could ever
imagine.
In spite of the dodging, Are you greater than
Jacob, Where do you get the water, I see that you are a
prophet, Where are we to worship, The Messiah is
coming, ......Jesus gets through to her.
She finally begins to comprehend the water of
life just a little bit.
Just then the disciples show up. For once they
had the decency not to open their mouths until the
woman left.
Becky is so excited by this time that she tears
off to the village. As she goes through the village she
shares with the ...men... "Come see a man that told me
everything I ever did."
This got their attention. Some of those things
that she did probably included some of them. Nevertheless, they flocked out of the city to see Jesus.
I wish I knew more about what happened next.
But no doubt Jesus expounded more on the living
water. And no doubt, people could see changes in the
live of the Samaritan Woman at the Well.
Our text tells us:
John 4:39-43 (NKJV)
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in
Him because of the word of the woman who testified,
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"He told me all that I ever did."
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So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they
urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two
days.
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And many more believed because of His own word.
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Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not
because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard
Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Savior of the world."
The Samaritan city, that probably would have
been closed to Jesus, suddenly becomes a beacon of
light because of one woman who accepted the gift of
living water and shared about that gift.
Changed lives change other lives.
Let's finish out Jesus' part of the story.
After the woman had left to evangelize the
town, the disciples ask Jesus to eat something.
He replied, "I have food that you do not know
of."
The disciples among themselves ask, "Has
anyone brought him food?"
Jesus overheard them and said:
John 4:34-38 (NKJV)
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Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of
Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
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Do you not say, 'There are still four months and
then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up
your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already
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white for harvest!
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And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit
for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who
reaps may rejoice together.
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For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another
reaps.'
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I sent you to reap that for which you have not
labored; others have labored, and you have entered
into their labors."
Looking at this story from an outreach
standpoint, I have heard people say, "Well, everyone
around here has a church to go to already. There is no
need for us."
Or how about this, "Evangelism does not work
any more."
But Jesus, in Samaria, the most hostile territory
to a Jew, through the work of a sinful woman
motivated by the Holy Spirit, moves a whole town to
accept salvation. And as far as I know, this only
happened twice, it only happened in non-Jewish
towns, and it happened because a single person went
and shared what Jesus did for them.
Jesus looks at the fields around us and tells us,
"The harvest is ready."
There are people out there who need to know
our experience with Jesus. There are those who appear
unlovely and unkind, but many of them are just
seeking for what they cannot find, or covering the
inadequacies that they feel.
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Those people may not profess any faith, or they
may be good at theological dodgeball to cover their
needs. But Jesus' love can reach their hearts. His
compassion can move their soul, his concern can fill
them with that living water.
But first I have to ask you:
Are you seeking Jesus with all of your heart or
are you playing theological dodge ball.
I have said this before and you have heard it
before: When we get to heaven we are all going to
find out that we are wrong on a lot of points.
But we will have one thing in common. That
living water will have flooded our hearts and cleansed
our souls to the point where everything, always is ALL
ABOUT JESUS.
Always and forever, we will be in the Kingdom
NOT because of our theological correctness, but
because Jesus is the focus, the center, the totality of
our existence.
And with Jesus as the center of our existence,
we will be living a changed life that reflects that. And
people will see that, and be directed to the way, the
truth, the life, the living water, the I AM. Our Savior
Jesus Christ.
How do we get there.
Be honest with ourselves. God knows who we
are. Why can't we admit it?
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Accept the living water. Surrender to God
Share the good news.
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