Would You Choose You?

We All Have a Past

We can be awfully hard on ourselves.

Some things we pack away, compartmentalize, never to unpack again. Some things constantly haunt us.

All those failed resolutions.

If I”m going to lose the weight I gained in ‘22 do I have to lose the weight I gained in ‘20 and ‘21 first?

What will I do next year?

I still remember errors I made in high school baseball games that cost us wins. I made an error that allowed the winning run to score that eliminated us from the state championship tournaments my jr. year.

Haunts me still.

I’ve said and done some things in ministry that were absolute bombs and got me in hot water w/ boards and committees.

Glad I learned a few things before I got here.

The fact that I have the wife I have, and you guys and the elders let me have the keys and pulpit in this church is nothing short of a miracle.

If I dwell too long on the reasons why you shouldn’t have, then I can wonder if I’m even qualified to get what I’ve got from God or to do what I’ve done for God.

But, I’m the kind of guy God specializes in using. Nothing spectacular about me at all. I just try to let God do His thing thru me.

Sometimes we think we can get ourselves so far out and messed up that God can’t find us, fix us, or use us.

That will never happen. No matter our past, God can glorify our future if we let Him.

Since it’s been a while since we’ve studied these passages, let me set the context before we get into today’s passage.

Context always matters. We can never interpret a verse or passage outside of its context. Themes matter and the meaning of the surrounding passage helps us understand what John is communicating here.

Context

John 2:1-12. John told the story of when Jesus turned the water into wine. He fundamentally changed the make-up, the DNA of the water and turned it into wine.

He took an inanimate liquid, water, and gave it life, made it the juice of a living vine.

John 3 Nicodemus, the Pharisee came to Jesus to get to know more about Him and what He was about.

Nic thought b/c he was born into the right bloodline, he was assured to get to heaven.

Jesus told him his bloodline would not save him. But Jesus’s blood would.

He told him he had to be born again; born of water and born of the Spirit.

Born of water references John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance. A person must recognize their condition and need of a Savior and being saved. Repent. Admit your sin. Apologize for it. Adapt to a new lifestyle.

Nic had trouble w/ this b/c as a religious leader and keeper of the law he bel’d he took care of his sin on his own.

Born of the Spirit references Jesus’s baptism when we come to believe IN Him. When we do, He sends to HS into us. We are fundamentally changed and go from dead to alive; just like the wine.

Today’s passage is the Samaritan woman at the well.

We’ll get into that in a minute.

Next week we’ll study the miracle when Jesus healed the royal official’s son

So, here was Jesus, early in His ministry. People were trying to figure out if this was just another Jewish sect or something different.

Right away Jesus made it clear this was different. From the context, water to wine and Nicodemus were Jewish situations.

The Samaritan woman and the Royal official are not.

Jesus came to the be the Savior of all people, not just Jews. And no longer would you need to become Jewish to be close to God.

In fact, in this passage, Jesus makes it clear who He came to save, who is qualified and capable of getting all that He offers.

This Samaritan woman was DQ’d from a lot even w/ her own people. She was not included in anything and made it a point to exclude herself so she didn’t have to deal with the snide comments and sneery looks of her neighbors.

That’s clear right up front from the conditions of the situation when and where Jesus encountered this woman.

The Conditions

John 4:4–7 NIV

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?”

Jesus had to go thru Samaria. The Samaritans and Jews did not get along, at all. Samaritans were half Jewish, one Jewish parent, one not Jewish. They were not accepted by either bloodline.

Normally, Jews would go the long way around Samaria if traveling the places Jesus was. He chose to take the shorter route for an obvious reason.

He wanted to encounter this woman.

The place was Jacob’s well at noon.

The significance of Jacob’s well was it was not the closest well to her village. She went way out of her way to get her water.

It was noon. Every respectable woman got their water early in the day before the heat settled in. She came out where and when she knew she’d be alone.

She dealt w/ shame every day. They did not respect her in her own village. The whispers and insults both to her face and behind her back we too much for her to choose to deal w/.

She’d go way out of her way to avoid this.

Jesus had traveled all morning. His disciples had gone on ahead into the village to do some grocery shopping.

His humanity came thru here as he was tired and thirsty.

Jesus’s timing was perfect, as always. He arrived when she did, no coincidence.

He will meet you where you are no matter how far out or messed up your life may be.

She went to great lengths to avoid ppl and Jesus showed up. He’ll do that for us, too.

Then, something remarkable happened. They had a convo that began w/ Him asking her for a drink. That didn’t happen in that culture.

Jewish men did not speak to Samaritan women, much less ask them for anything.

You can avoid ppl. But you can’t avoid Jesus if He has something He wants to give you. It came thru in their convo.

The Conversation

The first thing she pointed out were the impossibilities

John 4:10–12 NIV

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 also his sons and his livestock?”

1st impossibility as I already pointed out. Jewish men have nothing to do w/ Samaritan women. This had never happened to her before. It had been impossible for her to ever have any interaction w/ a Jewish man in her life.

2nd impossibility. Jesus had nothing to draw water with. When you came to this well, you had to bring a water jug on a rope. He had nothing. It would be impossible for Him to draw any water of any kind for her to drink.

3rd impossibility. Living water from heaven?! Are you kidding me? You’re here. You’re a mere man. How are you going to get anything from heaven down to where we are now? No one ever has before. And it appears extremely unlikely it will happen that day.

But, Jesus specializes in the impossible. She didn’t know that, yet.

She was a little confused about the different kinds of water he was talking about so He contrasted them for her.

John 4:13–14 NIV

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.”

1 kind of water will quench your physical thirst for a short time and keep you alive here on earth.

The other kind will quench your spiritual thirst forever and give you eternal life in heaven.

Jesus, the master communicator, was talking about things that did not register in her mind. She was not thinking in those terms.

She was still confusing the 2 kinds of water.

John 4:15 NIV

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.”

She saw the opp to be released from a physical burden of collecting water daily and carrying it back to her home. Not to mention the emotional burden of having to do it among ppl who openly disrespected her and ridiculed her.

Sometimes that’s our misunderstanding w/ Jesus, too. He offers to help us. We think in terms of a physical burden that we’d like help w/. But He’s thinking of our spiritual burden.

We want financial relief, or relief from bad health or a bad relationship. She wanted relief from this chore and the baggage that came w/ it.

We’d like the mega-lotto numbers. We’d like to feel like we’ll live forever. We’d like for our kids to remember to call us once in a while and a spouse who’s in better touch w/ our emotional needs.

We want relief from a physical issue. Jesus is more concerned about our spiritual issue.

He will help us w/ our physical issues. But only after we deal w/ our spiritual issues.

So, Jesus did w/ her what He does w/ us. He was going to help her w/ her perceived need in a way. But that was need #2. She thought it was need #1.

He needed to help her realize her real need #1 before He would do anything about her real need #2.

His next question took her to a painful place but she needed to go there.

Her Condition

John 4:16–18 NIV

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.”

Jesus got to the heart of her condition. Go call your husband. He knew her relationship status. He also knew it was a source of shame, regret, and deep unfulfilled desire.

Yes, he went there.

She saw the benefit, never thirst again. Never have to go draw water again. Never have to be in public like that ever again.

She did not see her most pressing need. Water is a need for life. But Jesus is a need for eternal life which is a far greater need and benefit.

She had to recognize her need. Just like Nic did. She needed first to be born again; born of water and born of the Spirit.

She needed to repent and respond to the message of John the Baptist as everyone else before he would immerse anyone in the water.

She was sinner. She messed up. She needed a Savior. Before anyone can pursue filling a need they must first recognize the need.

I’m not going to eat unless I’m hungry. She’s not going to turn to Jesus unless she feels the need for a Savior.

She needed to have faith IN Jesus. Not just faith that the Messiah was there talking to her. She needed faith in Him and be born of the Spirit.

When she came to faith, just like us, Jesus sent the HS into her and fundamentally changed her. She went from dead to alive, just like the water that was turned into wine.

Jesus got her to this point by taking her deeply into what she felt was her #1 need. She just wanted t/b loved. She wanted, felt like she needed, a relationship w/ someone who would love her for her.

She approached men w/ the attitude, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try again.

She had had 5 husbands and the man she was living w/ now she was not married to. Why make a commitment if it wasn’t likely to stick?

Easy in, easier out.

She felt immoral. She knew it was wrong. But her desire to find a lasting, loving relationship was stronger than her desire to lead a moral life.

She wanted t/b loved by a man. But what she got was being used by men. So she didn’t feel loved, she felt used. She felt immoral. She felt shame.

We understand why she felt like this was her #1 need. It dominated her life. It was why she was ridiculed at the well every day. Every day she’d go home to a man whom she wondered how soon he’d leave her like all the others. What would be his trigger? What would be his last straw?

She needed a relationship w/ someone that truly loved her that would last.

Love is a verb. It’s a choice about how to act. It’s much easier to say I love you. And it’s harder to do I love you.

You never know how much someone loves you until you know how much they will sacrifice for you.

So, you begin to see how when Jesus would meet her #1 need, then he would end up meeting her #2 need that she felt like was her #1 need.

She needed someone who would love her for who she is, regardless of her past or present situation. She needed someone who would do love, and sacrifice for her.

She needed someone who would meet her wherever she was at the time and not hold her past against her.

She needed someone who would stand by her, stand w/ her, stand behind her forever.

She needed a Savior and she was beginning to put 2 and 2 together.

John 4:25–26 NIV

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.”

That was kind of a 3rd-person reference to the 2nd person in her convo at the well.

The Messiah would explain everything. Jesus was explaining everything. She was beginning to get it. She was about to get Him.

Nothing from your past can prevent you from what Jesus offers now for your future.

I AM, He.

And she believed in Him from that moment on.

Her #1 need was met. Her spiritual need for living water, she drank it.

At the same time, her #2 need was met. She had a relationship w/ someone who would make the ultimate sacrifice for her and never leave nor forsake her but always be by her side regardless of her choices from then on.

The light bulb came on, she accepted Jesus as her Savior.

She was changed. But would what ppl thought of her change?

Back to the real world and new cultural norms. The old was about to clash w/ the new.

New Cultural Norms

John 4:27 NIV

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

The disciples returned from their shopping trip and were surprised to see him talking to her.

Remember, they were Jewish, had been all their lives. The old way was Jewish men had nothing to do w/ Samaritan women. There were hard lines drawn and old cultural norms were in place.

But, they were about to change. A new normal was about to come about.

Everyone who wanted to be Jewish, was. But soon, more ppl would want to join this new organization.

It had been true for centuries that if someone wanted to be close to God they had to come to Jerusalem and the temple.

The new normal that was about to happen was ppl could be close to God wherever they were. Rather than the ppl having to come to God, believers were going to take God to the ppl.

So when the disciples called Jesus out for talking to her, He used this as a teaching time to foreshadow that they would be doing the same thing soon enough.

John 4:35–38 NIV

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

These disciples, and the disciples and followers of Jesus that will come along for the next 2000+ years will be given the opportunity to harvest crops they never planted nor watered.

Everyone has a role. We all have the opportunity to participate in the process that Jesus started.

It would take a while for these disciples to get it. The Samaritan woman got it right away.

John 4:28–29 NIV

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

John 4:39–42 NIV

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Remember who this woman was and how she had been treated by those in her village. Remember how she avoided the b/c they disrespected her.

She dropped her water pot and returned to her village where the ppl had not respected her or what she had to say. They questioned her life choices.

But now she had made a life-choice that had their attention.

Not only was she not DQ’d from being saved by Jesus, she was not DQ’d from sharing in the harvest.

She told her story, her experience w/ Jesus. That’s all she had to do.

The power of God is in your story when you tell your story about the power of God in your life.

That’s all she had to do.

We can be way too hard on ourselves and believe we are not qualified to get everything Jesus offers.

We feel like we’re not worth it.

But remember, worth is determined by what someone else will pay. What did Jesus pay for you?

You are worth his life. And if you are qualified for him to die for you, then you’re qualified to live for Him.

Applications

Where are you?

Jesus will meet you wherever you are no matter how far out or messed up you may be. You can never get beyond His ability to reach you.

Nothing from your past can prevent you from receiving everything He offers you now for your future.

You cannot change your past. jesus can change your future if you let Him.

Look for Him wherever you are and you will find Him there.

#2 Needs

Whatever you feel like is your #1 need, it may not be #1. It might be #2. If you feel it, it’s real. And, it’s important. Just maybe not the most important thing to you right now.

We want t/b relief from our physical burdens. But Jesus wants to give us relief from all our spiritual burdens.

You may be surprised to find out that when Jesus relieves your spiritual burden and your #1 need how it also meets your #2 need.

The woman thought she needed a husband. What she needed was a Savior who would love her and stand by her.

What she felt was not what she needed.

Let Jesus meet your #1 needs and then watch how that meets your other #2 needs, too.

Tell your story

The fields around MP are ripe.

You don’t need all the answers to all the tough bible questions, politics, or any other tough life question.

Just tell your story.

When you tell your story, the power of God is in your story when you tell your story about the power of God in your life.

First, be aware of the power of God in your life. Then, as the opp presents itself, talk about it. See what happens.

There is ripe fruit ready t/b picked right here.

We can be way too hard on ourselves and believe we are not qualified to get everything Jesus offers.

We feel like we’re not worth it.

But remember, worth is determined by what someone else will pay. What did Jesus pay for you?

You are worth his life. And if you are qualified for him to die for you, then you’re qualified to live for Him.

Sometimes we think we can get ourselves so far out and messed up that God can’t find us, fix us, or use us.

That will never happen. No matter our past, God can glorify our future if we let Him.