Sermon Tone Analysis
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This is your life
In the 1940s and 50s there was a show called “This is Your Life”.
The premise was that the host would surprise a guest and then walk through the guest’s life… and usually there would be surprise appearances from people in the guest’s past that were key parts of the life story.
For those that have seen past episodes of “This is Your Life” on YouTube, the most popular episodes are typically Hollywood and television actors and actresses.
At the time, though, there were many who weren’t happy about being highlighted on the show.
Even in the 50s, Americans were glued to their TVs to watch the trainwrecks and the the sordid details and surprise guests who had secrets from the closet.
But the original idea for the show involved a young soldier who had been severely injured.
The point of the original concept was to highlight the good times of the past in order to encourage the soldier looking at the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
It wasn’t about what was in the closet.
It was about the good times and hope.
What “This is your life” came to be was a far cry from its beginnings.
What if everyone knew everything about you?
That thought is very disconcerting.
We empathize with the movie stars and pop stars who have everything exposed, even as we are like everyone else who can’t turn our eyes away from the trainwreck.
We love the gossip.
We watch the rich and famous fall down on TMZ.
But what if that were us?
Not so much fun.
And what’s the number one fear about everyone knowing everything about you?
Right.
Nobody will like me anymore.
People will hate me.
People will think badly of me.
This is at the heart of our story this morning.
In fact, it’s at the center of the gospel mission in this story.
It’s on the lips of the woman who met Jesus, a woman who had everything to hide:
John 4:29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.”
How does this woman, a notorious woman, get to this point?
It’s all part of the conversation she had with Jesus.
We are spending some time in these opening weeks of 2023 talking about conversation.
In order to be a church that is bringing more Jesus into more of life, we must be a people of conversation.
In fact, we live in a world where people want conversation.
Nathaniel and Jesus: The prejudiced
Nicodemus and Jesus: The seeker
The Samaritan woman and Jesus: The scandalous
One of the most fascinating conversations Jesus has in his biography is this conversation he has with the woman at the well.
There are so many details in this story that capture our attention.
But I want us to focus on the conversation and what is happening between Jesus and this woman.
The Romance at The Well Stories
Throughout the Bible, there are Romance at the Well stories.
In these stories, grooms are looking for brides.
And in every one of them, the Groom is someone we know is going to be playing a big role in the story of Israel and in the story of the Messiah who is coming.
The bride is always beautiful.
The stories almost never have the “happily ever after” stuff… there are hardships these brides and grooms will face.
But the Bachelor and Bachelorette stories at these wells is a pattern that combines the ideas of God as the Groom and Israel as the Bride in the context of thirst and water.
So when we see Jesus at a well talking with a woman, there is no mistaking that this story is another of these Groom meets Bride stories that are critical to the story of the coming Messiah.
The Water Problem
John, who is writing the story, sets it up with some background.
Jesus is traveling to Galilee north of Jerusalem and is traveling through Samaria.
Jews typically avoided Samaria.
There is debate about whether Jews traveled through Samaria.
It was the fastest route in those days.
Some believe good Jews would travel the long way to avoid Samaria… there are others who say “no, most Jews still went through Samaria to get to Galilee”.
Whatever the reality, John wants us to see that what follows is certainly not something that Jews would do: talk to a Samaritan.
Jesus is tired… “worn out from his journey”.
And he shows up at a well.
John tells us the historical significance.. this is Jacob’s Well, a well that belong to the ancient patriarch Jacob and had been given to Joseph.
It was a significant well in those days.
And even today is one of the few places in Israel where we can say for sure… that’s the same well as John is talking about.
So Jesus is tired, he’s thirsty.
A Samaritan woman from town shows up.
And Jesus says he wants water.
He’s not asking a question here.
But she is full of questions:
John 4:9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”
This is just a great way to start a conversation, right?
Jesus isn’t supposed to be there.
It’s high noon.
He’s not supposed to be talking to women alone.
He’s not supposed to be talking to Samaritans.
Two strikes right there… and a third one is coming into the conversation shortly.
I think she is half-shocked he even says anything.
John 4:11 “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep.
So where do you get this ‘living water’?”
Another question.
She doesn’t know who he is.
And she is thinking he’s talking about some kind of magic water.
But Jesus is talking about something she needs that she doesn’t know she needs.
John 4:14 “Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again.
In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
Jesus recognizes in this woman a need.
He’s about to unpack that, but before He does, he lays out what’s on the line in this conversation: Living Water.
Jesus is about to introduce himself to her as the Messiah, and in the Old Testament, the Messiah would come bringing the kind of water that permanently quenches thirst.
This water is a gift, a gift from God in the person of Jesus.
Jesus himself is the Living water, the river of life, who is fundamentally essential to our lives.
This Gift, this living water, has come to Samaria.
And it has come for this woman.
Jesus was the one who sat down as thirsty.. but he’s already turning the narrative on its head… her thirst is far greater than his own.
She is the one who is thirsty.
And that’s when this conversation takes a turn.
The Husband Problem
John 4:16-17 “Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”
“I don’t have a husband,” she answered.
Because Jesus is here at high noon.
If a guy is there at high noon when he isn’t really supposed to be there, this is the equivalent of the red light district.
He’s looking for action.
And he knows high noon is reserved for the notorious of the town.
Everything is wrong about this story and she is simply playing into the red light context.
He offers living water.
She’s thinking he’s talking about physical water, so his “go call your husband” must be his way of finding out she’s available.
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