Untitled Sermon (16)

Into

I have two older brothers, an older sister, and then theres me... Large household and definitely speaking for the boys... we. loved. to. eat.

Therefore, mom loved shopping at costco. That was the only way to survive with me, my brothers, and my dad. We wouldn't just get a jar of peanut butter, but we would get the twin pack of just the obscenely large cylinders of Peter Pan.

We didn't just get a pack of toilet paper. We got like a pallet load of TP. And we didn't get 12 packs of coke. We got the big daddies. The case of 24. Coke, Dr. Pepper, or my favorite, Sunkist. My mom would by so many cases of coke, or soda or pop for any northerners in the room... that we had a corner in our garage reserved to store all these guys... and it looked like a warehouse.

And I was full on "addicted" to this sugary goodness from a young, young age. Hot day, nothing hits like an Ice Cold coke. Need a little boost? What better than sugar and caffeine?

I remember heading to T-Ball practice when I was like 5, getting all my gear together, ready to go. I reach for my water bottle put some ice in there and [crack] start pouring not one, but two coca colas in my bottle for baseball on a hot spring day.

I remember taking a sip, clear straw, in front of my brothers and my dad from my water bottle and they see this brown liquid come up and they ask, "what do you got in there?" I didn't know any better, so I just admit, coke. And everyone in the house just starts to chuckle...

If you don't know why this is funny, long story short, when you're outside, sweating, needing something to drink, you're dehydrated... one of the last things you need is a coke. You'd be better suited with water, or maybe gatorade if you're really in a bad way. Coke will actually dehydrate you even more!

But when you need to be filled, when you need to be satisfied. I hope that you're reaching for something that will help you out, not drain you.

We live in an age of thirst. I say that fully aware of how some of yall will interpret that... but this is how I mean it...

We live in a world that tells you have to do this or that. You have to own this or that. You need to have this much money in order to be happy in life.

And then there are the few people who achieve those standards. Who make millions of dollars. Who achieve fame and renown, and they find out that those things don't satisfy your thirst... but they intensify it.

Markus Perrson the 36 yo founder of Minecraft. sold his company for 2.5 billion dollars. It's the widely known as the most poular video game in history. Perrson bought a $70m mansion. But shortly thereafter tweeted this.

"The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying. Hanging out with a bunch of friends, partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want. And I've never felt more isolated."

If you try to find freedom, meaning, and satisfaction outside of Jesus than all these things, that you stuff your life with, all this stuff will actually enslave you.

Looking for joy and fulfillment outside of Jesus, you end up as a sad person, or a lonely person, or a scared person, or a guilty person, or a lonely person.

We run across such a person in John 4 tonight. A well-known story in the Bible, the woman at the well. But before we meet her, John makes a couple of notes so that we truly see the weight of the meeting.

John 4:1–6 (CSB)

1 When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John

2 (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were),

3 he left Judea and went again to Galilee.

4 He had to travel through Samaria;

5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.

You see the note there that says that he has to travel through Samaria. And in fact that would be the most logical route for you and me. Waze or apple maps would definitely take us that way... but here's the thing. He didn't have to go through Samaria... and in fact, many absolutely would not.

Because a first century jewish person, hated samaritans. Now this is rooted in something that happened several hundred years before this encounter, but Jewish people viewed samaritans as half-breeds, not real believers in God, mudbloods for any harry potter fans in the room.

So, as a result. Jewish people, needing to get from galilee to judea would not just take the direct route. But instead of walking 2-3 days to get from point a to point b, they would walk around and turn that into about a 6 day trip... you gotta hate someone an awful lot to walk an extra three days in the desert heat.

It's like when I drive to the beach in Florida... nothing makes my blood boil quite as much as driving through Alabama and seeing all the crimson tide flags and decals... I'm very tempted to drive over to Georgia to make my way... but that wouldn't be much better.

But Jesus had to travel through Samaria, not because of road blockages or anything like that... but because he knew he had someone to meet.

vv.6-7a

It was noon. It was hot. And here is this Samaritan woman, all alone in the middle of the day. Why? because no on in their right mind would lug this huge pot full of a day's worth of water in the desert sun. Everyone else goes before dawn so they don't die of heat stroke. But not this lady, because she doesn't want to see anyone...

You all have felt that same feeling. You're at school. Something has happened between you and a friend and you could not be dreading the next day more than you are. You avoid this person. You walk through different halls and do all you can to make sure that you don't run across them.

She thought she'd be alone but it's here that she'd be in for the encounter of a lifetime...

Jesus says, give me a drink. and she immediately responds by saying...

9-11a

9“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”

11“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’?

What we see in this exchange is not too dissimilar to our encounter with Nicodemus a couple weeks ago. Jesus tells Nicodemus about being reborn. He takes it literally and doesn't understand what Jesus is trying to say.

This woman, hears Jesus talking about living water and she says... you don't even have a bucket to draw water with, but you and I know that Jesus is talking about something else.

13-14

13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.

14 But 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.”

And I don't know if you're like me and sometimes you imagine how a line of the bible might have been delivered, but I read v. 15 in a couple of ways.

15

15“Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

Maybe she's desperate and she's thinking, "yes, please! That'd be incredible!"

But maybe it was more like, "Yeah right... prove it. Show me this magic water."

But instead of a magic trick... Jesus sees right through all her defensiveness. All her frustration. All her hurt. And doesn't offer her a band aid... but gets to the heart of why she's truly there.

16-18

16“Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”

17“I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ” Jesus said.

18“For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

She gets a lot more than she bargained for.

And here lies truth of why she's here. Middle of the day so she doesn't run into anyone. Not one failed marriage, but 5. Shacking up with her live in boyfriend... presumably doing the same stuff she'd been doing with the others.

She's the talk of the town. Everyone knows her. She's famous... or rather, infamous.

She makes the long journey every day to get a daily supply of water. She trudges through the hot dessert son with this heavy, dad-gum jar and each step is a reminder...

"You're a failure." "You should be ashamed." You've made a horrible mess of your life."

Maybe you're afraid of truly diving into a meaningful relationship with Jesus because the thought of someone knowing you... truly knowing you, scares the daylights out of you.

And I think you see that in how you see her respond.

v.19-24 - is maybe some confusing stuff. It's rooted in history. Jewish tradition. But when you read v. 19 and see it says...

19“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet.

20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Which might seem random but that's because it is... She's trying to divert the attention away from her scandal and get Jesus talking about something else.

You and I do the same thing... We don't like getting called out. We don't like anyone pointing out how we've messed up.

Jesus is touching at a wound here but not because he wants to shame her -- but because he loves her.

It's only when we see our need that we truly come to the Jesus.

If you don't think you need a savior, why would you come to Jesus?

But Jesus is not hiding from the issue at hand. He's saying there's something broken here. And we need to fix it.

[Broken arm story]

Harry Potter

Set the bone

You might be afraid of admitting what all has gone wrong in your life. Sin is never a pleasant thing to confront. But there is and always will be more mercy and forgiveness in Jesus than there is sin in you.

You might feel like an outcast. You may be here and wondering if you belong. I'm not a churchy person. The things that I've done, I'm too embarrassed to go to church. Friends that's like saying, "I've been in a car wreck, can I go to the hospital?" Of course you can... and much more... this is where you belong. You were made for this.

Here is a broken lady and Jesus doesn't dismiss her. Doesn't ignore her. But lovingly leads her away from a life of destruction, and towards the relationship she's been hoping for all along.

She knows she's messed up. She knows this is not the life she was meant for. She say...

25-26

25The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

Jesus tells her... "I'm right here!" The one you are looking for. That's me!

Come to me. You're dying of thirst... I'll give you water. Come to me. You've left a path of relational hell, behind you... be with me. I desire you. I love you. Come to me.

Where you may be terrified that in every other part of your life that if people saw the real you, they'd cast you out, Jesus sees you exactly for who you are and doesn't give you condemnation, but invitation.

He doesn't turn you away, but draws you near.

She goes back and tells everyone about this man she had just met.

John 4:28–29 (CSB)

28Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people,

29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Could this be him? Could Jesus really be the only one who could save me?

If you've come in here wondering if there is any hope for you given your past... I hope that you hear loudly and clearly the resounding, "yes" from Jesus himself.

He doesn't heap judgement on her, he offers living water to her. He offers hope, and that hope is in him. Only Jesus can satisfy the thirst in your heart.

Not success, Not drugs, Not a boyfriend or a girlfriend, not sex, not money, not popularity. Only Jesus.