The Woman at the Well

Anglican Church Noosa We have Found the One – The Woman at the Well John 4:4-42 Lent 3 – March 12, 2023 Rev’d Chris Johnson Narcissism is defined in the Macquarie Dic2onary as, extreme admira2on for oneself or one's own a<ributes; ego2sm; self love. It is a word which aptly describes 21st century Western Society. We see it in the obsession with social media. People define their self worth by the number of likes or the number of followers they can amass. A career op2on for young people these days is being an Influencer; which means you have enough followers for Companies to pay you to promote their products. I was reading a book by Brian Rosner this week, “How to Find Yourself”. He shares about a new apartment complex around the corner from where he lives, offering high end luxury design. He says they use the tag line, “An Unlimited You”. So it's all about you and we'll help you to be unlimited. Our society is constantly telling us, ‘You're the one’. Buy this par2cular product, pursue this par2cular career, you have unlimited poten2al, you can have unlimited pleasure. You can be whoever you want to be and achieve whatever you want to achieve. You are the one. This is the path to the good life, to a happy fulfilling life. In contrast to this the Bible asks us to turn away from ourselves in order to find the good life. To turn to Jesus. In the first week of Lent we read the story of Phillip finding Nathaniel and telling him we have found the one. Andrew found his brother Simon and said to him we have found the Messiah. Jesus is the one, the Messiah, the Christ. The Bible tells us to deny ourselves and look to Jesus as the one if we are to find the good life, find salva2on. Last week we heard the story of Nicodemus. Jesus said to him he had to be born again, receive a whole new life from the Holy Spirit. This new life is about acknowledging Jesus is Lord, not you! Jesus is the one, not you! This morning we come to the story of the Samaritan woman. She had been searching for love in all the wrong places. Jesus comes to her and presents himself as the one who can meet her deep need for love. This is a fascina2ng dialogue in John 4 where Jesus gradually, playfully, challengingly leads her to an understanding of himself as the Messiah, the Christ, the one who can meet her deepest needs. At the end of the dialogue in v26 Jesus says, “I the one speaking to you, I am he”. Jesus is the one, the Messiah, the Christ. Let us take a look at how this unfolds. Jesus begins the conversa2on by asking for a drink v7. It is the middle of the day, so probably very hot. Jesus has been walking all morning, so is 2red and thirsty. What a great way to strike up a conversa2on. To express a need which the other person could easily meet. 1 She expresses surprise that he a Jew would speak to her a Samaritan, and possibly also that Jesus being a man would speak to her a woman. (Not the socially accepted prac2ce in that day) It may even be that she is showing some disdain that a Jewish man would talk to her. Perhaps she is hoping he will just give up and go away. Jesus persists. V10 READ. Here at the beginning of the conversa2on is a hint that Jesus’ iden2ty is important and a cryp2c clue about what he has to offer - living water. She interprets Jesus literally. Is he talking about Jacobs well or another well he knows about? In vv 13 and 14 Jesus makes himself clearer that he is talking about spiritual water that will be a spring welling up to eternal life. To drink this water is to never thirst again. In v15 the woman's interest is piqued. Give me this water she says so I won't get thirsty again. Jesus then changes the subject. Or more accurately we could say apparently changes the subject. Jesus asks her to call her husband and come back. Jesus has supernatural knowledge that she is currently not married and that she has previously had five husbands. She obviously doesn't want to pursue this line of conversa2on. In v 17 she says I have no husband. In v’s 19 and 20 she tries to distract Jesus by declaring he is a prophet and asking a theological ques2on about where is the right place to worship. This is the typical tac2c of trying to change the subject. It would seem Jesus is pulng his finger on sin in her life, however this is not to condemn her but lead her to the living water he has just been talking about. This is why I said it is only an apparent change of subject because we only discover the living water when we are prepared to recognise our sin. And we can be honest about our sin because we know there is a Saviour ready to forgive, a Saviour offering living water which is eternal life. Jesus is leading her very gently to the living water. It is interes2ng that she tries to change the subject by talking theology. Some2mes we can have great conversa2ons with people about God, but the real issue is an ethical sore point which is blocking people coming to faith. We need to ask for divine wisdom and insight when we are in these sort of conversa2ons. Jesus is prepared to pick up the theme of worship. The Samaritan woman is only concerned with geographical, historical and cultural issues around worship. Should it take place on Mount Gerizim as Samaritans claimed, or Mount Zion in Jerusalem as Jews claimed. Jesus circumvents the issue by declaring that true worshippers must worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. Loca2on doesn't ma<er. Knowing Jesus as the Messiah and worshipping him in the Spirit and in truth is all that counts. So holy sites and holy places no longer count in having a rela2onship with God. Making pilgrimages to holy sites and holy places do not get you any closer to God. Worshipping in Sunshine Beach, Tewan2n or Peregian doesn't make any difference. Worshipping in the Spirit and in truth is all that counts. The Samaritan woman seems to be catching on to the truth of this as it leads her to think about the Messiah. She is thinking that we will fully understand these things when he comes. Well surprise! He is here. Jesus has been bai2ng her, teasing her, coaxing her, to this grand conclusion. Jesus is saying I am the one, I am he, I am the Messiah. 2 This woman becomes a believer. Not just a believer but an evangelist. It just naturally flows out of her. In v29 we find her back in the township saying to people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” And then down in v39, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's tesBmony”. And not only the woman but Jesus stays in the town two days and we're told in v41, “Because of his words many more became believers.” And what did they come to believe? v42 “That this man really is the Saviour of the world”. So what can we learn from this passage? I want to suggest two things. Firstly, Jesus is the one! The Bible uses the term Messiah; not a term our society readily understands, but we can s2ll have a pre<y good idea what it means for Jesus to be the one. He is the one who leads us to the good life. He is the one who shows us how to be happy. Of course you have to be ready for him to redefine happiness for you. He defines it in terms of living water welling up to eternal life. And eternal life in John is about a new quality of living for both now and all eternity. This is bigger than the way the world defines happiness. Jesus defines happiness for us. He is the One! The second thing we can learn from this passage is how to share our faith In Jesus. The Samaritan woman with natural enthusiasm simply shares, “I have found someone who told me everything I ever did.” I am reminded of the tes2mony of David Redfern who simply shared at our last Men’s breakfast, “Jesus has been with me through all the ups and downs of my life.” He shared with us about the highs of his career working for TNT transport, with a very senior management posi2on and the lows of a couple of heart a<acks which should have taken his life. But his tes2mony was simply Jesus is the one! the one who has been with him in everything. The way the Samaritan woman put it, “I have found someone who told me everything I ever did.” Look at the way Jesus shared the good news. -He didn't dump on the woman right from the start. He didn't go up and say, “I am the Messiah, you should believe in me.” -He built rela2onship with her gradually through expressing his need for a drink of water. He used the image of water to point to the reality of spiritual thirst. He offered the living water that would meet this thirst. -Jesus doesn't leave the conversa2on at a simple social level. He is not afraid to talk to this woman about the pain in her past and to bring this living water to bear upon it. -He is also not afraid to tackle tough theological ques2ons and to go into deeper truths. Worship in the Spirit and truth; that's what Jesus says is at the heart of true worship. -And finally He is not afraid to let people know He is the Messiah, the Christ and they can have life in his name. When the 2me is right we need to get to the punchline just as Jesus did. What is the next step for you? 3 If you don't currently know Jesus then why not follow the example of the Samaritan woman and put your faith in him. Believe he is the one who can sa2sfy your deepest needs and give you the living water your heart craves for. If you do know Jesus then share your faith with others. The first step is simply, being friendly. Learn what it means to not be consumed with your own needs and desires. Resist the adver2sing stroking your ego and telling you it's all about you. The first step to sharing Jesus is to simply take an interest in others, care about their needs ahead of your own, be friendly. Maybe you feel you're already doing OK there. Well maybe the next step for you is to move outside your normal circle. What would it mean for you to be friends across racial lines, across lines of social class, across lines of sexual orienta2on, across lines of theological persuasion. Jesus crossed all of these lines again and again throughout the gospel narra2ves and especially here in the story of the Samaritan woman. Growing as his disciple means becoming like him. Be friendly with the people who are opposite to you. In a society which says it's all about you and your needs, a society in it’s 2ght li<le tribes, a disciple of Jesus should s2ck out like a sore thumb or in this case a healing hand is perhaps a more apt analogy. And remember that coming to Christ is a process. We see a number of those steps in this conversa2on of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, but mostly they don't all take place in one conversa2on. Those of you who were at the Confirma2on last week might remember Chris Parker's tes2mony, that it was many Chris2an friends sharing with him over many years that finally came together in him accep2ng Jesus as the Christ, (the Messiah) last year at Alpha. Every act of care, every word of witness is important, and God will use that in person's life. I want to suggest a next step for all of us who believe Jesus as the one, is to invite someone to church this Easter. Next week we should have invita2on cards available and these make it a lot easier to invite people and for them to have all the details simply in front of them. Very soon we will also have Alpha invita2on cards. We have a new Alpha star2ng aper Easter. This is a great place for your friends and family to explore the message of Jesus just like the Samaritan woman did in John 4. And to do it in a welcoming, non-threatening atmosphere. So my friends who is the one? Is it you? Are you the Messiah? Our society says it’s all about you. The witness of Andrew, Simon Peter, Phillip, Nathaniel, Nicodemus and now this morning the Samaritan woman is that it’s all about Jesus. Jesus is the one. Put your faith in him. Point others to him - he is the one. ------- 4