The Samaritian Woman - That we may Believe

Some background...

— Jesus was a “radical”

— By correcting injustice as he saw it, giving us the opportunity to continue on that path.

— He went into the Temple twice the right the wrongs in “His Father’s House.”

— He dealt with the Sadducees and Pharisees always testing him… Looking for a chink in the armor.

— Yet when it came time for a “trial” Pilate knew who he was… Messiah

— For us that would be very difficult… When someone or some organization is breathing down necks, we get backed into a corner and strike out!

— Jesus NEVER DID..!

— He stops, makes time for, listens, heals, feeds, he baptizes, corrects and condemns.

— The model that Jesus used everything was a commitment to “seeking and saving the lost.”

— Regardless of their affiliation, color of skin, or language spoken. JESUS SAVES!

— In our passage today John 4.7-15 Jesus particularly called out the his own people, the Jews,

Why?

— The Samaritans had been from deep in the Old Testament forbidden and hated by the Jews.

— Why the punishment.. Listen

2 Kings 17:25 ESV

25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

— THEY DID NOT FEAR THE LORD!

2 Kings 17:1–2 ESV

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

— The group that would become Samaritans realized they had sinned before The LORD GOD.

— AND tried to “fix it”

— It was a disaster!

— As far back in scripture as you want to go, Our God is jealous God, slow to anger, BUT WHEN he gets angry, heads will roll… LITERALLY

2 Kings 17:29 ESV

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.

— It’s that sin of unbelief, that keeps any people-group in danger from God’s righteous anger.

— So the Jews were trying to play both

— That’s not so much different than we do today

— We want it all… But we don’t want to pay for.

There are times in our relationship with Jesus that we don’t “FEAR THE LORD.”

— There are a couple of different ways that “FEAR THE LORD” cuts. AND He knows exactly which cut at “FEAR” do we need.

— We can with awe and reverence approach Jesus the son of God, The Heir of all creation. AND worship him.

— But there is another possibility…

— That Jesus is our “brother” one like us in many ways, tempted but remained sinless.

— Showing us that we too could have one foot in Heaven and the other here on earth.

What does God want us to do?

— He DEMANDS that we worship Him; and Him Alone

Romans 1:24–25 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

— Worship the CREATOR He is only one that deserves any “Thanksgiving.”

Worship in Spirit and Truth

When should we Worship? When it’s easy to fake it , “NO!”

When it’s convenient, NO!

When no one sees you, NO!

Worship so that your family and community have no idea what you are doing, “NO!”

— WELL, congratulations you will reap what you have sown.

“Absolutely! might look something like this:

Worship IT’s just not convenient...

LIGHT OF CHRIST.

— Worship does NOT belong in the dark!

Worship in private so that no one even knows that you are a follower of Christ.

— That is the biggest “crime”

— Boys, Men, Uncles, Brothers we have blown it. We have NOT been great examples for our kiddos…

— Who are becoming the next generation very quickly.

— The statistic is this… 80% of men who are actively in engaged with there faith…

— 80% of them that have children who are engaged with their Faith as adults.

— Yes, this is is a WHOLE bunch piled on us, men.

— IT IS THE TRUTH in many instances.

YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU HAVE SOWN

Galatians 6:7 ESV

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

— Be very careful, who is reaping and who will escape.. NO ONE

— Except by the Grace of God.

I want to get to our passage today. John 4.1-9 [Page 888 in the pew bibles]

— John 4 begins by indicating that Jesus decided it was time to conclude his disciples’ baptizing ministry in Judea and move on up to Galilee by way of Samaria.

John 4:1–9 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

JESUS REDEEMS THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

— Those of us who claim the name of Christ must choose again and again between two very distinct courses.

— One is to cultivate a small heart. That is the safest way to go because it minimizes our sorrows.

— If our ambition is to avoid the troubles of life, the formula is simple: minimize entangling relationships and carefully avoid elevated and noble ideas and we will escape a host of afflictions.

— Cultivate deafness, and we will be saved from the discords of life.

— Cultivate blindness, and we will not see the ugly.

— It is universally true for all of us that if we want to get through life with a minimum of trouble, we just have to reduce the compass of our hearts.

— many people, even those who name the name of Christ, get through life with minimal tribulation.

They have cultivated smallness of heart.

— But another path is also open to us—namely, to open ourselves to others and become susceptible to a gamut of sorrows that a shriveled heart knows nothing about.

— Enlarge and expand your purpose and you will increase your vulnerability proportionately!

Practically How can we learn from this...

— Enlarge your heart, cultivate a ministering heart, and you will enlarge the potential for pain but also for great victories!!

— Some are hurting specifically because they have enlarged their hearts. They have given themselves to others, and that decision has left them prey to satan or his minions. Pray to be released in the “Name of Jesus.”

Some pretty pointed questions...

— Will you serve Christ and others, or yourself?

— Your decision will affect the kind of heart you will have.

— Little hearts, though safe and protected, never contribute anything.

— No one benefits from restricted sympathies and limited vision.

On the other hand, ministering hearts, though vulnerable, are also the hearts that know the most joy and leave their imprint on the world.

The Barrier to be a “ministering heart” is clear… Listen to this

“Cultivate deafness”, and you will never hear the discords of life, but neither will you hear the glorious strains of a great symphony!

— “Cultivate blindness,” and you will never see the ugly, but neither will you see the beauty of God’s creation.

— “Cultivate a small heart,” and you may have smooth sailing, but you will never know the heady winds of the Holy Spirit in your sails! —

— You will never be borne along in power and exhilaration and will never see lives changed and great things happening for God.