Sermon Tone Analysis

Bill Hybels, 6-2-02, #M0222 \\ Contagious Christianity \\ \\ \\ Bill Hybels: A while back, I was on a commercial airline flight.

I was reading through a business magazine, and near the back of the magazine there was a tear-out section of videotapes that could be ordered.

As I recall the title of the page was “Lessons from the Masters.”

It had Tiger Woods doing a training video on how to be a great golfer, and Pavarotti did a training video on how to be a great vocalist.

\\ \\ Russell Kutz did a training video.

He was the helms person for the New Zealand team that won the America’s Cup, so he did the thing on sailboat racing.

I tore it out of the magazine and I thought I might order one of those training videos, “Lessons from the Masters” some day.

A few days after that I was reading devotionally through my Bible, and I came to an extraordinary passage that I’ve read before.

It’s the exchange that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman at a well that he was going to take a drink from.

\\ \\ I read it and I thought, “This is probably the most extraordinary demonstration of how someone can point another person to faith in God that’s recorded anywhere in literature”--this extraordinary conversation between Jesus and the woman.

Having just read that article or seeing that advertisement for the training tape I thought, “Wouldn’t it be something if there was a training video on how one person can point another person to faith in God? \\ \\ “Wouldn’t it be something if there were a video on lessons from the Master on how to do that in a high integrity way?”

About a third of the people who talk to me after services around here at Willow Creek come down and say, “You know, the biggest concern in my life right now is I have a dad, or an uncle, or a neighbor, or a colleague at work who is spiritually adrift.

Would you help me pray that they would find their way?” \\ \\ When I say, “Well, why don’t you help them find their way to God?”

They say, “Oh, I could never do that.”

They say, “You know, I don’t know enough.

I don’t have that kind of personality.

I wouldn’t know what to say.”

I say, “No, listen.

You could.

You could do this.”

It makes me think, “Oh, if they could be trained to do that it would be one of the greatest, most exciting things they could do to point another person to faith in God.” \\ \\ Of course, around our church we have many hundreds of people who are seeking just like Mark was sometime ago.

A lot of times seekers will stop me after services and say, “Could you point me to one person who can intelligently describe what true Christianity is? I’d like to hook up with a person who could help me understand all this.”

Anyway, the more I thought about this, I thought, “Well, why don’t we have some fun?” \\ \\ It’s a summer weekend here at Willow.

Why don’t we put a training video together right on stage, and why don’t I be the voice who gives the coaching tips on how you can point another person to faith based right on this little passage out of John, chapter 4. \\ \\ I’m going to embarrass three people.

I stopped two of them.

They know this is coming, but they don’t know what I’m going to ask them to do.

Charlie and Janice please come and join me.

My old friend Joe Santercier--right now could you join me here, Joe?

These people do not know what’s coming, and they’re probably very nervous.

Would you give them a hand for even being willing to come up here on the stage?

Now Janice, we’re going to have you in the middle.

We’re going to give you a microphone.

\\ \\ I’m going to give you some lines to read.

This is a training video so you’ve got some lines to read.

Charlie, can you sit in this chair here?

Joe, you take the far one.

Charlie, I’m going to give you some lines to read.

Joe does some security for us around here.

Does he look like a security guy or what?

So anyway, you’re going to only have one line, Joe.

I’m being easy on you.

You just have one line.

It’s like a bit-part-thing.

You’ll do fine.

You guys have a few more lines.

You can be looking them over.

\\ \\ Janice has been around our church for a long time and has served in many different capacities.

She has helped the elders over the years.

Charlie Maxwell is a board member who became a Christian in our church some years ago.

I may be in trouble with him after the service.

Let me set the stage while they’re checking their lines out here.

Here’s what the Bible says is happening in John 4. Jesus and his disciples are on a walking trip, and they’re headed North, but they’re in an arid, dry part of the Middle East.

\\ \\ They get about partway up in their journey.

It’s very hot.

They stop at a well to get a drink.

Joe’s going to represent the disciples.

He’s a big guy.

He’s going to represent all 12 of them, OK?

They take off to the city nearby to get lunch.

They leave the scene.

Charlie’s going to play the role of Jesus, which is a stretch, I know.

You know more than I. Anyway, Jesus sits down by the well.

He doesn’t have anything to draw water with, so he’s just waiting at the well.

\\ \\ A Samaritan woman comes, and she’s going to draw some water for herself and probably go back to the town.

That’s a little bit of the context, but it’s even a little dicier than that.

Jesus, of course, is from Jewish extraction.

He’s in an area called Samaria and Jews and Samaritans hate each other.

It would be like the Jews and the Palestinians today.

There was a lot of bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans at the time.

\\ \\ Not only was there bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans, but Jewish men rarely would talk in public or even reference the presence of a woman in public.

There was a gender bias the likes of which we can’t even relate to in our society today.

You’ve got both the ethnic division here and the gender bias going on, OK?

So as I set up the story, and they start getting ready with their lines.

Remember, Joe and his 11 buddies are in town having lunch, so Joe, you’re just going to sit there for awhile.

\\ \\ Jesus has been sitting by the well for a time, and then this Samaritan woman comes up.

There should have been no conversation at all.

A Jew shouldn’t have talked to a Samaritan.

A man shouldn’t have talked to a woman in a public place like that, but there is conversation, and it’s starts with Jesus who just says these words.

\\ \\ Charlie Maxwell: “Would you give me a drink of water, please?” \\ \\ The woman responds, [Janice speaking] “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for water?” \\ \\ Bill Hybels: Give them a little encouragement for their first line--very good, very good.

Now, I just want to stop for a second, freeze-frame this, and give you a coaching tip.

If you’re a Christ follower and there are people in your life that you wish would come to know God, where do you start?

How do you even start pointing someone to God? \\ \\ What we can learn from the Master here, Jesus himself, is that it’s often good to just start with a simple question.

Jesus just said, “Could I have a drink of water, please?”

Start your conversation when you’re trying to point someone to God--just start with a question.

Why a question?

When you ask a question, the response you receive will determine if there’s an open door for further conversation or if there’s a closed door.

\\ \\ If Jesus would have said to the Samaritan woman, “Would you please get me a drink,” and she would have responded by saying, “Get lost.

Take a hike.

I’m not going to get you a drink.

I don’t want anything to do with you,” Jesus would have discerned the door was closed.

And he probably would not have tried to push through it.

That’s just Jesus’ style.

\\ \\ You read that throughout the New Testament.

If someone refused to listen to Jesus and closed the door, he didn’t barge through it nor should we.

When you ask a question then you find out if there is an openness.

Ten years ago, I walked into a little marina in Michigan.

There was a guy standing across the counter.

\\ \\ I said, “Would you be willing to explain to me how to do the starting line of a sailboat race?”

I had just purchased a used sailboat and wanted to race it.

I said, “I don’t even know how to do the starting line.