You and God’s Mission

Our natural inclination a lot of the time is just to | drift away | rather than | drift towards | him. But these are the things that will, like Pastor John illustrated last week, keep us anchored:

(Point to Week 1:) We have a tendency to drift on our personal relationship with God. That’s why we need these anchors of Bible Reading & Prayer.

(Point to Week 2): We have a tendency to drift in our relationships with each other. That’s why we need these anchors of Sunday worship and deep friendships around Jesus.

And, this week:

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Anchors Slide - Week 3 Highlighted

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(Point to Week 3): We have a tendency to drift away from living out the mission—from making God’s purpose for our lives | our purpose for our lives.

The Mission

Now, before we talk about the drift, let’s talk about the mission. Before we talk about what’s like to miss the target, let’s get clear on what we’re aiming for.

Here’s the mission. Here’s our purpose; our marching orders; what we’re to be about; what Jesus put in front of us to accomplish. Here’s what it looks like to drift towards the mission:

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The Mission:

Matthew 28:18–20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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There it is. Last thing that Jesus says before he ascends into heaven. He says, “I’m coming back; but while I’m gone, this is what you are to be about.”

These verses are most commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.” It’s Jesus giving us a mission, and then telling us: go do it. I’m with you; I’ll help you; but now my mission is your mission.”

Here at Prairie Lakes, we use a couple of phrases that we think capture what this looks like for us today. Here’s how we put this mission into practice:

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Jesus’ Great Commission = PLC’s Mission

No Matter - how we act as disciples of Jesus as we…

Reach (big Iowa, little Iowa, Missions) - help people become disciples of Jesus

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(Explain.)

So, that’s the target. That’s what it looks like to be anchored to God as we live out this mission that Jesus gave us. We want to be No Matter followers of Jesus as we help people become disciples of Jesus. That’s why we exist. That’s our purpose. That’s the target. That’s what it looks like when we drift towards the mission.

Accidental Pharisee

Now, let’s talk about what it looks like when we drift away in this area of our lives. Because drifting in this area can sometimes be a little harder to see—especially when you’re anchored in the other two areas.

Maybe you’re pretty disciplined when it comes to your Bible reading and prayer.

And maybe you’re at church most Sundays.

But:

Is the mission of your life | God’s mission?

Is the purpose that God has said is most important to him | the most important to us?

Because here’s the thing:

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Show Anchors Series Slide

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We can be great at reading the Bible and getting to church.

And we can be great at praying for people and being with God’s people.

But at the same time be drifting off course from the mission that God has for us.

And if we’re great at the first two, but drifting in the 3rd, watch out:

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Being anchored in Bible reading/prayer and attending church/friendships around Jesus…

While drifting off mission…

Is a great recipe for becoming an accidental Pharisee.

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(Unpack Pharisee.)

Take a look at what Jesus says about these kinds of people:

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John 5:39–40 “You [Pharisees] study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

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Jesus is saying to them that “You’re reading the book that talks about me, but you’re not coming to me, following me, and doing what I’m telling you to do.” You’re not on mission with helping the people in this world come to know and follow me.

Does being anchored to God mean Bible reading and prayer? Yes!

Does being anchored to God mean attending church and building friendships with God’s people? Yes!

But being anchored to God also means taking on the character of a No Matter follower as you help people who don’t know Jesus become followers of Jesus themselves.

And if we’re not really doing that, then even with those other anchors firmly in place, we’ll drift off mission and into accidental Pharisaism.

Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

So, here’s what I wanna do. Sometimes it’s helpful to see I want to take a look at an example straight from Jesus’ life where he lives this mission out. Let’s take a look how Jesus lived it. Because Jesus was always drifting towards the mission.

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John 4:3-26

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(How to find John… verses on the screen…)

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John 4:3–6 “So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.”

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So, let’s set the scene here. Verse 3 says that Jesus left Judea and headed for Galilee, but that he “had to go through Samaria.” Let me just illustrate to you visually what this would’ve looked like:

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Show Picture | Route - Judea to Galilee

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(Explain picture… two different routes… one that would take you from Judea east along the east bank of the Jordan river, then up and around to Galilee. Or, you could just go in a straight line, which is much shorter, but takes you through the region of Samaria.)

Now, if you’re familiar with this story at all, you probably know that the reason someone like Jesus—who is Jewish—wouldn’t always take the shorter route through Samaria is that Jewish people and Samaritan people didn’t get along.

But you might not know why.

And while I really want to just stop and take the next 10-15 minutes explaining to you why these two groups of people didn’t get along, I just don’t have the time. But here’s the cliff notes version:

At one time, they did get along—in fact, at one time, there wasn’t any distinction at all between Jewish and Samaritan people. They both traced their ancestry back to the same people—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But for various geographical, religious, cultural, and generational reasons, they had grown so divided and built up such animosity between one another that, by the time Jesus arrived on the scene, they would literally add hours and even days to their commute to avoid being in one another’s spaces.

But, that wasn’t how Jesus operated. Why?

Because he had a clear mission. He was sent to go into the world—not around it; not to just the parts and the people he liked, and liked him, that he was like, and that were like him.

And because he was on that mission, God’s mission, he took that route.

Verse 5:

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John 4:5–6 “So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.”

John 4:7–9 “When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”

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I don’t know if you’ve ever felt discriminated against, or if you’ve had the pleasure of walking into a room where you know, for sure, that you are not liked, not welcomed, and not well-respected. I don’t know if you’ve ever had that experience.

But if you have, here’s what you probably did:

You probably braced yourself for whatever was coming. Because you knew something was gonna come at you. Someone was gonna say or do something, so you were on high alert.

Which is exactly what this woman was doing. Bracing. Bracing for whatever she usually got whenever she crossed paths with a Jewish person:

“You’re not living right.”

“Your beliefs aren’t right.”

“You don’t share our values.”

“In fact, you are what’s wrong with the world today.”

That’s what she’s bracing for.

And yet, Jesus—

Walks toward her. Engages her. Has a drink with her.

Doesn’t do any of the things that she’s bracing for.

And then, as we’re about to see, has an unexpectedly long conversation with her. Because he’s on mission, trying to make disciples. Trying to help people discover who God is and what it’s like to follow him. Trying to make disciples.

His Conversation

Now, I think it’s notable that we have a record of the entire conversation Jesus had with this woman.

John, one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, writes this book in his old age. And of all the things he could spend precious parchment space on, he chooses to spend a lot of it on this particular interaction.

And so: we’re gonna take our cue from John, and spend some of our precious time this morning listening in on their conversation. Starting in verse 10, then we’re gonna read all the way through verse 26.

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John 4:10–12 “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

John 4:13–16 “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

John 4:17–20 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

John 4:21–23 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

John 4:24–26 “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

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Our Conversations

Okay. So there’s the conversation. Now, a couple of things here before we dive in and pull some stuff out of it:

It’s easy to read about an interaction like this that Jesus is having and go, “Wow… it must be nice to be Jesus, and to just magically know all this stuff about people and say clever spiritual things at just the right time. But, I’m not the Son of God, so…”

And I get that if that’s your impression. Like, you’re reading this story kind of like “it’s something amazing that only Jesus could do” because of his “special Jesus powers.” If that’s what it looks like to accomplish the mission, then that seems like it’s the kind of mission that only Jesus could accomplish.

What I’m about to challenge you to do, though, is to see this conversation as a model for you and me.

I think John included it in his gospel because he’s showing us that…

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These aren’t just the conversations that only Jesus can have.

They are the kinds of conversations that Jesus is commissioning us to have.

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Here’s some quick Christology—or good theology about who Jesus is.

We believe that Jesus is God. By nature, God. Distinct person, but same substance.

But when the eternal person of Jesus took on flesh, we believe that while he was still by nature God, that he became fully human by emptying himself of his divine power. Without changing his person or his nature, he willingly chose to live within the constraints of being human, separating himself from accessing his divine power.

You see this before he began his ministry when he was tempted by Satan in the desert: “make these stones into bread.” But he doesn’t.

And then you see it at the end of his ministry when his accusers mock him on the cross by saying, “If you really were God, you could most certainly summon the power to save yourself.” But he didn’t.

He didn’t feed himself in the desert, and he didn’t save himself on the cross. Because he willingly emptied himself of his divine power.

Which prompts this question—and it’s one that I love to ask my kids whenever we read stories like this one, where Jesus does something miraculous:

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If Jesus emptied himself of his divine power, then how did he perform all these miracles?”

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How did he have the kinds of conversations he did like the one with this Samaritan woman, where he just knows things about her?

And the answer to that question is both super simple but also super challenging for us:

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If Jesus emptied himself of his divine power, then how did he perform all these miracles?”

He did them by remaining connected to God and his Holy Spirit.

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He did them as a human being who was connected to God, and who kept in step with God’s Spirit.

Which is why John, later on in his gospel, records Jesus as saying this to us:

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John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

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So, Jesus is commissioning us to have the kinds of conversations he’s having, because Jesus believes that we’ll have access to the same kind of power that he does.

And then he goes on to talk about the vine and the branches and remaining connected to him.

Here’s what he’s saying:

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Empowered to Do the Mission

God the Father—>God the Son

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I can do all of these amazing things because I’m connected to God.

And:

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Empowered to Do the Mission

God the Father—>God the Son—>You

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You will be able to do even greater things if you remain connected to me.

We could say it this way:

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Empowered to Do the Mission

God the Father—>God the Son—>You

Jesus expects us to be able to have the kinds of conversations he had with the kinds of people he did.

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Now: maybe that doesn’t look like supernaturally knowing about someone’s past as you first meet them. Let’s not get carried away.

But there’s a few things that Jesus does in this conversation that we can absolutely do as well, if we use him as our model. And as we do, you’ll be amazed at what doors God opens up for you.

So let’s just capture some things we can draw from this conversation that are transferrable to our conversations today. This is what it’s like to keep in step with God’s Spirit and drift towards the mission that God has for you and me. This is how Jesus did it:

Jesus Our Model

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Making Disciples Like Jesus

Goes toward her and gets comfortable in her world (vs. asking her into his).

Looks for common ground.

Looks for openings to go from normal life to deeper spiritual longings.

Willing to tell the truth without judgment or condemnation.

Willing to be judged without responding defensively.

Knows her past but isn’t put off by it.

Lingers long enough.

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(Close in prayer.)

Optional Weekend Host Spiritual Direction

Here’s how you know you’re doing it right:

When you make the same kind of impression that Jesus did.

Take a look at what this woman’s impression was of Jesus:

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John 4:39 “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

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Think about what she’s saying there… “He told me everything I ever did…” and he…

Taught me anyway.

Talked to me anyway.

Hung around anyway.

No matter who I was, where I’d been, what I’d done...

That’s the kind of impression Jesus made as he made disciples.

And that’s why she believed, as did many of her friends.

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