Hear For Yourself

INTRO

Kids Kamp - who wants this candy bar? There was a camp that I went to for many years when I was a kid, I think from ages 7 until 15. The last two years I was there as a counselor. There are many memories that stand out to me in my memory from those years, but there’s one specifically that came to mind when I was preparing for today. I don’t remember what the pastor’s purpose in the illustration was, but I remember the illustration itself. The pastor held up a candy bar. Now, to put this into perspective, the best desserts we had at camp was usually those giant almost gallon size cans of chocolate pudding. Not that it was bad, but the contrast between mass produced pudding and a candy bar, especially to a kid, was significant. As he holds up this candy bar, he asks a simple question. “Who wants this candy bar?” I don’t know if there was a single kid in there that wasn’t raising their hand. But the pastor continued to ask, “who wants this candy bar?”, completely unmoved by the response. Kids are screaming, they’re leaning forward trying to stand out, some are jumping up and down. The pastor must’ve asked the question half a dozen times or more, looking across the room each time. There was a kid named Bryce - I remember his name not just because of this moment, but because he had other moments in life that caused him to stand out in this camp. Bryce stands up, walks up to the pastor, takes the candy bar, and sits back down. A hundred kids in there, and he was the only one to do this. Many of us were in shock because of what we were seeing, yet he did exactly what he was supposed to do. It was clear to the pastor that everyone wanted the candy bar, but only one kid in that entire room responded to and acted on the invitation to receive the candy bar.

The Invitation to Salvation Think of salvation in this manner. There is always an invitation to believe and to respond to that invitation, and everyone is raising their hand saying that they want to respond to that invitation, but they don’t take action on it. Every kid in that room wanted the candy bar, but only the kid that responded and took action on that invitation received what was being offered.

Think of this in the context of your own faith, particularly if you were raised in the church. Your parents exposed you to the invitation, but only you could respond and take action. They could point you in the direction you needed to go, but only God could make the offer of salvation, and your parents couldn’t act on that for you - you had to take action. Or even think about, if you didn’t grow up in the church, how you were exposed to the church. Maybe someone invited you out. Maybe you stumbled across a sermon somewhere that got your curious. But those things couldn’t save you, because you still needed to respond to the invitation yourself.

Do you remember when your faith became your own? Most of us grew up in church with our parent’s faith. For us to be here today, it eventually had to become our own faith. Is there a moment that stands out? Was it a definable transition? Do you remember what it took for you to finally respond? Maybe you haven’t responded yet - do you want to?

In today’s text, we see this transition play out. The Samaritan people are brought to the teaching of Jesus because of the words of this woman at the well that we’ve been spending a few weeks with. But her faith wasn’t going to do anything for them - they needed to find their own faith. They couldn’t believe through her and she couldn’t believe for them, but it is her belief that open their eyes to see the invitation, and it is the invitation from Jesus that they responded to. Let’s read our text.

John 4:39-45

From the city many Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is not longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Curiosity Because of Your Word

39-40 From the city many Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

Believed in Him because of her… Two things we can immediately pick out of this verse. Look at what is said here: “many Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified.” Think of your story. When you came to Jesus, why did you come to Jesus? What prompted the curiosity? What made you start asking questions? What were told about Christ that made you fall in love for the first time?

Let’s remember who the Samaritans were. We won’t go into too much depth, because I feel like I’ve repeated it every week in this chapter, but I want us to remember this - they were a people with a longing hope for the coming Messiah. Much like the Jews, they were waiting generations for the hope to be realized in one who would come and restore all that they once were. This was especially significant for the Samaritans because not only were they part of God’s chosen race, but they had been rejected as being impure. There hope in the Messiah coming included not just the restoration of Israel, but also their own individual restoration.

Now they get word from this woman that the Messiah might just be here, so of course they’re going to be curious. Think back to our first moment with this woman. She was taken back by Jesus, being both a man and a Jew, talking to her in public. But now, she runs back to her city and proclaims in the public square that the one who must be the Messiah has come! Could you imagine how she would’ve been treated if she had gone into the city of Jerusalem making the same proclamation? Stoning may have been in the conversation. She would’ve been quickly silenced. They probably would’ve made her out to be crazy. Add in the life that she was living and she would’ve probably, almost definitely, had been stoned. She was out at the well at midday because she was avoiding the other women. She had a reputation in her home town. And yet, when she rushes into the city to proclaim that one who just might be the Messiah had come, the people believed her because of what she said.

If there’s one thing we should all quickly gather from this story, it is this - anyone, if done with honest intention, regardless of background, can share the gospel with others and point people to Jesus. This woman probably didn’t have that great a reputation, yet as the text says, it is because of her word that the people believed, and it is because of her word that they invited Jesus in. And that’s the next thing to draw out of these verses.

They Invited Jesus in because of what she had said… They heard the short story that this woman told them. “He told me all the things that I have done.” Many of the people probably already knew the things that she had done. Because of what she had said, they went to explore their curiosity and see Jesus, ultimately inviting Him into the city to hear directly from Him.

So I’ll ask again. Do you remember what was said that made you curious? Even if you grew up in the church and in the faith, is there a moment that stands out to you where you wanted to dive in and see what this whole Jesus thing was about? Now as you think about this from your perspective, think about it from someone else’s perspective. What does your story tell? How have you seen people become curious because of what you have said about Jesus or had shown them about Jesus? How does the truth permeate through you to the point where people you come into contact with become curious and want to lean in and see what it’s all about?

The whole point of our story and testimony is not to save people. We tell the story to plant seeds in hopes that they might grow, but they only grow because God causes the growth, not because we do. Does our story proclaim Jesus? Do we look at where we are and where we have been and show people that it is all because of Jesus? Not because we want to brag about our lives, but because we want to boast in Christ and in how good He is to us. We proclaim Christ because we want people to know Christ. So when we think about our story and how we tell it, we need to keep in mind that “our” story is God’s story through us and is a stepping stone toward Him. And that’s what we see in this text.

So Jesus and the disciples stayed in this city in Samaria for two days. I am curious how that conversation went with the disciples. This wasn’t on the trip itinerary. They go out to grab some lunch, come back to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman, and now they’ve got a two-day, no expenses paid trip to one of the last places they would want to be with one of the last groups of people they wanted be with. Let’s keep reading.

Belief Because of His Word

(41-42) Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Many Believed Because of His Word Now we start to see a transition here. Some believed because of the witness of the woman, but now many were believing because of the word of Jesus. Well, that’s kinda the whole point. What would’ve happened to the people if they only believed because of her word? You know, there are a lot of people that grew up in the church and were raised in some version of the way they should go. I know, I am one of them and I am related to more of them. Maybe you were one of them, or your siblings, or even your own children. Particularly if we are raised in the church, our faith begins because of someone else’s faith. My faith began because it is what I was taught, and that isn’t a bad thing, but it was never going to be enough. You probably know people like this like I do - there are people that may have once proclaimed faith in Jesus, but you look at their lives now and you don’t see the evidence, or maybe see them living a life in opposition now. Their faith began because of a person, but did not continue because they didn’t transition their belief from the word of a person to the Word of Jesus. If these Samaritans had relied solely on this woman’s testimony for belief, then eventually that belief would’ve fallen apart. Paul addresses something like this in his letter to the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 3:1–6 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”

Any of us that seek to share the gospel do not make disciples of ourselves, but disciples of Christ. And here is the problem that Paul was facing - the people of Corinth were classifying themselves and followers and disciples of men and not as followers and disciples of Jesus. But Paul reminds them that while both he and Apollos had a role to play in God’s plan, it was only God who could cause growth, and that growth would come from people knowing Jesus, not from people knowing Paul or Apollos, though they could certainly help any of us grow.

So the people make it clear to her - it is no longer because of what you said, but now it is because we have witnessed Jesus for ourselves. This is our objective with the gospel as we make disciples. While we want to, and often times need to use our own story to introduce Jesus and to build curiosity, we ultimately want people to grow in their own understanding of who Jesus us so that they might believe in Him because of Him and not because of us. Point people to the Word so that they can see for themselves and have their eyes opened.

Look at the language shift in their belief. In verse 39, they believed because of her testimony, but only to the point where they invited Jesus to hear more. A good start, and a path everyone that believes has to go down, but ultimately it’s not enough. Now look at the shift in verse 42 - look at what they say again. “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” There are a lot of good things that people can learn about Jesus through us, and we should always be willing to tell them, but saving faith in Jesus won’t come through us, but through his word. Because of this woman’s testimony, the seed was planted. Because of her testimony, Jesus was invited in. Because Jesus was invited in, people were saved.

Conclusion

We have a mission. And if you were to look at the whole scope of this story, we’ve got an easy mission. Because we sit here today, knowing Jesus, we need to tell people about how we have experienced Him. It is our mission to plant the seeds that lead to curiosity and point them to the Word. We plant the seed, God causes the growth. This mission for us is found all over Scripture. Jesus’ final words to the eleven disciples was to go forth into all the world and make disciples. Disciples that make disciples - it is imperative that we follow this command with joy. The directive of reaching people with the gospel is not meant for a few gifted Christians, but rather all Christians who are gifted with a role to play. Like this woman at the well, we should be excited rather than trying to hide. Sure, we might have shame like this woman did, but our story includes freedom from that shame. Sure, we might have a hard time with people, and maybe we would rather hide from strangers than engage them, but our story includes a courage and boldness that can work through us that is not our own. If we don’t go forth and share our story, not only are we disobedient to the command to reach the lost and make disciples, but we become believers that suppress the gospel. We keep it to ourselves and for ourselves when the treasure is meant for everyone to know. Look at what Paul says to the church in Rome…

Romans 10:14–15 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!””

How will the world know if we aren’t willing to go? How will the world know if we don’t tell them what we know? How will the world know if we don’t show them which way to go?

Think back to the questions I started with. Do you remember when your faith became your own? Do you remember what it was that made you curious? Do you remember what it was about Jesus that made you believe? What would you tell your younger self about Jesus as you know Him now? Go tell the world. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors. The world needs to know Jesus, and they need to hear from you why you believe. And as God wills, when they hear they will become curious. As they become curious, you point them to Jesus and His Word. And as they get to know Jesus through His Word, then they come to know the one who died to save them, and they begin to believe in Him as Savior of the world.