Grace is More Beautiful Than Your Brokenness
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Sermon Introduction: In today’s passage of Scripture we will be introduced to a woman who is just like all of us in some ways. She is a woman who was broken by sin. She is a woman who was probably dealing with an immense amount of shame. Shame can have a powerful and devastating effect on a individual. Thankfully God’s GRACE IS GREATER THAN OUR SHAME AND OUR BROKENNESS! In his book, “Grace is Greater” Kyle Idleman says:
“Carrying around the guilt and shame of a secret for decades takes a toll on a man’s heart.” (p. 35)
Shame becomes our constant companion and relentlessly whispers, ‘You’re not worthy of forgiveness. You don’t deserve a second chance.’ But here’s a surprising characteristic about grace—grace chases you. You can run away and hide, but grace is relentless. Grace will chase you down.”
“Sometimes when our secret sin gets exposed and we can no longer hide it, then we go into hiding. As much as possible, we do our best to avoid the people who know. Shame becomes our constant companion and relentlessly whispers, ‘You’re not worthy of forgiveness. You don’t deserve a second chance.’ But here’s a surprising characteristic about grace—grace chases you. You can run away and hide, but grace is relentless. Grace will chase you down.” (p. 36)
“Beautiful collision—Collision brings to mind words like broken, busted and wrecked—not typically words that fit with beautiful. But the Gospels are full of beautiful collisions. When a broken, busted, and wrecked life collides with Jesus, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Michaelanne- “[He] saw her as the person she was. As someone worth loving, someone worth trying to save! I’d venture to say all, if not most others would have kept the traditions and not realized her true worth. Jesus . . . loved her anyway. True grace. . . This really struck me because this still goes on today. Do we love the social outcasts of our own times enough to overcome any barrier to share the love of Christ with them?”
Scripture Introduction: We find this happening in . The embodiment of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, chased down a woman who was running from her past, burdened down by shame and broken beyond repair. Jesus didn’t want to repair her, Jesus wanted to give her a brand new life. A collision was about to take place—an ugly collision that turned into a beautiful one!
First we see it was...
An Intended Collision
An Intended Collision
(vv. 1-5)
Explanation
As opens we find an interesting statement in
And he had to pass through Samaria.
Scripture says that Jesus “had” to pass through Samaria. Just a casual reading of this statement may not meant much to the casual observer, however, it doesn’t mean that this was the only route Jesus could take to Galilee. There were other routes and most Jews did whatever was necessary to avoid going through Samaria. For the most part Jews despised the Samaritans and the Samaritans despised the Jews. There was certainly much ethnic animosity between the two groups of people.
So if Jesus could have taken a different route, then why does Scripture indicate Jesus “had” to go through Samaria? He had to go through Samaria because He had a “divine appointment” there. Instead of going out of His way to by-pass Samaria, like most Jews did, Jesus made sure His itinerary took Him intentionally THROUGH Samaria. Ask Kyle Idleman said in his book, Grace is Greater:
verse 4-He had to go through Samaria
“Had to go” seems to be used more in the sense that He had an appointment to keep. . . There was going to be a beautiful collision and God had it circled on His calendar. Grace chased this woman down and caught up with her at a well outside of town.”
Illustration
It was no coincidence that Jesus passed by at just the right time and just the right place to intersect with this woman. It was no coincidence that Jesus passed by when John the Baptist was baptizing at the Jordan River, or when He spotted Philip & Nathaniel. It was no coincidence that Jesus happened to intersect with a lame man at the pool of Bethesda. It wasn’t a coincidence Jesus crossed paths with the lepers, or the Centurion, or the demoniac, or Matthew the tax collector, or the little boy with a lunch . . . no all of these were providentially arranged, intended collisions.
Application
There have been times in your life when Jesus came passing your way as well. Maybe it was during a church service like this and the conviction of the Holy Spirit passed your way and gave you an opportunity to repent and believe. Maybe it was during a crisis moment in your life and He spoke “peace be still” in the middle of your storm. Maybe He provided joy in your soul, when everything within you wanted to cry out in fear. Maybe it was protection from the fire of trial and testing or protection during the trial and testing.
Dear friends, “There are no coincidences with God.” God’s providence is working behind the scenes of your life! This woman had absolutely no idea there was going to be a beautiful collision with God’s Son, but God had it all planned out. Today He allowed you to be here to hear this message, He is passing your way today and He wants to sit and meet with you today as well.
Not only was this an intended collision, but this was also . . .
An “Odd” Collision
An “Odd” Collision
Let’s read about this odd collision in
Odd because of WHERE the meeting took place
We’ve already mentioned it was odd that this meeting would take place in Samaria. Samaria was a place the Jews typically avoided at all costs. The Samaritans were looked down upon, despised and even hated by some Jews. They would often go well out of their way to avoid this community, yet Jesus intentionally CHOSE to go there.
Odd because of WHO He was meeting (v. 9)
It was also odd because of WHO Jesus was meeting with. Men and women, in this society, typically didn’t talk in public. Not only was Jesus meeting with a Samaritan, He was meeting with a woman and as we will find out He was meeting with a woman who was known for her immorality. That leads us to a third observation . . .
Odd because of the TIME of day (v. 6)
Most women would come to the well in the morning or in the evening. On the way there and back they would talk and fellowship . . . however, we find this woman coming to the well, BY HERSELF, in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY. Many scholars assume this is because of her reputation. Either she didn’t want to be around the other women because of the way they had treated or, or because of her shame or a combination of several things, or because they didn’t want to be around her.
Idleman says: “Sometimes when our secret sin gets exposed and we can no longer hide it, then we go into hiding. As much as possible, we do our best to avoid the people who know.”
So she would come, by herself, during the hottest part of the day to avoid the looks, the sneers, the whispers . . . she would come all alone to get the water she needed
Odd because of what Jesus offers (vv. 10-15)
Jesus is sitting at a well, with a woman from Samaria and He offers her “living water.” Living water could refer to “spring water” or “fresh water” but obviously Jesus us using this as a metaphor for eternal life. She assumes that the water He is referring to is literal water that can be retrieved with a bucket, but He is about to reveal to her that it can only be retrieved through faith in the Messiah!
Not only does He offer her living water, but He says the water that He offers is a WELL of water that will quench her thirst forever! I love what one commentary says about this water:
…the “water” that Christ gives . . . [is] a fountain, springing, gushing, bubbling up and flowing forth within us, ever fresh, ever living. (Commentary Critical Explanatory on the Whole Bible)
the “water” that Christ gives—spiritual life—is struck out of the very depths of our being, making the soul not a cistern, for holding water poured into it from without, but a fountain (the word had been better so rendered, to distinguish it from the word rendered “well” in Jn 4:11), springing, gushing, bubbling up and flowing forth within us, ever fresh, ever living. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Christ is the secret of this life with all its enduring energies and satisfactions, as is expressly said (Jn 7:37–39). “Never thirsting,” then, means simply that such souls have the supplies at home.
Illustration:
This is not the first time someone took Jesus’ metaphor about salvation literally. Nicodemus did not understand the concept of being “born again” when he asked Jesus about entering the second time into his mother’s womb. Jesus wasn’t speaking of a physical rebirth, but rather a spiritual rebirth. Here Jesus was not speaking of a physical water that would quench her body’s need for moisture, but rather a spiritual water that quench the thirstiness of her soul.
Jesus didn’t want to just give her water, He wanted to give her the whole SPRING! The gushing, bubbling, fountain of the Holy Spirit that would literally come to live inside of her and quench the thirsting of her soul.
Application:
Today He want to do the very same thing for YOU! He wants to quench the spiritual thirst that you have that you may not even realize is there. The longing you have in your soul for meaning and significance that you try to fill with relationships, or some other idol is something only God can fill. Only God can fill the “God-sized hole” in your heart. Only God can meet that need. Jesus is both the “bread of life” and the “water of life” and everything else is just cheap substitutes of empty calories that will only leave you hungrier and thirstier. You have to have more and more and more when Jesus that He is enough to TRULY SATISFY!
Before Jesus gives her this water, He needs her to come face to face with the cheap substitute that she has been pursuing to fulfill the hunger of her soul. She needs to come face to face with her idol, with her false god . . .there is about to be . . .
An Ugly Collision
An Ugly Collision
(vv 16-24)
Explanation:
Jesus simply says, “Go get your husband.” That little statement is about to rock her world. That little statement is going to cause her to have to come face to face with her sin. It causes her to come face to face with her idol, her false God that is stopping up the fountain that God wants her to experience. You see she has been going to the broken cistern of relationship after relationship, marriage after marriage to find what her soul has been longing for and looking for, and it has left her the broken shell of a woman who is now living in the shadows of shame.
Jesus wants this ugliness exposed, not to further shame her, but rather to show her a better way. He wants her to understand that GRACE IS GREATER than her 5 marriages and divorces. He wants her to know GRACE IS GREATER than her adultery. He wants her to know GRACE IS GREATER than her fornication. HE wants her to know that HE IS ABLE TO DO SOMETHING THAT THESE SIX RELATIONSHIPS HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DO FOR HER…He can quench the thirstiness of her soul.
But to do so she has to come face to face with the ugliness of the cheap substitutes she has been running to, in order to have a better understanding and appreciation of His water and His grace!
Immediately she shifts the conversationZ
She immediately tries to shift the conversation to another subject. She wants to talk about religion.
Let me quote from Kyle’s book one more time:
Illustration
Jesus speaks some difficult truths. It’s the part of the collision with grace that we do our best to avoid. And like any of us would do, the woman at the well tries to steer the conversation away from her sin and shame. (pp. 39-40)
“Did you notice what the woman at the well does in the conversation? She tries to distract Jesus by talking about religion. She tries to avoid this collision by engaging Him in some religious argument that could be debated endlessly...Like the woman at the well, we have a tendency to get religious when Jesus starts to get a little too personal...The Samaritan woman falsely assumes Jesus will be more interested in religion than her, so she tries to draw Jesus into a religious debate.” (p. 42)
Application
Some of us in this room need to have a good ole’ “ugly collision with our idols and cheap substitutes.” I love what Kyle Idleman says in his book “Grace is Greater”:
“Jesus doesn’t step away from the truth. He describes the reality of what she’s done and the mess her life has become. The well of relationships that she keeps drawing from isn’t quenching her thirst, and Jesus isn’t going to politely pretend that everything is OK when He knows everything is not OK. If she is going to receive His grace, she needs to stop hiding in her sin. . . Before we collide with the grace of God, we must collide with the truth of our own sin
TODAY is the day to have an ugly confrontation with our sin and ourselves. Today is the day to stop making excuses, to stop running to broken cisterns that can hold no water and today is the day to JUMP into the FOUNTAIN of His forgiveness and drink deeply of the grace that He offers!
And when we do we will find that God can take an ugly collision and turn it into a BEAUTIFUL ONE!
“Car
“Jesus doesn’t step away from the truth. He describes the reality of what she’s done and the mess her life has become. The well of relationships that she keeps drawing from isn’t quenching her thirst, and Jesus isn’t going to politely pretend that everything is OK when He knows everything is not OK. If she is going to receive His grace, she needs to stop hiding in her sin. . . Before we collide with the grace of God, we must collide with the truth of our own sin:
Your short temper keeps everyone on edge . . .
Your porn problem is killing any chance of intimacy you have in your marriage.
Your flirting is leading you down a path that will devastate your family.
You’re allowing your heart to fall for a girl who’s causing you to fall away from me.
You’re choosing your live-in boyfriend over your relationship with me. It’s going to have to be one or the other.
You’re going deeper into debt to feel better about yourself, but the water out of that well isn’t going to satisfy you.
Your self-righteous, legalistic spirit is causing the people at your job to stay away from me.
Your judgmental attitude and your harsh tone are costing you a relationship with your grand kids
Jesus speaks some difficult truths. It’s the part of the collision with grace that we do our best to avoid. And like any of us would do, the woman at the well tries to steer the conversation away from her sin and shame. (pp. 39-40)
“Did you notice what the woman at the well does in the conversation? She tries to distract Jesus by talking about religion. She tries to avoid this collision by engaging Him in some religious argument that could be debated endlessly . . . Like the woman at the well, we have a tendency to get religious when Jesus starts to get a little too personal . . . The Samaritan woman falsely assumes Jesus will be more interested in religion than her, so she tries to draw Jesus into a religious debate.” (p. 42)
A Beautiful Collision
A Beautiful Collision
vv. 25-42
Explanation
In verses 25-26 Jesus finally reveals to her who He really is. She had come to the conclusion that maybe He was a prophet, but Jesus reveals to her that He is more than a prophet—He is the Messiah! He is the Savior of the world. He is the one who has come to take her brokenness and turn it into something beautiful!
The cool thing about this conversation is that Jesus candidly and voluntarily reveals that He is the Messiah to this woman.
As the disciples return to the scene they are shocked to see Jesus talking to this Samaritan woman. She is so excited that the Messiah has revealed Himself to her, a broken woman, that she leaves her water pot behind and runs back into town telling everyone she sees WHO she has met and WHAT He knows about her.
A multitude of people from her village are transformed that day by their faith in the Messiah as well.
What a BEAUTIFUL COLLISION! This broken, ashamed, fearful woman, who had probably been abused and used by numerous men, met the God-Man who changed her life forever! He forgave her of her sin and past, He replaced the broken cistern of idolatry that had only left her empty and more thirsty, with an eternal spring flowing in her soul and gave her a testimony that He then used to change the lives of others in her village!
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COLLISION!
Illustration
This beautiful collision reminds me of a Scripture in where God says He would...
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
“Sometimes when our secret sin gets exposed and we can no longer hide it, then we go into hiding. As much as possible, we do our best to avoid the people who know. Shame becomes our constant companion and relentlessly whispers, ‘You’re not worthy of forgiveness. You don’t deserve a second chance.’ But here’s a surprising characteristic about grace—grace chases you. You can run away and hide, but grace is relentless. Grace will chase you down.” (p. 36
Once again let me quote from the book, “Grace is Greater”:
“Beautiful collision—Collision brings to mind words like broken, busted and wrecked—not typically words that fit with beautiful. But the Gospels are full of beautiful collisions. When a broken, busted, and wrecked life collides with Jesus, it’s a beautiful thing.”
FINAL APPLICATIONS
It is God’s Will for YOU to Have a Collision With His Grace
It is God’s Will for YOU to Have a Collision With His Grace
The “hounds of heaven” are on your trail, chasing you down and you keep running from the very One who loves you more than you can imagine. He doesn’t want to destroy your life. He wants to give you LIFE . . . eternal life, abundant life, life worth living and a life full of meaning!
If you do not know Christ as YOUR Lord and Savior please understand the very reason YOU are here today, the very reason YOU have breath in YOUR lungs today is because the God of the universe wants you to have a collision with GRACE! His Word tells us that
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Romans
Trust God to Turn the Ashes of Your Past Into a Portrait of Grace
Trust God to Turn the Ashes of Your Past Into a Portrait of Grace
I’d like to quote Kyle Idleman once again:
“Some of you think that the worst thing that could happen to you is that your sins will be found out and your secrets will be exposed. You’re afraid that someone’s going to bring up something you did a long time ago. You don’t want anyone to know, and since God already knows, you do your best to avoid Him. You think the worst thing that could happen is that you get found out and are forced to confront the truth. But that’s not the worst thing. The worst thing that could happen is that you go through your life and NOBODY knows. No one ever finds out. You just carry the weight of your guilt and shame around with you everywhere. THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN IS THAT YOU SPEND YOUR LIFE TRYING TO OUTRUN GOD BECAUSE YOU THINK HE’S CHASING YOU TO COLLECT WHAT YOU OWE—WHEN HE’S REALLY CHASING YOU TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEVER COULD AFFORD...When God’s grace and mercy collide with our shame and guilt, it’s messy but it’s beautiful. Jesus knows everything you ever did, but he wants to make sure you know that his grace is greater.” (p. 48)
“When God’s grace and mercy collide with our shame and guilt, it’s messy but it’s beautiful. Jesus knows everything you ever did, but he wants to make sure you know that his grace is greater.” (p. 48)
Break Down the Barriers In Order to Share God’s Grace
Break Down the Barriers In Order to Share God’s Grace
More than likely this woman avoided others, but others probably avoided her as well. Sometimes we avoid people who are different than us, who look different than us, who have different life experiences than we do. How can we reach them with the Gospel if we avoid them.
We do not have to approve of their lifestyle or compromise the truth, but we must realize EVERY soul, no matter how ugly their scars may be, are loved by God and are part of our mission field!
Michaelanne- “[He] saw her as the person she was. As someone worth loving, someone worth trying to save! I’d venture to say all, if not most others would have kept the traditions and not realized her true worth. Jesus . . . loved her anyway. True grace. . . This really struck me because this still goes on today. Do we love the social outcasts of our own times enough to overcome any barrier to share the love of Christ with them?”