Untitled Sermon (3)

The Samaritan Woman

Introduction

Thank you for being here. It is an honor and privilege to be able to preach this morning. Please pray for our pastor and his family as they take a well-deserved vacation.

Evangelism can be one of the most difficult commandments for Christians to follow. Many Christians struggle to find the courage. They worry that they won’t find the right words, or they don’t have the right education or experience to teach others about God. As we dig into God’s Word today we are going to continue to unravel two truths. The first is that no matter what background you come from, God will use you to fulfill His purposes, including evangelism. The second is that God knew what He was doing when He made you. He custom designed you. You have a unique personality, unique talents, and a unique background. He wants to use you to reach others in a fashion that fits your design. As we continue our sermon series “Let’s Tell Someone” we are introducing our next style of evangelism, the invitational style. Turn with me to so we can see this style at work.

I. The Samaritan Woman’s encounter

a. The unusual circumstances (v 3-9)

i. It was about the sixth hour

1. This was an unusual hour for a woman to be collecting water. Water was traditionally collected early in the morning or late at evening when the sun was not out. The Israelites measured time based upon when the sun rose. The sun rises in Israel at about 6 am. This means the woman is collecting water at noon.

2. You see she was trying to avoid the other women!

ii. The Jews avoided Samaritans

1. Gerald Bochert notes in his commentary on John: “The Samaritans were regarded by the Jews as despised half-breeds, the offspring of the resettlement policies of the cruel Assyrians, who after sacking the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. transported large groups of conquered Jews to other conquered sites and repopulated the partially vacated sites with other conquered peoples (, )…The Jewish desire for a pure and loyal people of God, particularly after the return from the Babylonian exile, led Ezra to develop a segregation policy that excluded Samaritans and others of mixed backgrounds ().”

iii. Jewish men did not speak to women in public, not even their own wives! (v. 27)

b. The woman’s past and present sin (v 16-19)

i. She is not married.

1. Her answer is short and to the point, like she is trying to stop the conversation right there.

2. Jesus reveals that she has been divorced 5 times and is living with a man she is not married to.

a. Even in today’s society, being divorced 5 times will make someone a pariah.

b. We are starting to understand why this woman is going to the well at a strange hour. She was ashamed, scared, she was an outcast!

3. She tries to shut down the conversation again! Look at what she says. “I get it you’re a prophet.” She even follows up by referencing to prove to Jesus she gets it. But as we read the rest of the story we see she does not get it yet.

c. Her change of attitude (v 20-26)

i. Have you ever felt that way? Like you didn’t fit in, you didn’t belong, everyone thought less of you?

1. Growing up I had a lot of trouble fitting in. In high school I struggled with me cultural identity and thought not matter where I went people would think less of me. There was a large group of Mexican-American students who I tried to fit in with but I didn’t speak Spanish so I was never treated like everyone else. I tried to fit in with the white kids, but there came a point where we didn’t click either. I ended up hanging out with other people just like me, who didn’t know where they fit into this world. But I made very few close relationships and into adulthood I still felt like something was missing, like I didn’t every truly belong.

ii. Jesus announces that there is an age coming where you do not have to travel to a physical temple in one city to worship God. The Holy Spirit will come and dwell in every person and all of God’s people become the temple.

iii. The Samaritans were not allowed to worship in Jerusalem. Instead they created their own illegitimate temple in Samaria. Did you catch what this means for the woman. Did you catch what that means for the Samaritan Woman?

1. It does not matter if you are a Samaritan!

2. It does not matter if you are an outcast!

3. It does not matter if you have made mistakes!

4. It doesn’t matter what other people think of you!

5. It does not matter that you do not fit in!

6. WHY? Because every single one of us has a part in God’s plan!

7. Every single one of us can participate in God’s plan because of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ!

a. “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

b. “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’

Bring My sons from afar,

And My daughters from the ends of the earth—

Everyone who is called by My name,

Whom I have created for My glory;

I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

iv. If this does not change your view about yourself and where you fit into this world, I do not know what will. This completely shattered my own self-image issues and it completely changed the viewpoint of the Samaritan Woman!

v. Jesus tells her He is the Messiah and now it is her turn to act.

II. The Invitational Approach (v 28-30)

a. Her sense of urgency (v28)

i. If you are a Christian and you have spent any time in church, you have probably heard a sermon on . Usually we focus on Jesus and how His conversation teaches us how to talk to lost people. And that is true! But can I tell you something? We want to compare ourselves to Jesus because He is the hero in our story. But if we are honest we are more like the Samaritan Woman than like Jesus. And you know what? If you pay attention, the Samaritan Woman does things that we can learn from and that we should apply in our lives too!

ii. Why did the woman originally come to the well? To get water! She is so focused on the need to tell others about Jesus, she literally drops what she is doing to go back to the city!

1. If you are an invitational person then you are willing to drop everything if it means having an opportunity to invite someone to church or an outreach event. Even if it is inconvenient.

iii. Sometimes we put our own convenience and comfort above sharing the good news. The Good News is only Good News if it makes it in time! Here are 8 reasons people don’t invite others to church.

1. “I don’t have any non-Christian friends”

a. “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.”

2. “That’s the pastor’s job!”

a. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”

3. “My friend said no to me last year!”

a. Jesus was rejected. Why would we think we won’t be? Jesus was rejected by His own family. James did not come to belief until after the resurrection.

4. “What if it damages our friendship?”

a. What is going to damage your friendship more? An awkward moment inviting your friend to church or knowing the your friend is in Hell because of your disobedience?

5. “Our services and people are unpredictable” (Only inviting friend when certain songs are played or certain person is preaching)

a. We do not come to church for the music, for the songs, for our favorite people, for our favorite preacher…we come to church to hear the word of God proclaimed so that we may become more Christ like.

6. “What will the congregation think of my friend?”

a. If this is a legitimate worry then shame on us! Imagine walking into the emergency room and being told that the hospital does not serve sick people. That doesn’t make sense. Neither does a church that does not welcome the sick and hurting of this world.

7. “I don’t want to be seen as strange!”

a. I hate to break it to you… you’re already strange. And that’s okay! We are not of this world, we are set apart we are called to be different. There is no shame in being different.

8. “What if they ask me questions?”

a. “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

iv. We can all learn from each of these approaches we have been preaching about. Even if you are direct, even if you are serving, even if you are testimonial, we can all learn from this. Are you willing to prioritize telling others about Jesus above all else? Even if it is inconvenient?

b. The woman’s sincere and welcoming invitation

i. Some of you might be wondering how this approach is different than the one we talked about last week. How is this different than Matthew’s interpersonal approach?

1. Matthew used building relationships with those close to him to bring them to Jesus Christ. Matthew also used the social setting to attract his friends and then introduced Jesus once his friends arrived.

2. The woman at the well is a social pariah who overcomes her shame and invites everyone she knows to come meet Jesus. She invites the very same people who shunned her, who hurt her, who humiliated her. It did not matter anymore! She had met the Messiah and she was going to tell everyone she knew! She didn’t throw a party or social gathering. She directly invited the people to meet Jesus.

ii. If you are the kind of person that doesn’t care what others think, who moves on quickly from rejection, then you are probably an invitational person.

c. The need for this approach

i. ASK: How many are here because someone invited them to church?

ii. We already established that the Samaritan Woman invited people that she was not friends with. You don’t have to have a lot of friends to use this invitational approach.

1. The average person has 600 acquaintances. 600! If everyone invited just the people you already know, and only 1% of those people actually came, we would be overflowing with visitors, most of whom need to hear the gospel.

iii. A recent poll showed that about 25 percent of adults in the United States would go to church if a friend would invite them.

III. Implementing this Approach (v 39-42)

a. Don’t over complicate it

i. She didn’t try to convince them, she didn’t argue, she didn’t try to show them proof. She simply invited them and told the truth. That is our job! Invite people and tell them the truth!

ii. She didn’t just invite her friends. She invited everyone she knew. We often worry a lot about what other people think of us.

b. You still have to tell what you believe

i. Every week of this series this has come up. Peter was very direct about what he believed. Tabitha served others but also clearly told them what she believed. The Blind Man clearly told his story about what God did for him.

ii. Look in verses 28-29. She tells them what Jesus did! She doesn’t just invite them! Now look in verse 39. People came to know Christ because she told them what she believed.

c. We are all qualified

i. The Samaritan Woman is an unlikely person to have such a huge impact. But she did. Despite her shame, her mistakes, her status in society, she was able to lead so many to Christ both spiritually and physically.

ii. We see this thread throughout the entire Bible. You do not need a seminary education, you do not need a certain level of knowledge of experience. God equips His people to do His work.

Conclusion

Maybe you are here and God designed you to be an invitational person. Will you step up and use the personality that God blessed you with to share the gospel with a world that desperately needs it? Maybe you’re not an invitational person but you struggle with inviting others to church. Now is the time to make a commitment to stop making excuses and follow God’s commandment to spread the gospel.

Or maybe you are here with us and you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. Would you come forward and meet me at the altar? I won’t embarrass you, I just want to share God’s truth with you and introduce you to a God who loves you no matter who you are or what mistakes you have made.

Let’s pray.