Essentials - Extra: How to share the gospel
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Introduction
So just when you thought you were finished with the Essentials series (and we ARE finished with the Essentials series)…we have one more thing to look at before we can put this series on discipleship to bed.
And it’s something that came to me a couple of weeks ago at the midweek, when we were watching the video.
Because we’ve talked about the encounter with Jesus and accepting the call to leave your old way of life behind and enter into a new way of life with Jesus. And we looked at the fact that we’re in this together as part of a team, and we saw the cost…
…but it was when we looked at culture and courage and challenge, that I noticed something was lacking from my teaching.
Because, if you remember, we talked about the need to GO and make more disciples…and while part of that means coming alongside those within our church and walking them through their journey with Jesus, it also means that we go and tell others who aren’t Christians that there is this amazing life to be found in Jesus Christ.
And I mentioned at the midweek about how I should be going up Bow Street telling people about Jesus, but actually, we don’t even need to do that - because there are people whom we know and love who haven’t trusted in Jesus Christ right where we live and work and play - so let’s start there.
BUT…and this is the big thing that was lacking…We never looked at HOW we do this.
It’s all well and good me telling you that you need to tell others about Jesus, but what is even better is knowing HOW to.
Because, I’m not sure how effective it is going up and down Bow Street telling people they must be born again.
But what IS affective is when we speak to our friends and loved-ones about Jesus.
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So today we are going to look at HOW we tell people about Jesus…kinda the practical steps of introducing Jesus to the people with whom we work or live or play - our friends and family who don’t yet know Jesus.
And let me first of all say that this is one method of many out there. I’m not saying that this is THE method we must use. However, it IS the method Jesus used so it’s probably not a bad method to follow.
And it’s found in John chapter 4, which we read earlier. Let’s look at this in some detail with specific focus on how Jesus shares the good news to this Samaritan woman.
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So Jesus leaves Judea and heads towards Galilee. And on his way he had to pass through Samaria. Now, he didn’t actually HAVE to pass through Samaria - most Jews would have walked around Samaria, but Jesus doesn’t avoid the place - he walks right through it.
And they come to Sychar, where Jacob’s well is, and Jesus, being fully human, is tired and weary and he sits by the well while the disciples go to get food.
It’s 12 o’clock in the afternoon...Midday…And only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
Mad dogs, Englishmen and Samaritan women who don’t want to meet anyone else.
All the other Samaritan women would have drawn water from this well either first thing in the morning, in the cool of the morning, or last thing in the evening when the sun wasn’t scorching hot.
And women would have travelled in groups for safety.
No self-respecting woman would come to a well at 12 noon to get water… And that’s the point. This woman probably wasn’t self-respecting.
And as the reader finds out later in the story, she had 5 husbands and the man she was with wasn’t even her husband - so most likely she was ashamed, she was an outcast in society and was forced to get water at 12 noon, in the heat of the day, when the sun is scorching down on her…because at that time of day she’s not going to run into anyone who will judge her.
Unfortunately for her, she runs into Jesus, but fortunately for her, this encounter will change her life. And the great thing for this woman is that Jesus isn’t going to treat this woman like every other man has treated her...
In fact, Jesus speaks to her.
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Now, we kinda gloss over this, but this is groundbreaking, earth-shattering stuff RIGHT HERE.
Here’s what SHOULD have happened...
According to Kenneth Bailey, an expert in Middle Eastern culture...Jesus should have stepped away out of courtesy to a distance of 20 feet indicating that it was both safe and culturally appropriate for her to approach the well.
And this wasn’t because she was a Samaritan - it’s because she was a woman.
Jewish men didn’t really speak to women much in public- Rabbi’s pretty much NEVER did.
Instead, Jesus breaks through the cultural barriers and treats this person, not as a woman, not as a Samaritan…but as an equal.
What Jesus does here is groundbreaking.
He has broken the social taboo and he has ignored the 500 years of hostility between Jews and Samaritans.
But not only that, Jesus has shown us a pattern of mission that we need to follow too.
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Because not only has Jesus spoken to this woman, he has put himself in a place of weakness, allowing her to feel some sense of value.
Cos think about it. This woman, with 5 husbands and another man who isn’t her husband, is coming to the well at noon, in the scorching heat of the day in order to avoid contact with people. She probably feels like she HAS no worth. She probably has been ostracised by her friends and family. She probably feels like she has no value at all.
And what she would expect Jesus to do is not even talk to her at all, or at most, command her to give him a drink.
Instead, Jesus humbles himself and gives her the place of honour…Please, give me a drink.
And this is the first lesson that we need to learn when sharing the gospel...
We need to remember that....
Everyone we meet is an immortal being made in the image of God.
As I said a few weeks ago, and it was a quote from someone else…we are not human beings having a Spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a HUMAN experience.
Every single one of us is immortal - our destiny is either eternal life or eternal death - heaven or hell. There’s no in between.
And EVERYONE is made in the image of God.
Which means that, as Christians, with Jesus as our example, we have NO RIGHT to think of ourselves higher than we ought. Paul said the same in Philippians 2.
So if we’re speaking to a homeless person on the street...
If we’re speaking to a Roman Catholic...
If we’re speaking to a Muslim refugee....
If we’re speaking to a member of the travelling community...
We have NO RIGHT to think of them as any less than we are. Which means we need to approach the Roman Catholic, or the Muslim Refugee, or the traveller, breaking the cultural barriers, and treat them as a person loved by the eternal almighty God. We need to give them value.
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Our culture has set up barriers and classes - so had the culture in which Jesus lived.
Jesus broke down those barriers and so should we. Jesus was countercultural and we need to be too. We need to always be pushing against any cultural norms that marginalise people and treat them as anything other than created in the image of God himself.
So the first less in sharing the gospel is this...
Treat everyone as having immense value, because in God’s eyes, they do.
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Next thing that happens is this woman points out the counter-cultural request (verse 9)...
9 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.)
Jesus’ reply was this...
10 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.”
Now, let’s look at this for a second…
We tend to spiritualise this too quickly and think that Jesus was saying that I can give you water of LIFE - water of ETERNAL LIFE. And yes, we know that’s what he’s saying, but he hasn’t said it YET.
So WE think the conversation goes something like this...
Can I have a drink?
How can you, a Jew ask a Samaritan woman for a drink?
If only you knew, you would ask me and I’d give you eternal life.
That’s not what Jesus said. The term ‘living water’ means fast flowing water. Like the water you get from a fast flowing stream or river.
If you’ve ever walked up Slieve Donard, you’ll know there’s a river that you walk beside. And this river is fast flowing. And often times I’ve drank from that river. The water looks crystal clear, but when you put a bottle in it you soon realise that it’s brown…but it doesn’t matter.
I’ve drank out of it many times. It tastes great because it’s full of minerals.
Another place where you find water is Hillsborough lake. And there are parts of the lake, beside the waters edge, where there is some kind of algae or sludge that finds its way to the edge of the lake.
Now there’s NO WAY I’d drink that water. It’s stagnant and dirty and dear knows what’s in it.
Given the choice, despite the fact that the Donard water is slightly brown, you’d drink it, any day, over the water from Hillsborough lake.
Now, a well is similar to Hillsborough lake…it’s stagnant water at the bottom of a hole in the ground. Water finds its way through the mud and dirt and collects in the bottom of the well. This water isn’t the greatest water to drink, but it’s all they had.
Imagine drawing mudding stinky water out of this well and someone coming up to you and saying, ‘I know where there is a fast flowing stream that you can get great fresh water.
Do you see the attraction to that?
Or to make it more modern…imagine coming to a woman in Africa, drawing water from a muddy well and you come along with a bottle of River Rock and say, ‘I’ve got this water here. Would you rather have this?’
You see, the conversation between Jesus and the woman went like this...
Can I have a drink?
How can you, a Jew ask a Samaritan woman for a drink?
If only you knew, you would ask me and I’d give you fresh flowing River Rock water to drink.
And this is the second lesson in sharing the good news...
Because everyone of us has a thirst for something. As one commentator wrote… ‘ in ever human heart there is a thirst for something only Jesus can satisfy.’ Now we try to satisfy this thirst with other things.
But Jesus offers something basic first…He gets her attention first before revealing that this living water is actually water of life.
So Jesus sees her physical need - water, but he doesn’t jump straight in with, ‘you’re a sinner going to Hell unless you repent.’
No, Jesus sees her physical need - water - and he uses that physical need to offer something FOR THAT PHYSICAL NEED, opening the door to the REAL SPIRITUAL NEED that this woman has - the forgiveness of her sins.
So instead of saying, ‘you’re going to hell,’ he says, ‘Actually I’ve got a drink that’s better than what you have.’
And so the second lesson in sharing the gospel is this...
Find a basic human need, and offer something better that will expose the REAL SPIRITUAL NEED.
That’s what Jesus did. He took the Samaritan woman’s basic need and offered her something better than what she could currently get. Jesus said, I can not only MEET your need, I can EXCEED it.
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Then the Samaritan woman challenged Jesus, accusing him of declaring that he was greater than Jacob, and then Jesus hammers it home...
Jesus said this...
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”
He is saying to this woman - this thirst you have is never satisfied. You have to keep coming back again and again for this water. The water I will give you will satisfy you and THEN SOME. The water I will give you is not fresh flowing water, it’s actual LIVING water - because what I can give you is eternal life.
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And NOW the woman gets it. Jesus is offering her something that she is really longing for. And she knows it and she wants it.
And now we get to the real spiritual need...
When she says to Jesus, ‘where is this living water?’ Jesus says, ‘go get your husband.’
Because the spiritual need in this woman’s life is her sin.
Because YES, Jesus does offer eternal life and eternal blessings…but it comes at a price. It requires us to recognise our sin and seek his forgiveness.
Because like we said in the Essential’s series, we need to leave our old way of life behind and enter into this new way of life with Jesus.
And that’s what Jesus is addressing now with this woman. Look at what he says and what she says back...
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 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.”
And there may be other issues going on here which I’ve mentioned before in the midweek and we don’t have time to go into now…but this woman has a past and it’s a sinful past and a sinful present. And Jesus points it out.
And her reply is strange. It’s like she changes the subject, but actually she’s asking, ‘what am I supposed to do about it?’ She says this...
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
And the Samaritans worship on the mountain where this is taking place. The Jews worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem.
And part of the act of worship was bringing a sacrifice for the atonement of sin. And this woman is essentially asking, ‘ok, yea, I’m a sinner, but where do I get atonement for sin? Here on this mountain, or in the temple in Jerusalem where you Jews say it needs to be?’
And Jesus tells her that a day is coming when there will be no need to offer sacrifices in a temple again and again. And we know why this is...
Because Jesus was foretelling his death and resurrection - that HE was going to be the ultimate sacrifice - offered once, for all who will believe. And so there will be no going back time and time again after every sin because his death will have paid the price for all sins, past present and future. A one-time payment that covers ALL our sin.
And this brings us to the third lesson in sharing the gospel...
Highlight their sin, but also show them how Jesus deals with it.
And I say, ‘their’ sin, but what’s maybe better is to highlight OUR sin. Once you show that there is a better answer to their need, they also need to know that they have sin that needs paid for, but you can’t leave it there - we need to tell them that through trusting in Jesus Christ, HIS death paid for that sin and so there is no need to DO anything more other than accept his grace and forgiveness.
For this woman, the time was coming when there was no need to offer a sacrifice. There was no need to DO anything but trust in Jesus Christ for the payment and the forgiveness of her sins.
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Like I said earlier - this is one way to share the gospel. But how would it look in practice?
This is hard to do because it’s artificial...
But what can happen, and I’ve seen it happen, is that people are generally happy to go though life with little or no interest in God. But then something hits them - a crisis.
Like the woman who keeps coming to the well - there’s a need that needs met.
So maybe it’s sickness or bereavement, or financial issues, or anxiety…whatever…people come into a time of need or crisis.
And so you can approach that person, giving them value - giving them their place.
And you find our their need.
And you tell them that Jesus can meet their need and THEN SOME.
Because when you boil it down, everyone’s need is the same - everyone needs Jesus.
So if someone is diagnosed with cancer and they don’t know Jesus, you can tell them that unfortunately people get sick and it’s because we live in a fallen world because of sin. But you believe that Jesus’ death on the cross defeated sin and while we still feel the effects of sin, like sickness or tragedy, whoever puts their faith in Jesus can not only have their sins forgive, but they can be free from the effects of sin too…perhaps in this world, through healing, but definitely in eternity.
And so you call point them to Jesus in this. you can tell them that there is a certainty for people who put their trust in Jesus, that they will be made right with God, have this sin forgiven and have eternal life.
And if they say, ‘but I’m not good enough’ that’s when you highlight their sin and show them how Jesus deals with it.
“That’s good - because nobody is good enough to get into heaven. That’s why Jesus died on the cross to pay the price that we couldn’t pay. But it does require us to acknowledge that we aren’t good - in fact we are sinners who need a saviour. And when we do that and ask Jesus to save us from the hell we deserve, we get eternal life. Which means that if you don’t come through this cancer you know you’re going to a better place.
What happens if they say, ‘yea, I’m a decent person. I think I’ll be in heaven.’
If that’s the case then we can point out that the bible says that no one is good and that we all sin from birth. Take the 10 commandments and Matthew 5 and it won’t be long before you stumble one many times when every one of us broken a command from God which leads to hell. But then you tell them the good news, that there IS one person who IS good enough - Jesus Christ, and through faith in him their sins are washed away because of Jesus death and resurrection.
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Now you may get shot down…that’s ok. But you’ve tried. And what you’ve said might make a difference a few days or weeks or months or even years down the line.
So to recap… Approach people as someone who has value.
Show them that whatever their need is, Jesus can meet that need and exceed it.
And then remind them that to have this amazing life, all they need to do is recognise their own sin and unworthiness and accept the love, grace and forgiveness that Jesus brings.
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Conversations don’t always go to plan…but if you approach your friends and family members in their time of need in love and grace, and if you offer them a better alternative…let the Holy Spirit guide you.
But it reminds me that there are also people who are sitting here who are perhaps in a time of need or crisis. And they can’t honestly say they have trusted in Jesus Christ.
I want to extend this offer to you too - that whatever your need, Jesus CAN meet that need and THEN SOME if you come to him in repentance and humility and accept his love, his grace and forgiveness.
Because our greatest need is Jesus himself. Once we have that, all other needs will be taken care of, if not in this life, certainly in the next.
Let’s pray.