The Welcoming Church - 32

The Imperfect Church – 32

The Welcoming Church

Introduction

carry a very interesting story in the history of ancient Israel. The Northern Kingdom’s capital city of Samaria is under siege by the nation of Aram. That siege, which cut off all support and supplies, lasted so long that it produced a devastating famine.

- 24 Some time later, however, King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and besieged Samaria. 25 As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver. 26 One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, “Please help me, my lord the king!” 27 He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you.” 28 But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Kill your son so we can eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.”

That’s about as bad as it gets. It finally gets so bad as people are waiting to die, that an unlikely group decides to do something about it. Four lepers get tired of waiting and decide to surrender themselves to Aram. The Arameans may kill them, but, they argue, they’re going to die anyway. The risk is worth it. Perhaps they’ll accept our surrender and give us food.

What they don’t know is that the siege has already ended. God had already defeated the enemy on Israel’s behalf. But no one had heard the good news yet. God had thrown the Arameans into a panic, thinking they were being attacked by a huge army, and had fled so quickly, they left behind their tents, supplies, and food. Only when the lepers get there do they see what’s happened.

- 8 When the men with leprosy arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.

It’s party city for them! They have all the food, wine, wealth they want. More than they could ever need. They even start hiding it. That is when we realize this is the most selfish, unloving thing they could do. The entire city of Samaria behind them is in desperate need. They are dying. And these four lepers are living the good life, choosing to ignore the suffering around them. Finally, it dawns on them that they need to do something.

- 9 Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.” 10 So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn’t a single person around!” 11 Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace.

“This is not right…” Duh! People around you are dying and you have what they need to live. You have to go share it with them. And that’s what they do. They announce the good news throughout the city. The army is gone! The enemy has been defeated! The whole city rushes out to the camp and eat their fill. There is celebration, joy, hope. All because four lepers told them the good news.

What if they hadn’t told anyone? What if they decided to keep the good news to themselves? Here is the harsh reality: if these lepers stay there and not tell anyone, the city dies. They waste away, starving to death, without hope. All because no one told them that God has already saved them. All because no one told them God has already defeated the enemy.

Man, this sounds familiar. “This is the day of good news and we aren’t sharing it with anyone!” I know too many churches who could etch that over their doorways. I know too many Christians who have adopted this as their life verse. As Christians, we’ve discovered the empty camp. We know where to have our hunger satisfied and our thirst quenched. We know the enemy has been defeated and that God has saved us. How could we keep that to ourselves?

This is the source of our hope. We have victory. God has done something great for us in Jesus. What we come to understand is that once we’ve experienced this, it’s not right to keep that to ourselves. We have to tell others. We have to share that good news.

This is Paul’s point as we close out 1 Corinthians today. Once people Discover Grace, are forgiven of their sins, live defined by hope…the next step is NOT to turn our backs on the world and close out people who don’t share our new beliefs. How selfish! How ungodly! How so very much un-Christlike! Just as we need grace, so do they; just as we are sinners in need of forgiveness, so are they. Let’s read the rest of and see how God has called the church to be a Welcoming Church.

- 5 I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination. 7 This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me. 8 In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost. 9 There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.

10 When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.

12 Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.

13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.

15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion. 17 I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me. 18 They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.

19 The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings. 20 All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.

21 HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING—PAUL.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!

23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.

Across the board, Paul is calling on the church to be open and welcoming. They are to welcome him when he arrives (v. 5). That could be a tough thing since he has been the one who has been so harsh with them throughout this letter. So be open and welcoming even to people who say hard things to you. He also tells them to be welcoming to Timothy when he arrives, to Apollos, to those of their own who had been gone for some time (Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus). Why would he have to mention even their own people? Because those men had gone to help Paul. So, if someone isn’t feeling to kindly to Paul at the moment for something he has said in his letter, they may not be very welcoming to anyone who has helped him. Across the board, the church is to be a welcoming place, a welcoming people for anyone and everyone.

He is also modeling for them, and this is what I want to focus on for the rest of our time together, to be open and welcoming to those who do not share their beliefs. In v. 9 he shows that he is staying in Ephesus because of the “wide-open door for great work” even though there are many who oppose him. Opposition does not equal a closed door. Disagreement doesn’t equal the end of a relationship. Holding to different beliefs, or even being hostile to your beliefs does not equal dismissal. Be welcoming even to those who are hostile to your beliefs. Why? Because Jesus certainly was.

Let’s take a look at how Jesus models this very thing for us. Turn to . We are going to look at an encounter Jesus has with a woman who certainly did not agree with or appreciate his beliefs. Interestingly enough, this encounter takes place in Samaria. Hundreds of years after the capital was under siege in , the circumstances of the people are not all that different. There is still a famine—only this one is a different kind of famine. Not physical, but spiritual. And that famine remains until someone shows up to give hope to the hopeless.

- Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” 10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

This story finds Jesus in Samaria, an odd place for him to be. Jews in his day, particularly devout ones, would avoid Samaria at all costs. They would travel completely around it, doubling the length of their journey. Why? So they didn’t have to interact with Samaritans. Ten chapters after we encounter the lepers in , the Norther Kingdom is destroyed by the Assyrian Empire. As the Assyrians settle into the land, the Israelites who had survived the invasion intermarried with them. They start worshipping their gods. So now they are racially and religiously compromised. To this day if an orthodox Jew marries a Gentile, the family will hold a funeral service for them, because for all intents and purposes, according to Judaism, that person is dead. So Jews don’t see the Samaritans as Jews in any sense of the word.

And yet, here Jesus sits. Palestine is 120 miles long and is essentially divided into three regions—Judea in the South, Galilee in the North, and Samaria in between. Jesus has been in Judea and is traveling to Galilee. He has three routes to choose from, two of which take him around Samaria. He chooses the one that goes right through it. He sits down by Jacob’s well (still there) as this woman approaches. This is trouble for a few reasons culturally…one, she’s a woman. Men didn’t even speak to their wives outside the home, let alone other women. Two, she’s the wrong kind of woman. Samaritan, strike two.

Strike three is that she is an outcast from her own society. We see this in two ways—she’s drawing water at noon, the hottest part of the day. You only did that if you were avoiding all the other people in your village, as they all did it early in the morning. On top of that, she is drawing water at a well that is 1/2 mile outside of town, even though a water source was closer to her in town. No one would go with her. No one is there to help her, say, if a strange man should be sitting at the well. She is alone and without hope.

Yet Jesus breaks all the rules and talks to her. A soul is at stake. Her false beliefs are not cause for dismissal. Hopelessness cannot be ignored. His request for a drink shocks her, and we understand why. As their conversation continues, we find they are both thirsty, just for different things. Jesus is physically thirsty, she spiritually. Jesus identifies himself as the source of living water that can quench any thirst. She is skeptical and should be. She has taken his statements literally and notices he is without bucket and rope, and this well is already pretty good. What does she need him for? That’s when the conversation dramatically changes.

- 13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” 15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

When she says she is interested in this water, Jesus instead strikes to the core of her thirst. Where is your husband? She doesn’t have one…this is the shortest and most abrupt statement she makes in their entire exchange. She’s convicted. Because she’s had 5 husbands and since they haven’t worked out, she didn’t even bother with the 6th. We don’t know the reasons for the numerous husbands, but we do know that relationship after relationship has left her empty and thirsting for something better. Dismissal won’t work here. Judgement won’t work here. Grace works here.

She’s impressed by his knowledge and the continue to banter about worship and other things. The conversation culminates in v. 25:

- 25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”

Typically, Jesus tends to hide his true identity, but here is quick to identify himself as the Messiah. He is the one she’s been waiting for. He is the one the world has been waiting for. She has grown hopeless, but he is the one who offers hope. Hope has arrived.

So, what do you do in this moment? What do you do when you meet hope face to face? How do you respond when God welcomes you? What do you do when you drink the living water and experience your lifelong thirst being satisfied? You go and tell the other thirsty people!

- 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

She goes to those who have previously rejected her. She tells them about Jesus…Hope is here! And they stream out to see him. Meanwhile, the disciples who have been out to get lunch, return. Here is part of what he says to them:

- 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

What is going on in the background as Jesus says this to them? The people are streaming out of the village to come and see him. Open up your eyes…the harvest is everywhere. The hopeless are everywhere. People want hope. People need hope. They are drawn to it. When you plant hope, there is always a harvest. When someone finally experiences the reality of hope in their own lives, they quickly realize…hope is never just for us. Hope is for those around us too.

- 39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

These people have come to faith in Jesus because of one sentence. This Samaritan woman, whose name we don’t even know, utters one sentence to them and they find hope. He welcomed her. Jesus welcomes them all. She realized hope was not just for her. And these new believers realized the same. Notice their last sentence…He is the savior of the world. Not of Sychar. Not of Samaria. He is the Savior for everyone. Hope is for everyone.

So, Christian…you’ve met Jesus. Because of his great work, you now have a life that is defined by hope. You’ve found the enemy camp and discovered that God has already defeated the enemy. You’ve drank the living water. Now what? Do you selfishly hoard all that for yourself? Do you turn your back on a lost and dying world? Or do you come to realize what all these people did? The Gospel is for everyone. Hope is for everyone. As the lepers said…this is not right! to keep this to ourselves. This is the day of Good News, we must share it. So how do we get that done? By welcoming them. Into our lives. Into our homes. Into the church. We welcome those who disagree with us (theologically, morally) not because beliefs don’t matter, and not because we are affirming their views or practices, but so that by our welcoming, they will see that Jesus welcomes them too.