White Christmas_pt1: The True Gift

Our understand of grace, as a body in the world today, can seem a lot like a “white Christmas” to us… It’s a beautiful and pure thing, but just a little out of reach.

The grace we hear of...

is one deed removed

is one habit away

is one commitment or devotion from achievement

And… one act of being taken away

[PAYOFF] - But, that is not faith based on grace… It is one of works.

**INTRO 2: THE STORY**

There’s a well, just far enough away from town, but still in line-of-sight

Jesus and His Disciples find themselves there.

Stopping to rest, Jesus sends His Disciples into town, for food.

Jesus has this urge to wait back for something

His urge is satisfied when a woman comes to the well...

He speaks to her...

She’s stunned: Men don’t speak to women, and even more she was a Samaritan!

He asks her for a drink, but tells her if she knew who He was, she’d ask him for a drink

She returns with: you have no bucket, how can you draw from this well?

He tells her the drink he can provide will spring up as a living well - never thirst again!

She ask for that drink

Jesus responds, bring your husband

She returns with, I have no husband

He replies with, you’re right… you’ve had 5 and this current man is not even your husband.

[PAYOFF] - Do we fully see what is happening at this well?

Something powerful obviously happens, because later we read that the entire town comes to meet Jesus, and they believe!

What was so powerful?

Are we missing the heart of this moment between Jesus and this woman?

Why was Jesus at this well, on this day, at this time???

Let’s go back and study...

Read:

John 4:1–18 NIV

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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 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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 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.”

Q: What was Jesus saying?

Are we missing the heart of this moment between Jesus and this strange woman?

I see you!

Let’s break this down...

John 4:7 NIV

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

I see you!

Jews and Samaritans aren’t supposed to engage each other.

John 4:

If ever caught in a room or space together, they would simply go on ignoring each other, as if the other didn’t exist...

But, Jesus broke the silence!

And because she was probably so focused on the awkwardness of the moment, she got stuck on the “how-to” - “You don’t even gave a bucket!”

[ASIDE] - We can so easily get stuck on the means or the principles, but it’s only supposed to ever be about JESUS!

[PAYOFF] - What was He really saying? He was saying to this outcast: I see you!

Finally, “Sir, give me this water!”

Such relief she must have longed for!

Remember, it was noon.

The women typically drew water in the mornings, and returned in evenings.

Why was she here at this hour?

Luke 12:6–7 NIV

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Christians can get so stuck on the means or the principles, but it’s only supposed to ever be about JESUS!

I know you!

John 4:

John 4:16 NIV

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

John 4:17 NIV

“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.

John 7:17 NIV

Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

John 4:18 NIV

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.”

John 4:17 NIV

“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.

John 4:17–18 NIV

“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 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.”

Not only was this a man speaking (out of place) to a woman

But it was a Jew speaking to a Samaritan

PLUS, she probably came at this hour to avoid others, due to her reputation.

Now, let’s examine 2 important elements to this story:

#1-Let’s for a moment think about the context of the culture, and how marriages worked in this day.

With marriages being arranged and chosen for this woman, she may not have had any choice in these matters.

How thrown-away must this woman have felt?

She was cursed for her experience; one that she may have had no control over.

#2-Nowhere else do we see Jesus “call out” a person’s “sins” (Well, except for maybe the the Pharisees… by that was different)

So, why here? Why so harsh? Why so mean?

“Get’er Jesus!”… “that ‘sinner!’”

Or, was it something else?

[PAYOFF] - What was He saying?

He was saying: I know you!

I want to spend time with you!

She goes on to ask Him another question, alluding to the “politices” between Jews and Samaritans.

Jesus explains that God really doesn’t care much about that...

She replies that she know’s one day the Messiah will come and explain everything...

John

John 4:26 NIV

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Finally, what is Jesus saying to this woman at the well?

He’s saying:

I see you, I know you...

I’m on this appointment to meet you...

John 4:4 NIV

Now he had to go through Samaria.

We know that Jew’s DIDN’T travel through Samaria.

But in this case, Jesus had a specific mission - an appointment!

And that appointment was with this woman!

He was saying: I want to spend time with you!

Oh Pastor Josh, it’s got to be deeper than that, right??

Go back! To all the stories we can remember… Is this true?

What about Martha and Marry?

What about Zacchaeus?

Take Away

[PAYOFF] - Without an understanding of “the gift” we lose sight of what we have recieved.

[PAYOFF] **Without a true understanding of “the gift” we lose sight of what we have been given.**

[PAYOFF] - Without an understanding of “the gift” we lose sight of what we have recieved.

The true gift is Jesus.

Not principles

Not steps

Not the 7 keys or the top 3 tips

Not lifestyle

Not culture

Not religion.

Jesus. He is the gift!

John 4:10 NIV

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.”

[PAYOFF] - Are we overlooking Jesus and looking for other things???

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Text goes here

Here’s how Paul explained it to the Romans:

Romans 5:2 The Message

And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

Share It

[ASSIGNMENT] - And like this woman, this gift is not only for us!

Let’s pick back up in the story:

John 4:27–30 NIV

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:27-

John 4:39 NIV

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

John 4:

John 4:4 NIV

Now he had to go through Samaria.

We know that Jew’s DIDN’T travel through Samaria.

John 4:39 NIV

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”

But in the case, Jesus had a specific mission - an appointment.

And that appointment was with this woman!

[PAYOFF] - What appointments do I have before me?

I will let my own words and actions speak to others...

I see you! I know you! I want to spend time with you!

We know you

we know you, we want to spend time with you!

I know you! I want to spend time with you!

We want to spend time with you

I want to spend time with you!

Related Media

Related Sermons