Let's Get Uncomfortable
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Well, good morning everyone, especially to our prospective ministry honors students; welcome to Hope, we are so glad to have you here in class with us.
I wanted to start off by posing a quick question to you,
When was the last time that you were in an uncomfortable situation?
Maybe it was last week when someone was waving at you and you waved back only to realize they were waving at the person behind you
Or was it on Tuesday when you forgot that girl in your small group’s name and you had to awkwardly ask her for her name even though you definitely should know it by now
Or how about a month ago when you slipped and fell in the Caf (in front of your crush nonetheless) and dropped all your food?
BTW, I’m definitely NOT taking examples from my own life....
We’ve all been in uncomfortable situations, let me ask another question. When was the last time you intentionally put yourself in an uncomfortable situation?
Jesus was Uncomfortable
Jesus was Uncomfortable
Jesus consistently was making other people uncomfortable in his ministry; the pharisees, the religious leaders, and even his disciples (more on that in a second). But I also believe that he himself was also in uncomfortable situations.
You have to remember that Jesus was fully human just as much as he was fully God.
He was born into a Jewish family, raised within the Jewish culture and taught the Jewish traditions and customs. The societal norms of the day were impressed into him as much as they are impressed into you and I.\
And yet, he still had interactions with everybody and anybody to the point where religious leaders would ask “who the heck is this guy who interacts with sinners?”
Let’s look at for just an example of this, an interaction between Jesus and someone who society dictated he should not be interacting with.
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.)
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.)
But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
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.)
But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
There are a few things within this that give us clues that Jesus was in an uncomfortable situation. The first is the time of day. Getting water from the well was supposed to be a communal activity done in the early morning or the evening, yet this woman was getting water at noon (the hottest time of day) in order to avoid interacting with other women getting water. Why is this? As is revealed a bit later in Chapter 4 verse 18, this woman had 5 husbands and the man she was with now was not her husband. So she had a reputation among the village.
The second clue is made a bit more clear, but she was a Samaritan AND she was a woman. What could Jesus possibly be thinking? For Jesus to be interacting with her and furthermore asking to share water with her was absolutely outrageous! Jews do not associate with Samaritans! To put this into perspective, that would be like a crip walking into a bar and asking a blood for a drink. These two groups of people did NOT like each other.
Yet, Jesus interacted with her. He asked for water from this WOMAN (there’s one social boundary) and he asked for water from this SAMARITAN (the second social boundary) and he asked for water from this woman who even her own village didn’t want to interact with (the third social boundary)
Then, after offering this woman the living water and declaring himself to be the messiah, the disciples return. And oooooh were they in for a bit of a surprise.
The Disciples
The Disciples
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
John 4:27
Here they return to see Jesus, their Lord, the messiah talking with this Samaritan woman! The text actually says they were astonished!
Yet, the conversation and Jesus stepping outside of social norms produced fantastic results!
Look how the woman responds
Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Jump down to verse 39
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Because of this one conversation with this one Samaritan woman, many people came to believe in Jesus Christ.
And trust me, this is not the only example of Jesus getting uncomfortable to spark massive life change!
Look at the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who through interacting with Jesus changed his whole life and repented.
Or the Leper healed by Jesus who then celebrated and gave thanks to God!
There are countless stories of Jesus engaging with people and breaking societal norms to spread the good news. He had to get uncomfortable!
So Who’s the Samaritan Woman in Your Life?
So Who’s the Samaritan Woman in Your Life?
Who is it that you’re not interacting with because it’s “not normal”?
Who aren’t you talking to because it would seem weird?
So often, we get into our groups of friends, the same ones we sit with every day in the Caf.
The same group of people we circle up with after church in the fellowship hall or the patio.
What would it look like to sit down with that new student from Germany who doesn’t speak much English?
Or to meet up and have coffee with that older lady from your church who’s pretty lonely?
Or to walk across the patio to the guy who sits in the corner and talks to himself all the time?
Or the homeless guy sitting on the corner?
What would it look like to get a little uncomfortable, to inspire massive life change?