New Covenant Church
Sermon John 4:5-42 Created for Eternal Life
January 28, 2018
We are continuing with our celebration of God’s creation. God created us and the world we live in. God created us in his image and so we can create too. And so we also celebrate the creation of the Arts Ministry of four new banners for our sanctuary. We have so much to be thankful for in God’s creation. But the greatest gift we have ever received is the gift of eternal life. Let’s pray.
Lord in heaven we are so thankful for the creation you have given us. And we are so grateful for the ability to create. We ask your blessings upon the Arts Ministry as they create these new banners. We do this for your glory and in your Son’s name. Amen.
There is an old story about power relationships. It was contained in an email that went viral in 1998 and still shows up from time to time. The story is probably false, but it is still a pretty good story. Here it is.
“ACTUAL transcript of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10-10-95.
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision."
Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."
Americans: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course."
Canadians: "No, I say again, you divert YOUR course."
Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT'S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP."
Canadians: "This is a lighthouse. Your call."
That was a story about power and humility. Today we will hear a story of power given up as Jesus stoops all the way down to speak one on one with a lowly Samaritan woman.
John 4:5-42 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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 has encountered a Samaritan woman. This is really all you need to know about her. As a Samaritan, she is a member of a despised minority. The Samaritans were people who had been forced to move to the region north of Jerusalem by the Assyrian Empire in the 8th century before Christ. When they arrived they began worshiping Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. Even though they worshiped the true God, they were not accepted by the people of Judah because they were not descended from Abraham. The Samaritans were not permitted to worship in the Jerusalem temple. And when they built their own temple, it was destroyed. The people of Judah and the people of Samaria hated each other so much that Jews traveling between Jerusalem and the region around the Sea of Galilee would detour through Jericho and the Jordan valley just to avoid traveling through Samaria. Actually, most Jews would go out of their way, but not Jesus. On his way home after the Passover Jesus went through Samaria and encountered a Samaritan.
The Samaritan who met Jesus that day was a woman. A woman was completely powerless in that day. She could not own property of her own. She could not work. She was completely dependent on her husband or father or son to take care of her. She could not divorce her husband, even though her husband could divorce her. And this woman had lost five husbands, five men who had either died or divorced her. The only thing going for her at that moment was that a man, not her husband, probably the brother of a late husband, was taking care of her. This Samaritan widow was as powerless as you can get.
The context of this story is that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi or teacher, with all the power in the world encountered a completely powerless woman. But something is odd here. The powerful, male, Jewish teacher is thirsty, and the powerless Samaritan woman has the bucket he needs to get a drink of water. So, who has all the power? She does. The powerless have been lifted us, and the powerful brought low. Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven, where Jesus said: “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11) Let's listen to their conversation.
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." 11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 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."
Jesus has done a remarkable thing. He has offered a Samaritan, a Samaritan!, eternal life. It doesn't matter if we are descended from Abraham or not, if we believe in Jesus Christ and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit then we can be assured of eternal life. All differences of ethnicity and gender dissolve in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Samaritan woman who heard these amazing words from the mouth of a Jewish man wasn't sure if she could believe them or not. They sounded too good to be true, and she had been disappointed before. So Jesus showed her a sign, a miracle, that brought her to faith. Let's listen some more to their conversation.
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." 19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.
Jesus knew all about this woman's life, the tragic life of a woman who had lost five husbands. She realized that only God would know these details. And therefore Jesus must be a prophet of God. And since this prophet has brought such exceptionally good news, she was convinced that he must be the Messiah, the Christ, they had been waiting for. To which Jesus answered, 26 … "I who speak to you am he."
So through the voice of a Samaritan woman, Jesus has proclaimed himself to be the Messiah or Christ. He has been sent by God to initiate God's reign on Earth. He is the leading edge of the Kingdom of God. And he has promised to all who believe in him eternal life.
This is good news for us. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we have done. If we accept Jesus as our savior the promise of scripture is that we will enter his kingdom and receive the promise of eternal life. All we have to do is drink the living water of faith and receive our promised blessings.
But the Samaritan woman did more than just believe and receive the living water. Let’s hear what she did.
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
So Jesus finally got the water he needed. The woman left her water jar behind and I’m sure Jesus took a long drink. But while Jesus was satisfying his thirst, the Samaritan Woman had something important to do. She went into town and told everyone she met that she had encountered thMessiahah with an extraordinary offer. All they had to do want believe in him and the blessing of eternal life was theirs.
So what are we to do? We have received a remarkable gift. We believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. Nothing could be any better than this. So do we keep it a secret? Do we not tell everyone the good thing that has happened? Or do we follow the example of this Samaritan Woman and tell everyone we meet about the amazing offer we have received?
Last week we sang about “This Little Light of Mine”. And we asked the question: “Put it under a bushel basket”? And our response was “No!” That’s right. We won’t put our faith under a bushel basket. We will share it and the promise of eternal life with everyone we meet. The good news we have to share is the best news anyone can hear. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for coming down to us to offer us the gift of eternal life. We accepts your offer with gratitude. Help us now to share your offer with everyone we meet. This we will do in your glorious name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment