Deep: Worthy #2 Series

This week we continue our swim lessons by diving deep in the scriptures by going to the well of living water.

Last week, we started this new series off by bringing forward our hidden secrets, sins and prejudices on a piece of paper and depositing them into a jug of water only to watch them dissolve before our eyes. A great visual indeed of God’s forgiveness of those sins and we were told our sins had been forgiven. However, as we sang that last praise song, many of us felt awkward as we dealt with the residual effects of dredging up that which was buried deep within. It was a bit strange driving away last Sunday and that is why this morning as you came in. We placed bottles of clean, purified water on your chairs to take with you and to remind you of the fact that you were made new and that your sins, secrets and prejudices have been forgiven. But please hold off on opening them until the end of service. So now what?

Do you remember the 12th century legend of the Fisher King? When the Fisher King was a boy, he was sent out to spend the night alone in the forest, as a test of his courage to be king. During the night, he had a vision of the Holy Grail-the cup used by our Lord at the last supper. He saw it surrounded by great flames of fire, and he immediately became excited by the prospect of the wealth and glory that would be his by possessing such a great prize. Greedily, he reached into the flames to grab it, but the flames were too hot, and he was severely wounded. As the years went by, the Fisher King became more despondent and alone, and his wound grew deeper. One day, feeling sad and depressed and in pain, he went for a walk in the forest and came upon a court jester. "Are you all right?" the jester asked. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?" "Well, I am very thirsty," the Fisher King replied. The jester took an old dilapidated cup from his bag, filled it with water from a nearby stream, and gave it to the Fisher King. As he drank, he suddenly felt his wound healing for the first time. And incredibly, the old cup he was drinking from had turned into the Holy Grail."What wonderful magic do you possess?" the Fisher King asked the jester. The jester just shrugged and said, "I know no magic. I only gave a drink of water to a thirsty soul." source: Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True, James W. Moore, Dimensions

How come some of us woke up last Monday morning still feeling held captive to old thoughts, or vices or feelings? How do we become free of the sense that we still don’t measure up? It feels almost abnormal to think of ourselves as forgiven. And what’s up with that?

This is where our text today jumps to the rescue. The background is that instead of following man’s rule and avoiding stepping foot in Samaria, Jesus and his disciples have decided to walk through the bad neighborhood. In a moment of heat exhaustion and hunger, the disciples leave Jesus alone for a few minutes and he has strikes up a conversation with one of the Samaritans – a woman with issues. If you wouldn’t mind turning to John 4: 16-27, it reads as follows:

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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” 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?”