Don't Settle

INTRO

Good Morning… Blah blah blah…

Stuff around loving John… Reading Keller, go through it a few times a year… And it always gets better…

I love looking at the interactions Jesus has with the people in John… What I love is that Jesus gives people what they need, not always what they are looking for. Sometimes he heals and offers words of life. Other times he calls us and rebukes when people come with the wrong motive. Jesus knows what the people are after and offers them truth… And he offers them grace…

We are going to look at a passage today that is very similar to what we looked at last week. But there is a glaring difference. The audience… Last week the woman at the well took what Jesus was offering her, the water of eternal life. She was so transformed by that interaction she literally told her whole town about Jesus.

Today we are going to look at a similar story… But in this case the audience isn’t receptive and have the wrong motive. And I want to say that right off the bat because we need to understand who Jesus is talking with. This conversation would have been DRASTICALLY different if they acted more like the woman from last week.

TENSION

But before we get to the story let me start off with a question… Don’t worry you don’t have to share with anyone else… But I’m going to ask you to be honest with yourself….

What do you want most in life? (SLIDE)

What are you chasing? What are you after? What is it that you think you can’t live without?

Now if you are like me you are probably thinking of idealistic things… Things you WANT your life to be about. LIST A FEW…

But be honest… What REALLY is the most important thing in your life?

What is the first thing you think about in the morning? What’s the thing you google the most? What do you worry about the most? What do you talk to others about the most? What do you read the most about? What can you just not get off your mind? What the thing your friends, spouse, family, would say is most important to you?

What do you want most in life?

I don’t really like that question. Because when I answer it honestly it reveals things in me I don’t like. When i first read that question my gut reaction is Jesus… The most important thing to me is my relationship with Jesus.

And hear me on this… That’s what I want to be the most important thing in my life. But there are other things competing for that spot.

If I’m honest there are times when Jesus isn’t them most important thing in my life. Sure I’ll say he is. But my actions, my thoughts, what I do shows something has overtaken that role.

What’s that for you? Is your job? That next promotion? That relationship you are in or desperately want?

For me it’s my pursuit of more. If I’m not careful I get caught up in that next THING I need. The next piece of tech, the next improvement for my house. There’s always some else i want or think I need.

I’m not saying those things are bad things, but they aren’t ultimate things. And anytime a good thing because an ultimate thing ultimately it becomes dangerous.

And the reality is, whether you are a Christian or whether you are just checking this thing out. You worship something… Everybody worships something…

We have a misunderstanding of worship… worship simply means to give worth to something or someone. So those songs we sang we were giving worth to God. But really our worship is much more than just songs… Our whole life is worshiping something… We just get to choose what…

Explain David Wallace… Author and Professor… In a commencement speech said this…

Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. David Foster Wallace (SLIDE)

We are going to look at a story here… And it’s an interesting story. It takes place the day after Jesus feed 5,000 with just a few loaves and a fish. An incredible miracle. And now the people that saw that miracle, that ate their fill off of Jesus food now want more.

Rather than go home and return to their jobs they chase down Jesus. Walking/running over 10 miles to find him on the other side of the lake.

When they finally find him they ask how he got there so fast when it took them all night… Jesus ignores that questions… In truth he had cheated and walked on the water across the lake.

Instead he side steps their questions and responds… Instead he responds to their hearts…