Read Text/Pray
In this text we see the story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman. The children of Israel had a problem as they wondered in the wilderness. Disease came upon them and they began to die in large numbers. God told Moses to build a golden serpent, hold it on a pole up high for all to see – they that looked to the serpent were healed. Jesus said in John 3, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of Man be lifted up and I will draw all men unto me.”
Today we are worried, we are worried about our church, we are worried about the numbers, the attendance from Sunday to Sunday, and we are worried about our young people. Why aren’t people attracted to our church? Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, that is if I be sincerely worshipped then I would draw all men unto me, not he did not say pastors or evangelists, but he will draw all men unto him.
The text tells an interesting story; Jesus was on his way back to Galilee, when he came into a town called Samaria. Jesus was tired so he stopped by Jacob’s well to sit and take a rest. A Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus took time out to speak to this woman. Let me give you a lil history about this woman. She was a Samaritan, and they were outcasts to society, the Jews would call them dogs. But yet Jesus took time out to talk to her. And I just want to mention here that true worshippers cannot be selective in presenting the gospel. This woman despite who she was or what was in her past, Jesus took time out to talk to her.
Jesus offers her salvation, living water. Water! Water is essential to live, but wont you agree with me that where it is plentiful, we tend to take it for granted? We take extraaa long baths, wash the car with the hose, leave the tap running while washing the dishes, keep the sprinkler running for hours to keep the lawn green. But it’s not so in the desert, for someone who’s living in the desert, they probably imagine water when it’s not there, and then they do find water, just a spoonful on a parched tongue is worth gold. To a woman in a dry land who spent part of each day hauling clay jugs to and from a well, water was the most powerful symbol imaginable. So it’s understandable that when she was offered by Jesus, “living water” that would never run dry she paid close attention.
Although she was in a position to receive this “living water”, Jesus recognized that she needed to confess, so he asked her for her husband. The lesson here is that you cannot become a true worshipper without confessing. And I just want to say, that you cannot come to church Sunday after Sunday, week after week, and truly worship God if your heart and mind is not right with God. Jesus demonstrated his power to this woman by telling her all about her life.
But this is where I find the story gets interesting and funny. Instead of accepting the living water, she went on to give Jesus a lecture in worship. If we look at verse 20, we see where she tells Jesus, “Our fathers used to worship in this mountain, but you say that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” My family in Christ, this woman had a major problem, and a problem that is still affecting the church today, we are too involved in mountain worship. This type of worship I’m talking about is the “do what I say and not what I do.” We are sometimes to caught up in the denomination worship, and we are sometimes stuck in traditions, so we think that this is the set pattern for worship.
There are members who call themselves the stalwarts and foundation members. Those are the ones who feel they must decide what worship is. This is how things was done, and things must remain the same. But Jesus corrected the woman and corrects his church today. In verse 23 he states, a time is coming when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. Verse 24 continues, God is a Spirit and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and truth.
The church no longer needs only good singers, or good stewards, or good whatever you good at, but what the church really needs is TRUE WORSHIPPERS. It is the spirit filled true worshipers that are needed in the church today. These worshipers I’m speaking about are those who practice what they preach, those who love their neighbour as themselves, those who can forgive, those who do not hold malice, and those who have no other God. My brothers and sisters, we can fool ourselves and others, but we can’t fool God. He knows our heart. So we could put on our best Sunday dress and make the most noise in Church, but God knows it all.
My family in Christ, the worshippers that God is seeking are those when they are in trouble the say, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, when things seem down and out, they prayer God is my refuge and strength. Even when you can’t find food for tomorrow, we could still sing, I shall not suffer, I shall not beg for bread, but God is our provider. It is the coming together of these true worshippers that will cause an increase in the church.
Very often I hear in churches in each island I go to, our favourite chorus that we sing ever so often, “the church have no money.” Just for us to know that the church isn’t supposed to depend on fundraisers to pay assessment/bills. But if we have true worshippers, we are going to survive on our tithes and offering, even if you paying it late, because God has blessed you so much, you will see it as your duty to give back to him what is his. God is seeking true worshippers!
Finally, there is one other aspect of this text I want us to look at. The scriptures said the woman left her jar and went back to the town and said to the people (verse 29) “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he be the Christ?” This morning I want to invite you to Come see ah man. Back at home, when you talk about “see ah man” you think about an obeah man. But I’m inviting us all to “Come see ah man” and this man is Jesus the Christ. A man who despite our past or what we are going true, offers us living water. A man who can heal the brokenhearted, come see ah man you cares for you, my brothers and sisters come see ah man who can heal your diseases and soothe your pain, come see ah man who wants to bear all your burdens, come see ah man that can mend broken homes and families, this morning I’m inviting you, if you have never met this man before, come see ah man, his name is Jesus Christ.
This morning he wants to heal your pain, mend your broken heart, do you thirst? Come, he says, I will offer you living water……… Come to me and you will thirst no more. Come!
