OPEN: A couple of years ago, a company out of Bethesda, Maryland put out a series of romantic greeting cards they called the “Secret Lover Collection”. The cards had a very specific audience. One of the 24 cards in the series read this way:
“My soul has been searching for you since I came into this world. All my life I have had this emptiness inside, like a part of me was missing and I was incomplete... And now I can’t imagine my life without you ... Even if I have to share you.”
Even if I have to share you?
Well, yeah.
This is a series of cards aimed at the Extramarital affair crowd. The company that put these cards out thought there would be a market for this kind of affair driven greeting card because – (according to their research) anywhere from…
25 to 60 % of men in the nation were fooling around, and
12 to 40 % of women (depending on what statistics you believe) engage in adultery.
Several experts (a psychologist, sexologist among others) commented on the cards saying they didn’t think it would catch on because the nature of a “secret affair” is… keeping it secret. And a collection of romantic cards from an immoral relationship is not a good way to do that. (based on an article by Alex Johnson Reporter MSNBC Aug. 17, 2005).
APPLY: And that makes sense because people caught up in sin would just as soon prefer not to let people know what they are doing. They prefer to remain anonymous – they don’t want the light of day to expose their wrongs.
John 3:19-20 says it this way “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
It’s almost as if John, when he wrote this Gospel, wanted to use this concept as the foundation of his writing.
The world was filled with darkness… and then Jesus (the light of God) came into it. But men and women, engaged in sin, fearing having their sins exposed.
And now, here in Chapter 4 John is basically saying “Let me tell you a story about one such person.”
In Chapter 4 John sets the stage.
He tells us that Jesus going home to Galilee after having been in Jerusalem for Jewish Passover. He’s passing thru the land of Samaria and stops with His disciples at Jacob’s well to rest. While Jesus sent his disciples on into the village of Sychar for food, He remained there alone.
Perhaps because Jesus often went off by Himself to be alone His students had gotten used to seeing their Master withdraw to a quiet place to pray.
And it was a good place to be alone.
It’s the 6th hour - what we call noon.
And in that country, noon was a very hot time of the day.
Cities of that day were built around wells and water sources.
I’m told that women would often come down to these wells during the morning hours (while the day was still cool) and gather their water into jars while they visited and gossiped with the other women.
This well of Jacob’s, however, was out in the country.
And noon was not a time when women gathered for such tasks.
So, here was Jesus all by Himself - perhaps focusing on prayer - setting by the well.
Then along comes a woman with a jar on her head.
She’s a little surprised to see him.
Because of the well’s location and the time of day it was, no one should have been there.
But here is a rabbi standing beside the well she intends to use.
She thinks: "What’s He doing there?"
But, more to the point - what is she doing there?
Why didn’t she go get her water during the morning hours at the well located in the town square? There, she could have gossiped and hob-knobbed with the village women. Why go way outside the city in the heat of the day to fill her jar?
Had the city well gone dry?
Had she run out of water & just felt this water would simply taste better?
Probably not.
It’s a good possibility that she didn’t go in the morning to the town’s well to gossip because all the gossip would have been about her.
She was the town fluzzie.
The woman of loose standards & easy morals.
Had she lived today, she’d have been a guest for Jerry Springer.
She’d had 5 husbands and the man she was living with now wasn’t even hers.
Every woman in town probably watched their own husbands VERY closely when this girl was near at hand. Putting it bluntly - she wasn’t well liked or respected.
This was a woman who lived in darkness.
And then she meets Jesus (pause…)
He’s all alone here at the well.
He asks a polite question "Will you give me something to drink?"
It’s a polite question, but a shocking one - Jews just didn’t talk to Samaritans.
And she says as much.
"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (4:9)
That was the only excuse Jesus needed to talk to this woman about her soul.
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" (John 4:10).
Jesus went on to say: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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" (John 4:13-14).
I’ve read several commentaries on this conversation between Jesus and this woman and the majority presumed this woman’s comments were innocent conversation on her part.
Now I don’t want to offend anybody, but that’s not what I see happening here.
This woman wasn’t born yesterday.
She looked at Jesus and thought to herself:
"This boy doesn’t even have a bucket to draw water from the well."
She’s a worldly woman who’s been used to the attentions of men and I believe that her lifestyle influenced what she thinks is happening here. I think she believes Jesus is making a pass at her.
I think she believes Jesus’ comment to be a come on... a creative pick up line.
ILLUS: Years ago, in my first ministry, I had taken some kids from the youth group to the local beach for a group swim. Seated on a blanket nearby was a fairly attractive woman. I was new to town and was attempting to talk with her and casually invite her to church. The conversation didn’t go far until it became apparent that she thought I was attempting to "pick her up." Then she asked what I did for a living. It kind of changed the whole nature of the conversation when I told her I was a preacher at the local Church of Christ.
The woman at the well was flattered.
This guy finds her attractive.
And SO, she decides to play along.
She smiles, bats her eyes & coyly replies-
"Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." John 4:15
Now, she’s had 5 husbands.
And she’s living now with still another man (who’s NOT her husband)
Now (it looks to me like) she’s out here flirting with Jesus?
What’s going on? Why would she do that?
I believe she’s looking for something.
Maybe it started with her first husband
Maybe she cheated on him, thinking she’d get more satisfaction from another man.
And then she cheated again… looking for the satisfaction.
Finally she gave up on marriage and just decided to “live with” this next fellow.
Kind of testing him out, kicking the tires.
(that’s the excuse most people will give you when they are living together).
Like that greeting card she’s saying to each new man “My soul has been searching for you since I came into this world. All my life I have had this emptiness inside, like a part of me was missing and I was incomplete...”
But she’s not getting any satisfaction.
Her husbands have never given her what she’d been looking for.
And the people in the surrounding area have taken to whispering behind her back and labeling her for what she is… a loose woman.
Down deep inside she rebels at that. Because this isn’t how she sees herself.
ILLUS: I remember reading about a prostitute that had been arrested in a police raid.
As they brought her into the station, took her picture, and fingerprinted her… she kept protesting: “I’m really not like this! This isn’t who I am!”
There’s something inside even the most fallen of our race that recognizes they were created for something better than a sin darkened life.
I think that’s what happening inside this women.
I believe this woman really wanted change in her life
She literally thirsted for that kind of change
But where’s she going to get it?
Who’s going to give it to her?
(pause) And there stands Jesus….
She thought He was interested in her... and He was.
Just not in the way she thought.
Jesus had come to THAT well on THAT day - just to meet her.
He knew where she had been, and He knew how she had lived.
He knew how she’d been treated, and how she had grown weary of the rejection.
Jesus knows all that… and He knows she thinks He’s flirting with her.
So He throws back the veil and starts getting down to cases:
"Go, call your husband and come back." He tells her. (John 4:16)
She’s still in this flirtation mode as she responds
"I have no husband," she replied. John 4:17
I’m available…
Then Jesus drops the hammer:
"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…." John 4:17-18
Oooo (she thinks)… He’s one of those kind of guys
Up til now it’s been fun and games for her
But this guy wants to talk about God
AND HE knows about her past
I suspect she’s a little annoyed.
She’s met up with religious types in the past
All they want to do is pass judgment on her…
And here, this Rabbi looks like He wants to do the same thing.
She’s had enough of that… so she decides to change the topic.
All she has had to do in the past is get these guys sidetracked into talking about “doctrine” and they’ll be satisfied. These folks generally wanted nothing more than to prove they were religiously superior (and she was religiously inferior) and they’d be happy.
So, she feeds Him a bone: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” John 4:20
Now, we’ve all heard this kind of dodge in the past
“I can worship God as easily in the woods as in church”
“I worship God out on the lake while I’m fishing”
or “… in my living room”
And we all KNOW they don’t do that.
And so we defensive and say “No you can’t do that” and then we allow ourselves to be drawn into an argument. And that’s essentially what folks want from us. It simply proves to them that we’re not really interested in them. They’re just a trophy, someone to fill a pew and put money in the offering plate. And our religious anger shows them we’re no different.
Notice what Jesus does.
First – He makes a short statement that says – “you’re wrong”
“The Samaritans worship what they don’t know”
You can’t worship God properly on this Mountain. That’s not how God set it up.
If you knew what you were doing you’d be worshipping down in Jerusalem.
But one of these days it’s not going to matter: “… a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” John 4:23
In other words… if you really want God in your life you need to understand that God has a place for you (then it was at Jerusalem) but only if you’re willing to worship Him in a way that will please Him.
Essentially it’s like telling folks: “Jesus died on the cross to set up the church. If you really loved Him that’s where you’d be”
People who love Jesus will be in church. Those who don’t – won’t.
It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
But God isn’t looking for just one more person to fill a seat.
He’s looking for people who are willing to live their lives to please Him.
Now here’s what I want you to get out of this sermon:
There are people out there who are like that woman at the well.
They’re easy to recognize… their lives are a mess
They’ve made some really bad decisions.
Their marriages are a disaster
Their families are in flames
They spend their time and money on alcohol or drugs.
And they always seem to be trouble of one kind or another.
Like the woman at the well they’ve been searching for something since they came into this world. All their lives they have had this emptiness inside, like a part of them was missing and they were incomplete...
Jesus said I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35
There are people out there who are struggling, searching, empty inside and incomplete…
They’re waiting for their Messiah to come.
They’re waiting for someone to come along and give them the answer they’re waiting for.
But somebody has to introduce them to Jesus
Are you that person?
FRIEND DAY CARDS
Make sure they understand that God isn’t looking for just one more person to fill a chair.
He loves them and wants to make a difference in their lives.
He has the answers they’ve always wanted for their personal lives and for their families.
