She was rescued twice. Two times, two complete strangers made a decision to rescue her, within two days of each other. Not bad, huh? Her name was Kelly Moore which means absolutely nothing to you. You don’t know Kelly Moore but most of you know some of the circumstances about the day that she was rescued, at least the first time. You see Kelly Moore was a flight attendant for Air Florida. The plane she flew on was a Boeing 737. Specifically it was Air Florida Flight 90. On January 13 1982 Kelly Moore began her day just as she always had, never suspecting what the day had in store for her. Two minutes after take off flight 90 began losing altitude and crashed into a Bridge spanning the Potomac River. When Kelly came to she was in the frigid waters of the Potomac clinging to a piece of wreckage with five other survivors.
Remember the story yet?
One of the survivors clinging to that raft helped Kelly and the other four into the rescue harness of a hovering helicopter one by one before succumbing to hypothermia and slipping beneath the surface. And so that was how she was rescued the first time, by a stranger she had never met, who was later identified as Arland Williams.
Two days later Kelly was rescued again, listen to her words. A couple of days later, when I was moved from intensive care to a regular room, I woke to see a nurse standing over me. She smiled, covering my fingers with her warm, gentle hand, and said, “Little girl, I could get in big trouble for telling you this, but God loves you and he saved you from that plane crash for a reason.” In response to my eager interest, my nurse risked her job to tell me of Jesus’ love for me. As she spoke of how he died for me, I responded by turning my life over to him. For the first time I felt real peace.
When I prayed to accept Christ, I asked God to show me how I could know more about him. I knew he would answer me.
Not only that but it was by two separate strangers in a course of two days. Why? What qualities did Williams share with other heroes whose stories we read about in the newspapers, you know the ones who save babies from burning buildings, rescue motorists in mangled cars, and plunge into freezing water to save struggling swimmers? Well they are all ordinary people who came to a critical turning point and made an extraordinary decision to rescue someone whose life was in danger. And more often then not they put themselves in peril doing it. Listen again to what Kelly Moore said:
I don’t know why God saved me from the Potomac that day when others died, or why he answered my desperate prayers for contact with him. But I do know God used compassionate, ordinary people to bring his love to me when I desperately needed it. In his infinite mercy, he rescued me not once, but twice.
By the same token we need to realise that there is a literal life and death battle being waged all around us, everyday. You know that don’t you? You know that some people in your neighbourhood, your family, your office and your class room are in jeopardy of facing eternal death, and they probably don’t even realise that they need rescuing.
Almost everyday if we are open to the guiding of the spirit, we come to evangelistic turning points. We make choices whether to help rescue them from spiritual death or to walk the other way. We make spur of the moment decisions about whether to heroically venture into their lives and lead them to a place of spiritual safety, or to merely hope that someone else will do it.
Jesus faced those same kinds of turning points, looking at one story from his life illustrates areas in our lives that we need to become aware of, the story is told by John in John 4:1-4 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.
It was early in Christ’s ministry and he was attracting the attention of the religious leaders, not wanting to clash with them just yet Christ headed back to Galilee. Notice in verse four that it says that He had to go through Samaria on the way, If you we pull up our trusty map here is where Jesus was and here is where he was going and so you are probably thinking, “Of course he had to go through Samaria, that is the shortest route from Judea to Samaria”. True enough, but believe it or not that isn’t the route that most Jews took from Judea to Galilee. Why? Because Samaritans inhabited Samaria and because of the cultural, ethnic, religious and political animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans they stayed well and truly out of each other’s ways, even if it meant circling all the way around Samaria via the Jordan River. Even today people avoid going through neighbourhoods that are inhabited by people who are different then they are, if you were honest there are neighbourhoods you avoid in Halifax for that very reason.
But Jesus decided to travel through Samaria, as a matter of fact the Bible emphasises that he “had” to take that route, not for practical purposes but for a spiritual purpose. The first thing that Jesus’ actions demonstrate is
To Rescue Someone Spiritually We Will Need to Go Where They Are. Let’s face it most of us would rather not be with non Christians. After all it is far more enjoyable to hang around with Christians then with non-believers. We worship the same God, we speak the same language. We don’t blister each others ears with smutty language or subject one another to the hazards of second hand cigarette smoke. And so we tend to gather into safe little gatherings of Christians.
But Jesus had a balanced life. On one hand he had a Macro-Ministry, you know an desire to reach the world. And on the other hand he had a Micro-ministry, which meant that he took the time to get to know, befriend lost people one at a time. If we are going to spiritually rescue some lost people then first of all we need to meet some lost people. Do you have any pre-Christian friends? There are lots of them out there honest.
Reminds me of a story that I heard, seems it was during the civil war and the union troops were taking a hiding from the confederates and the retreat had just sounded when this young private jumped up out of the trench ran across no man’s land over the ridge into the rebels trench. He belted a rebel with the butt of his rifle threw him over his shoulder and hightailed it back to his own trench where he dropped the unconscious solider at his commanders feet. “Where did you get him” asked his captain, “Yonder over the ridge” came the reply “and there’s enough of them over there for everyone”.
Well friends that is the truth there are lots of them out there we just gotta go get them. But you will have to venture into their environment, that means becoming involved in PTA’s, meeting other parents involved with your children’s sports and band activities getting to know salespeople in our local stores and service stations and building relationships with the people we work with.
We’re not talking about making people our projects. People aren’t dense they know if they matter to us or if we are just looking for another scalp to hang on our church belt.
Jesus hung around with unreligious people enough that he was called a friend of sinners. I’d be willing to wager that it’s been a long time since most of us were thought of as the friend of a sinner.
Let’s continue on is the story, John 4:6-9 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
2) To Rescue Someone Spiritually We Need To Build a Bridge
In other words, you don’t walk up to someone and say, “Hey have you heard the good news, you’re going to hell.” Jesus started by building a bridge, and he did it with five words. It may not seem like asking for a drink of water would be a very effective starting place but when you put it into it’s cultural context that simple request packed a powerful punch. Just by starting up the conversation Jesus was tearing down a wall as high as the one that separated West and East Germany. Normally you see, a Jew wouldn’t even drink from the same well as a Samaritan let alone their water bucket and here Jesus was asking for a drink from her cup or dipper.
Instead of shunning her though, Jesus used five well chosen words to demonstrate his acceptance of her. He opened a relational door by communicating to her that she mattered to him as a person. And it worked. You can tell that she was shocked that Jesus would even bother asking her for a drink.
There are a lot of these evangelistic turning points in our lives, and we make the decision about whether or not we will walk through the open door or simply continue on the path of our lives. While we are taking a walk around the block we can stop to meet the new neighbour who is washing his car, or we can keep right on walking. We can choose to take a few minutes and get to know the clerk at the dry cleaners, or we can dash home. We can invite a co-worker to lunch or we can eat our meals with Christians.
How many times do we rush past the opportunities to make relational inroads with unbelievers?
Building those relational bridges isn’t very difficult, especially when you know the key: listening to the other person. It’s taking a genuine interest in them and asking them questions, and finding out about their world. It’s expressing authentic curiosity about their situation in life.
When you do that you are bound to find some common interests that you can use to deepen your relationship, and at the same time you are doing what Jesus did that day at the well, you’ll be affirming somebody’s value and dignity just by taking the time to sincerely relate to them.
Who is there in your life that you can build a relational bridge with? The person who has just joined your company and is feeling like an outsider. Or maybe someone at your gym or squash court, or maybe the person who you are in class with.
As for Jesus he made a point to build a brief friendship with the woman at the well, but he wasn’t content to just engage in small talk lets see what happened next.
John 4:9-10 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
John 4:25-26 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”
Jesus has come to the third turning point where he has to make a split second decision, and it is a critically important one and Jesus chose to turn the conversation from the routine to the spiritual because he knew 3) To Rescue Someone Spiritually We Need to Be Able to Lead them to Safety
It is imperative that if we are building a relationship to lead someone to the Lord that we will eventually have to talk about spiritual things. Jesus made a conscious choice to steer the conversation into spiritual waters. He could have simply taken a drink and left it at that, thinking well she’ll be convicted by my life style. But he choice to take the initiative and talk about higher things. Now notice that he didn’t use a tract asking her to read it when she got a chance, and he didn’t use a canned speech, or the Roman Road. Instead he used the circumstances concerning their conversation, they were talking about water, so he used “Living Water” as an analogy for God.
He touched her curiosity, and he unfolded the messages at the pace that she had set allowing her to take it all in. This is the step where most of us blow it. We aren’t quite sure how to move the conversation toward spiritual things. The key again is listening. Because when we listen and pay attention and get to know the person a natural opening will evolve. They tell you the kids are driving them nuts, and you can say, “I know what you mean, my kids drive me up the wall too.” or you can make that split second decision to say “You know, my kids can be a handful too, but I was amazed at what the Bible said about raising kids.” The door has been open, maybe at that point you can follow up with a Christian book on bringing up kids.
The openings are there if we are willing to spot them and willing to take them. When those split second decisions come, take a deep breath, trust God and take the spiritual road.
Once Jesus went through the door into a kingdom conversation with the woman, he came to the fourth turning point: John 4:16-19 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.
Up to this point the woman seemed intrigued by what Jesus was saying, but she may have been a little sceptical and thought he was a little odd with all this talk about the living water. She may not have been taking him too seriously. And it was here that Jesus came to a turning point and decided to produce evidence that would bolster his credibility. 4) To Rescue Someone Spiritually They Will Need to Have Confidence in their Rescuer. Bottom line people don’t want to jump from the frying pan into the fire, if they are going to be rescued they want to make sure that what they are being rescued to is a better option then what they are being rescued from. They want to be sure the cure isn’t worse than the disease.
People aren’t expecting us to be bible scholars or experts in apologetics but they want to be able to see that Jesus made a difference in your life and want to know how that happened. It’s been said many times but it remains as true today as it was the first time it was said, “You will be the only bible most people read”
People will want to see what being rescued looks like and they will need to see that in your life. If what you do and how you live is no different than the rest of the world then what does it matter.
Because in people’s minds if Christ hasn’t made a difference in your life then he probably won’t make a difference in their life. But when they see the difference and how your life has not just changed but changed for the better then be ready, which is probably why the apostle Peter, commanded us, in 1 Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.
The final turning point in the story comes after Jesus has offered evidence of His being the Messiah, and the fifth turning point is the woman’s response: John 4:28-30 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
The Samaritan woman makes her decision so quickly that she leaves behind the precious water jug that she has carried all the way from town, and rushes into town to invite people to come and hear Jesus themselves.
Interestingly, when the disciples went into town, they only came back with some bread and dried fish, This woman on the other hand, fresh from her encounter with Jesus bring back a crowd of spiritually lost people. What does this tell us?
5) Those who have been rescued need to understand the urgency in reaching others. Can you remember how you were knocked to your knees by “Amazing Grace”? Someone commented that as time goes along, that the freshness wears off and it becomes “fascinating grace”, and then “interesting grace” and then merely “grace”
What about it? Do you still have the urgency? Are you saying “I know people who have got to experience what I experienced! They’ve just got to! And time’s running out” Our biggest excuse is “It won’t work, they’ll turn me off or I’ll turn them off in Leo Tolstoy’s book “War and Peace” he states, “We lost because we told ourselves we lost.” Don’t talk yourself into a failure, instead trying relying on the power of the Holy Spirit.
The good news is that there will be people in heaven that you were instrumental in getting there. The bad news is that there may be people in hell that you could have been instrumental in getting to heaven if you had of taken the opportunity. C.S. Lewis said “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is either of overriding significance or it is of no importance at all, it cannot be moderately significant.” What is it to you, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the desire to spread it here and around the world of overriding significance or is it of no importance at all, only you can answer that question.
Free PowerPoint may be available for this message, contact me at denn@cornerstonewesleyan.ca
