"Jesus Goes To Vegas"
John 4:4-42
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN www.eastridgeumc.org
In their book Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live Will and Lisa Samson write: “The suburbs seem particularly designed to avoid facing the bigger issues of life.
It almost feels as if these communities were designed to avoid interruption by anything unpleasant or uncomfortable.
Planned developments have ways of controlling who comes near.
And electronic garage door openers seal the deal…
…The burbs are safe, but they are safe at the price of keeping out questions of need, questions of poverty, questions of insufficiency.”
They continue: “In fact, they are designed to maintain an illusion of a particular life, the American dream, where no one is needy, where there is a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage (and a boat, and those tools we never use, and a riding lawn mower…).
Let’s face it—many folks don’t want to be bothered by those in need…
…whole industries exist to create pleasurable experiences that divert us from the real pain of life.
And as we see in our Gospel Lesson for this morning the people of Jesus’ day had created ways to divert themselves as well.
In verse 4, we are told that Jesus “had to go through Samaria.”
Jesus could have avoided Samaria.
Most Jews, such as Himself did just that.
They were able to easily avoid that place by crossing the Jordan and traveling on the east side.
But Jesus “had to go through Samaria.”
Why?
Could it be that Jesus had to go through Samaria because the Love of God compelled Him to do just that?
Newspapers and magazines sometimes run a feature entitled: “What is Wrong with this Picture?”
They don’t mean it’s a bad photo.
They mean that someone in the picture is doing something so unusual that it seems crazy!
Like, trying to fix a computer with a sledgehammer!
On my cell phone, I am connected to the AP News Service.
One of the places they have on their site is called “Wacky News.”
I looked at it the other day.
One headline read, “One armed man applauds the kindness of Strangers.”
Another alleged, “Army vehicle has gone missing after being Painted with Camouflage.”
Now, the picture or news item we see in our Scripture passage for this morning may not look odd to us, but it would have looked “wacky” to the people of Jesus’ day.
Not only did Jews not associate with Samaritans; men did not talk to women in public!!!
They didn’t give them the time of day!
At that time, there was a saying that “It is a waste of time to speak to a woman,” and there was serious debate as to whether or not a woman even had a soul!!!
We see how shocked the disciples were to come back and find Jesus sitting and talking to a woman!
On top of all this, the woman had been ostracized by her own people because she had a “questionable character.”
Just imagine if I were to be the spiritual guide on a trip to say…
…Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Orange County, California…
So I get a bunch of people together and we head out on our way, but as we enter Nevada I decide that I just have to stop in Vegas in order to talk with the working girls at the Kit Kat Club.
And after we get talking for a bit, I decide we need to stay there for a few days…cause these ladies really are hungry and ready to meet Christ!
Wouldn’t you think that some of the folks who had come along with me on our trip would be on their cell phones talking with their spouses and with their friends saying, “This wasn’t my idea!”?
That’s sort of like the situation we’re looking at in our Gospel Lesson this morning.
There are many, many taboos or barriers and Jesus breaks them all!!!
What a thing for the gossip magazines or Wacky News!
But Jesus doesn’t worry about that kind of stuff.
When Jesus looks at you, me, and anyone—Jesus sees a human being…
…and Jesus loves human beings!...
…no matter who we are, no matter where we are, no matter what we have done!!!
What a great news item this really and truly is: Here was the Son of God, tired and weary and thirsty.
Here was the holiest of men, listening with understanding to a sad story.
Here was Jesus breaking through the barriers of nationality and orthodox Jewish custom.
Here is the beginning of the universality of the Gospel; here is God so loving the world, not in theory, but in practice!!!
I heard of a church in Texas where every Friday night people of the church pay the “call girls” just so they can talk to them about Jesus.
They have found this to be the most effective means of getting their attention.
And they do it by two’s or three’s of course.
So during the conversation, Jesus offers the Samaritan woman something called, “Living Water.”
What in the world does that mean?
That’s the regular phrase people used in Jesus’ world for what we call ‘running’ water—water in a stream or river, rather than in a pool or in a well…
…water that’s more likely to be fresh and clean than water that’s been standing around getting stagnant.
But of course, Jesus isn’t talking about physical water—whether it’s moving or standing still.
Jesus is referring to the NEW LIFE that Jesus offers to anyone—anyone at all, no matter what their gender, their geography, their racial or moral background.
Jesus comes offering, you and I and the rest of humanity—the one thing we long for—a personal and intimate relationship with the Living God!
And this relationship is so intimate that God actually comes and lives inside of us—quenching us of what our souls thirst for!
And this makes us alive!!!
We are no longer a stale, puddle, but a rushing water fall…
…or a gushing geyser!!!
The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Of course, she had no idea of what Jesus was talking about, but it was a start!
At the heart of this is the fundamental truth that in our human hearts there is a thirst for something that only Jesus Christ can satisfy!
An American writer has a character who is talking to the girl he loves.
She says to him, “On the surface we seem quite different; but deep down we are fundamentally the same.
We are both desperately unhappy about something—and we don’t know what it is.”
Within each of us, there is this nameless unsatisfied longing, this vague discontent, this something lacking, this frustration.
Augustine talks about “our hearts being restless till they find rest in [God].”
Within each of us, there is a thirst that only Jesus Christ can satisfy!
So the conversation continues between Jesus and this woman.
And from the woman’s point of view, the conversation has thrown her into a happy confusion: she seems to think Jesus is some kind of cross between a fortune teller and a Messiah, but at least it causes her to leave her water jar behind, run back to the town and tell other people about Jesus!
Meanwhile, the disciples urge Jesus to get something to eat!
Have you ever been so excited about something that you forgot to eat?
Perhaps you are in the middle of reading some great novel and you can’t put it down.
Maybe you are working on something fascinating, and about to come to the conclusion!
Perhaps you are just having too much fun doing whatever you are doing—and you can’t be bothered by anything else—not even food!
I think this is how Jesus felt.
Jesus was tripping with excitement!
The woman’s reaction to their conversation has shown Him that here, outside the boundaries of the Chosen People, away from Jerusalem itself, there is a spiritual hunger!!!
And the people are ready to hear and accept what Jesus has to say!
In Jesus’ mind’s eye, the fields of corn are turning white, ready for harvest!
So even though the disciples seem only to be concerned about getting something to eat and then getting out of Samaria…
…Jesus exclaims, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!
They are ripe for the harvest.”
The thought of a brand new field opening for the harvest of the Gospel was thrilling to Jesus!
And hopefully, it is just as thrilling for us today!
For we are Christ’s Body; Christ’s representatives on this earth--in this community, in our work place, in our neighborhoods, in our homes!!!
And people are ready to hear the Good News!
Their souls are thirsting for Life, Real Life!!!
Their souls are thirsting for the Son of God, Who loves them more than anyone can imagine!!!
I am so excited about this upcoming Block Party!!!
It is an opportunity to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to this community!!!
It is an opportunity to allow Jesus to change sad stories into life changing testimonies!!!
Let’s use what Jesus is offering us!
Let’s continue to invite the neighborhood to come, and drink the Living Water.
For there is a harvest field surrounding us—and it is ready for the harvest!!!
I’m tripping with excitement.
People outside this fantastic Church—their souls are searching for SOMETHING!
And that SOMETHING is Jesus’ offer of running, pure water, bubbling up inside a person—getting rid of the stale, moldy, stagnant water we have been living off all our lives!
Like Jesus, let’s offer this Living Water to our community and our world, and watch as it becomes a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
