What Joy Awaits
Sept 4, 2011 John 4:27-38
Intro:
I have for you this morning a prescription for joy. Would any of you like to have more joy in your life? I suspect so, however I also suspect that many of you hear me say I have a prescription for joy and you are suspicious. I suspect that because that is my immediate reaction to similar offers. Alarm bells go off in my head, and I think – ok, but what is it going to cost? And more importantly, will it require me to change?
The answer is yes. My prescription – actually it is Jesus’ prescription, but we’ll get to that in a moment – will require change. But it will result in joy. A lot of it. So when we each do the inevitable mental calculation about what it will cost vs. what we will get out of it, factor in the promise of Jesus that this change will result in a lot of joy.
So what will have to change? First, an attitude towards a part of our faith that we all recognize as important but which few of us tangibly practice. The attitude is based on a whole pack of lies and rooted in selfishness, but it is pervasive. Once the attitude changes, actions will follow. And the result, according to Jesus, is joy.
So what is the prescription?
So what is this prescription for joy? Let me answer that by taking us back to John 4 again this morning. We’ve read the story, Jesus has been travelling with His disciples, they stop in Samaria at a well, Jesus’ disciples go into town for food and Jesus enters a great conversation with a woman who has come to draw water. The part of the story I want to focus on today is the conversation Jesus has with His disciples when they return from grocery shopping in Sychar, John 4:27-38.
27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, What do you want with her? or Why are you talking to her? 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah? 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, Rabbi, eat something.
32 But Jesus replied, I have a kind of food you know nothing about.
33 Did someone bring him food while we were gone? the disciples asked each other.
34 Then Jesus explained: My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, Four months between planting and harvest. But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, One plants and another harvests. And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.
What Joy Awaits
As I read this part of the story, one line leaped off the page, as often happens when we read Scripture and the Holy Spirit breathes life into it. I imagine listening to Jesus speak these words, answering the questions about why He isn’t eating, sharing this metaphor of planting and harvesting, and I hear Jesus get really excited. I hear Him get caught up in the idea, delighting in the mental picture of His followers (the farmers in the story, harvesting people brought to eternal life), and Jesus gets carried away into this one line that is full of excitement as Jesus knows the joy that will come. But now look more closely – what is the joy? Is it the joy in those people who are brought to eternal life? No. Is it the joy in the heart of the Father whose lost children are brought home? Not that either. Jesus gets carried away with the joy that awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! It is the joy of the farmer, the joy of the follower of Jesus, the joy you and I experience when we obey Jesus’ command to share the good news about Jesus with others.
So what is the prescription? In the agricultural metaphor, plant some seeds, or harvest some ripe crops. And then, what joy awaits!
Roadblocks to this Joy:
It is pretty clear to me: Jesus prescription for joy for us is the sharing of our faith with others. But many of us have a different attitude towards sharing our faith, and that is what needs to change. I think it is because we have a really wrong idea of what it means.
Of course those are ludicrous, but they do represent some of what we think of when we think of evangelism. We have negative attitudes towards it, partly based on bad experiences and role models, but I think the deeper truth is that those attitudes give us convenient excuses not to do it at all.
And Jesus’ point, in John 4:36, is that it is actually a deep source of joy. And to not plant or harvest is to miss out on that joy that awaits.
Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, famous evangelist, said that the New Testament records tell of forty people, each suffering from the same disease, who were healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends, or He was taken to them. In only six cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance. Of the vast number of people who find their way to Jesus today, most of them reach Him because the friends of Jesus are concerned about the welfare of their souls.
Here is another quick stat: According to one count, the gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people. Six were in the Temple; four in the synagogues and 122 were out with the people in the mainstream of life.
Paying Attention:
We don’t share our faith like the salesman or the carnival promoter. We do it by living in the mainstream of life, like Jesus, but with a different mindset. One that says I’m not going into today for myself, thinking about my needs and wants and tasks. I’m going into today with a love for God and a love for my neighbor, watching and listening, and eager to share what I have in Christ as opportunities arise. It’s not about forcing or manipulating, it’s not about clever strategies or tactics, but rather it is about authentically living as different people, and being eager and open to share what makes us different.
What is your attitude towards evangelism? Is it a chore, a distasteful pressuring of others, something that consists of walking up to strangers on the street or something else so far from your personality that it is inconceivable? Does it make you feel uneasy, threatened, and so you turn away? That is not how Jesus envisions it. Jesus sees it like this: we have received an incredible gift of love that has and continues to transform us, filling our lives today and securing our eternity. We will remember and celebrate that in a moment around the Lord’s table. And now we have this same hope to offer to others, in the context of natural, day to day relationships, and flowing out of the person God created us and gifted us to be. And Jesus envisions it as something that is full of great joy, awaiting us.
Concluding stories:
During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, there was a shortage of currency in the British Empire. Representatives carefully searched the nation in hopes of finding silver to meet the emergency. After one month, the committee returned with its report. We have searched the empire in vain seeking to find silver. To our dismay, we found none anywhere except in the cathedrals where the statues of the saints are made of choice silver. To this, Oliver Cromwell eloquently answered, Let’s melt down the saints and put them into circulation. That is, perhaps, an admirable goal for us – the saints of God – to be melted down and put into circulation.
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it.
Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector.
Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence? he asked.
Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. I have no right to keep that to myself, he exclaimed. It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it.
What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!
