OPEN: (We began the sermon by showing portions of two separate videos by Michael Jordan describing the “Triple Threat” stance and how it works. The first video we showed the first 17 seconds of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqHAut0qI10&feature=related. We followed that clip with the last few moments of another video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JB6HuKPGwg. We began this second video at the 1 minute mark and ran it until the end)
The Triple threat stance has become a staple of good offensive playing in Basketball. A player who masters this technique can gain the ability to essentially outplay the defense if he knows how to read his opponent. Done right the player has the ability to
· Shoot
· Pass
· Or dribble
This versatility can ultimately set the team up to score.
As I was researching this stance, I found that how you stand and how you hold the ball makes all the difference in how successful a player will be.
ILLUS: For example, I watched one video where the coach held the ball over his head and asked his young players to tell him how many options he had if he held ball this way.
Only one.
The only thing the player can effectively do while holding the ball that way is to pass. Therefore, this coach went on to say, in order for the triple threat to work the player has to hold ball low.
Another video showed a coach demonstrating the need to plant one foot learn to pivot to the right or left increase his offensive threat.
So, in other words, there was only one right way to do the triple threat.
If you don’t do it right, you can lose your advantage, lose your edge against the other team, and ultimately you can lose the ball to them.
Done right – this stance is a powerful tool in playing basketball.
Done wrong – it can end up costing you your possession of the ball.
APPLICATION: Now this morning, we find Jesus introducing His own version of the triple threat. This stance that Jesus models for us in this text is a powerful tool that can help us be versatile, outplay the opposition, and ultimately help us score in a big way for Jesus.
But you have to do it RIGHT
A lot of Christians… and a lot of churches DO do it right.
But, then again a lot of Christians… and a lot of churches don’t because they misunderstand the importance of doing things God’s way.
So, let’s take the three parts of what I see is Jesus’ triple threat stance in this text.
1st – I want to address the issue of Truth.
Jesus said: God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
In our brotherhood, we have a strong commitment to God’s truth.
One of our mottos is: “In ESSENTIALS unity, in opinion liberty, and in all things love”
Guess what we regard as being essential? (The Bible)
EVERYTHING in the Bible is essential.
But not everything is covered by the Bible and we tend to cover those matters as opinions and grant people freedom in those matters unless those issues directly contradict things we find in Scripture.
But no matter what issue we may face, we are obligated to show love to others.
We have another motto that says much the same thing:
“Speak Where The Bible Speaks And Be Silent Where The Bible Is Silent”
We want to SPEAK on the essentials found in Scripture.
But if it’s not in Scripture – we leave that as matters of opinion and we try to be SILENT on those issues.
Now Jesus – when He spoke to this woman at the well - emphasized truth to her.
In fact, He emphasized four distinct truths that day.
The 1st truth was this: This woman had a need.
Jesus answered (her), "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."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." John 4:13-15
Jesus was telling her – “YOU NEED what I can give you.”
“You have a thirst that only I can quench.”
Now, she kind of doubts that… so Jesus introduces to her the 2nd truth:
And that 2nd truth was this: She was a sinner.
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "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. What you have just said is quite true." John 4:16-18
She knows this truth is obvious to the people back in town… but this man is a stranger and she should have been able to avoid his knowing of her shame and guilt. She doesn’t like that truth, so she tries to duck it by distracting the conversation to theology. So Jesus introduces her to His third truth:
(SHE SAYS) “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.”
Jesus’ 3rd truth was this:
If you worship God the way you ought to… you’ll end up obeying Him the way He wants you to.
She tries to duck the truth that she has a need and that she’s a sinner by trying to argue theology with Jesus. Now, she DOESN’T CARE whether she should worship on this mountain or in Jerusalem. She’s a social outcast. She probably hasn’t been to worship God for years. She’s a woman who lives her life in shame and guilt.
Jesus addresses her theological question by simply telling her the Samaritans were wrong (they worship what they don’t know). But then He tells her that that even that theology (as important as it is) is secondary. God is less concerned about where a person worships/ as He is with HOW they worship.
If a person is worshipping the way they should (Spirit and Truth) then they’ll be more willing to honor God by doing what He asks. But until a person has put God’s will first they’ll always be trying to change what God wants. They’ll try to tell God He has to accept them on their terms
If you worship God the way you ought to… you’ll end up obeying Him the way He wants you to.
But THEN Jesus introduces her to the final truth
And that final truth is this: Christianity is not about theology… it’s about Jesus.
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Anointed one. He is the one who was sent to be Lord of all. In Him you will find all your answers. But until Jesus becomes the Lord of your life and the source of your answers… nothing else is going to matter.
Until He is Lord of your life your theology will always be empty.
Now, that doesn’t mean that theology is NOT important
Theology is part of the “Essentials” we talked about earlier.
Theology means the “The study of God’s Words”
Where are we going to find “God’s Words?” (Bible)
The problem in theology is when theologians try to impose their own words on God.
But Jesus is THE WORD of God. He is the focus and the center of all God’s theology in Scripture.
The problem for too many churches is that Jesus isn’t at the center of their theology. He’s almost an afterthought. And since He’s an after thought… so are the bulk of God’s Words for them.
ILLUS: Recently, the Lilley Endowment’s Mainline Evangelism Project sought to identify and analyze highly effective examples of evangelism found in MAINLINE congregations. They examined 30,000 mainline congregations from seven denominations, and they defined an effective church as one which baptized at least five adults a year (that’s right, just five) for past 3 yrs.
Out of 30,000 mainline churches how many congregations do you think met that low standard? Only 150.
Only 150 churches out of 30,000 baptized an average of five adults (and I’m not sure if those were all Biblical baptism).
WHY?
I suspect it is because – in those churches - Jesus has stopped being the CENTER of their theology. And once Jesus stopped being the center of their theology all the rest of their theology got out of whack and they because that became true… they lost the ability to be any kind of threat to Satan.
So, Christ’s triple threat requires that we stand for God’s truth.
It also requires us to be led by His SPIRIT
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in SPIRIT and in truth." John 4:24
In order to properly use Christ’s triple threat against Satan, we must be led by His Spirit.
Now how do I know whether I’m being led by the Spirit in my life?
Paul says: “… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
In other words – I know I’m being led by the Spirit of God… IF
· I love others
· I promote joy, and peace
· I’m patient and kind and good and faithful, and gentle and self-controlled.
Essentially – if God’s Spirit is running my life - I’ll be nice to other people (even those I don’t like).
There are some churches/Christians who cling to God’s truth… but they don’t much like anybody who isn’t like them or doesn’t agree with them.
They say nasty things about those outsiders.
THOSE people are evil, stupid, ignorant, wicked (well you get the idea0
Those who love God’s truth in this fashion can say nothing that’s nice about those they disagree with and they want NOTHING to do with them.
Now here in our story we find Jesus standing by a well in Samaria.
Jews don’t like Samaritans
They don’t have anything good to say about Samaritans
They want nothing to do with Samaritans
But here’s Jesus… standing by the well… and He’s waiting.
Who’s He waiting for?
Why… He’s waiting for this woman.
He starts the conversation: “Will you give me a drink?”
And she’s a little shocked: "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) John 4:9
He knows she’s a Samaritan
He knows she’s a sinner
But He still wants to talk to her.
ILLUS: I want you to notice that this woman has come to a well outside the city in the heat of the day. Ordinarily women didn’t do that. Wells were usually inside the town and the women of the city would go there to draw their water in the cool of the day.
Now what do you suppose those women would do while they got together down at that well to draw their water? They’d talk. They’d socialize. They’d gossip. And who do you suppose might have been the prime subject of much of their daily gossip? Why, that desperate housewife that Jesus met at the well outside of town.
This woman was going outside the city in the heat of the day to draw water for her household because she didn’t want to face the condemning eyes and words of her neighbors. But here stood Jesus… and He knows all about her sin.
ILLUS: Just last week there was a major controversy in the news. A woman named Sandra Fluke made a stir because she felt the Catholic Law School she was part of needed to pay for women’s contraceptives which she said cost $3000 a year to buy.
In her testimony she presented medical reasons why women would want birth control pills and didn’t dwell on the principal reason many folks think such pills are used – to avoid pregnancy. Many people however only took from that testimony on thing: this was a woman was endorsing insurance companies purchasing birth control pills and jumped to the conclusion that she was endorsing them for the ability to sleep around (if that was her motivation, it was not part of her testimony)
Rush Limbaugh got into trouble because he called her a nasty name on his radio program and clearly saying he thought she was using birth control pills for recreational sex.. Now 40 years ago, that’s exactly what everyone would have called a woman of loose morals.
And back in the day of Jesus, they had similar words to describe the kind of woman Jesus met at the well. And that’s what she was.
But, what’s interesting is this: Jesus didn’t call her that.
You know why Jesus didn’t call her that?
Because THAT’S NOT THE WAY HE LOOKED AT HER
Jesus looked at the woman at the well… and he’d look at Sandra Fluke the same way
They were both sinners … and they both needed His love.
Jesus wouldn’t have call Sandra Fluke what Limbaugh had even if she had been guilty of loose living. Jesus wouldn’t have called her that name… or any other.
We’re all familiar with John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” KJV
But people rarely read the next verse “For God SENT NOT his Son into the world TO CONDEMN the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Jesus didn’t come to earth to call people names.
Jesus came to the earth to make sinful people and whole and pure.
And if we’re going to use Christ’s triple threat properly we better get used to that.
As servants of the most High God… we better not be insulting people we don’t like
That’s because we need to be led by the Spirit of God
And the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, Joy, peace, patience, etc.
IT’S all about caring for people that are going to hell… because God doesn’t want them going there.
So the first two parts of the triple threat are TRUTH and THE SPIRIT
The 3rd part of Christ’s Triple threat is this: Hunger
After this woman left Jesus to go down into the town, Jesus’ disciples came and asked Him to eat
And Jesus said:
"I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"
"My food," said Jesus, "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 harvest.”
You see, Jesus was telling His disciples that His food was to save people like that woman. Jesus literally hungered to fix that which was broken and heal people who were damaged by sin
He’d come to do the will of His Father.
He’d come to finish the work He’d been sent to do.
And because of that HE HUNGERED to reach people like that sinful woman at the well.
Now here’s the deal:
A basketball player who is good at the triple threat stance, but NEVER tries to score is useless. He may be very skilled at what he does. But if he doesn’t use what he knows to make a point for his team all he’s got is just a lot of fancy footwork.
He’s got to hunger for that basket.
Whether he scores or he passes to a teammate who does he’s got to want to make that basket count.
And the same is true of us.
We can know God’s Word backward and forward.
We can be as nice as gentle as we want to be.
But if we’re not hungry to win others to Jesus we’re still not getting the job done.
CLOSE: Milton Cunningham, was a former missionary to Africa and chaplain at Baylor University, and he confessed being convicted of his own failure to share the message of Christ by a young girl with Down’s Syndrome.
Cunningham was on a flight from Atlanta to Dallas and as soon as he settled in for his flight the girl asked him, in the purity of her innocence,
"Mister, did you brush your teeth this morning?"
A little awkwardly, Milton replied, "Well, yes, I brushed my teeth this morning."
"Good, ’cause that’s what you’re supposed to do," the girl responded.
Her next question was, "Mister, do you smoke?"
This one was a little easier on Milton. When he said no, the little girl answered with approval,
"Good, ’cause smoking will make you die."
The third question was even easier to answer. The young girl asked, "Mister, do you love Jesus?"
Milton answered with confidence, "Well, yes, I do love Jesus."
"Good, ’cause we’re all supposed to love Jesus," she replied.
Just then, another man settled into the seat beside Milton. Immediately, the girl urged Milton to ask the new fellow if he had brushed his teeth that morning. Milton wasn’t about to disturb the stranger, but the girl wouldn’t leave him alone. Finally, he gave in. He said, "Mister, I don’t mean to bother you, but my friend here wants me to ask you if you brushed your teeth this morning." When the man noticed the girl, he realized that her question was innocent enough, and he answered that yes, he had brushed his teeth that morning.
With a sinking feeling, Milton realized where this was going.
Next the girl urged him to ask the stranger if he smoked. Milton and the man went through the second question.
And sure enough, the girl wanted Milton to ask the third question: Did this man love Jesus?
Milton protested that the question was too personal, that he just wouldn’t be comfortable asking it.
Remember, Milton Cunningham was a missionary. But something in him made him uncomfortable about pursuing a spiritual conversation with a fellow passenger.
But the young girl persisted, and so Milton said, "Now she wants to know if you love Jesus."
At this, the man’s face darkened.
He began to talk about his desire to know God.
He was at a point in his life when he was searching for God, for meaning, for purpose in life. But he didn’t know where to turn.
So Milton Cunningham finally took advantage of the opportunity God gave him through an innocent little girl to explain to the man the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Christ’s triple threat is simple but effective: He calls us to
1. Stand for God’s Truth
2. Be led by His Spirit
3. And be hungry to win people for Jesus
