Woman at the Well p3 (Jn. 4:27-45)
Help Wanted: Harvest Time
Oct 16, 2022
REVIEW
-Worship in Spirit and Truth
BIG IDEA: A Sense of Urgency. Harvest has begun. Work while you can.
READ
John 4:27-45
ICEBREAKERS
-Do you have any awkward moments you can share?
v.27 Awkward Moments
Going for the high 5 but they went for the handshake.
You say that’s a great plan and then realize it was your idea.
You say good bye to each other and then realize you’ve parked beside each other.
You seem to always get the loudest nacho chips at a restaurant.
Sent a text to the wrong person...it happens to the best of us.
And as is often the case with an awkward moment you just move on as if nothing happened. That's what happens here.
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?
The Samaritan women has a sense of urgency and Jesus seeks to instill this same urgency into His disciples.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
(An example of the Hypostatic union: He experiences hunger, he sleeps, etc.)
They've just made a special trip to the grocery store and Jesus seems disinterested in their food.
Jesus gives an odd response.
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
Food & Water. Whereas the woman was concerned about water, the disciples are concerned about food. Jesus has told the Samaritan woman that He has living water and now He’s told the disciples that He has His own food source.
The disciples are understandably confused; Jesus is going to use this as a teaching opportunity.
1-Harvest Time has Begun v.34
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.”
Q: What is God’s will?
A: The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV) / Context=withholding His return so that as many as possible will be saved.
2-We need to work with a sense of urgency
35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
-Farming illustration.
-White (light brown) = ready for harvesting now. A ripe grainfield looks white from a distance -There’s a window of opportunity for reaping. (barley)
-What happens to unharvested fruit? It rots.
-Most foods have to be harvested within a time frame or they’re lost.
-Pecans Late Nov-Jan.
-Citrus: Nov-Feb
What do you think Jesus wanted His disciples to understand?
It’s Harvest Time.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. (Mt. 13:39-41)
36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life 4:36a
Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt. 9:37-38). But you’re not alone in this.
3-We need to work together in this mission (37-38)
37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
-don’t be discouraged if you do not see immediate results. Keep sowing.
Reap for that which you did not labor.
Illus: “no one has ever told me before.” I was once sharing the gospel with a youth and wrapped up by asking Him if he'd ever thought about receiving Jesus as his savior. He responded by saying, Yes, I've always wondered how you did that!" After picking my jaw up off the floor I proceeded to lead him to Christ. I was blessed with being the one who got to reap, but others before me had already sowed the word into his heart. A VBS teacher had watered that seed.
“Others have labored and now you have entered into their labor” Someone has already planted the gospel seeds and God can use you to water and fertilize it.
ILLUS: Grandfather’s Garden.
My grandfather was a farmer and passed away in June (long time ago). My grandma however continued to tend to the extra large garden and reaped in the Fall from all that he had sown.
The same is true in God's Kingdom.
We work together
-Harvest Festival: some of the people behind the scenes will reap in heaven. Set up and tear down, candy, social media posts, etc.
-We’re all working together for the same Harvest.
Please do me a favor and turn to the person beside you and say, “We’re all working together for the same Harvest”
This Harvest is very important to Jesus and something He wanted His disciples to grasp as well as you and I today and so ....How Can We Apply What We’re looking at?
1-Pray for Laborers: Mt 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest. The Lord of the harvest is Christ. When we pray the Lord for anything we must work to fulfill our own prayers. If we pray for laborers, we must be willing to become laborers ourselves, or to send and sustain other laborers.
2-Invite
v.28-29 So, the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?
Come and See – you can invite someone to a hearing of the Gospel.
Most people need an invitation to attend church, etc.
ILLUS: In the book "Iron Sharpens Iron", the author, who was from a broken family (Howard) said, "I could have lived, died and gone to hell without anyone bothering to care." However, a man named Walt from a tiny church in his neighborhood cared about reaching nine and ten year old boys for Jesus. One Saturday while he was playing marbles on the sidewalks of Philadelphia Walt came by and asked him if he wanted to go to Sunday School. “Most of the time the boys weren’t really paying that much attention to his teachings and at times I’m sure Walt wondered if he was making a difference. He was. That kid was me.” Howard became Dr. Howard Hendricks who was a long time prof at Dallas Seminary and a frequent speaker at Promise Keepers. Walt was a part of that, but surely had no idea when he invited young Howard to Sunday school. The same is true for you. You never know the orchard that may come from your role in the process.
3-Share your personal experience.
v.29 come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?
No one can argue with your personal testimony. No one can deny that you were once lost but now you’ve been found.
ten verses later we read:
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
Q-Why did they believe?
A-Because of the woman’s testimony. (BC Conversion AD)
40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
BC-What was your life like before Jesus.
Conversion-how did you come to know Jesus as your Savior? Was it a church event, conversation? Whatever it was that's your story.
AD: what your life has been like since?
What’s Happening in Samaria? Harvest is happening.
Only Jesus satisfies our need to be in relationship with God. Water & Food are temporary but Jesus is eternal.
CONCLUSION
There will be a great celebration with Jesus.
“The sower and reaper will rejoice together” (v. 36) over the fruit of everlasting life “gathering fruit of eternal life”
The Sower and the Reapers rejoice together
ILLUS: History of Harvest Festivals.
Our event is a Harvest Festival which indirectly has roots to the Jewish Festival of First Fruits. Before there were smart phones and even famer's almanacs, for millennia, the first full moon after Fall Equinox was referred to as Harvest Moon; an indicator that it was time to harvest crops (c.f. Gen. 1:14). Snooze and you could lose, i.e., anything unharvested would rot. Jesus said, "Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are ripe unto harvest" - (John 4:35). Just this week we've been able to witness the Harvest Moon. Harvest Festivals in farmland, USA are characterized by celebration, square dancing, jamborees, fun and games, and worship to thank God for the "crop" harvest, i.e., once again God has provided. Jesus told us in Luke 15:7, 10 tells us that there's rejoicing in heaven when one sinner repents. Let's be the kind of church that results in a lot of heavenly celebrations.
Let's pray for more laborers
Let's remember we're all working together for the same purpose and cause-to make Jesus famous and
Let's be proactive in inviting people to a hearing of the gospel and finally
Let's be prepared and active in, like the Samaritan woman, sharing that we've met Jesus.
Prayer
