Memorial Day
Of all the rich blessings we have from being Americans, the choicest of them is freedom of religion. I am grateful that no religion is established in America as the preferred and every citizen’s right to practice their religion is allowed. Because evil is so evil, we need men and women to protect this freedom with their lives. Join me in giving thanks to so many soldiers for laying down their lives so people can freely worship Jesus Christ. Not only join me in thanking God for our freedom of religion, but join me in praying for places such as North Korea, Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, among many others, where people can share the gospel freely. No nation should be close to the lifesaving message that Jesus loves sinners. The gospel is far too important to be kept to ourselves.
You probably don’t know his name, but Stanislav Petrov saved your life on September 26, 1983. In the early hours of Monday morning, the Soviet Union’s early warning systems detected multiple missiles were launched from the United States. As the duty officer, it was Petrov’s job to alert his superiors of incoming missile strikes. In the days of the Cold War, whenever one of the two superpowers were to launch nuclear weapons, the other nation would respond. Once just one nuclear warhead had been launched, much of the known world would have been destroyed by thermonuclear war and the radiation fallout. Petrov later told his story with these words: “The siren howled, but I just sat there for a few seconds, staring at the big, back-lit, red screen with the word 'launch' on it,” he says. The system was telling him that that alert's reliability level was “highest.” There could be no doubt. America had launched a missile.
“A minute later the siren went off again. The second missile was launched. Then the third, and the fourth, and the fifth. Computers changed their alerts from ‘launch’ to 'missile strike,’” he says.1 Yet, Petrov disobeyed his instructions. His actions were a dereliction of duty because he decided not to report the incoming missile strikes. Instead, he dismissed the alerts as a false alarm. Some thirty years later, he said the odds were 50-50, and he wasn’t sure the alert was false. It was twenty-three long minutes later that he was sure no nuclear warheads had been launched. He was right, and his actions may have very well saved the world from thermonuclear war when I was but eleven years old. Stanislav Petrov is the man who saved the world on September 26, 1983.
Today, I want to tell you the story of a lady who felt just the same way about Jesus, the traveling preacher from Nazareth.
Invitation
At the conclusion of today’s message, you will be invited to respond to Jesus’ offer of a clean, fresh start. You can respond by going to the Encourager’s Room, a virtual room, or the altar.
Today’s Scripture
“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’
Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you seek?’ or, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him (John 4:7-30).
Never has water cooler conversations been more tantalizing than with Jesus and the Woman and the Well.
On the back side of your worship guide are three Post It Notes. Listen for instructions in the moments to come.
1. No Mountain High Enough
“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)” (John 4:7, 9).
There are messages that are so needed that you MUST tell everyone, no matter who they are. Let me explain.
1.1 Jesus at the Well
Jesus is traveling with His disciples through Samaria, which is outside of Judea. When He gets to the town, His disciples leave to get something to eat. Jesus is very weary and thirsty. And at the sixth hour, which is noon, in the heat of the day, Jesus goes to a well. He has no way of getting water out of the well because He does not have a water jar. So, He asks the lady for a drink. Jesus took advantage of a simple opportunity to make an eternal impact on this lady’s life.
1.2 Really Unusual Conversation
This is a really unusual conversation for three reasons. I won’t go too deep in the details of this because I spoke in this very story in January of this year.
1.2.1 #1 Racial Barrier
The Jews considered the Samaritans racially inferior and heretics. A popular prayer in those days said, “And Lord, do not remember the Samaritans in the resurrection.”2
1.2.2 #2 Gender Barrier
Plus, in that patriarchal society, men did not speak to women in public, at least if they didn’t know the women. The reason she’s shocked that no Jewish man would speak to a Samaritan woman.
1.2.3 #3 Moral Barrier
Take careful note that the Samaritan lady came to draw water at noon. Biblical scholars like to point out that this is not when women ordinarily came to draw water. They usually came early in the day when it wasn’t hot yet, so they could have water for the housekeeping chores for the entire day. Why was she there alone, in the middle of the day?
The answer is likely that she was not only a racial outcast, but she was also a moral outcast.
“The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” (John 4:17-18).
In that day, no other woman would talk to her because of her actions. She would be celebrated in modern America because of the very same thing. No matter how society treats you, when you go through a series of 5/6 men, you are not happy. Her life was a miserable chain of unfulfilling relationships.
1.3 Seeking this Woman’s Salvation
Despite these three boundaries, Jesus pushes forward. To everyone’s shock, Jesus speaks to this lady. He reaches over the racial and moral boundaries to talk with her. He is clearly open with her and warm. Jesus crossed barriers.
1.4 Crossing Every and All Boundaries
Some messages are so vitally important that you must communicate no matter the boundaries you’re up against. You just have to.
How important must a message be before you break the social taboos of your day to tell someone? How important would a message have to be for you to spend years studying a new language? For many, it would have to benefit someone and probably greatly benefit them to break any barrier.
1.4.1 Toyota Corolla
Almost everywhere I have gone in the world, I see Toyotas. I recently learned that the Toyota Corolla has sold around 50 million cars worldwide. There may be a dozen of these vehicles parked in our lots this morning, for all I know. What if we learned that the bestselling Toyota Corolla would spontaneously combust once it arrived at 35 mph? At 35 mph, the car spontaneously combusts, and everyone’s lives inside the vehicle are in imminent danger. Would that be something you tell people in Japan? If you saw someone in Afghanistan driving a Toyota Corolla with little children buckled in the back, wouldn’t you stop them to tell them the inherent danger to their lives? Would you be willing to share this with the weekend crowd of Deep Ellum in Dallas?
Wouldn’t the lives of those precious people be so valuable that you would figure out some way to communicate despite the language barriers? Some messages are so vitally important that you must communicate no matter the boundaries you’re up against.
1.4.2 Fulfillment
Part of the reason Jesus shares the message of His love is because He is so fulfilling.
Jesus speaks of an inner fulfillment: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water’” (John 4:13b-15).
Jesus is speaking of inner fulfillment here.
1.4.2.1 Imagine a Drug
Many of you are aware of the rapidly selling Ozempic and how it is being used for weight loss. At least 25,000 people are now starting to take the medicine each week in the United States, which is more than the capacity crowd of Madison Square Garden.3
Multiple drug companies are also making competing drugs, and there is unprecedented demand. Now, imagine if a drug was manufactured with no side effects that offered real lasting joy. The demand would be through the roof. The stock would be through the roof.
1.4.2.2 Real Inner Fulfillment
Real, lasting inner fulfillment is so elusive, isn’t it? Jesus is saying, “I have that which every human soul longs for. I will change you from the insides so much your very soul and heart are new. You will have a whole new purpose, a whole new joy, a whole new dynamic in your inner being.” Jesus says, “I offer fulfillment. I will give you such a lasting, inner joy that you will willingly take persecution for being associated with my name.” This is lasting, not fleeting. This is eternal fulfillment that is rugged enough to handle anything thrown at it.
Jesus refers to it as “water” in verses 13-15, but He’s really offering Himself: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23). Nothing will ever satisfy our longings and dissatisfactions except for a long and continuous drink of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is speaking about quenching what our souls are really thirsting for.
1.4.2.3 Seawater
Most of what this world offers is seawater for thirsty people. When you are dehydrated at sea, you have this incredible desire to guzzle seawater. Seawater may satisfy you for a moment, but a split second later makes you more thirsty. Jesus is lasting fulfillment for all you long for.
1.4.2.4 What Would You Not Do?
Again, if this were a drug, would you not translate that into other languages? Would you share that with the hookers and sex addicts? Would you share with blue collar, white collar, and no collar? If you had this kind of pill, you would share it across the polarizing aisle of politics. All the generations would agree on it. You would travel to Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China with it. Would you share it with the generation above you and or behind you? Would you be willing to learn the language of the next generation you target? It would be too good not to share. You’d want everyone eternally fulfilled. You’d want categorically every single person to have life satisfaction.
1.4.2.5 Missionary’s Perspective
I asked one of our church’s good friends and missionaries about what pushed his family to share the message of Jesus despite challenges and boundaries. “I remember really counting that cost in our first year on the mission field. We live in a really hot climate. The electricity is unreliable and in the hot season (April and May especially), even if you have air conditioning, it isn’t strong enough to overcome the heat. I remember especially facing this on Sundays at church. Often, our church did not have electricity, or the electricity would frequently go out during the service. We would sweat buckets through the whole service. Our church also didn’t have any kind of children’s program or church nursery, so we had to take turns watching our new baby every Sunday. Some Sundays, I would remember our church in America, how it has air-conditioning, a nursery… I would remember how the service was in English so I could understand everything being said and sung. Sitting there, dripping sweat, week after week, I really had to count the cost of living here and serving the Lord here. Was it worth it? Was it worth it so that an unreached people group could hear the Gospel for the first time? That was a spiritual marker for me personally, because I realized again through those difficult early Sundays how valuable to me is the Lord, His Church, and this Good News we had come to share. Being able to say, ‘This too is worth it’ was something I couldn’t fully say until I actually had to endure it.”
How important would a message have to be for you to spend years studying a new language?
How important must a message be before you break the social taboos of your day to tell someone?
1.5 What Would Jesus NOT DO
WWJD is a question first asked by Charles Sheldon in 1896 (that's when his book was first released). WWJD is What Would Jesus Do. His great-grandson updated the book in 1993. I’d like for us to insert one word into Charles Sheldon's motto: What Would Jesus NOT Do? One thing’s for sure: Jesus would not ignore an opportunity to impact a person with the life-changing message of the cross. There’s not one barrier Jesus would not cross. There’s no language barrier, gender barrier, or even moral barrier.
1.6 Jesus Is in Pursuit
Jesus is seeking this woman’s salvation, knowing everything about her. Jesus is pursuing this unacceptable relationship. God is pursuing this woman. He means to have her in heaven. He is graciously relational. Everything He does is intentional. Jesus teaches us that some things are so important that you have to cross whatever boundaries you’re up against.
The gospel is far too important to be kept to ourselves.
1. No Mountain High Enough
2. Come See a Man
“So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him (John 4:28-30).
2.1 Come See a Man
Look what happens to her. Really look with me. That’s why she runs off and doesn’t tell her friends, “Come read a book.”4 She runs off, and what does she say? “Come, see a moral code that has changed me”? “Come to a seminar, Ten Steps to a New You,” or “Here’s self-improvement.” No. “Come and look at him.” She says, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” Number one, He means everything to her.
She says, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did,” and she’s happy about this.
2.2 Three Post-it Notes
Would you do something really simple with me that even our elementary school children take with them? You were given three Post-It notes on the worship guide: red, green, and yellow.5 Look at the Red Post-It note first, please.
Write down the name of the person who shared the gospel with you. Again, write down the name of the person who shared the gospel with you. For me, I write down the name of my mother, who brought me to church and shared the gospel with me. Who shared the life-saving message of the cross with you?
Look at the Blue Post-It note and write down your name next, please. The gospel has come to you, and you now enjoy the inner fulfillment that Jesus is speaking about. Write down your name on the Blue Post-It note.
Now, one more, take out the Yellow Post-It note. On the Yellow Post-It note, I want you to write down the name of the person you are going to share the good news with. This may be your children, your parents, coworkers, or neighbors.
The gospel is far too important to be kept to ourselves.
EndNotes
1 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831; accessed May 21, 2024.
2 R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 101
3 https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/health/wegovy-weight-loss-drug-new-prescriptions/index.html; accessed May 21, 2024.
4 Timothy J. Keller, “The Living Water, January 10, 1999,” The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013.
5 This idea came from reading Tony Thomas’ sermon: https://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-outlines/118846/he-would-not-bypass-opportunities-1-of-4/; accessed May 22, 2024.
