Title: The road least traveled
Text: John 4:3-10;27-30;39-42
Introduction
A few weeks ago, the newspaper carried an article of prostitutes in Batam. Many were forced or sold into prostitution. They live miserable lives, losing all dignity and purposes in life. They are so ashamed of their lives. They are broken vessels crying out to be restored.
In John Chapter Four, we see a woman in a similar plight.
The Samaritan woman at the well was a broken woman. Her first husband probably divorced her and subsequently she either lived immorally or became a prostitute.
She was an outcast and that explains why she came to collect water at noon time, whereas the rest of the woman will collect during evening time.
There are many around us who have broken dreams like this Samaritan woman and I believed that God wants us to be a restorer of youths with broken dreams.
Jesus took a road least traveled in order to heal one that is broken. Today would you take the same road in order to restore the broken hearted?
The road least traveled requires us to:
1. Take deliberate steps
Jesus took deliberate steps towards Samaria.
The Jews will travel a different way to reach Galilee to avoid passing through Samaria.
The bible says Jesus had to go to Samaria.
Jesus took deliberate steps to go to a specific city to restore a woman with broken dreams.
There are many with broken dreams around us. Do we take deliberate steps to enter into their lives so as to restore broken dreams?
How do we take deliberate steps?
a.Look out for people who are not in the inner circle.
b.Take deliberate steps to be their friends.
c.When you plan an outing, do you think of those who are on the outer circle?
d.Are you inclusive or exclusive?
e.Do you notice people who are not as well to do as you? Why not set a side an amount of pocket money monthly to bless such youths in our midst?
2. Break personal prejudice
Christ broke personal prejudice
The Jews dislike the Samaritans because they were Jews who inter married with gentiles.
Jews believed that it is better to be a dog than to be a woman. This was not Scriptural, but that was the attitude.
Jews will never talk to a Samaritan much less a Samaritan woman.
Jesus broke personal prejudice when he took the first step and strike a conversation with the Samaritan lady.
She was shocked that Jesus spoke to her and actually requested a drink from her.
Are there broken people in your church, your school, but you do not reach out to them because of a personal prejudice?
Are you like the group of disciples? As they were walking back to where Jesus was, they could not believe their eyes. How can Jesus be talking to a Samaritan lady in broad day light. They were still blinded by their prejudice.
Are you blinded by your prejudice too? Are you influenced by the majority? Or would you stand out like Jesus and make a difference?
What are some prejudices we have today?
a.The person’s race.
b.The person’s past.
c.The person’s behavior.
Mahatma Gandhi
In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.
So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.”
Imagine what would have happened to India had Gandhi became a Christian?
The road least traveled
3. Brought amazing results
The Samaritan woman restored by Jesus brought the whole town to salvation! She brought revival to the city!
Nicky was only 3-1/2 years old when his heart turned to stone. As one of 18 children born to witchcraft-practicing parents from
Puerto Rico, bloodshed and mayhem were common occurrences in his life. He suffered severe physical and mental abuse at their hands, at one time being declared the "Son of Satan" by his mother while she was in a spiritual trance.
When he was 15, Nicky’s father sent him to visit an older brother in New York. Nicky didn’t stay with his brother long. Instead, full of anger and rage, he chose to make it on his own.
Tough, but lonely, by age 16 he became a member of the notorious Brooklyn street gang known as the Mau Maus (named after a bloodthirsty African tribe). Within six months he became their president. Cruz fearlessly ruled the streets as warlord of one of the gangs most dreaded by rivals and police. Lost in the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and brutal violence, his life took a tragic turn for the worse after a friend and fellow gang member was horribly stabbed and beaten and died in Nicky’s arms.
As Cruz’ reputation grew, so did his haunting nightmares. Arrested countless times, a court-ordered psychiatrist pronounced Nicky’s fate as "headed to prison, the electric chair, and hell."
No authority figure could reach Cruz - until he met a skinny street-preacher named David Wilkerson. He disarmed Nicky - showing him something he’d never known before: Relentless love. His interest in the young thug was persistent. Nicky beat him up, spit on him and, on one occasion, seriously threatened his life. yet the love of God remained - stronger than any adversary Nicky had ever encountered.
Finally, Wilkerson’s presentation of the gospel message and the love of Jesus melted the thick walls of his heart. Nicky received the forgiveness, love and new life that can only come through Jesus.
Today Nicky is used by God to reach out to many other gangsters, broken people.
How was this possible? There was a man call David Wilkerson who walked a road least traveled.
Conclusion
Would you also walk on the road least traveled like Christ? Would you reach out with the love of God and bring healing to a broken community where God had divinely place you?
