Turning Religious Reluctance-11

TURNING RELIGIOUS RELUCTANCE-XI—John 4:1-42

Turning the Religious Lost

Attention:

What Temptation?

A man who was getting a bit overweight, decided to go on a life-altering diet. But one of his main problems with his diet was that he would stop for donuts every morning on the way to work.

To make things easier for himself, he changed his route to work to avoid the temptation of stopping. Once he got busy during the day, he more easily could avoid the temptation, he figured, if only he could get past the mornings...

As the weeks passed by, he began losing a great deal of weight & was receiving compliments from his friends & co-workers alike

Then one morning without thinking, he accidentally turned onto the road that would take him by the donut shop again.

At first he was going to turn around & head for safe territory, away from the awful temptation, but then he thought to himself, "Maybe the Lord is rewarding me for my efforts these past weeks!"

So, he entered into a short prayer, telling God that if this was His true intention, let there be an open parking place available & awaiting his arrival, directly in front of the shop(which, by the way, rarely happened at the busy shop).

Sure enough! On only the fifth time around the block, there was his favorite spot, right up front!

Think Twice Before Continuing down the ‘track’ you’re on!

Most People in this world are entering into temptation & sin with no means of avoiding it...

The Church exists to turn the world away from it’s errant way!

Need:

Everybody lives by a ‘religion’—a set of values that they hold to. These may be right or wrong.

Everybody has a belief system to which they subscribe—right or wrong.

These may be ‘reluctant’ to turn, But by the power of God, they are turnable nonetheless!

*We are all called as God’s witnesses to turn those who are headed for disaster...“Go therefore & make disciples of ALL the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, teaching THEM to observe all things that I have commanded you; & lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”!(Matthew 28:19-20)...

Jesus divulged/bore witness of/ His Messianic identity to a reluctant/hesitant but religious woman.

God’s people bear witness of Messiah’s/Jesus’ identity to reluctant religious people.

How/When will God’s people turn the reluctancy of the religious?

OR--What will turn that religious reluctancy around?

Some insights toward turning religious reluctance to God.

Previously we have found that,

Turning religious reluctance to God requires...

1. SERVICE Insight(:1-3)

2. CONSEQUENTIAL Insight(:4-6)

3. COMPASSIONED Insight(:7-8)

4. BLIND/UNHINDERED Insight(:9)

5. POSSESSIVE Insight(:10)

6. TRUTHFUL Insight(:11-14)

7. LIFESTYLE Insight(:15-18)

8. PLACE Insight(:19-20)

9. DECISIVE Insight(:21-24)

10. IDENTITY Insight(:25-26)

11—Turning religious reluctance to God requires...

INTERRUPTIVE Insight(:27)

Explanation:(:27)Flexibility/Distractions

:27—“And at this point His disciples came, & they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?””

Jesus had just definitively/unequivocally introduced Himself to the woman as Messiah(:26).

The 12(?) disciples returned from the city of Sychar(?) in order to buy food for themselves & Jesus(:8).

Jesus’ witness to the woman is now interrupted.

Jesus’ talking/speaking with a woman was “a shocking breach of societal norms.” Judaism considered that “for a rabbi to speak with a woman was at best a waste of time, & at worst a distraction from studying the Torah—which” for them “could lead to eternal damnation.” Being a Samaritan & a woman only compounded the reprehensible nature of the conversation.—MNTC

The disciples were not initially(cf.-:34-38) concerned with Jesus’ rationale for speaking with the Samaritan woman—noted by the absence of the two elephant-in-the-room questions. Rather their initial concern surrounded the offense brought to their civil tradition thru Jesus’ actions.

Keep in mind that John(the author of this Gospel account) was probably one of these returning disciples. And that this event took place prior to the Holy Spirit’s individual & continual indwelling presence(cf.-Acts 1:4-58).

Tangible interruptions—not just surprise encounters— to sharing the Gospel, are interruptions formulated by flesh that ‘may’ have been surrendered to the devil. However interruptions can also arise innocently!

What are we to do when we are interrupted while sharing God’s Good News in Jesus? What are we to do when other responsibilities interject themselves into our current situation?

Jesus used the interruption as an opportunity to explain other, but related, truths to the ones bringing the interruption.

We cannot control interruptions. But interruptions can be corralled into being springboards to Gospel truth, even for those unintended.

“At This Point/Upon This/Just Then”—epi toutw—Lit.=‘Upon This’——epi—Preposition—1) Upon, on, at, by, before; 2) of position--On, at, by, over, against; 3) To, over, on, at, across, against. Strong—properly, meaning superimposition(of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution[with the genitive case], i.e. Over, upon, etc.; of rest(with the det.)--At, on, etc.; of direction(with the accusative case)--Towards, upon, etc.—&—toutw—Pronoun—1) To this one. Strong—To(in, with or by) this(person or thing).?Dative case singular masculine or neuter of—outov/outoi/auth/autai—1) This, these, etc..