TURNING RELIGIOUS RELUCTANCE-IV—John 4:1-42
Turning the Religious Lost
Attention:
Not So Tactful Lieutenant...
A lieutenant was brilliant in military matters, but lacked a few social graces.
One day he was charged with informing one of his soldiers that his grandmother had passed away. The lieutenant called the soldier into the office & said "Kramer, your grandmother died”...”Dismissed!”
Understandably the poor soldier was devastated & ‘fell apart.’
After he left, the colonel told the lieutenant, “You could have been a little more tactful. I have some books at home that could help you.”
The lieutenant read the half-dozen books lent him by the colonel & was ready for the next crisis. He finds that he has to inform Private Taylor that his grandfather had passed away.
So the next morning, at reveille, the lieutenant tried a new softer approach & said, “Men, take one step forward if you have a grandfather still living? Quite a few of the men step forward including Private Taylor. The lieutenant then loudly bellows, “Not so fast, Private Taylor!”
In attempting to convince certain people of the truth, it may be difficult &/or uncomfortable. But the attempt must be made nonetheless!
Likewise, Turning those who are Religious but Reluctant to live by the truth must be done!
Everybody has a religion(beliefs they live by)—right or wrong!(2016--79-89% of Americans believe in God)...
Everybody has a belief system to which they subscribe—right or wrong.
Even atheists have a religion & are religious people.
These may be Reluctant to turn, But by the power of God, they are turnable nonetheless!
*We are all called to serve God in spirit & in truth, AND to...“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?
16 insights toward turning religious reluctance to God.
The last time we looked in these verses we had found that,
Turning religious reluctance to God’s way requires...
1. SERVICE Insight(:1-3)
2. CONSEQUENTIAL Insight(:4-6)
3. COMPASSIONED Insight(:7-8)
4—Turning religious reluctance to God’s way requires...
BLIND/UNHINDERED Insight(:9)
Explanation:(:9)Blind to & Unhindered by fleshly control & influence
:9—“Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
The “Samaritan woman” verbally relates her surprise at Jesus’ asking “a drink” from her. Perhaps her surprise was tinged with sarcasm as if to say, “We Samaritans are the dirt under” you Jew’s feet “until you want something.”—EBC
For the Jews, “Samaritans were thought to convey uncleanness by what they lay, sat, or rode on, & as well as by their saliva or urine.”—BECNT
*This “Samaritan woman” knew her standing in the pre-determinations of the Jews. She therefore openly exposed her own prejudices.
John adds the note that fine upstanding, spiritually & socially conscious “Jews” would never set themselves up as needing to receive anything from “Samaritans.” Thus they purposely had “no dealings with” them. “Jesus did not fit the stereotype of kosher-concerned Jewish men.”—NAC
The woman’s uninformed, self-limiting pre-judgments possibly prevented her from giving Jesus “a drink” at all, or she could have softened & supplied Him “a drink” during the conversation...We are not told.
It is vastly more important to Jesus, that He sidestep any hindering human prejudice in order to offer a person an opportunity to become part of the Kingdom of God!(see :7 & :10). The Holy Spirit, when heeded, effectively ‘blinds’ us to our flesh’s prejudices & desires.
“Woman”2X(See :7, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25)—gunh—Noun Fem.—1) A woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow; 2) a wife—2a) Of a betrothed woman. Strong—A woman; specially--A wife.
“Of Samaria/Samaritan/Samaritans”3X(See :4, 5, 7)—Samareitiv OR Samaritiv—Noun Proper Fem.—1) A Samaritan woman. Strong—A Samaritess, i.e. Woman of Samaria. Used 2X.
“How”—pwv—Particle—1) How, in what way. Strong—an interrogative particle of manner; In what way?(sometimes the question is indirect, how?); also as exclamation--How much!.
“You”—su—Pronoun 2nd Person Sing.—1) You. Strong—Thou.
“Jew”2X—Ioudaiov—Adj.—1) Jewish, belonging to the Jewish nation; 2) Jewish as respects to birth, origin, religion. Strong—Judaean, i.e. Belonging to Jehudah.?From—Iouda(in the sense of Ioudav as a country)—of Hebrew origin [hdwhy Yeh-hoo-daw' or perhaps hjy Yoot-taw'; or hjwy Yoo-taw']; Judah(i.e. Jehudah or Juttah), a part of(or place in) Palestine.
“Ask”—aitew—Verb—1) To ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require. Aitew denotes a request of the will. “Aitew signifies to ask for something to be given, not done, giving prominence to the thing asked for rather than the person, & hence is rarely used in exhortation.” Strong—of uncertain derivation; To ask(in genitive case).
“Drink”(See :7, 10, 12, 13, 14)—pinw—Verb—1) To drink; 2) figuratively--To receive into the soul what serves to refresh strengthen, nourish it unto life eternal. Strong—a prolonged form of piw; which (together with another form pow; occurs only as an alternate in certain tenses); To imbibe(literally or figuratively).
“No”—ou, ouk, or ouc—Particle—1) No, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer. Strong—a primary word; the absolute negative [compare mh] adverb; No or not.
“Dealings/Intercourse/Associate”—sugcraomai—Verb—1) To use with anyone, use jointly; 2) To associate with, to have dealings with. Strong—To use jointly, i.e. by implication--To hold intercourse in common. Used 1X.?From—sun—1) With. Strong—With or together(but much closer than meta or para), i.e. By association, companionship, process, resemblance, possession, instrumentality, addition, etc.—&—craomai—1) To receive a loan; 2) Borrow; 3) To take for one's use, to use—3a) To make use of a thing. Strong—To furnish what is needed; (give an oracle, "graze" [touch slightly], light upon, etc.), i.e. by implication--To employ or by extension--To act towards one in a given manner.
Argumentation:
Mat. 6:1-4—“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues & in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; & your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
‘Spontaneity’ can keep the flesh from interfering in the Holy Spirit’s work! A Christian may be compelled by the Spirit to ‘do’ something in the moment, yet it is left undone because of internal &/or external pressures to which we have ‘wrongly’ & possibly unknowingly made ourselves accountable—such as ‘maintaining Appearances’ or ‘avoiding negative Opinions’ from others; ‘maintaining Popularity’ at the expense of substance in Christ.
‘We are to show when tempted to hide, & hide when tempted to show.’—A.B. Bruce(in MNTC)
We have our beliefs & we have our knowledge, but that knowledge may be the very thing that keeps us puffed up & satisfied rather than winning someone to Christ. Our/Your(a Christian’s) own internal prejudices(in whatever realm/area) may be the very things that keeps us from bringing a viable witness of Christ to someone who needs Him...whether lost or already saved!
If you grow up within a certain ‘brand’ or manner of Christianity, you ‘may be’ prone to trusting a ‘method’ wholeheartedly without personally testing it thru relationship with Christ.
As I have been told by someone who was saved many years ago, ‘When I got saved, I determined then & there that I was not going to be part of any church unless it was just like this one’(where they got saved). Along with Jesus, the person was unfortunately saved to a ‘method’ as well.
So when such a tried-&-true, & trusted ‘method’ is challenged, a person understandably may get hot under the collar about it!
Ezra 4:1-8—“Now when the adversaries of Judah & Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel & the heads of the fathers’ houses, & said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; & we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”[cf.-] But Zerubbabel & Jeshua & the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, & hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah & Jerusalem. In the days of Artaxerxes also, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, & the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; & the letter was written in Aramaic script, & translated into the Aramaic language. Rehum the commander & Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:”
Then the letter arrogantly describes the ruin that will occur to Persia should Jerusalem be built again—calling it a “rebellious & evil city”...That they will not pay “tax”, “tribute”, or “custom”, diminishing “the king’s treasury” so that the king will have “no dominion beyond the” Euphrates “River”(cf.-Ezra 4:11-16).
Lk. 10:25-37—“And behold, a certain lawyer stood up & tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered & said,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, & with all your mind,’ & ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this & you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered & said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, & fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, & departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came & looked, & passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him & bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil & wine; & he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, & took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, & said to him, ‘Take care of him; & whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go & do likewise.”
Your & my ‘neighbor’ is anyone in need to whom I can(not ‘will’) show God’s mercy.
Mk. 2:18-22—“The disciples of John & of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came & said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John & of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. “But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, & then they will fast in those days. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, & the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, & the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
1Pet. 3:15-16—“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, & always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness & fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”
Lk. 12:11-12—““Now when they bring you to the synagogues & magistrates & authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.””
Illustration:
What is YOUR personal prejudice/preference? The one that keeps you from witnessing to certain people? The one that hinders your overall witness in the world?...
Is it...Ugly, Handsome, Beautiful, Fat, Skinny, Muslim, Buddhist, Iranians, Chinese, Koreans, Orientals, Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, Southerners, Northerners, Californians, Jehovah Witnesses, Cashiers, CEOs, Lawn keepers, Blue-collar workers, White-collar workers, Poor people, Rich people, Oystermen, Mormons, Lawyers, Car Salesmen, etc.
*There is a hymn we sing entitled, ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’(#198)
The chorus states this:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his glory & grace.”
We must be BLIND to or UNHINDERED by all that is not God & of God.
Whatever you do, DO NOT let your Past, your Culture, your Society, your Nation, your Politics, your Family, the Majority, the Minority...negatively influence &/or determine your ‘now’!...
Rather....Allow God His control of your life, thru His Son & your Lord Jesus!
The ‘religious reluctant’ may suppose certain things about what others believe/I occasionally have people of other denominations/faiths ask me about baptists/I remember one man who was offended because our church is named ‘First Baptist Church’—He assumed that we were arrogantly declaring ourselves to be better than anyone else in the area!/What he failed to realize & did not consider was that our church was literally the ‘first’ organized Baptist Congregation in the Carrabelle area/BLIND or UNHINDERED Insight
Many Mormons suppose themselves to be Christians/Their doctrine is only loosely built upon Scripture while much is actually ‘authoritatively’ added to it/Joseph Smith(Mormon founder) had a cultural background of early American Christianity/Mormons are deceived, but then again they look upon mainstream evangelical Christians as deceived as well/Jesus not only ‘had dealings’ with Samaritans but sought out those dealings because they needed His future sacrifice!/BLIND or UNHINDERED Insight
Application:
?Your UNHINDERED Insight readily Turn others to Christ/God’s way?
?You Turn Religious Reluctance of others into a Confident Relationship with God?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The Not So Tactful Lieutenant!
Action:
Turning religious reluctance to God’s way requires...
4. BLIND/UNHINDERED Insight(:9)
1. SERVICE Insight(:1-3)
2. CONSEQUENTIAL Insight(:4-6)
3. COMPASSIONED Insight(:7-8)
Pt.#4 only! presented 06/10/2018am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave.(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
