THE ANSWER IS…
John 4:1-42
S: Prejudice & Racism
Th: “Jesus Shatters the Stereotypes of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’”
Pr: The answer to the differences is Jesus.
?: What?
KW: issues
TS: In John 4, there are three issues that are addressed in which the answer is Jesus.
Inductive approach
ISSUES:
I. RACE
II. RELATIONSHIPS
III. RELIGION
Mt. Ararat 11/21/99 AM (2x)
RMBC 1/30/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Drama: “Grocery Store Dilemma”
1. Have you ever noticed how we keep track of our differences?
The first thing we often do when we meet someone new is check out the differences.
If we find out we have a lot in common, we have a new friend.
But if we don’t have much in common, then we are not likely to place much value on the relationship.
When it comes down to it, we are all very different from one another.
2. We are full of personal labels that make us different from one another.
I am full of personal labels that make me different than you.
When I take the Myers-Briggs personality test, I come out: ENTJ.
When I take the DISC personality test, I come out a high I and D.
I carry the title of Senior Pastor.
I have earned to degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Religion and a Masters of Divinity.
I am a combination of Dutch, German, French, Irish, Scottish and English ancestry.
I am ordained under the auspices of the Conservative Baptist Association of America.
On my driver’s license, I am a male with brown hair and blue eyes (although gone and gray would be more accurate).
I am different than you.
I am shorter than most of you.
So we take these differences and we make categories.
3. We slot ourselves into categories and slot others as well.
And sometimes, we go as far as placing value on certain categories and worthlessness on others.
But we are not the first to struggle with this concept…
TRANSITION:
1. When we come to John 4, we find Jesus and his disciples have “hit the road.”
(1) The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, (2) although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. (3) When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
It is time to leave Jerusalem.
The Pharisees are starting to brew a bit.
They do not yet know what to make of Jesus.
And Jesus, apparently, is of a mind to not stir the waters in Jerusalem any longer.
So they are heading back north.
They are going to Galilee.
They are going “home.”
But…
2. On the way to Galilee, they take an unorthodox route.
They were going the straight route.
The only problem with this straight route is that it is heading right through Samaria.
For the Jews and the Samaritans, there was a long-seated and abiding hatred.
To the Jews, the Samaritans were impure.
They were a mixed-blood race that had intermarried with Gentiles.
They were to be avoided at all costs.
So much so, that even though Samaria was the most direct route for a Jew going from the south in Judea to the north in Galilee, they would not go that way.
Most, though, would cross to the east side of the Jordan River so to avoid any contact with them.
So why did Jesus want to go this way?
Our text tells us:
(4) Now he had to go through Samaria.
Jesus needed to go through Galilee.
3. Jesus has an appointment He must keep.
He has someone he has to meet.
You know, this is the way Jesus is.
He would talk to just about anybody.
It did not matter if you were a Roman army officer, a little child, a Pharisee like Nicodemus who comes at night to have a clandestine rendezvous, a short little tax-collector named Zaccheus, or a rich prep-school kid who is simply called the rich young ruler, Jesus would talk to you.
Jesus would talk to just about anyone who would listen.
And now He is about to meet one of these people…
OUR STUDY:
I. RACE
(5) So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. (6) Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (7) When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
The well was communal place in town.
This is where, especially, early in the morning, women and children came to fetch water.
But not only that, it was a place to catch up on the latest news.
It was not, however, a place for an educated rabbi.
This was not a place for a man of Jesus’ stature.
He did not belong there.
But He was tired, and He was thirsty.
So…
1. Jesus asks this woman for a drink.
You see, at the very least, this was an unusual request.
This woman of Samaria was a mere female in a patriarchal world.
She recognized that the man speaking to her was a rabbi.
And she also knew that the typical rabbi prayed this prayer every morning: "Blessed are You, O God, that You have not made me a woman."
Her function in life was to wait on men.
There was no opportunity to engage in any male profession, and she was not even allowed to read, let alone study God’s Word.
She had no permanent status or security.
At any time the man she was living with could say "I divorce you, I divorce you," and she would be out on the street.
So why was this rabbi speaking to her?
This is not the way it is supposed to be.
Well…
2. There was a race problem.
(9) The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
She had it right.
As we noted before, the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t like each other
They looked down on each other.
You know, the more that we think about this encounter the stranger it gets.
For no self-respecting Jewish man would be seen talking to a woman alone.
Now add to the fact, that Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman with very suspect morals.
And no Jew would drink from a vessel that is unclean, especially one that had been used by a Samaritan.
But did you notice, Jesus is not perturbed by any of these things.
In fact, he is teaching his disciples a valuable lesson here.
God loves Samaritans.
God wants all people to be a part of his kingdom.
God loves all people regardless of race, gender, background, morality or whatever.
Jesus is not worried about social issues here.
He is not worried about the cultural issues.
He is not even worried about the race issues.
It is as if He says…
3. “Forget the race issue—I’ve got living water for you.”
(10) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (11) "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? (12) Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" (13) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, (14) but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (15) The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
Jesus offers living water.
But she doesn’t seem to get it.
She doesn’t seem to understand what Jesus is offering her.
He is offering eternal life.
But she is stuck in the material world.
She is looking for some magic water so she won’t be thirsty anymore.
But this is not what Jesus is offering.
He is offering something much more important and life-changing.
II. RELATIONSHIPS
So Jesus changes the subject.
He will try another angle.
1. Since the woman is not understanding Jesus’ offer, He tells her to go get her husband.
(16) He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." (17) "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. (18) The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Jesus communicates that He knows.
He knows all about her.
He knows the good and the bad.
He knows that she has had a grief-filled life.
You don’t go through five husbands and not be hurting.
Some of you know about that.
You know the pain of the death of a spouse or the divorce from a spouse.
It is a pain that does not go away.
If we were going to guess though, we would guess the latter, for…
2. There was a relationship problem.
Her private life was in a mess.
There had been five relationships.
Now she was living in a way that was outside the culture of the day, and more importantly, outside God’s law.
It is easy for us to make a logical assumption and say, she does not have a history of being good with relationships.
And now she was in an adulterous relationship.
This had to make her feel guilty and defiled before God.
Even in her own community, she was an outcast to be avoided.
They viewed her as a whore.
As we mentioned before, the women of the town would chat and socialize at the well every morning.
But not this woman.
When Jesus met her, it was noon.
She had come to draw water all alone in the heat of the day.
Jesus obviously hits on a sore spot in her life.
She wants to move on…
III. RELIGION
1. Since Jesus is getting too personal, she changes the subject.
(19) "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. (20) Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Enough about me, she says.
Let’s talk about something less controversial.
Let’s talk about…um…religion!
Well, Jesus will go for that.
He recognizes that…
2. There was a religion problem.
(21) Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (22) You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. (23) Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (24) God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Jesus does not hold back on what are the Samaritan imperfections.
They do not even know what they are worshipping.
But the Jews do.
They are worshipping God.
They are God’s chosen nation.
But just it appears Jesus is being a snob, He lets us in on the important part…
3. Jesus explains that there will be unity in worship someday.
What is important is not the location.
What is important is the heart.
God is looking for worshippers that come in faith.
God is looking for worshippers that come looking for truth.
Well, this has been much for this woman, so she gives her answer to all of this…
(25) The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
God is going to straighten this out is her thought.
It seems impossible now, but whatever our differences are, the Messiah will straighten them out.
ILL Frogs…
During a service, a pastor asked the children to come to the front of the church before going to children’s church. So when the children arrived, he said, "Now boys and girls, I’m going to say a word, and when I say the word, I want you to say the first thing that pops into your heads." The pastor paused a moment for emphasis, and then said loudly, "FROG!" One little boy quickly shouted out "JESUS!" The pastor was somewhat surprised by this answer, and asked the little boy, "Son, why did you respond that way?. What is it about ’frog’ that makes you think of Jesus? Son, why did you say ’Jesus’ when I said ’frog’" The little boy replied, "Because I knew you didn’t call us up here to talk about frogs!"
Well, I’m not here to talk about frogs either.
I’m here to talk about Jesus.
APPLICATION:
For…
1. We are to “CELEBRATE JESUS” for He shatters the stereotypes between “us” and “them.”
Earlier, I mentioned that we focus on differences.
We make categories and we judge people according to those categories.
But there is a way to see ourselves through this judging.
It is in the realization that…
2. THE ANSWER TO THE DIFFERENCES IS JESUS.
The Samaritan woman was right.
The Messiah was going to straighten this all out.
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
“I who speak to you am he.”
The answer is not coming later.
The answer was right in front of her.
And the answer is right in front of us.
3. The answer to racism is Jesus.
Everybody was worried about Jesus.
The woman said that He couldn’t speak to her because she was a Samaritan.
The disciples said He couldn’t be speaking to her either.
This type of thing is not just done.
It is not right.
But Jesus said that it was.
And He was showing them that God was for all people, not just for people like themselves.
This racism thing was wrong.
There was no room for it.
ILL Tony Evans
I like how Tony Evans puts it:
Racism isn’t a bad habit; it’s not a mistake; it’s a sin. The answer is not sociology; it’s theology.
It is not our culture that is going to solve the problem.
It is not the media, not TV, the paper…
It is not the government that is going to get it right.
But there is an answer.
The answer is Jesus.
Jesus us the answer to our differences.
But that is not all…for…
4. The answer to relationships is Jesus.
This woman was looking for all the right answers in the wrong places.
She was looking for meaning in her relationships with other men.
But she was not finding any satisfaction.
What she really needed was not a relationship with another man, but with the One who had the power to help her and save her.
The answer to her need was Jesus.
You may think today that you have no place in God’s kingdom, but I want you to know, the answer is Jesus.
And it is still not all…for…
5. The answer to religion is Jesus.
When it comes to worship we can worry about all the wrong things.
We can worry about rituals and location.
I think the point here is that we’ve been divided by our differences long enough.
It doesn’t matter about style or schedule, program or procedures.
What does count is the heart.
It’s a heart matter.
Jesus offered living water.
And we know that when we come to the end of this story that the Living Water moved from God to a woman and then flooded the town.
6. The answer to all things that divide us is Jesus.
Whether it is race…
Whether it is a relationship…
Whether it is religion…
It doesn’t matter.
Jesus tells us to find unity in Him.
And we can do that today.
For if Jesus has come to save even the Samaritans and if Samaritans can be saved so can Romans, Greeks, the tax collector, the prostitute, the thief, and all those we wouldn’t normally associate because of their suspect morals and way of life.
You know what that means for us.
This might mean breaking with some prejudice that you and I might have.
How are you doing with reaching people you don’t like?
ILL
Ted Stallard was turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Slow. Often times he would simply sit in class and stare off into space, unresponsive, which was an irritation to his teacher. Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen as she placed big red X’s beside his many wrong answers.
If only she had studied Ted’s school records more carefully. They read:
1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation.
2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home.
3rd grade: Ted is good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.
4th grade: Ted is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest whatsoever.
Christmas arrived. The children piled elaborately wrapped gifts on their teacher’s desk. Ted brought one too. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch Tape.
Miss Thompson opened each gift, as the children crowded around to watch. Out of Ted’s package fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half of the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The children began to snicker. But she silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist, and letting them smell it. She put the bracelet on too. At day’s end, after the other children had left, Ted came by the teacher’s desk and said, "Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother. And the bracelet looks real pretty on you. I’m glad you like my presents." He left.
Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her and to change her attitude. The next day, the children were greeted by a reformed teacher -- one committed to loving each of them. Especially the slow ones. Especially Ted. Surprisingly—or maybe, not surprisingly, Ted began to show great improvement. He actually caught up with most of the students and even passed a few. Graduation came and went. Miss Thompson heard nothing from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received this note:
Dear Miss Thompson: I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class. Love, Ted
Four years later, another note arrived: Dear Miss Thompson: They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it. Love, Ted
And four years later: Dear Miss Thompson: As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year. Love, Ted
Miss Thompson attended that wedding, and sat where Ted’s mother would have sat. The compassion she had shown that young man entitled her to that privilege.
At first, Miss Thompson had little compassion for Ted and people like him.
Who are the Teds in your life?
Those you find hard to love.
Those who may not dress very nicely and who are a somewhat slow.
Those who may be struggling with life.
Those who may call you when they are drunk and that you cannot get off the phone.
Those who are living in sin and reject your pleas to repent.
Those who are struggling with sickness, who need your help but are unwilling to receive it.
Those who are rough and critical.
Those who are overbearing or inflexible.
The answer to the differences is Jesus.
You see, we have the opportunity to be Jesus to one another.
Are you going to be?
BENEDICTION:
Let Jesus unite us…the Lord is giving a unique opportunity to partner with other church families like Mt. Ararat…He is allowing us to draw together to show us that race and religion is not the issue…that there is an answer to the differences…it is Jesus; so…
Let Jesus be in you…let Him live through you, let Him love you in spite of your sin, and find Him saying within you, “Go and sin no more;” and finally…
Be Jesus…the only Jesus some people might see…is you, so don’t hold back, reach out, touch, be involved, make a difference…let the living water flow!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
