Introduction
Thomas Edison (inventor of the light bulb) said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Today we are with Jesus’ disciples when they miss an incredible opportunity. Not dressed in overalls, but as the much despised Samaritans. John MacArthur calls Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well a “preview of his plan for global evangelism.” Pretty important – and those closest to the Lord totally miss it. They are not the first.
A young clerk found that the hardware store where he worked had thousands of items that were obsolete or seldom bought. He convinced the owner to let him have a ten cent sale. It was a fabulous success, but when the clerk asked for capital for a new store that would sell all items for a nickel or dime, the boss said, “The plan will never work; you can’t find enough items to sell for 5 or 10 cents.” So Frank Woolworth took out a loan for $300 and made millions with his five and dime stores.
In 1878, an internal memo at Western Union announced: “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.
After the invention of the transistor in 1947, several US electronics companies rejected the idea of a portable radio, insisting that no one would carry a radio around.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment, 1977.
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” Fred Smith received a ‘C’ from a Yale Professor on his paper proposing an overnight delivery service (which became Federal Express).
“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” (Workers said to Edwin Drake when he tried to enlist them in his project to drill for oil in 1859.)
Google stock debuted for about $100 in 2004. Today it trades for $478. Gold was at $250 in 2000; today, about $750.
And Charles Duell, of the US Office of Patents in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
Some may be urban legends, but missed opportunities are common. The word “opportunity” apparently comes from the Latin phrase, ob portu. Before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the highest tides before entering the port. Thus the ship was ob portu, off port, captain and crew ready for a chance to make it. An ob portu was a ship ready to come in when the tide changed. An opportunity is a chance to make it.
John 4 can be divided into a drama in three “acts,” each with a different main character. Act 1 focuses on Jesus. As we studied two weeks ago, verses 1-15 show that 1) Jesus defines our thirst (pointing out that God is the one our souls long for); 2) Jesus accentuates our thirst (offering, “life-giving water”); 3) Jesus satisfies our thirst (reminding us that worldly water leaks through souls like a sieve); and then, 4) Jesus transforms our thirst (allowing us to be a source of refreshment to others).
Act 2 spotlights the woman at the well. She is confronted with her sin; she is called to true worship; she confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, as God’s solution for her dry soul.
Today, Act 3 highlights the disciples and their missed opportunities. Look at the end result (the conversion of the Samaritans) in verses 39-42: “[read text].” Jesus is training “a few good men” to establish and expand his kingdom after his resurrection and ascension. We would expect these men – guys willing to leave all and follow him – we expect them to be ready evangelists. Yet a woman of ill repute establishes a beachhead for the Gospel in Samaria.
Immediately we see that you need not be a pastor or professional for effective ministry in Jesus’ kingdom. She was neither educated nor sophisticated, and her presentation was neither refined nor polished. She simply had the heart of an evangelist: she was 1) converted, 2) willing, 3) caring, 4) risk taking. As a result, she could not be stopped and many believed in him because of her testimony.
Now clearly, following Jesus requires that we strive to improve our evangelism techniques, to become more biblical and more effective. But when our quest for a better method stifles our enthusiastic testimony for Jesus, we have lost our way. We miss opportunities God places before us.
Before we consider the details, let me make an observation: sometimes evangelism is taught in such a way as to motivate through guilt. We feel (or are told): “If this woman had not witnessed, the Samaritans would have remained lost in sin and died and gone to hell. So you best get busy, get a handful of tracts, and get knocking on doors.” I do not think that is correct. Everything in this chapter speaks of God’s sovereign grace in conversion. Let’s compare the Jews and Samaritans:
• The Jews were educated in the things of God while the Samaritans were ignorant of much of the Bible – yet the Samaritans believed en masse.
• The Jews saw Jesus perform scores of miracles; the Samaritans saw none.
• The Jews heard months of sermons; the Samaritans heard him speak for only a few days.
• The Jews were the ones from whom salvation came; the Samaritans worshipped what they did not know.
The Jews had every advantage – if salvation were, ultimately, a matter of the right method or the right words or the right program. It is not. As J. C. Ryle observed: “If ever there was clear proof that the grace of the Holy Spirit is the chief thing needed in order to procure the conversion of souls, we have it in these verses.”
The conclusion today is not to get busy lest people end up in hell. Instead, God offers you the opportunity to expand his kingdom – and such a privilege should not squandered.
When Daniel was about six and had just learned multi-digit addition, he watched Helen and me work on our taxes. I said, “Son, would you like to help, since you are so good at addition?” Of course I had already knew the answers – I was not going to present to the IRS as my excuse that my six-year old son added the numbers wrong. And his first two attempts were incorrect. But each time I asked him to check his answer and eventually he got the same answer twice (and I knew it was correct) and he watched as I wrote in his number. Daniel was thrilled to help in the work of his father.
Evangelism is God’s offer to thrill his people with the joy of helping our Father in heaven. With that in mind, observe, please, the how the disciples missed opportunities, so that God may give us grace to seize each moment for his kingdom.
1. Because Jesus is the Savior, We Must Be Alert to People’s Needs (John 4.27-30)
By this point in John’s account (through almost four chapters) we know that Jesus is God’s appointed Savior. The Samaritans too will see it and the disciples ought to. Yet if they do, their knowledge is completely defaced by their prejudice.
We cannot be sure, but imagine with me what might have been the situation earlier in the day. The disciples leave Jesus, weary as he was from the journey, at the well. He must have watched them as they walked toward Sychar to purchase food. Surely they passed the same woman who is now talking with Jesus, as she went to the well. Maybe they even commented on her being alone, on her low social standing. We are told her what happens when they return. They marvel that Jesus is talking with a woman. Why?
Because the disciples saw (in this woman) a social problem. Certain Jewish rabbis taught that a man should not speak with a woman in the street, even with his own wife. To do so wasted time better spent discussing Torah. Waste enough and one might be damned. Additionally, Jews did not associate with Samaritans, a despised race, a people who compromised the faith by intermarriage.
So instead of seeing a potential recipient of grace, the disciples see a problem who should just go away. Because they did not appreciate Jesus as the Savior of the world, they were not alert to her needs. They did not ask her: “What do you seek?” nor him, “Why are you talking with her?” They simply marvel that Jesus would waste time and energy with this.
Jesus does that which is marvelous in our eyes. He sees the woman’s need; he cares for her soul; he compassionately confronts her problems. How does he do this?
1) By being a friend of sinners
2) By asking questions to involve and interest her
3) By offering her something which she needs
4) By stressing the good part of the good news
5) By offering himself as the solution to her dry soul.
Jesus does all this because he is alert to her need: forgiveness and new life. He sees a lost soul.
How might social problems distract us from seeing opportunities to evangelize, just as they did the disciples?
One way it has happened in our country is from racial division. In a way similar to the racism Jews had toward Samaritans, the Christian church in America has a history of racism. Some light-skinned people who claim to be followers of Jesus have seen darker-skinned races as problems rather than people for whom Christ died. We run a risk like that here, don’t we, since we worship in an area that is predominantly black? Certainly people of different races are welcome to attend, but can we say that we are especially alert to the unique needs of a different culture? Would we be willing to change in areas of preference to help people meet Jesus?
Or maybe even more relevant, do we so marvel that God would save people through ministry that is less than doctrinally perfect, that we have failed to see the needs around us? The disciples were marveling and missed a ministry opportunity. But Jesus is the Savior of the World, so we must be alert to people’s needs.
2. Because Jesus is the Savior, We Must Be Attentive to His Work (John 4.31-34)
It is of tremendous encouragement that Jesus, weary as he was, delighted to save a lost soul. St. Cyril, a bishop around 400 AD, wrote: “The Savior all but says that if they knew that the conversion of the Samaritans was at the doors, they would have persuaded Him to cling to that as a delicacy rather than to nourish the flesh. From this again we learn how great is the love of God toward men: for he considers the return of the lost unto salvation as both meat and treat.”
Of course Jesus is not saying that a faithful evangelist or preacher need never have dinner. Rather, doing God’s will and finishing God’s work is so satisfying and such a great joy, that it takes priority.
You have had the same experience. You were painting an important project and before you knew it, the dinner hour had passed. You were searching the web for a favorite song and completely missed lunch. You were so focused on preparing for guests that you skipped a meal. That is what Jesus is telling the disciples. He who was so weary when they left him is now energetic and excited – “Who brought him food?”
What wonderful lessons we have here! First the positive: Jesus shows us the joy of doing God’s work with 1) diligence, 2) delight, and 3) perseverance. But there is also a negative lesson – for we too have been distracted from God’s work by obsessing over that which is of secondary importance.
Charles Spurgeon was concerned about this for his congregation: “Some of you good people, who do nothing except go to public meetings, and Bible readings, and prophetic conferences, and other forms of spiritual dissipation, would be a good deal better Christians if you would look after the poor and needy around you. If you would just tuck up your sleeves for work, and go and tell the Gospel to dying men, you would find your spiritual health mightily restored, for very much of the sickness of Christians comes through their having nothing to do. All feeding and no expending makes men spiritual dyspeptics. Be idle, with no one to care for, no sinner to pray for, no backslider to lead back to the cross, no trembler to encourage, no little child to tell of a Savior, no grey-headed man to enlighten in the things of God, no object, in fact, to live for; and who wonders if you begin to groan, and to murmur, and to look within, until you are ready to die of despair. Let us have practical Christianity.”
Kennedy Smartt came to my seminary to teach an evangelism class. He began by saying, “I walked from one end to the other of a campus dedicated to training pastors, and no one spoke to me about Jesus.” We were busy – thinking about getting to class and the grade we made on the test and the problems we had at home. And we were not attentive to the work of the Savior.
3. Because Jesus is the Savior, We Must Be Aware of Our Opportunities (John 4.35-38)
Note 4 truths about the work of evangelism:
1) It is a necessary work. God is sovereign, but he has ordained that saving souls will be done through his people.
2) It is a profitable work. Both the sower and the reaper rejoice. You never lose when you serve. John Piper: “When we give ourselves to the work of personal evangelism and world missions, God pours more life into our souls…. The more you share God the more you savor God.”
3) It is a diverse work. Not everyone always reaps. There is a time for sowing and there are people more gifted for that work. They will no lose out, for the reward is the same. But never doubt that there is work for you whatever your gifts and calling.
4) It is an important work. Evangelism is not a peripheral activity, as if God gave his people some insignificant duty to fill their time. Jesus came to save sinners – and witnessing to his work is essential to salvation. God empowers and equips us to do that which is of first importance in bringing people into the joy of knowing his favor.
Let us lift up our eyes and see the opportunities God places before us.
4. Conclusion
Max Lucado tells this parable (“The Cave People,” from The Woodcutter’s Wisdom and Other Favorite Stories): Long ago a tribe lived in a dark, cold cavern. These cave dwellers huddled together and cried against the chill loud and long. It was all they did. It was all they knew to do. The sounds in the cave were mournful, but the people didn’t know it, for they had never known joy. The spirit in the cave was death, but the people didn’t know it, for they had never known life.
One day, a voice said: “I have heard your cries. I have felt your chill and seen your darkness. I have come to help.”
The cave people grew quiet. This was a new voice. Hope sounded strange: “How do we know you come to help?”
“Trust me,” he answered. “I have what you need.”
Through the darkness the cave people saw him stacking something. “What are you doing?” one cried, nervous. “What are you making?” one shouted even louder.
No response. "Tell us!" demanded a third.
The visitor spoke: “I have what you need,” and he lit the wood. Flames erupted and light filled the cavern.
The cave people turned away in fear. “Put it out!” they cried. “It hurts to see it.”
“Light always hurts before it helps. Step closer. The pain will soon pass.”
“No!” declared a voice. “Nor I,” agreed a second. “Only a fool would risk exposing his eyes to such light.”
The stranger asked: “Would you prefer the darkness and cold? Don’t consult your fears. Take a step of faith.”
For a long time no one spoke. The people hovered in groups covering their eyes. The fire builder stood next to the fire. “It’s warm here,” he invited.
“He’s right,” a voice behind him spoke: “It is warmer.” As she moved toward the fire she added: “I can open my eyes now; I can see.”
“Come closer,” invited the fire builder.
She stepped into the ring of light. “It’s so warm! Come, everyone! Feel the warmth!”
“Silence, woman!” cried a cave dweller. “Dare you lead us into your folly? Leave us and take your light with you.”
She turned to the stranger. “Why won’t they come?”
“They choose the chill, for though it’s cold and dark, it’s what they know. They’d rather be cold than change.”
The now-warm woman stood silent. Looking first at the dark, then at the man.
“Will you leave the fire?” he asked.
She paused, then answered, “I cannot. I cannot bear the cold. But nor can I bear the thought of my people in darkness.”
“You don’t have to,” he responded, reaching into the fire and removing a stick. “Carry this to your people. Tell them the light is here, and the light is warm. Tell them the light is for all who desire it.” And so she took the small flame and stepped into the shadows.
Have you felt the warmth of God’s presence and power in the midst of God’s people? Now let us take the flame and witness to the wonder of the Savior of the World. Amen.
