February 24, 2008

Drink the Water of Life

by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson

John 4:7-26

Opening Illustration – Emma’s Party – Can we outdo ourselves next year?

For many people life is the pursuit of temporary fixes – we buy or acquire things that will satisfy us for a while. But in a short time we’ll be looking for more.

This passage suggests that many of the things we seek are just band-aids that don’t address our deeper issues.

To understand this passage, I want show again how John contrasts normal life with the life of someone who believes in Jesus. Slide

John contrasts these two ways of living again with the analogy of “living water”. He wants to show his readers that believing in Jesus fulfills a person in ways that most things in life cannot.

Uses story of an encounter between Samaritan woman and Jesus as a way to illustrate his point.

Woman is Samaritan – hated by Jews, Samaritans hate Jews. Half-breeds, temple, Torah. They both shared expectation of someone who would save them.

Jesus comes to a historical well at noon. Woman comes to draw water for her home. Jesus asks her for a drink. Bad manners.

Woman chides him for not knowing better. He says she ought to be asking him for water. His water keeps people from being thirsty forever. She asks him for that water.

Jesus asks her to bring her husband. She says she’s not married. Jesus mentions she’s been married five times and is now living with someone else.

Woman realizes Jesus is divinely sent. Refers to the debate over whose temple is greater.

Jesus tells her the Jerusalem temple is greater, but that the debate is now pointless because temple worship is now being replaced by spiritual worship. He has replaced the temple.

Woman goes back to her neighbors and tells them about this encounter. Whole town of Samaritans come to believe in Jesus and asks him to stay a few days, which he does.

Very few of us consider ourselves as sinful as this woman was considered. But this passage some important things about the Christian life.

First, Never consider yourself or someone else beyond saving. This parable is about Jesus working with the person considered to be the worst person in town.

As Christians we often think God is fed up with us. We go forward in life wondering whether or not God will even listen to us.

This passage reminds us that God see possibilities that we all overlook.

Never give in to the thought that you are beyond redemption. At your lowest point God seeks you out and invites you to know Jesus better.

It also shows that God is willing to do the work of the kingdom through people who are disreputable. Even if you think that’s you, God sees possibilities you cannot even imagine in yourself.

This woman just wanted to tell people what happened. She could have said to herself, “No one will ever listen me.” But people did.

Second, the Christian life satisfies the hunger people have for something good and beautiful. The satisfaction is lifelong.

Our consumer oriented society overwhelms us with the idea that we can buy our way to happiness. Even religion has been turned into a product to be marketed.

The problem is that anything society sells us only satisfies for a while. We have to keep on coming up with more stuff to sell, and we have to make the case that the new stuff is better than the old stuff.

Jesus reminds us that the Christian faith challenges such a limited view of human life. We don’t come to church and participate in the ministries here because we need to keep feeding an addiction.

We come here because we have been satisfied eternally and because the Christian life can only be lived in community with other Christians.

Final Illustration – Power outage reminded me how dependent we are on fossil fuels.

Christian life doesn’t focus on going from one fix to another. It embraces the biggest outcast in society and says, “God loves you. God affirms you. God wants to offer you something that will quench the thirst you have inside.”

Jesus won’t make all the bad stuff go away. He won’t make life perfect. But he lasts forever. Life in his kingdom never ends. And those who drink of him will never be thirsty again.