Going to the Well

John 4:5-42New International Version (NIV)

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 noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

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.)

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 livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them 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.”

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.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, 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 the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Last Tuesday Cheyanne had her bible study group which meant that I had to get the kids to bed by myself.  Typically, when only one of us is around bedtime is actually easier than when we are both around.  Typically.  Griffin has these elf pajamas from Christmas that he absolutely loves wearing even though they are getting pretty snug and only reach about 3/4 of the way down his legs and arms.  On Tuesday he realized they were clean and wanted to wear them to bed.  Of course, he tells me this after we are all upstairs.  Anyway, I do the loving thing and head for the stairs.  At about the second to last step my foot misses the step.  I am holding onto the handrail but of course it’s the rail with the decorative carvings which tears some skin off my little finger.  I am laying there in pain and as I start to get up, I here this sweet, tender voice say, “Dad, did you fall?”  Sensing the sincerity in Griffin’s voice I politely said “yes” and started walking towards the basket of clothing.  About two steps later I hear this, “he-he.”  It takes me several more steps to process this and as I reach into the basket to grab those stinkin’ elf pajamas, I came to the conclusion that Griffin didn’t deserve them after laughing at me like that.  Of course, this caused a huge blowup once I got upstairs without the pajamas.  I went to bed with skin missing from my finger, a sore back and damaged pride while Griffin went to bed upset.

My first thought was that this will be a good chance to teach Griffin not to enjoy the calamity of others.  I thought it was a teachable moment but in actuality it was my pride that refused to get those stinking pajamas.  At first, I thought I did the right thing capitalizing on a teachable moment but the more and more I thought about it I realized I made a big mistake.  The more I thought about it, the more and more this passage from John hit me in the face like a train.  Jesus would have gotten those stupid pajamas.  Jesus carried that cross after getting whipped within inches of his life.  I know I am not Jesus but I should have been better in that moment.  I thought I was using it as a teachable moment but I cannot help to think about the teaching I could have done in the moment after getting those pajamas.  I know I am not perfect but I am called to be Christ-like.  Imagine if Christ would have looked at that cross after the events of that day and said “naw, you know what, these people spit on me.  They laughed at me and they want me to die and they have no appreciation for what I am doing for them.”  Imagine for a moment, if Christ would have looked at that cross like I looked at those pajamas.  I worry I taught Griffin more of an “eye for an eye” rather than Christ came into the world to save it not to condemn it.  In that moment, staring at the woman at the well, I rejected her.  In contrast, Christ loved her.  Something so simple as getting pajamas, or in the context of our scripture for this morning, drawing water from the well and I did not act upon the teachings of Christ.  I know it’s a little bit of stretch comparing pajamas to Christ’s conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well but it’s not, really.  This is the epitome of Christ’s teaching and I failed in that moment.  If I fail in that moment with my own flesh and blood, how might I react with a similar situation with someone else?  In that moment, my pride won and my faith lost.  I am called to be a servant and I did not serve.  

I may be a little critical of myself in this example but it really showed me a lot.  In combination with prayer and scripture, I believe God uses moments like the one I shared with you as teachable moments.  The more we pay attention to the world around us within the context of our faith, the more and more we see these moments.  Jesus not only shared his faith with that Samaritan woman that day but he stayed with the people of that village for two more days proving his point.  In today’s world, we are still surrounded by Samaritans.  We are surrounded by people who worship what they do not know.  People who perhaps know that the Messiah is coming but we failed to show them the importance of a relationship with Christ.  Jesus had a conversation with the woman.  He showed her who the Messiah was through his word and deed.  He dwelled among them to continue to show them who He was and in combination with the testimony of the woman, together they showed an entire village who Christ really was and that He is the savior of the world.  That is the exact power of your testimony.  In combination with Christ, we have the ability share the gospel in a way that attracts and invites all to go the the well and have that conversation with Jesus.

There is one detail, so small and minute that I looked past it the first several times reading this scripture.  My first thought was that it was something that the author could have and should have left out of the passage.  A detail that didn’t really mean anything to the story and its absence would not have changed the meaning.  That last statement may be true but the fact that it is included tells us a whole lot.  This little detail is found in verse 28, “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town...”  Leaving her water jar is the detail in which I speak of.  She came to the well only to get the water.  That was her sole purpose of that journey.  It was her mission when she left her home that fateful day.  The one thing she went to get and bring back with her, she left.  She left it there after having her conversation with the Messiah.  Why is this important?  Water is crucial to survival.  Thanks to indoor plumbing we no longer have to worry much about where our water comes from.  Yet, the most important, the most crucial need for survival was lost among a conversation with Christ.  So the question becomes what do you leave behind after having a conversation with Christ?  Within the context of what I have shared with you today, it is my pride that I must leave behind.  I used the excuse of a teachable moment as a disguise for my pride getting the best of me.  What you  leave at well may be something completely different but give it some thought.  Have you had a conversation with Christ lately that was so compelling that it caused you to leave something so crucial behind.  You see, she found something more crucial to her survival than water.  She found the living water that put everything else behind her.  Forever doesn’t begin when we die.  Forever begins today and it is reborn again tomorrow.  We have to start living forever in this very moment.  Leave whatever it is behind that is holding you back from sharing the amazing news of Christ’s love and start living out forever.... right. now.