John 4: 1-42

Theme: Salvation

WHAT DOES JESUS HAVE TO DO WITH ME?

I found this really delightful story in the book Out of the Salt Shaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert (pages 40-43). Mrs. Pippert was part of a team that was invited to Stanford University to teach for a week on evangelism. She stayed in the dorm with the students and met a young woman named Lois. She invited Lois to come to a Bible study that she was leading.

Lois replied, "Ok, I’ll come. But the Bible won’t have anything relevant to say to me."

Well, you know how God works, He does some sneaky things from time to time. When they came to the study, Rebecca discovered that Lois did not live in the dorm but in an apartment with her boyfriend, Phil and this presented sort of an awkward problem. They were studying John 4, the Samaritan woman at the well– a woman who was living with a man without the benefit of marriage.

Rebecca was wondering how to handle this without being offensive. They were all taking part in reading the passage out loud. Lois and Phil sat close to her on her left. So, she called on Sally to read who was immediately to her right. Good plan, except, a woman only three seats away from Lois began to read. It seems that Sally had a twin sister who was sitting next to Rebecca. When it came time for Lois to read, she read, "Jesus said, to her, ‘You have well said, "I have no husband", for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." It was her first time to read the Bible. Rebecca said that her eyes grew as big as saucers. Lois then commented, "I must say, this is a bit more relevant than I had expected." And yet, Rebecca could tell by the look on her face, that Lois was moved by the reading.

The Word of God is powerful. It is a most relevant book! Far from being an old, dusty book that is concerned with yesterday’s myths and fictions, it hits us where we are in our modern lives. We read the Bible and we are confronted by Jesus, who knows us, who exposes our sins, and who draws us unto himself. We can see this when Jesus met the Samaritan woman.

Jesus had been in Judea, but the text says that he left and went to Galilee and he had to go through Samaria. You have heard me say this before, no one had to go through Samaria. Most Jews who were traveling to Galilee from Jerusalem would go east and cross the Jordan River to go around Samaria. The Samaritans were a hated people. The Jews rightly believed that the Samaritans had perverted the faith of Abraham. The Samaritans built their own Temple on Mt. Gerizim so that they could practice their corrupted faith. But, Jesus had to go through Samaria. He had a divine appointment with this woman at the well and with the people of the city of Sychar.

It was midday, high noon, sun burning down on that middle eastern plain. Yet this woman was there at an inappropriate time getting water from the well. You have to speculate that she was an outcast, a woman not welcomed in her society. I suspect that she led a lonely, loveless life. What a desperate situation to be in!

Jesus spoke to the woman. This was something that she did not expect. He was a righteous Jew, she was a sinful, Samaritan woman. Nevertheless, He asked her for a drink and He engaged her in conversation that would lead to a Gospel presentation. He told her about a well of living water, a strange concept it seems. But, she began to understand that He was not talking about a water well, but something that is deep in the soul.

Jesus knows our hearts better than we do. He continued to lead her out of her spiritual blindness so that she might come to Him by faith. "Go and tell your husband." And she said that she had no husband, answering only half truthfully. "No, you have had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband." Jesus laid open her soul, there was no way to hide. Her sin and her loneliness and hurt had been exposed – just as would happen two thousand years later to Lois when she was confronted by Jesus.

In the days that followed, Rebecca had a chance to talk to Lois – and how much like the Samaritan woman she was! She had a deep need to be loved. Lois told Rebecca that what drew her to Phil in the first place was a desperate need to be loved. Yet, she felt that she had an unquenchable thirst that could not be satisfied.

Rebecca told her that romantic love can be real and deep but it cannot fulfil the deep desire that she has. Her boyfriend could not fill her life with meaning and purpose. No human can.

Lois’s reaction was, "So, it’s a sick joke, right? Why do we carry such a hunger when it can never be met? . . Can this immense wish to be loved ever be gratified?’

What a question! All of us have felt this tension. We have all sought to be loved and cared for. We have all longed for a kind of meaning and purpose that makes us secure. Can anyone love us so much that we are validated and our lives are confirmed with purpose?

The woman at the well had the same questions. Perhaps she stopped asking them a long time ago. Her life had been a cruel joke too. But, this man Jesus had burned into her soul and uncovered all of her sin and hurt. Jesus revealed to her that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. I think it all suddenly made sense to her. She ran back into town and told the men there, "Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done. Is this not the Messiah?" John says that the men came out and invited Jesus into town and he taught them for two days. The men later told the woman, we believe now, not just because you told us, but like you, we believe this is the One who is the Savior of the world. For all of them, it was like coming home.

When Jesus confronts us in our sin, He lays open our soul so that there are no secrets between us and Him. He then offers to wash us clean and take away our sin, how can we refuse? Could we say no to Jesus? The men of the city didn’t. The woman at the well did not. And neither did Lois.

After some talk, Rebecca asked her if she would like to come home, would she like to come to Christ? Lois said yes, she would. She asked what do I have to bring to this equation? All you can do is come by faith and trust in Christ. Then she asked her if there was anything that would prevent Christ from ruling in her heart? Lois said no. But what about Phil? Rebecca explained that becoming a Christian is not merely fire insurance. It is a living relationship with God that affects every aspect of our lives, including our sexuality.

Through tears, Lois prayed for Jesus to save her. And she became a follower of Jesus that day. She told Rebecca that she had a problem. She had to go and move out from Phil. I have no place to go, it is too late to get a dorm room. I will have to pay rent at two places for this month. So they prayed again and then Lois left to implement her new life in Christ.

That evening, several of the young women were in the hall talking with Rebecca about the Bible lessons that she had been teaching. She said they heard a noise and looked up and saw Lois walking down the hall, several suitcases under her arms and tears streaming down her cheeks. Rebecca Pippert said she saw in Lois a graphic picture of what it means to become a Christian.

They asked her why she had left home. She answered, "Oh, no, I haven’t left home. I finally found my home. You see, today I became a Christian." It was as if she said, "Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done, is this not the Messiah?’ Several of the young women soon became Christians. One, who thought she was a Christian, rejected Christ because she wanted no part of it if it demanded total commitment. The next day she was able to get a dorm room, a place to live. Phil was mad about her conversion but three months later, he too became a Christian. She gave her simple testimony and they believed that "this One is the Savior of the world."

What does Jesus have to do with me, you might say? John said, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." What Jesus has to do with you? Everything that gives life meaning and purpose. Won’t you too come home to Christ?