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The Message for Aug 2, 2015 Radical 4
The Gospel Demands Radical Urgency
John 4:7-42
Rob Miller, Pastor
We continue our series on Radical based on David Platt’s book by the same title. Today we consider the Gospel’s call for Radical Urgency…
Prayer
The dictionary defines urgency as - a pressing need, swift action, insistence, immediate, no time to waste… but that is not how our culture tends to define urgency. We differentiate normal from urgent on our cell phones like this -- press 1 for normal delivery and press 2 for urgent delivery. But that’s not the kind of radical urgency we are talking about here today.
Consider the story David Platt tells about a man in India who was beaten and put in prison for sharing the Gospel (handout). When asked if it was worth it, he wrote:
“In this world; nothing gives me happiness except for my service to Christ. While I live, I must serve him. After death, I shall have heaven forever, but only for a short time am I a servant here, so I must not waste the opportunity. Yes it is worth it.”
Question: What is most urgent in our lives? What is the most important thing that we need to do while we are on this earth?
Answer: The most important thing we need to do is expand the kingdom of God – that is – share God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in this hurting and hostile world… making disciples is the result of that kingdom work…
That’s exactly what we find happening in our Gospel reading for today.
(Read John 4:7-42)
Jesus and his disciples are heading north from Judea to Galilee – 70 miles. To get there they had to go through Samaria. They didn’t have to… They could have taken a different route. Any respectable Jewish person would have avoided Samaria -- bypassing that entire area. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Samaritans were seen as ½ breeds, 2nd class citizens, or worse. So it wasn’t like Jesus had to go through Samaria but he did…
By doing so Jesus shows a radical disregard for the opinions and prejudices of the culture. That’s a good thing. That’s good news for every one especially the despised and rejected.
Jesus was doing God’s kingdom work wherever he went. He lived every day to right the wrongs… He lived every day to offer a different way of looking at life… a different way of living life… He came to help the lost get found and found not get lost again.
In this reading from Matthew we see that Jesus has a radical urgency for the lost that trumps all cultural and religious traditions. That’s why Matthew tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria. He didn’t do the normal thing. He did the radical thing So let’s take a look at this story in more detail.
We are told that Jesus was tired from his journey. This shows his humanity. The disciples had gone into town to buy some food. Jesus waited by the well outside of town.
Jesus was fully human and fully God. He must have known this woman would be coming to this well. So maybe Jesus sent his disciples to fetch some food in town, not so much because he was hungry, but so they wouldn’t interfere with the ministry that was about to take place with this Samaritan woman.
Have you ever experienced that? Ever try speaking to someone about something important and someone else, who really isn’t part of the conversation, and who really doesn’t understand what’s going on, tries to chime in and they end up making things worse?
Maybe Jesus was trying to avoid that. So here comes this Samaritan woman to the well. Jesus speaks to her. He catches her off guard. Nobody speaks to this woman. A man did not talk with a woman in public… A Jewish man would certainly not be caught dead speaking to a ½ breed Samaritan woman anywhere. It just didn’t happen.
But Jesus speaks to her… He treats her like a human being… and not only that but Jesus knew everything about her -- as she was about to find out.
She comes to the well hoping to avoid people. Her head down, full of shame and guilt. There was a well in town but she came out to this well… around noon… when nobody else would be there. You came to the well early in morning or late in afternoon during the cool of the day – not when it’s blazing hot out.
She arrives and Jesus is there waiting. He asks her for a drink of water. She has what he needs (physical water) and he has what she needs (spiritual water). “What?!?!” She says, “You don’t have a cup and you can’t use my cup that would make you unclean. And by the way you aren’t supposed to be talking to me. That’s the rule…”
Jesus says forget all that. There’s an urgency here because today is the day of salvation for this woman. This is the day her life will be changed for good.
Jesus says to her – “If you knew the gift of God (Jesus was talking about himself here. He is God’s gift to the world.) If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, he would give you living water and you would never be thirsty again.” All she can think about is physical water – “I don’t want to keep coming out here to the well… give me some of that water that you have…”
Her problem was she was parched with sin - full of guilt and shame. We don’t have all the details of those sins. Five husbands -- maybe they all died or divorced her - regardless of the details she was “a has been.” She needs the water of forgiveness and acceptance through a relationship with Jesus. There were things she had done that she wanted nobody to know about and she was going to keep it that way. So is so unworthy because that’s what people have been telling her. She is despised and reject by society.
Have you ever felt that way? Are there not sins you have that nobody knows about and you plan to keep it that way. Well guess what…. Jesus knows all about your sins and he offers you the water of forgiveness and acceptance right here right now at this well call First Lutheran Church.
The Pharisees had a prayer they prayed in worship every week and it went like this: “Thank God that I am not a Sinner, a Samaritan, a Gentile, or a Woman.” That was the mindset of the “religious” in those days. We don’t; pray that way. We pray thank you God for your love, and grace, and mercy, and forgiveness at work in and through me. Use me for your kingdom work today.
Jesus - talking with this Samaritan woman was - scandalous. And his disciples walked right into that scandalous situation…
In this reading we see that Jesus’ desire to reach the lost trumps all of our traditions. Did you know that traditions can sometimes get in the way of ministry? Jesus would not allow anything to get in the way of his God given mission to reach the lost and redeem the whole world. Whatever it takes – even dying on a cross.
Well anyway… the disciples come back and they see what’s happening. I picture Peter putting his arm out to stop the rest… look… “He’s talking to a woman?!?” They have no idea what Jesus said to the woman. She runs off leaving her water jar – leaving her life source and runs into town. She doesn’t need her water pot anymore. Jesus is now her life source.
This nobody, this “has been,” this sinner with no purpose in life met Jesus one day, has a conversation with him, then leaves her water jar and begins a public ministry in his name.
How many of us can relate to that?
I can. It was the summer of 1985. I can tell you the car I was driving, the intersection where it happened. It was like a voice from the back seat – a voice in my head. I heard Jesus say, “Rob, I want you to become a parish pastor doing my kingdom work in the world.” That’s the day my life changed, after a conversation with Jesus.
I sensed an urgency to go and serve Jesus as a parish pastor… This urgency doesn’t come from WHAT we know; it comes from WHO we know.
So this woman goes into town and she says to anyone who would listen to her, “Come! You’ve got to meet this guy!” Her urgency is obvious, and she brings a whole crowd of people with her to meet Jesus and their lives are changed for good too. She brings 30 some people. Imagine bringing 30 some people here to worship???
Meanwhile; back at the well the disciples try to get Jesus to eat something, but he says, “I have food that you don’t know about.” He continues, “My food is to do the will of God who sent me…”
Teaching moment: Jesus is saying that he is fed as he does the will of God. That’s what sustains him and satisfies him, and strengthens him, and nourishes him.
Now here’s the thing: Doing God’s kingdom work feeds us too. Doing God’s will and we are sustained, satisfied, strengthened, and nourished… My greatest satisfaction is when somebody “gets it.” When a life is changed for good because of Jesus not because of me but him who sent me…
Now while all of this was going on at the well with Jesus and his disciples, the Samaritan woman was in town and telling everybody what had happened. She basically says, “I’ve found what we’ve been looking for all our lives.” She is a leader in the kingdom work. Jesus can and will use anyone for his mission in the world.
Now this woman probably didn’t have the best reputation. She couldn’t keep a husband and she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband, but her bad reputation didn’t stop her from telling others about Jesus. You see it wasn’t about her it was about Jesus. She gets a crowd to follow her to meet Jesus. I imagine that as this crowd of people approached Jesus and his disciples, he was in the process of saying, “Don’t say that you can kick back and take it easy because you have 4 months until the harvest. Take a look around. The harvest is already here.” And there comes 30 some people.
Jesus is trying to help them see what is happening all around them. “Look the harvest is here. You’ve got to see with the eyes of the Gospel.”
When it comes to the kingdom work, Jesus tells the disciples that sometimes you reap what you haven’t worked for, other times you work and work and work, and someone else reaps the harvest that you’ve sown. It doesn’t matter! The glory isn’t supposed to be ours anyway – it’s God’s.
Regardless; whether we’re sowing or reaping, it should be done with radical urgency!
Look around the harvest is ready… are you? Amen