The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 8: The Woman at the Well

Episode Date: May 30, 2021

The fake you is doing just fine. But the real Jesus died on a real cross for the real you. Visit coe22.com/john to download the journal, find series resources and more.

All right, church, grab your Bible. It's John chapter 4. I don't have time for an introduction. We've got a lot to do. Ready, go. Fast. Here we go. John chapter 4, verse 1.

Now, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples. You know why Jesus didn't baptize? Because he just wanted to remove himself from the comparison trap like we talked about last week. Because it does not matter who baptizes you. It matters in whose name you are baptized. Amen? And he left Judea, which is down here, and he departed for Galilee, which is up there.

Verse four. And he had to pass through Samaria, which is in the middle of the two. Underline the words had to. Here's the problem with this verse, verse four. It says he had to pass through Samaria. No, he didn't had to. Because Jews all the time would go around Samaria. It was customary to go around Samaria. There was a tension between the Jewish people and the Samaritans, and they hated one another. And it was a six-day journey to go around Samaria, and it was a three-day journey to go through Samaria, and the majority of the Jewish people went around, didn't go through. You got a serious hate-some people to add three days walking to your journey. Now, what was going on between the Jews and the Samaritans, it was a lot.

It was cultural. it was ethnic, it was religious, it was all of this kind of mixed into one, but the two groups of people hated one another. You see what happened is way back a thousand years before this or so, the Israelites were, they disobeyed God, so God removed his hand of protection off of Israel and he turned them over to the Babylonians. And Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians came in and they scooped up all the people and they took them to what's known as the Babylonian exile. But there was a remnant of people, a remnant of Israelites that still lived in the northern kingdom. And then while the Jews were in Babylonian captivity, some of the people that were left

behind, they began to intermarried. They married some people that believed differently than they did. So not only was it an ethnic thing, that was part of it, but it was primarily a religious thing. And then what they began to do is they took a little bit of his religion, the Yahweh worshiping, and they took a little bit of her religion, and they just mixed it all together. And then they came along and said, you know what, we're going to cut this whole section of the Bible out, and we're only going to believe the first five books of the Bible called the Pentateuch. And then that's called a cult. It was based on the truth at first, and then they began to twist it and mold it into what worked

for them. And then years later, Nehemiah shows up to rebuild Jerusalem, and this group of Jewish people that had intermarried with some other people, they come along and said, hey, can we help rebuild Jerusalem? And he goes, no way, because you've been unfaithful to God. And so there was a rift there was a rift there. And so then that group of people, the Samaritans said, well, forget you. We don't need Jerusalem.

We'll just create our own holy city. And so they just kind of started making up their own rules about where they would worship and stuff. And then you take that division and you multiply it by a few hundred years and you've got two groups of people that hate each other. A lot of it was religious, a lot of us cultural. And you may hear this phrase sometimes, which is a terrible phrase. A lot of times, I was listening to a bunch of preachers preach on this.

And they said that the Samaritans, they'd use this word, were half breeds, half Jews and not, and I'm just going to tell you that that word has no place in the church. Because there's no breed of people. There's a race called the human race, and every single person is an image bearer of God, and every single person is fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in their mother's womb. And the reason you got here, I don't care where your mom's from, I don't care where your dad is from, what they look like. It don't matter.

God put them together to make you for his purpose. Amen? Amen. So there's this serious division going on here. But the reason that Jesus had to pass through Samaria is not because geographically he had to, because they had like $2.95 went right around it. He could have gone the long way. But he had to because he had a divine appointment with an image bearer of God. He had a divine appointment with this woman. He's going to meet at the well.

And culture told him not to, and ethnicity told him not to, and religion told him not to. but his father told him he had to. And so he did what his father told him to do. In fact, in a few weeks we're going to hear these verses John 519. It says, so Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise.

He had to pass through Samaria. So let me ask you this. What do you have to do? I'm not saying you're actually going to do it, But what's the thing that you know that God is telling you to do? Like every time we get in here and we talk about forgiveness, you know God's telling you to pick up the phone and begin the steps of reconciliation. Or every time we talk about going on a mission trip,

you know that's what God is calling you to do, but you just kind of, you just put it off and put it off and put it off. What is he calling you to do? You know he's calling you to share the gospel with your boss or with your friend or with your neighbor or your roommate or whatever it is. or you know God is calling you to live this radically generous lifestyle, and yet you haven't done it yet. I'm just going to tell you. God calls us to do a thing, and as we make those steps towards that thing, there will always be an exit ramp that says go around Samaria.

And then there's that narrow way of a step of obedience that God has said, come on, keep coming this way. and so Jesus had to go to Samaria. And so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. And Jacob's well was there. We'll come back to the significance of that well. And so Jesus was wearied as he was from his journey, sitting beside the well.

It was about the sixth hour. Here's what John wants you to know, that Jesus is fully God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. and that Jesus is fully man, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And I don't know what you think about

when you think about Jesus, but most of the images that we have been given of Jesus are very, very unhelpful. I just Googled Jesus, and the first image that came up is the most unhelpful image I can think of. It's like a 16-year-old Swedish kid, blonde hair, mega-skiny with like doing the Pledge of Allegiance.

You know what I'm talking about? That picture with the halo, just hello, that kind of guy. I don't know who that is, but we're talking about a Jewish rabbi, you understand? And he's grimy, and he's tired, and he's exhausted, and he's huffing, and he's puffing, and he just needs a place to sit. And of all of the places that he is going to sit, he is going to sit in a community he was told he shouldn't go to, and he's about to talk to this lady that everybody tells him he's not supposed to talk to. Let me tell you why this is really, really good news. because the real Jesus Christ

came and lived a real life and died on a real cross for the real you and if Jesus in the flesh walked in this place right now then he would be willing to sit down right next to you because what he's going to do here he's going to sit with the worst of the worst

and I don't know if you ever think about this but this is just true somebody in here one of you is the worst in the room it's just true somebody's got to be I have my suspicions on who it might be probably the guy preaching

if we're honest, but, and yet Jesus would come and sit right next to you. And it's super important. This is the sixth hour. That means it's about noontime. In verse 7. Now, if John Chapman had a soundtrack to it, this is where everything gets, everything changes. It says this, and a woman, and everybody will be like, ooh, a woman from Samaria, that's what you would say, came to draw water. Now, think about the last person that Jesus.

had a one-on-one conversation with. Remember two weeks ago? It was Nicodemus? These two people could not be more opposite. He came at night. She comes during the day. He's a man. She's a woman. He is a Pharisee, the teacher of Israel. This means he is highly respected. He's got lots of bling. He's got lots of notoriety. He's got lots of power. She's got nothing. She's a nobody from nowhere that's done nothing right in her life. And guess what? Jesus gives her the same audience that he gave to Nicodemus. You know why? because Jesus is for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with him. That's who he is. It's just who he is.

And so a woman from Samaria came to draw water. And Jesus said to her, give me a drink. Now, in the Greek, it's not as forceful as I just said it, but I've heard I need to work on my tone. So I'm working on that. It's more of like a, it's supposed to be real tender. Like, if you don't mind, could I maybe have a drink or something? That's kind of what he's saying. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

And the Samaritan woman said to him, how is it? that you a Jew ask for a drink from me, a woman in Samaria. Because she realizes, this is scandalous. This ain't supposed to happen. And she goes on and say, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Literally, in Greek, that phrase no dealings means mixed uses. In other words, she says it is culturally inappropriate for you to drink out of my bucket because we're not supposed to share from the same cup.

That's what she's saying. This is scandalous. And there's a lot going on here. First of all, the fact that she is there at 12 o'clock tells us a lot about her. You see, in the first century, it was the role of the children or the woman to go get water in the morning.

Right? There's all that desert. It's not like they've got running water. You've got to go to the well. You've got to get the water. Now, why is she showing up in the middle part of the day and the hottest part of the day? 12 o'clock is when she's showing up.

You see, we're about to run in here in Jacksonville and everywhere. We're about to run into June, July, August, right? or as we know it, the beast, the Antichrist, and the Dragon. That's what we're about to run into. So if you in Jacksonville see somebody walking their dog at noontime, what does that mean? They hate their dog and they want them to die because that's not when you walk it. You walk your dog early in the morning, why it's cool.

Well, here's the problem is that when she would go to the well early in the morning, all the other women from town were there, and it was like mean girls. And they would gossip about her, aka prayer request, and she's sick of being on the other end of everybody's prayer requests. and she says, I ain't coming no more. So she's probably an immoral woman, and she doesn't want to be around these people anymore because she's sick of the condemnation, so she shows up at 12.

Not only that, but we've already told you that Jews don't talk to Samaritans. Not only that, in the first century, men didn't talk to women like this. It was a divorceable offense for a single man to talk to a married woman. And then, not only that, in the Old Testament,

the well was a significant place. You see, in the Old Testament, Abraham's servant found his son Isaac's wife at a well. Jacob met his wife at a well. Moses met his wife at a well. And I know what some of you people are thinking, where's that well, pastor? That ain't this sermon, okay? But here's what Jesus does. Jesus does not mind breaking down religions or traditions to get to his people. He's going to bait through gender boundaries and cultural boundaries and ethnic boundaries

and religious boundaries and moral boundaries. to sit with this woman that everybody tells him he's not supposed to be talking to. Two years ago, it saturated right here. Pastor Brian Loretz, a friend of mine, he said this word. He said, the gospel compels us to strange relationships. Yeah, we all love that phrase. We just don't live it. I mean, evaluate yourself.

Is there anybody in your life that people would look at your friendship with another person and say, I don't get this at all? You two don't line up on anything. You don't agree on anything, and you're like, I know, right, there's just this one thing we have the same father. That's what the gospel does. And so what this well represents is that Jesus will come and sit down face to face personally with the worst of the worst of the worst. Church of 1122, welcome to the well. This is the place where Jesus meets with people.

You were not here by accident, and I don't care you. I don't care what somebody else said about you. I'm saying Jesus wants to meet with you right. here. And so Jesus answered her. He's going to waste no time. He's going to jump right into it. He said, if you knew the gift of God and who it was that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Underline the words living water. Here we go again. Remember all throughout John so far, Jesus is going to teach on two planes. He's going to talk about the physical because the physical points to spiritual realities.

And so he's talking, you know, she's thinking he's talking about just H2O, and what he's actually talking about is, I have, I have a supernatural thirst quencher for you that you know nothing about. Because all throughout what we've seen in the life of Jesus so far is that Jesus is greater than your religion and your tradition. You have a sacrificial lamb every year. You don't need that anymore. Why? Because behold, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

You have a physical temple where you worship God. well, I've got good news, you're not going to need that anymore because after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit of God is going to dwell in you, not in some big building in the Middle East. That he is the greater Moses, that he brings not just a law for the outside, but he can cure your snake bite from the inside out.

That your rights of purification where you wash your hands at the wedding, you're not going to need that anymore because he's going to bring the new wine and transform you from the inside out. This is what he's saying over and over and over. and now he is saying, I am the one that will quench your thirst. Jesus is saying, I am better than Jacob's whale. Verse 11. And the woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.

Okay, once again, right over her head, she didn't understand. And God is so patient with his people, because his people are so dumb. And if you're thinking, is he talking to me? You just pray about that for a minute, all right? Now, it starts to click in. and she asked this question. So where do I get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob?

He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock. Now, what's very interesting is that Jesus happens to meet her at Jacob's well because the parallels between her life and the life of Jacob are undeniable. You see, Jacob was on the run from God for basically his entire life. In fact, Jacob's name means heel grabber or deceit. And the reason that he was named that is he had a twin brother. His twin brother was named Esau.

And in the Old Testament, they would, like, name you what you are or what you were going to be. And so the first kid comes out, and the name Esau means Harry. They didn't have Chabaca yet, so they go Esau. So there he is. Whoa, Harry. That's what they called it. All right?

And then the Bible says that the second kid, Jacob, was grabbing onto his heel. Because he's trying to pass him, like going wide on turn four in Daytona as they're being born so that he could get the blessing of the thing. the firstborn. And so they name him heel grabber. That's what Jacob means. He'll grabber or deceitful one or trickster. That's what Jacob means. And then he lives into that name. He tricks his brother into selling his birthright. He tricks his dying father into receiving the father's blessing. And then when his brother, Esau, Esau grows up to be like this big, hairy, jock, strong safety type, like the bow hunt. I like him already. And then when he found out that his little brother,

because Jacob, Jacob wasn't an outdoorsman. Jacob was like a, you know, he liked to hang out at the tents with like the real housewives of Jerusalem and make stew and stuff. That's what he was into. And so when Issaul gets mad, Jacob goes on the run and he runs from his home. He runs from his family. He runs from his brother. And ultimately he's running from the Lord. And one night he lays down at a place called Padamaram.

He puts a rock on the ground. He lays on the rock and God gives him a dream and he sees the stairway of heaven. And then, you know, Zeppelin writes a song about it. and then he's still on the run, and then later, God calls him back to that place, and when he gets back to that place, Jesus walks him down, and he wrestles, in my opinion, he wrestles with the pre-incarnated Christ because the Bible says, I have come face-to-face with God, and I did not die. It was like the very first UFC. And so while Jesus has got him all wrapped up, he won't tap, so he hits him on the hip and knocks his hip out of socket,

and for the rest of his life, he never walks the same again. and he changes his name from Jacob, deceitful one, to Israel, one who wrestles with God. And what's going to happen here is this woman at the well. She has been running away by her lifestyle from God for maybe her entire life. And then Jesus is going to walk her down, breaking through all kind of barriers to get face-to-face with her. She's going to be face-to-face with God. They are going to wrestle in this conversation. She's going to walk away and never be the same again.

And she's saying to him, are you greater? Then our Father Jacob, and what he's saying is, listen, all he can offer you is the temporary satisfaction of a cup of water, and I have living water in you that will last forever. Verse 13, Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. what he is saying is if you continuously go to the temporary things that this world offers,

you will always be dissatisfied. But I offer satisfaction. That's what he's saying. And I'm telling you, this is the message America needs to hear right now, and especially this Memorial Day weekend. Listen, man, when we say thank you for the men and women that lay down their lives that we may have freedom, It's not what we think.

Listen, I'm pro Zach Brown. I like Zach Brown. I'll probably listen to it this afternoon. But when those men and women laid down their life, it is not for chicken fried. It ain't for cold beer on a Friday night. It ain't for a pair of jeans that fits just right or the radio on.

And I am pro all those things. That we live in freedom so that we are free to worship God. That's the freedom we live in. And so we live in a world. And it's crazy. Or free not to. but that is not top down, that is from the inside out. And what Jesus is saying is, listen, you keep coming back to the same temporary wells,

but I am offering you satisfaction and security that the temporary things of this world can not offer. And every single one of us have a tendency to do this. There's only three wells that this world offers. The pride of life, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes. That's it. That's it. And around here, we have a lot of names for it.

One of the names is the merry-go-round of normality. This world spends billions of dollars a day for you to take your seat on the little hobby horse on the merry-go-round of normality and just shut up and play your role. To just wake up, eat something, go to work, sell something, come home, eat something, drive something, watch something, go to sleep. Again and again and again. And your biggest prayer of your life is, thank God it's Friday. Dude, if you're living for the weekend, you're broke and busting. not doing this thing right. God has created you for so much more. And at first, it's fun. It's first

because you're like, oh, look, I got the shiny one with the unicorn horn. But you do about 10 years on the merry-go-round-of-normality, and you realize it ain't that married. And you began to think, is this is it. And Jesus is saying, no, darling, this ain't it. This will continuously leave you thirsty, and I will quench your thirst forever and ever and ever. And so for some of us, it's the pride of life. That's what we go to. We're just trying to win the approval of a man. If I could just get her to like me, him to call me back, if I could get enough likes and posts, if I could get enough people to think highly of me,

then I would be fully and finally satisfied. Trust me, the applause of man will never be enough. You'll just keep coming back over and over and over. And then some of us are sucked into the lust of the eyes, that we see some stuff and we be like, ooh, I know what I need, I need me some stuff. If I could just get me some more stuff, then I'd be fully and finally sad.

So we lovingly around here, we call that the cul-de-sac of stupidity. Not because stuff is stupid, but because you are stupid. Because you think, if I can, here's what, stupid, here's why it's the cul-de-sac. Because the first lap around you think, if I could just get a new house, moving that neighborhood, get some new pants, get that kind of car, another half-bath, whatever the thing is. If I could just get that color of refrigerator, whatever the thing is, we think, then I'll be satisfied.

then you actually get the thing and it doesn't satisfy. And you're like, I have an idea. I just need newer stuff. Take another lap, stupid. That's what happens. It happens to every single one of us. Or one of the whales that we go to is the lust of the flesh, that I want to feel a certain way.

And again, man, it could be pornography or popcorn and everything in between. It could. It could be a relationship with somebody. You think that somebody's going to fulfill you or you think you're going to find fulfillment at the end of a bottle. I'm telling you, you could pour yourself into drugs or you could pour yourself out in the gym,

and it's all the same thing. You begin to think, if I could just hit my ideal weight, then I'd be happy. Have you met people at their ideal weight? They ain't happy. They want your cheesecake, and you want their abs. That's how it happens, man. And Jesus is saying,

hey, you're seeking satisfaction and security in the things of this world, and they'll just never provide it. And a part of the reason he's telling us this is because your insatiable soul can only be satisfied with an everlasting God because you were created as an image bearer of him. Why do we continuously go back to the temporary things of this world when you were created for eternity and you have eternity in your heart that only the eternal God can fill? Jesus is saying, I have that for you.

You see, when God created the very first man and he breathed the spirit of God, the breath of life into him and he opened his eyes. He was face to face with his heavenly father. The first time he breathes in, he breathes in the ruah of life and then he is face to face, creator, created, and he knew at the heart level this is what I was created for. That's what you're created for. That's why, that's why no matter how successful you are in this world, something is lacking if you don't know him. This is what he is saying to her, that the engine of your soul was created to run on the fuel of a relationship with Jesus Christ. And he is saying, this is what I'm offering you.

And the woman said, well, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to drink, to draw water. This is, by the way, I don't know if you know this or think about this. I'm a professional Christian, you know, I do this for a living. That's what I do. And when you have somebody respond this way, in my world, you're like, boo-ya, this is it. Sign her up. Jesus.

She's into it, man, all right? Because if you come to our church, we will teach you evangelism. We have share your faith classes. If you go on a mission trip, we'll train you on how to share your testimony and share the gospel. And I'm just telling you, if you ever are talking to somebody and they say, sign me up for that, then what you need to do is close the deal right there. Everything else is secondary. And sometimes it goes this way. I'm not going to lie.

Sometimes it goes this way. One time when I was in high school, I was doing door-to-door evangelism. I know people don't do that anymore, but I did. I had my Lord's gym shirt on, and I was doing the survey thing for an FCA camp, and I knocked on this door, and this lady opens the door, and I think she was running like a little bootleg daycare, because there was like, she was like the woman in the shoe. So many kids, she didn't know what to do.

They were everywhere. There was diapers and snot and tears everywhere. And I'm standing there with my little survey, and I said, can I tell you about the peace I found in Jesus Christ? And she looked at me, and she said, yeah, you can. You're offering peace? I was like, uh-huh, I know him. Five minutes later, I'm praying with this lady to receive Christ.

Boom, right? Love it. One time, I've done it, one time I was in Walmart. I've told you the first half of this about a million times. I'm standing in line at Walmart in the 10 items or less line, counting the objects in front of me. She's the center. So there's a lady with a kid, and the kid is driving the lady crazy

because the people in Walmart hate you and your children. That's why they put all of the sugary snacks right there at toddler level. and the toddler is just throwing like Reese's in Skittles into the basket, and she's throwing them out. And then at one point she just looks at the kid and at the top of her lungs in Walmart, which is totally normal. But she looks at him and she screams, relax!

And I remember thinking he's never going to understand what that word means ever. So I get done checking out, and she's still there trying to like wrangle up the kid, and I just said, excuse me, ma'am, are you okay? She was like, what you mean okay? Like got offended. And so I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I mean like in here.

Are you okay? She's like, I'm not. My husband just left. Boom, water works. I'm praying with her to receive Christ at Walmart. Okay, so sometimes it goes that way. Sometimes. So if I am coaching Jesus in his evangelism tactics,

when she says, sir, give me some of this water. I'm like, all right, Jesus, here's what you do. Okay, now you close your eyes and bow your head and you pray. Admit, believe, receive. This is it right here, man. Get her to sign up. We'll get her into baptism class. Boom.

She's in. Now here's what Jesus does. He doesn't do what I would have done. Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. Now, again, if Jesus had invited me to be his evangelism coach, I'd step in and be like, hey, son of God, come here real quick.

All right, listen. So listen, man, I know, I know that you're the, you know, second person co-equal with the father. All things were made by you, through you, for you, and to you. I get all that. And I know the very thought she has, you know, before she can ever articulate him.

But I don't know if you read to the end. end of the story, bro. She ain't real proud of her marital situation right now. So why are you bringing that up? Look, we're saved by grace through fate, so let's just get her in. And then what you're talking about, you're talking about, you're talking about sanctification. That'll come up later. Let's just get her in a disciple group. And surely somebody from her disciple group is going be like, honey, who you're living with? I've seen your Facebook page. And then we can talk about that then. But you're going to mess up the whole deal if you bring this up here. We can deal with all of that later. But Jesus says, go call your husband and come here.

And the woman answered him. She's going to try to juke him. But you can't juke Jesus. He stays in his lane. Watch, I have no husband. And Jesus says, you're right in saying, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.

Here's what Jesus is doing here. He's sitting at the well with this lady talking about living water. And she says, I'll take some living water. Where do I get to living water? And ultimately, I think what he's doing here is he's saying, hey, listen, just a little easy believism where you pray a prayer right now with me, that's not what we're talking about. Because to be partially known is to be unknown, and you cannot be fully loved if you are not fully known.

So, honey, I want you to go get that thing that you are most embarrassed about. I want you to go get that thing in your life that every time it comes up, you are filled with shame. you to go get that thing that has driven you to be here at 12 o'clock in the middle of the day because you wanted to avoid everybody because this whole world knows you by that label. I want you to go get that thing because I am not ashamed of you. And the thing that you were most embarrassed of is the very thing that I have died for. So, church, let me ask you this. What are you trying to keep from Jesus?

What are you most embarrassed about? You see, here's the thing, man. This is just true. You try to fight the devil in the dark, you're going to get your tail kicked. And so what Jesus is doing, he's saying, go get that thing, and you grab it, and you drag it out here into the light,

because he said he is the light. You fight the devil in the dark, you're going to get whipped. But when you bring it to the light, Jesus fights on your behalf, because what begins to happen is the enemy lies to you, and the enemy wants you to think you are defined by your wounds.

And what we're going to find out in the scripture is that Jesus says, how about you can be defined by mine? That by my stripes, You are healed. C.S. Lewis says it this way. In mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis speaking on behalf of Jesus says, give me all of you.

I don't want so much of your time and so much of your talents and money and so much of your work. I want you, all of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to kill it. No half measures will do. I don't want only to prune a branch here and a branch there. Rather, I want the whole tree. hand it over to me the whole outfit all of your desires all of your wants and wishes and dreams turn them all over to me give yourself to me and i will make you a new self in my image give me yourself and in exchange i will give

you myself my will shall become your will my heart shall become your heart you see church i think what jesus is doing here is pointing out that the gospel is not just fire insurance but the gospel offers freedom this life. That the gospel is not just for us so that we don't go to hell when we die. Now, I'm not saying that's not important. It's of eternal significance. Hell is hot forever's a long time. You should figure that out. That the Bible says, what shall I do with this man named Jesus? Your answer to that question determines your eternity. It matters forever. But the gospel is also here so that we can walk in the freedom that Christ has purchased for us on the cross. And so he says, go get your go get the sin that has defined you.

Go get the thing that everybody calls you. Go get the thing that you are embarrassed by the most. Church, the fake you is doing just fine. If you want to fake it, nothing's going to happen in your life here. But Jesus came for the real you, and he invites you to bring it all to him. So go get that abortion and bring it to him. And I know what you're saying. Oh, I'm a pastor.

No, we ain't supposed to talk about that here at church. There's a whole bunch of people when God has a movement for all people and that has been your story. And the enemy is trying to whisper to you that when he died on the cross, that he gave a bunch of sins, but not that one. And Jesus says, no, no, no,

go get that and bring it here to me. And go get your affair. Go get your affair and bring it to me. And go get your porn addiction. And bring it to me. And go get your eating disorder. See, that one can be an easy one to hide, right? when you just throw yourself into food and nobody really knows.

And go get your depression and go get your substance abuse. And go get your drinking too much and drinking alone and trying to hide it. Go get the thing that the enemy wants to keep you broken under and Jesus says bring it to me. By the way, this is how we're going to end the service. And I'm telling you this now, so you've got 17 minutes to think about it. What is the thing in your life that you have tried to hide away from Jesus? And Jesus says, listen, I already know, I already know. And I am not ashamed of you because I put shame to death at the cross when I said,

it is finished. And he says, go get your husband. And the woman says, sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. You think? He just read her mail right there. This happens here sometimes. Occasionally somebody will come up to me. It's usually a husband whose wife's been attending for a while.

And then finally he comes. He's like, I feel like you were preaching just to me. Did my wife email you? I don't know you, bro. I don't know you. That's the ghost just speaking to you. Let him preach, all right? Let him do his thing.

And the woman said, sir, I perceive that you're a prophet. Now, here's what's going to happen. This happens often. When the Spirit of God starts noodling around in places deep down in here that you want to hide, she's going to deflect with a theological question. It happens all the time. She says, all right, hold on, Jesus. Can we talk about something that has nothing to do with me?

Let's talk about that for a while. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem, that's the place where people ought to worship. Happens all the time. I'll talk to people about Jesus, and right when it starts to get real, and he starts to deal with, like, the real wounds, they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, but let's talk about something else. One time I was on an airplane coming back from, we were training pastors in East Africa, and you've got

to go through Amsterdam to get home, and this girl, she's born in Germany, but she was in Amsterdam doing some shady stuff, and she's sitting right next to me. So this is how I roll on an airplane. And here's my evangelism strategy. Okay, I preach about 220 times a year. So two out of three days, I've got a sermon to prepare. So if I got a long flight, I got multiple sermons to write. So I sit down in my seat in the airplane, and I pop out the Bible,

and I just look at the person next to me, and I'm like, I mean, it's not quite like that, but, and if they don't want to talk about it, I just leaned into my Calvinism and think, nope, that's not their time. And so, God bless them, I'll do my Bible study and watch a movie. But if they want to talk about it, then I'm all in, all right? So I sit down, look at this girl, get my Bible out like this, and she says, you actually believe that? And I go, ding, ding, here we go.

Yep, I do. You want to talk? Let's go. All right, I'm into it. So, she had, like, no place to start. So I start with creation. She was created as an image bearer of God and their very first parents

breathe the rule of life into her. And the reason there's nothing in this world could satisfy is only eternal God could satisfy. And, bro, you can tell, man, it starts working. She starts to get real teary. And then she realizes this is going to cost me my whole life. And so here comes the deflection. She starts asking about dinosaurs and about, what if there was a man by himself on an island and he never heard? And then she started, what about,

why does the church hate LGBTQ? And I go, okay, first of all, God loves everybody. The church should love everybody. But let's cover something. Are you LGBT? Nope, not. Okay. Are you a paleontologist? I am not. Are you a sociologist looking for the lone man on that? I am not. Okay. So how about we talk about what we're just talking about right here? And there, there are, and there are answers to all those questions. This is what this lady's doing. Hey, can we talk about mountains? And Jesus is like, or why don't we just keep talking about this living water that I'm offering? Because in reality, what's happening in your life, darling, is you're not just coming to this well, but you're going from man to man to man to man looking for satisfaction and security,

and I am the only man that we'll be able to bring that to you. Can we talk about that? He just brings it right home. And Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews. So he's full of grace and truth. He tells her to truth. You're wrong.

I'm right. Now let's get back to it. But the hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. Look at this. Look at what he says. The father's not seeking worship. He's seeking worshipers.

He's not looking for a concert. He's seeking a congregation of sons and daughters. He's not looking for a performance. He's looking that his church would be a house of prayer. And here's what he's saying. I came on a rescue mission for you. For you. Different culture, immoral.

everybody said, no, no, no, why are you talking to her? And I walked through all of that to get to you. And the Father is looking for people, such people that will worship him in spirit and in truth. And I don't have time to completely unpack this. This should be a whole sermon. But God wants us to worship him in spirit. And that means like with your whole heart and enthusiastically. And some of you need to worship God in spirit. You need to take your hands out of your pocket, move your mouths when we do the singing part. When your team scores, you do this. Maybe you could do this when Jesus scores a victory for all eternity. You understand?

All right? Now, the people clapping are shaming you, but I'm just telling you, my man Cade right here on the front row, I know everybody at all the campuses can't see him, but my man Cade's 26 years old. He's a VIP here at 1122. He is one of our primary worship leaders, and I pray that you could worship God in the freedom that he worships God. He likes to jump up and spin around.

I love it, I love it. And I'm telling you, everybody right here, he helps lead us in worship. And then I was watching today, and he does it, man. We're singing, and he's jumping up, and then he looks. to his dad for his approval. And his dad puts his hand on his shoulder and gives him a fist bump. That's what worship is.

We get in here and sing a song and you belt it out like you even, and if you can't sing, make it up in volume. That's what I do, okay? And then you look for your dad for approval. And through the blood of Christ, he puts his hand on his shoulder and he gives you a little fist bump.

You worship in spirit and you worship in truth. That don't mean you just do crazy for crazy sake, okay? That we are rooted in the scripture because you can't rightly love. God without right thoughts about God. And Jesus is saying, God ain't looking for mountains. He moved mountains so that I could come here and be face to face with you. He's looking for you to worship him that way. He goes on to say, God is spirit. And those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

And the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, he who was called Christ. And when he comes, he will tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I wish you knew Hebrew. so that you could understand the power of this next line. It would blow your dentures out. You see, one of the things that the Gospel of John is known for is seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus makes these I am statements. Seven is the number of completion, and I am is the covenant name of God. He says things like, I am the bread of life, I am the way, the truth in the life,

I am the resurrection in the life, I am the good shepherd. He says that seven times. And so the reason those I am statements are such a big deal is back in the red of life, I am, in Exodus chapter 3, and she was a believer in the book of Exodus, because it's in the first five books of the Bible, God gives his covenant name to Moses. Moses encounters God through a burning bush, and God says, go tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And Moses says, if they ask who sent me, who shall I say sent me? And God says, you tell them that my name is, I am that I am, is how we translate it in English. Or I be what I be. Literally in Hebrew, it's called a tetragram. It's just four

letters, and in English, we pronounce it, Yahweh. And in Hebrew, when you say it, it's supposed to sound like inhaling and exhaling. Yahweh. That the God of the universe is saying, when I am in a covenant with you, I'm as close to you as your next breath. Yahweh. And so, she says, well, I know Messiah, the Christ is coming. And by the way, if you're new to Bible study, Christ is not Jesus' last name. It's his title. He is the anointed. one. He is the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. He is the substitutionary atoning sacrificial son. He is the servant crusher that the Old Testament talks about. He is the suffering servant. And so he looks at her and he goes, hey, look here.

I am. That's what he's saying. Yahweh. It's a really big deal. Now think about this. Think about this. Two weeks ago in our time, he was talking to Nicodemus, the most powerful, respected Pharisee of the day, but who is it that Jesus decides to share the covenant name of God with, not the powerful and not the elite, but this immoral nobody from nowhere sitting here at the well. He looks at her and he says, the great I am is here to pursue you. And just then the disciples came back. They always mess up everything. And they marveled that he was talking with this woman because he's breaking down all the barriers, man. But no one said, what do you seek? Or why are you talking to her? Because they're scared.

They're like, hey, who wants to talk about this? One, two, three. Not it. They ain't going to talk about it, okay? So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, come and see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? I want you to notice what Jesus did in this interaction.

Jesus reaches in and takes the things he's most ashamed of and removes the shame, removes the condemnation. And now, this woman. runs into town. I met a man that knows everything I ever did. And they're thinking, we all know what you did. You should be ashamed of it. And she's like, no, no, no, no, that's not how this works. Remember a couple of weeks ago, we talked about John 316. For God so loved the world. He gave his only begotten son. But remember, it keeps going to 317. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save us through him. Here is what he is doing here. He is removing

the shame. And then when he does, the first thing that she does is she run. into town to share her story. They went out of the town and they were coming to him. God takes this woman's life, which is a mess, and uses her mess to share his message of God's redeeming love. And so he keeps going. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him saying,

Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you don't know about. And then once again, the disciples missed it. So the disciples said to one another, Anybody give him something to eat? Has anyone brought him something to eat? And Jesus said that my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. The most satisfying thing you can do is just do what he says. And you have no idea what hangs in the balance of you just being obedient to do what he tells you to do.

And so he says, do you not say, there he at four months and then comes the harvest, look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest, already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, one sow is another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor.

Others have labored and you have entered into the labor. In other words, it's just one team, man. It's all team Jesus. You have no idea the part you might play in changing somebody's forever if you'll just be faithful to do what he's told you to do. Verse 39, many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that I ever did.

And so when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. And they said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. Church, I would ask you, who needs to hear your story? Who needs to hear your story?

And I know if you're like, yeah, but mine's a mess. Man, God is a master at taking the mess and sharing his message. It's what he does here. And after the two days, he departed for Galilee, for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. And so when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast. Here's the doom. This woman is sitting at this well, and she encased. counters Jesus Christ.

And we don't get a lot of info on how she got there. We do know she's had five failed marriages, and now she's living with a guy that's not her husband. And we don't know if she's been abused, or we don't know if she's an adulterer. But either way, there's some serious sin going on in here. And I can guarantee you this. Her plan A was not to be at this well at noon

for the rest of her life to avoid all the people. But I can also guarantee you this. that what the enemy intended for evil, God intended for good. And he set up a divine appointment with his son to meet her there and to lean in and to say, go get your husband. Because the things that you have done are no longer going to define you, but what I'm going to do on your behalf at the cross, that's what's going to define you. Because this world wants you to believe a lie, the enemy wants you to believe a lie that your wounds and your scars define you. but I'm here to tell you that it's my scars and my wounds

that get to tell you who you are. So 1122, here's the point. Fake you is doing just fine. Fake you is doing just fine. And I know you hear me say that a lot, but I'm just telling you, when we launched this church, I had one desire. I've been on staff at church since I was 19 years old.

I'm 47 today. And I experienced a whole bunch of church, and there was a whole bunch of fake. It just was, man. It just was. Everybody who's dressed up great, people's lives are falling apart, but when you walk into church,

how you doing? We're just blessed and highly favored. Are you sure? Because it seems like your life's falling apart. And if we can't talk about that here, what are we talking about? If we're just talking about we got to act a little better, then let's just leave the whole cross stuff out

because the cross outs every single one of us. That we all got some stuff that we're ashamed of. And let me just tell you, I'm not saying it ain't shameful. It is shameful. We should be ashamed. Sin is a really, really big deal that Christ had to die on the cross for us. But the fact that he did lets us know that we are more wicked than we ever imagined

and we're more loved than we could ever perceive. Because at the cross for all of those things that we were ashamed of, all those things that we did and are done to us, all of those things that try to label us and condemn us. and Jesus at the cross says, it's finished. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So Jesus is saying to us, I want you. Samaritan, I want you. Been married five times.

I want you, and I want all of you. And I know everything, everything that you're trying to keep hidden. I died on the cross for those very things. So the way we're going to close is. I just want to give you the invitation that Jesus gave at the well. Go get your husband. And I don't know what that thing is for you, but you do. Maybe it is.

Maybe it's that abortion. And the enemy brings that thing up in your life over and over and over as if you could never be forgiven. But I'm just telling you, when Jesus died on the cross for your sin, for anybody who would believe, when he says it is finished, it counts for every, every, every sin. and for some of you it's your porn addiction and you're lying man you're lying in your disciple group because you'll say yeah I'm kind of struggling a little bit it's not a struggle the enemy has a grip on you and it's as if there's a power outside of you that is compelling you to do things that you promised you wouldn't do anymore what do you call that or maybe it's that substance abuse and you got it hidden man you got it hidden because you can just you can you hide some drinks and you got to stash away in different places

or you go too far often but you know how to hide it, maybe that's what it is. Or maybe it's that affair. Maybe it's the thing that busted up your marriage, and you would say a huge portion of it is my fault. Maybe it's that eating disorder. And again, you're hiding it. There are times in your life where you think if I,

it's like this thing, this food, this ice cream, whatever it is, it just has control over me. And you're thinking, and pastor never heard about this kind of stuff in church if we can't talk about this at the foot of the cross where in the world can we maybe it's that depression here's the crazy thing about depression for the Christian is theologically you don't even have a category for it I mean you read you you read Paul's letter to the Philippians from prison and he says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice and he writes that from prison.

He says things like I have to learn the secret of being content in every situation. And you believe when Christ died on the cross, it counted for you. And you look around the circumstances of your life and you think the pursuit of happiness, we won, man, we won. I compared to the rest of this world, I should be the happiest person on the planet. I got this house and cars and jobs and people that love me and all of that. But every morning I can't make happy turn on. What's wrong with me?

And Jesus says, go get that. And bring it here to me. or maybe it's that image. All your girlfriends think you have it all together. They do. They think you're a great mom and yet at the house. You scream and yell things at your kids and you were so ashamed of what comes out of your mouth.

And bring that failing business and bring that failing marriage and bring that insecurity and bring that self-harm and bring that hopelessness and bring that loneliness and bring that doubt because God didn't answer the prayer the way you thought he should have answered the prayer. Jesus says, go get that. and you bring it here to me. You drag it out of the darkness

and you drag it here into the light. Why? In Matthew 11, Jesus gives this invitation. He says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. Let me tell you what's a real heavy burden is carrying around sin and shame that you don't need to be carrying around anymore.

It'll wear you out. And he says, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul for money. And the crazy thing is, is you cannot harness up the light yoke of Jesus when you're carrying around the yoke of the slavery of shame in your life. And he says, so go get that thing.

And you bring it here to me. Peter says, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. But don't cast it like a ride and reel and throw it out there and then reel it back up to towed all week. He means you throw it with everything you have. you say, Jesus set the foot of your cross, I need you to take this because I can't towed it anymore. And he says, I died that you don't have to. So go get it. Your sin, your shame, your guilt, whatever that thing is. And here's the craziest part. And just a second. The band's going to come at all of our locations. If you're watching online, make your couch the altar. And the people that

need to be down here the most are the least likely to come because your pride and your ego just well up and say, what will people think? What if you can begin to get to the place in your life where you were free enough to say, I don't care what they think. I want to be fully known by him so that I could walk in the freedom that he purchased for me at Christ. So that's how we are going to close. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father. God, I thank you and I praise you that you invite us just as we are to come to you. And Lord, I pray that, like, Jacob walked away and he walked differently after wrestling you face to face. And like this woman walks away from this encounter with you at the well

and she was free of condemnation, Lord, I pray that every single person that would believe in you today, God, they would walk away from this wrestling match with you and they would be free of shame and free of condemnation because therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God, I pray against the whispers of that lying enemy. Right now he's got no place in this house,

he's got no place in the mind of the believer. And Lord, I pray. that you would shake us up. You'd shake up our religion. You'd shake up our tradition. You'd break down every single wall to come and get your children to worship you in spirit and in truth. I said, Lord, I pray for freedom. I pray with the spirit of the Lord is.

There will be freedom. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, we're going to respond. Let me just warn you, this is not the day to hustle out. We've seen God do miraculous things over the previous few services. and you'd be a fool to rush out from the very presence of God. So let us sing like he's worth it.

Let us bring our ties and offerings like we do as an act of worship. And why don't you go get that thing, that sin, that shame, that abuse, whatever that thing is, and won't you come and lay it at the feet of Jesus? Let's respond.