Living Stones – Thursday, November 30, 2017
Waterpot abandoned
John 4:28, 29
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
The Samaritan woman becomes the first evangelist, as far as we can tell.
In her conversation with Jesus, as we have observed, she demonstrated that she was a woman who knew her history, her culture, and her theology, but Jesus revealed that she was a woman who also struggled with the basic weaknesses of the human nature. The ‘flesh’ won over all of the knowledge she had.
As we go through the Scripture we see two kinds of revelation. There is the revelation of who God is, that revelation is right at the beginning in Genesis 1:1 and we see that to the end. Then there is the revelation of who we are. These revelations demonstrate that God is holy and that we are sinful.
When Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband,” He was essentially moving the conversation from the play on words and challenging this woman to face the fact of her looseness, immorality, and the total inadequacy of her life. The challenge by Jesus brought home to her who she really was, a sinner. Never mind how much she could handle the cut and thrust of a conversation or how much religious history and theology she knew, she was a sinner.
Later, boxed in on the issue of the place of worship, being told by Jesus that God is Spirit so that our worship of Him is not about things or places but spirit and truth. She takes refuge in the fact that we don’t know everything, we have to wait for the Messiah, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” John 4:25. At this point she gets the second revelation, Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:26. A Samaritan woman is face-to-face with the God of heaven. She had a revelation of herself, now she has a revelation of God.
It’s at this point that the woman abandoned her waterpot for a new role as an evangelist. These days we have come to expect the Gospel will be spread by big named evangelists on TV and flying around the world, or by big organisations and institutions with massive budgets, or, at our local church level, by the preacher or pastor. Definitely, though, the Gospel is to be spread by someone else.
However, if we go through the Gospels and the book of Acts a different picture unfolds before us. The Gospel is spread as much by the rank and file as it is by the travelling evangelists and pastors.
Everyday people spread the Gospel because there is a real excitement at the discovery of Jesus. Andrew was excited, “He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ““We have found the Messiah.”” And he brought him to Jesus.” John 1:41-42. And Philip was excited, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”” John 1:45
The woman was excited, “The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”” John 4:28-29.
We, preachers, teachers, and others have been quick to condemn the woman at the well, but few of us have had the level of discernment as she had, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” John 4:19. And few of us have had the level of excitement that she had in the revelation of who Jesus is. Few of us have left our “waterpot” to tell others about Him.
Today church is filled with church people. All of the regulars who come for the weekly fix. All of the regulars who attend the conferences and the deeper-life meetings and the crusades. My own denomination just had a crusade in the city of Georgetown and the majority of the seats were occupied by church members.
Some of us need to abandon our “waterpots” every now and then. We need to set aside some time to see the plight of men around us and call them to Jesus. There are some who are reading this today who have more followers on their social profiles than one Samaritan woman might have been able to reach running around the village, but we cannot put down our waterpot for a while. (Hopefully, the waterpot metaphor is not lost on those of us who have running water from the city, or water pumps and pressure tanks in our homes.)
Think on these things:
- Have you lost the excitement of knowing Jesus?
- Are you able to see people around you, family, friends, colleagues, neighbours as people who need to meet Jesus?
- What’s your “waterpot”?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be able to see those around us as God sees them, and be willing to set some things aside for a while to share the Gospel with them.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex