So often some of the most important critical things in life, are some of the smallest. It is often things we take for complete advantage until we find ourselves without. Men don’t overlook your family. There not a small part of your life, a part from Christ they are the part of your life.

 If you were in the desert without water, you would quickly remember how critical it is for you to have water. Jesus often used some of the most ordinary things in life to teach us some of the most powerful lessons. In the story we are going to read today, water is the very thing small critical part of our story. Jesus often used such small, extraordinary things to explain extraordinary truths.

 Today open your bibleless to John chapter 4 and read with me.

Scripture Reading 

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 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.”

Background for Samaria 

So what’s going on here? A little background it is important to understand that Jesus chose to go through Samaria. This was not by accident as we see in verse 4. Samaria lies between Judea and Galilee. This journey took around 3 days. Let me share this map with you so you can get a better visual. (Map)

Look at this, the Jews were willing to cross the Jordan River twice, risking getting their sweet Jordans and Nikes wet. Can you imagine having to go on a road trip with your family by foot and then telling your wife who just bought a pair of on clouds that you’re going to take the long way around and you will have to cross over the river twice before you get there. Why? Because you don’t like the people in Samaria.  They were willing to add one extra day to their travel just to avoid Samaria. Now this is important, because at this time if you were a good Jew you avoided going through Samaria at all costs. It's like being in the New Orleans French Quarter during Martigra with a group of elementary students. Bless you, if you’re from New Orleans, but you and I know this is a place you're going to avoid with a group of elementary students. The Jews felt this way about Samaria. I'm not saying that Samaria was as dirty as the French Quarter in New Orleans, but a good Jew would have avoided it at all costs and that exactly how they felt about the people Samaria. But, that was Jesus for you. Jesus tended to step toward the most uncomfortable situations, but never comprised his integrity in the process. 

So why did Jesus choose to go through Samaria? Because Jesus had a divine appointment with an ordinary hurting woman waiting for him. An appoint that was only known to him and his father. It is through this very encounter that the greatest message of Jesus Christ is given. In one short conversation, Jesus gives the most critical purpose for you and me, Jesus share the hope the world with this woman. So who does Jesus reveal is ultimate plan with? He did not call together a seceret counsel of highly qualified people. No, the first time we ever see Jesus share his plan is when he chose to reveal his ultimate work to a woman as ordinary as you and me?

Divine Appointments 

God is orchestrating divine appointments in our lives and we must not allow fear to keep us from blessing others.

I want to share a story with you, that happened in this very town when I was in college. I had just started bible college online at Liberty University and was living with a roommate over at the links. I was taking a course in Evangelism and like all brilliant minds I had managed to save my homework for a few hours before it was due. Well this put me in a real pinch around 9;00pm at night. Because when I opened up the assignment the instructions read, “Go out and share the gospel with one person and the write about your encounter.” Guys it is 9:00 at night in Harrison Arkansas. I have 3 options. Wait and take a reduction for a late assignment, lie or go out and find someone to share the gospel with. So I packed up my stuff and went to McDonalds. I did not know where else to go and I’m not a huge walk up to someone at 9:00pm at night and ask if they know of Jesus kind of guy. Well, I get some food sit down at a table and start to study. I did not know what else to do. A little bit later a man comes in and sits close to me. I can tell this guy worked at PACE. I cannot remember how I struck up a conversation with this man, nor can I remember his name. But some how we got on the topic of church and I started share the gospel with this guy. In the middle of McDonalds in Harrison Ar at 10:00pm I lead a man to Christ.  What I thought was homework assignment was really God orchestrating divine appointment.

There is a quote I love, “Minister where your shadow falls.”

The story does not end their. Because he worked at PACE, I called one of the only people I knew who might know him and be excited about this. My Grandmother. You see my grandmother Jane was a Chaplin at PACE. I told her the name of the man and what had happen. She said, “ Oh yes I know him, I have been ministering to him for years and praying for him.”

Remember this God has been working on the scene way before you showed up and he will continue to be working on scene when you leave.

Unqualified People 

Back to the book of John.  Notice the person Jesus talks to at the well is not even a man. Why do I say that? Because in this day in culture, when you took a head count you only counted the men. Why? Women where seen as closer to property then they where individuals. I know it messed up. Don’t hate me, this is just how the Jewish culture treated women. But, notice how Jesus notices the unnoticed. This woman is as messed up  as you and me. This woman was out doing something she did every day. She was simply getting water. But notice how she is doing it in the middle of the day. She is choosing to get water in the hottest part of the day? Why? Most likely she was ashamed of her sin and did not want to be around others. I'm sure all of you can understand the feeling this woman is having. Maybe you're sitting here today and thinking I'm that lady or that man, I'm ashamed to go to family gatherings because of what I did, I'm ashamed to go home to my husband or wife. God showed up in the mess.

There nothing neat and tidy about the ministry. Ministry is just messy.

Learn to love other in the mess because, Christ first loved you in your mess.

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Look what happens in verses 7-15. Jesus asks this woman for a drink. Now not only should Jesus not have gone to Samaria, but now he is talking to a woman. An unclean woman at that. Jesus was a master at breaking cultural normality. Did you ever notice that everywhere Jesus went he offended one crowd and offered hope to the other.

The God of All people

Jesus would choose God's will over cultural normality’s. The woman responds with bewilderment, but Jesus only confuses her more by saying, in

John 4;10 “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

 Jesus tells her that she should have asked him for living water and that she is unaware of who she is talking to. So she does exactly what you and I would have done?

John 4:11 “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? Don’t miss this, she is testing him. So what does Jesus say, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”

Remember all the talk we had earlier about some things in life are critical. This is one of them. We need water to survive. Here are some interesting facts about water.

·      Only 3 percent of earth's water is fresh water.[1]  

·      Up to 60 percent of the human body is water.[2] 

·      Up to 75 percent of the human brain is water,[3] 

·      The same amount of water on earth in the begging is the same amount today.

·      Without water, our world could not regulate temperature properly.

·      Finally, we can only survive 3 days without water.

Would you say water is important? Jesus offers this woman a critical substance that would provide eternal relief. She would never thirst again. No matter how good of water you drink it will not be long until your body communicates to you that you're thirsty again. I don’t know about you, but Jesus sounds like he is offering a great deal. The water you could drink once and never thirst again. Look how she responds to Jesus in

John 4:15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 

This seems like a reasonable response. But does Jesus give her a glass of water to drink? Jesus asks her to go and get her husband in vs 16. And in

John 4:17 she says, “I have no husband.” Then in John 4:17-18, “Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.” 

Now if you were just sitting on a bench at your local park and a strange man walked up to you and said, “I know what you did last night and then named exactly what you did last night and what you did not last night was not a good thing” This might surprise you the same way it did the woman at the well. So look how she responds to

John 4:20, “What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

So now this woman is officially freaked out, convicted and she knows this is no ordinary man she is speaking with and she perceives him to be a prophet, but notice just like with the water this woman starts looking for something physical. At first she wanted real water to drink. Now she is looking for a physical place to worship. Is Jerusalem where we should worship. Why? They where on Mount Gerizim – the people Samaria believed this was the place where Abraham offered his son Isaac to God. But, the Jews and as recorded in the Torah say it was on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. So she was confused, because there was a dispute within Gods people. Sound familiar. I know not us, we would never fight over things like that in the church. She wanted know are the Samarians right or the Jews. Baptist or Pentecostals, Presbyterian or church of Christ?

  You see, she still does not get it. She is wanting to tie God to something she can see and understand. She wants God to be represented in a place and this cannot be, because God is the God all places and all people. God is the god of all denominations the claim his son Jesus Christ as the born again resurrected son of Jesus. It does not matter what the words are the sing of your church outside, what matters is do your represent the living God and believe his son is the resected son of God. It’s time we stop confusing people of the world and keep it simple. I’m a follower Christ bottom line. What I want to know is when did just being a Christia, stop being good enough. I have entered into the church planting season of my life. You know the number one question people aske me? What denomination are you? Not do you believe in Jesus Christ as the resurrected son of Christ, what denomination are you? I’m sorry but I know Baptist churches that struggle to teach the truth of Jesus Christ. Listen as the church we need to keep the critical the critical and not fight about the rest.

God of Spirit 

Look back in John 4:21-4

Look what Jesus does instead. In

John 4:21-24 “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

Jesus at this point gives an absolute theological feast. Jesus proclaims salvation. He speaks of a time when worship will extend beyond the physical location but in all things. This is why Jesus proclaims God as a spirit. That through spirit of God his people will worship. Think about verse

1 Corinthians 6:9 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,” 

Believers of Christ are indwelled with the holy spirit. Jesus saying, yes Salvation is from the Jews, but it will stay that way. God is the God all people. God seeking out true worshipers. God made you and I spiritual beings. He put the spirit of God in us. There has been times my life where I have walked into a room and thought to myself that person is a believer. I never had a conversation with that person, never seen them and something in me says they love Jesus. Then later through conversation, I come find out they love Jesus. It has happened to many times in my life for me to consider it a coincidence. God created us as spiritual beings. Worshiping God is a spiritual encounter.

God calls you into an enteral worship that will shape you into the image of Jesus.

Jesus Is He 

Look how the woman responds 

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Then Jesus drops the mic. And says in John 4:26

 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

The very first ever recorded account of the gospel.

 “I who speak to you am he.” 

Look at what Jesus is claiming. He is claiming to be living water. He a critical substance that is needed. He is claiming to be the Messiah. He is claiming to be the one seeking out true worshipers.

 The woman at the well said, “I know that Messiah is coming.” Jesus says, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus shows up in unexpected places with unexpected grace to unexpecting people. 

The greatest message in the history of humanity was revealed to one of the most ordinary sinners on earth. If you think your to big of a sinner for Jesus to love you. If you think you to far gone to go to church. You are exactly who Jesus died for. Look what happens in

John 4:27 “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Exciting things do not stay secrets. The greater the news the more people that find out. This woman was excited. Someone had shown her love, forgiveness, and grace. She went to tell everyone she knew. No longer was she ashamed to go to the people who looked her with shame. Her identity was no longer the woman who spelt around. Her Identify was now that of true worshiper.

So often in Christianity, this is not how we respond. Most of the time we respond to the news of Christ with silence. If we respond to the gospel in silence then what does this say about how we feel about the gospel? But Dav, we have to be practical. We do not want to offend anyone and I'm more of a win-through-love kind of person. Well, the disciples respond practically, and look what Jesus tells them.

John 4:31

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 

Can we agree that Jesus said some of the most confusing things to people? Here is the truth.

If your life makes sense to the world then you need to ask if your life makes sense to Jesus. 

Christ did not call us to accomplish the work of the world, he called us as verse 34 states to do his work. This means some of what we do will not make sense to the world. We will give up the comforts of food so someone else can eat before us. We will give time to ourselves so we can serve others, and we will give up the money we need so Jesus' work is accomplished. This is why Jesus goes on to explain in

John 4:35

35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Some of you in here will sacrifice the money you need, the time you could have had and you will give it to the church just to never see any results of it. I had little to do with the salvation of the man a McDonalds 10 years ago. My grandmother sowed seeds for years before I came along and did easy part. Some of you will serve faithfully, to never see the results of your hard work.

We do not give because we seek a reward, we give because he gave everything to us.

Everything that we have has been given to us in the first place.

At this point, the woman at the well did not care what anyone thought of her. She unashamedly went back to town, to people who knew all of her faults and shared what had happened.

When we serve Christ in unashamed, selfless obedience look what happens

 John 4:39-42 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 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.”

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Jesus before he had even died on the cross came and shared the truth of the gospel with an ordinary woman, who became so excited about the good news that she went and proclaimed to everyone she knew, and as a result, it says and many more believed. Why? Because the woman at the well believed. 

Listen minnistry is messy, with messy people and there is nothing civilized or proper about the gospel. Many of us are to worried about being civil and polite to be an effect proclamation of the gospel.

The Gospel 

Later on, Jesus goes to die for the sins of the woman at the well and your sins. Christ becomes the very messiah that he and the woman at the well speak of. Christ was later sentenced to death for claiming to be God. Christ was murdered by the very people he came to save, they beat him, placed a crown of thorns on his head, and hung him on a cross to die. They beat Jesus with a whip that tore flesh from his body. Then after the physical torture inflicted man he takes on a pain far worse then all of it. Romans 5:8, “ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Everyone always thinks that the physical beating was the worst part of the crucifixion, but it was but a mire glimpse of what was to come.

Matthew 27:46

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

This is why Christ was sent to the cross. To endure the punishment of Gods wrath that you deserved.

What is civilized or proper about that.

Now had Christ stayed dead, he would have been just another man. However, 3 days later Christ was raised from the dead and conquered what you and I could never have conquered. Christ conquered death. Romans 3:23, “ For the wages of sin is death.”

In Romans 10:9 says, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” I always ask people have ever had a Romans 10:9 moment. Admit you’re a sinner, Believe Christ died for you, and confess your sins to Christ. Then it says Christ will forgive you. The same truth that was shared with the woman at the Well is shared with you today. Will you choose to believe?

[1] Stephen, R. Carpenter, Stephen R., Stuart G. Fisher, Nancy B. Grimm, and James F. Kitchell. "Global change and freshwater ecosystems." (Annual review of ecology and systematics 23, no. 1 1992): 119-139.

[2] Chumlea, W. Cameron, Shumei S. Guo, Christine M. Zeller, Nicholas V. Reo, and Roger M. Siervogel. "Total body water data for white adults 18 to 64 years of age: the Fels Longitudinal Study." Kidney international 56, no. 1 (1999): 244-252.

[3] [3] William D Rooney, , Xin Li, Manoj K. Sammi, Dennis N. Bourdette, Edward A. Neuwelt, and Springer S Charles. Jr. "Mapping human brain capillary water lifetime: high‐resolution metabolic neuroimaging." (NMR in Biomedicine 28, no. 6 2015): 607-623