Now THAT's Evangelism
John 4:4-30; 39-42
What do you think of when you hear the word “evangelism?” Perhaps some of you think of the sandwich board wearing “the end is near” shouting kind of street corner Christian. Maybe you think of someone well-versed in scripture, someone like Rudy who is always prepared to give an answer to anyone who has a question or objection to matters of faith. Maybe you simply think of someone who shares God’s love. Unfortunately, to many people, evangelism has a bad connotation.
Because instead of being euangelion, which means “Good News” evangelism has instead become the art of “Bad Newsing.” Which is good news: “you’re going to Hell!” or “You can go to heaven”? Which is good news: “you’re a hopeless sinner!” or “You can be forgiven”?
If I asked you to name a good evangelist, you might come up with a name like Billy Graham, one of the most influential and well-known Christians of our time. Everyone respects Rev. Graham, and he has a fantastic platform from which to share the good news. Unfortunately, many people think they have to be like Billy Graham to share Jesus.
This couldn’t be any farther from the truth.
The best evangelist looks like… you. If you’re thinking about all of the reasons you can’t share Jesus with others, those shouldn’t be any hindrance.
Jesus showed up in a town that the Jews called Sychar. I know most of us associate Sychar with a holiness camp, and we have pleasant thoughts about that name, but it wasn’t meant to be a complimentary name. It’s like the name “Methodist” which was used to make fun of John and Charles Wesley and their friends who were just so “methodical” about their Christianity. Sychar was most likely a Jewish name for the ancient city of Shechem, a famous city in Jewish history. By Jesus’ time, it was the leading city of Samaria, and Jews hated Samaritans. So they nicknamed their leading city sheker meaning “falsehood” (Hab 2:18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies?”).
So Jesus meets a woman there at the well. She had at least four strikes against her. She was Samaritan: Jews and Samaritans didn’t mingle. She was a woman: Jewish men did not speak to women who weren’t related to them. She was unmarried: for a woman of this time period to be unmarried at her age was a source of shame. In fact, she had gone through multiple husbands – we don’t know why, but, again, even if she had been widowed five times, this would have been seen as judgment against her, and she was with another man who wasn’t her husband. It was no wonder why she came to draw water during the heat of the day, instead of in the cool of the morning, when others would draw their water.
So it was unlikely that Jesus should have even spoken to her. Yet he does. He approaches her, not after she’s cleaned up her act, not after she’s left her non-husband she’s living with, not after she makes peace with the other women, not after any of those things. Jesus goes directly to her, right in the midst of her sinful life.
Know this: Jesus loves all of us this much: while we were still sinners, He died for us. Not after we got things right with Him.
As they spoke, it becomes obvious that this woman needs something. Why is this obvious? I think she’d given up. I think she was tired of fighting. I think she had gone beyond the point where she was ready and waiting for life transformation. She was beat. Anyone here ever experienced that?
I sure have.
I also think she was needy because of how hard she tried to change the subject. After Jesus asked her for water, she says to him (John 4:9-12) “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Did you notice her tactic? She first tried to cover her sin problem with her pedigree. “I am a descendent of Jacob!” We do that a lot. “My parents are active members of this church!” or “My grandparents helped build this church!” or “We’ve lived in this town for X years!”
Jesus isn’t fazed by her distraction. He directs the conversation back to Himself. (John 4:13-14) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman’s next evasion is her felt needs. (John 4:15) The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." She wants this water so she doesn’t have to go out in public. Now she won’t have to daily confront her shame, because she won’t have to face the other women who come to draw water. I think this is what’s going on here. She is begging, not even to be made whole, but just to be left alone. She doesn’t even know what she needs most. She hasn’t even considered that what Jesus has to offer is so much more!
So Jesus cuts to the chase. (John 4:16-18) He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Ouch. One thing about Jesus is that he doesn’t pull any punches. He tells it right like it is. I wonder what went through the woman’s head when he tells it to her like it is. She is saying all kinds of things to avoid the real problem, and Jesus cuts right to the heart issue.
So she avoids him a third time, this time by going to theological matters. (John 4:19-20) "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
This isn’t the issue, and Jesus knows it. Likewise when people who don’t usually talk theology question you about deep theological issues; often those issues aren’t the real issue. When I went to Russia, I prayed that I would get a roommate who was friendly and who didn’t ask the tough questions “just to stump me” – I got just what I asked for, and my roommate and I barely had any deep conversations. But I also made a couple of friends who asked hard questions, just to stump me. Finally Radick asked me what I would think if the Russian Orthodox Church sent missionaries to the USA. I told him, “If you can spare any, bring them on.” The question wasn’t really about Russian Orthodox Church missionaries; it was about trust.
Now the woman is almost there, but she grasps at one last straw. We can’t know any of this yet. But when Messiah comes… (John 4:25) The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Jesus finally hits the big revelation: (John 4:26) Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Now that she knows who Jesus is, and (this is great), she leaves her jar and runs back to town. She goes to the same people she was ashamed to confront earlier. She tells everyone about Jesus. I think this is funny: she claims he “told her everything I ever did” and wonders “could this be the Christ?” – He really didn’t tell her anything more than everyone already know, and he told her flat out that he was the Christ. I think she was still ashamed; she didn’t have an awesome testimony of a changed life; she just thought that this might actually be the Messiah that they were all waiting for.
And because of her testimony, (John 4:39) Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
Because they were captured by her words, they came and checked it out for themselves. A key thought here: she didn’t have it all down. She wasn’t all of a sudden a theological genius. She didn’t have all the answers. But she invited them to meet Jesus for themselves.
You see, as an evangelist, her job wasn’t to convert people; she had a simple task: introduce them to the Jesus she had met, the Jesus who met her right where she was. And notice this: her job wasn’t to point out their sins – her job was to point them to Jesus. I had an experience recently: in the span of about five minutes, someone made a comment that I was “catching them sinning” and another person asked me if I was going to “preach at them and tell them what to do.” My response: I’m not the Holy Spirit. That’s his job. It’s not our job to convict sinners. Our job is to lead them to the Jesus we know. And, YES, the Holy Spirit will convict them of sins, just like Jesus refused to pull punches with the woman at the well.
(John 4:40-42) So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
Here’s the final word: When we meet Jesus and commune with Him, He will change our lives. And those changed lives will bring others to Him; He will change their lives as well.
What do you think of when you hear the word “evangelism?” Perhaps some of you think of the sandwich board wearing “the end is near” shouting kind of street corner Christian. Maybe you think of someone well-versed in scripture, someone like Rudy who is always prepared to give an answer to anyone who has a question or objection to matters of faith. Maybe you simply think of someone who shares God’s love. Unfortunately, to many people, evangelism has a bad connotation.
Because instead of being euangelion, which means “Good News” evangelism has instead become the art of “Bad Newsing.” Which is good news: “you’re going to Hell!” or “You can go to heaven”? Which is good news: “you’re a hopeless sinner!” or “You can be forgiven”?
If I asked you to name a good evangelist, you might come up with a name like Billy Graham, one of the most influential and well-known Christians of our time. Everyone respects Rev. Graham, and he has a fantastic platform from which to share the good news. Unfortunately, many people think they have to be like Billy Graham to share Jesus.
This couldn’t be any farther from the truth.
The best evangelist looks like… you. If you’re thinking about all of the reasons you can’t share Jesus with others, those shouldn’t be any hindrance.
Jesus showed up in a town that the Jews called Sychar. I know most of us associate Sychar with a holiness camp, and we have pleasant thoughts about that name, but it wasn’t meant to be a complimentary name. It’s like the name “Methodist” which was used to make fun of John and Charles Wesley and their friends who were just so “methodical” about their Christianity. Sychar was most likely a Jewish name for the ancient city of Shechem, a famous city in Jewish history. By Jesus’ time, it was the leading city of Samaria, and Jews hated Samaritans. So they nicknamed their leading city sheker meaning “falsehood” (Hab 2:18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies?”).
So Jesus meets a woman there at the well. She had at least four strikes against her. She was Samaritan: Jews and Samaritans didn’t mingle. She was a woman: Jewish men did not speak to women who weren’t related to them. She was unmarried: for a woman of this time period to be unmarried at her age was a source of shame. In fact, she had gone through multiple husbands – we don’t know why, but, again, even if she had been widowed five times, this would have been seen as judgment against her, and she was with another man who wasn’t her husband. It was no wonder why she came to draw water during the heat of the day, instead of in the cool of the morning, when others would draw their water.
So it was unlikely that Jesus should have even spoken to her. Yet he does. He approaches her, not after she’s cleaned up her act, not after she’s left her non-husband she’s living with, not after she makes peace with the other women, not after any of those things. Jesus goes directly to her, right in the midst of her sinful life.
Know this: Jesus loves all of us this much: while we were still sinners, He died for us. Not after we got things right with Him.
As they spoke, it becomes obvious that this woman needs something. Why is this obvious? I think she’d given up. I think she was tired of fighting. I think she had gone beyond the point where she was ready and waiting for life transformation. She was beat. Anyone here ever experienced that?
I sure have.
I also think she was needy because of how hard she tried to change the subject. After Jesus asked her for water, she says to him (John 4:9-12) “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Did you notice her tactic? She first tried to cover her sin problem with her pedigree. “I am a descendent of Jacob!” We do that a lot. “My parents are active members of this church!” or “My grandparents helped build this church!” or “We’ve lived in this town for X years!”
Jesus isn’t fazed by her distraction. He directs the conversation back to Himself. (John 4:13-14) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman’s next evasion is her felt needs. (John 4:15) The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." She wants this water so she doesn’t have to go out in public. Now she won’t have to daily confront her shame, because she won’t have to face the other women who come to draw water. I think this is what’s going on here. She is begging, not even to be made whole, but just to be left alone. She doesn’t even know what she needs most. She hasn’t even considered that what Jesus has to offer is so much more!
So Jesus cuts to the chase. (John 4:16-18) He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Ouch. One thing about Jesus is that he doesn’t pull any punches. He tells it right like it is. I wonder what went through the woman’s head when he tells it to her like it is. She is saying all kinds of things to avoid the real problem, and Jesus cuts right to the heart issue.
So she avoids him a third time, this time by going to theological matters. (John 4:19-20) "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
This isn’t the issue, and Jesus knows it. Likewise when people who don’t usually talk theology question you about deep theological issues; often those issues aren’t the real issue. When I went to Russia, I prayed that I would get a roommate who was friendly and who didn’t ask the tough questions “just to stump me” – I got just what I asked for, and my roommate and I barely had any deep conversations. But I also made a couple of friends who asked hard questions, just to stump me. Finally Radick asked me what I would think if the Russian Orthodox Church sent missionaries to the USA. I told him, “If you can spare any, bring them on.” The question wasn’t really about Russian Orthodox Church missionaries; it was about trust.
Now the woman is almost there, but she grasps at one last straw. We can’t know any of this yet. But when Messiah comes… (John 4:25) The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Jesus finally hits the big revelation: (John 4:26) Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Now that she knows who Jesus is, and (this is great), she leaves her jar and runs back to town. She goes to the same people she was ashamed to confront earlier. She tells everyone about Jesus. I think this is funny: she claims he “told her everything I ever did” and wonders “could this be the Christ?” – He really didn’t tell her anything more than everyone already know, and he told her flat out that he was the Christ. I think she was still ashamed; she didn’t have an awesome testimony of a changed life; she just thought that this might actually be the Messiah that they were all waiting for.
And because of her testimony, (John 4:39) Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
Because they were captured by her words, they came and checked it out for themselves. A key thought here: she didn’t have it all down. She wasn’t all of a sudden a theological genius. She didn’t have all the answers. But she invited them to meet Jesus for themselves.
You see, as an evangelist, her job wasn’t to convert people; she had a simple task: introduce them to the Jesus she had met, the Jesus who met her right where she was. And notice this: her job wasn’t to point out their sins – her job was to point them to Jesus. I had an experience recently: in the span of about five minutes, someone made a comment that I was “catching them sinning” and another person asked me if I was going to “preach at them and tell them what to do.” My response: I’m not the Holy Spirit. That’s his job. It’s not our job to convict sinners. Our job is to lead them to the Jesus we know. And, YES, the Holy Spirit will convict them of sins, just like Jesus refused to pull punches with the woman at the well.
(John 4:40-42) So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
Here’s the final word: When we meet Jesus and commune with Him, He will change our lives. And those changed lives will bring others to Him; He will change their lives as well.
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