Weekly Seed of Faith 9/4/20

Dear Faithful and Fearless Seed Sowers:

Greetings faithful and fearless ones! I hope and pray that you are well and that the Lord Jesus is shining His light and love into your lives during this time of the pandemic. Today we begin a series on John 4:1-26.  I have titled this series, “Surprised By God.”  It is my prayer that God will surprise you each and every single day with His everlasting love and grace.  I hope you read through John 4:1-26.  Stop, pause and ponder the verses.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what he wants to tell you. Put yourself into the story!

NOTHING DEPENDS ON US
Have you ever stopped to ponder verse four — ^“Now he had to go through Samaria.” 

Why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? The Samaritans were hated by the Jewish people. Most Jewish people would walk the two extra days around Samaria just to avoid the people there. Why?

What I find so amazing is the stark contrast between two groups of people.  Think of Nicodemus. Go and read his story in chapter three and then read this story again in chapter four.  Can you see it, the difference between the important and sophisticated Nicodemus, this ruler of the Jews, and the simple Samaritan woman? Nicodemus was a Jew, she’s a Samaritan.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee, he was high class. She belonged to no religious party, she was low class. Nicodemus was a politician, she had no status whatsoever–unless you call a bad reputation a status. Nicodemus was a scholar, the woman at the well was fairly uneducated.  Nicodemus was highly moral,  the unnamed woman at the well was not all that moral (she had at least five husbands and was not married to the one she was with at the time.) Think of it this way, Nicodemus has a name in the Scriptures. She is nameless. Nicodemus was a man; she was a woman. Nicodemus went in the dark of night to meet with Jesus, to protect his reputation; the unnamed woman had no reputation, she meets with Jesus at high noon at the town well. Nicodemus came seeking something of Jesus; the woman at the well was sought by Jesus.

WOW!  Did you hear that?  The unnamed, immoral, uneducated, fearful, lonely and outcast woman was sought out by Jesus. Listen, I do not know where you are at today.  I do not know if you are lost and lonely, if you are surrounded by wealth and education, or if you sneak out at night so no one sees you. Wherever you are, I want you to know this:  God knows your name and Jesus has come to seek you.

The HOLY Jew and the LOWLY Samaritan: A great contrast, yet the point of the story is that each one of them needed the fullness of grace brought through the Gospel the Good News of Jesus and both were welcome to it.

If Nicodemus is an example of the truth that no one can rise so high as to be above salvation, then the woman is an example of the truth that no one can sink too low to be saved.

It is by no means an accident that the Apostle John has placed these two wonderful stories together at the beginning of his Gospel and that they end in 4:42 with the Samaritan woman saying,  “This man really is the Savior of the world.” (Notice–no class is mentioned here; not the Jews nor the Samaritans–He’s the savior of the WORLD!)

The first point to take home today is this: NOTHING DEPENDS ON ME — NOTHING AT ALL. 

This unnamed woman at the well is absolute proof of this. We must never say, “I am just a nobody from nowhere, I have gone too far to Jesus to find me, I just an ordinary Christian, the fullness of God’s grace is not for me. The fullness of God’s grace is for everybody, high and low, moral and immoral, sick and healthy, educated and uneducated, religious and non-religious or sinner or saint.  The fullness of God’s grace does not depend on ME.  Nothing depends on ME — nothing at all.

SO WHAT?  Jesu
Which one of these two characters do you most identify with: Nicodemus or the unnamed woman at the well?
Why?
Are you a little of each?
How?

Both Nicodemus and the unnamed woman were surprised by Jesus. If you haven’t viewed the series, “THE CHOSEN”, check it out. Both of these characters are in the story line. Maybe you will learn more about yourself as you SEE the story come alive?

I see myself in both of these people. I watch as my intelligence often wants me to think logically and not with my heart. After 22 years in ordained ministry and add 14 years in youth ministry, I’ve learned never to try to out-think God because, when I do, God surprises me. I remember when I took my exegetical exam. I was supposed to write about the still, small voice of God. I didn’t do that. Instead, I tried to spin a tale about the still, small voice of Dave! I had to rewrite that exam. “Stick to the Scriptures, Dave.” God didn’t need my spin on His word. Like Nic at night–Jesus shared His heart. “You must be born again.” Incredibly intelligent Nic asks, “How can that be? Can I reenter my mother’s womb and be born a second time?” Can’t you just see Jesus wince. “Nic, stop thinking. Do you know where the wind comes from or will go next? Let the Holy Spirit of God guide you in this.” Yes.  I can surely see myself in Nicodemus. And there is God–surprising Nic.

And then, I am also like the unnamed woman; ashamed and embarrassed of myself. Before I gave my life to Jesus, I made some poor decisions that hurt others and myself. Jesus simply showed up. “Suprise, nameless woman at the well, I am the living water for whom you thirst.” Have you ever had God read your mail? Have you ever been sitting in a church, listening to a message, and BAM! You swear the pastor somehow got into your journal?

HOLY or LOWLY? It doesn’t matter at all because our God is a God of surprises who will meet you in secret at midnight, alone, or who will meet you at high noon at the public well.

This week, pray with me: “God, surprise me. Amen.”

God loves you and so do I
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com