Sunday Gathering - John 4 : 1-42 - Nick Lugg - Sermon Only

All right, good morning. Good to see everybody. We're in John chapter 4 today. I love these

series through John's Gospel as we're going bit by bit. It's a bit of a page turner, isn't it?

You don't know, well, you know, what's going to happen next? And the good thing is we've all got

the, whether on our phones or in our hands, we've got the book in front of us. So please do

look into that and read it and understand it, what Jesus is saying to us. So we're in John chapter

four, it's quite a long passage, some of these passages the way they fall, some are long, some

are shorter, this is quite a long one and it's a journey through Samaria and the title that I've

given it this morning is If You Only Knew, If You Only Knew, Jesus and the Samaritan Woman and

Instead of reading all 38 verses all at once,

we're going to read them bit by bit,

go through them in sections,

and see what it is that God wants to say to us this morning.

So John chapter 4, verse 1 to 3.

Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing

and making more disciples than John,

though Jesus himself didn't baptize them, his disciples did.

So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

Look at the humanity of these passages.

You know, Erica brought it out last week that there was this argument about who was getting more disciples

and who was doing better, and Jesus seemed to be taking the lead,

and John's disciples were upset about that.

And even in the explanation, John, one of Jesus' disciples, is like being a little bit defensive, isn't he?

Jesus himself didn't baptize him, his disciples did.

He's one of the disciples.

And they're just explaining it.

But Jesus knew, and it's a really interesting moment in his ministry,

that there is movement, there's momentum,

people are starting to notice.

John has paved the way for him.

We've sung it this morning,

prepare ye the way of the Lord,

that, you know, there's one coming after me

who is greater than me,

whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I will baptize you with water,

he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

I am not the Messiah, he is the Messiah.

Huge platform built for Jesus.

And so, you know, in ministry terms,

things are going really, really well.

He's got everything.

going for him in terms of publicity

and the opportunity to make an impact.

And then we get into chapter 4 and it says,

Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard he was baptizing

and making more disciples than John.

So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

This is Jesus.

Got it all made.

He's got the book deal and the TV rights

and everything is going on.

The ministry is really beginning to take off

and he hears that there's a bit of argy-bargy

about who's getting the most popular and he said, right, I'm out of here. This is not what I'm doing.

John had said he must become greater, I must become less and what's striking is that Jesus

doesn't join in, he doesn't comment, he doesn't say, yep, that's me, you know, make way. John is saying

make way, Jesus isn't saying make way, he's saying actually I'm not going to compete with

anybody here and he left and he stepped away from the environment where everything is starting to

revolve around status and perception if anyone had the right to take center stage it was him

but Jesus doesn't compete for space in that because his ministry is something different

he's absolutely wedded to what he knows God has called him to be and to do and when we get into

that situation where it's all about competition it's all about status it's all about who's got

the loudest voice no matter how much it's dressed up as Christian ministry the harsh word is that

many times we'll find that it's from those environments

that Jesus withdraws.

Because Jesus' ministry

is somewhere else. Jesus' ministry

is on the edge.

I remember my father-in-law

recommending me a book many years ago

called The Pilgrim Church.

And he's saying how the work of

God, the ministry of God is always

on the edges, always on the

margins. Look there, don't look in

the centre where everything is going on, where all

the noise and all the activity is.

Jesus is on the edge. And what we

see is that Jesus withdrew from that situation because he didn't want to take part in that

competition didn't want to be part of that culture and that movement and he moved towards something

that was entirely unexpected and so we move to verse four he had to go through Samaria on the way

after he left Judea and returned to Galilee he had to go through Samaria on the way which is not a

Jewish area it's not somewhere that he would normally have traveled through it's certainly

not a comfortable route or an obvious route to take might be the way the satnav takes you but

it's not the best way in terms of their culture and understanding but he had to go through samaria

eventually he came to the samaritan village of sichar near the field that jacob gave to his son

joseph jacob's well was there and jesus tired from the long walk sat wearily beside the well about

noontime soon a samaritan woman came to draw water and jesus said to her please give me a drink

he was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food the

woman was surprised for jews refused to have anything to do with samaritans she said to jesus

you're a jew and i'm a samaritan woman why are you asking me for a drink so jesus withdrew from the

comfort of the successful ministry and he ended up in samaria in almost a forbidden area somewhere

where he wouldn't normally be where where the people that were Jesus as a Jew would not never

normally be expected to interact with with anybody in that community and here he was sat at the side

of a well thirsty and he meets a woman who comes doing her daily business drawing the water from

the well and he says please give me a drink and it's the woman herself that puts up the barriers

immediately those barriers come up no why are you talking to me you shouldn't be talking to me

she's like she's taken ignored the fact that Jesus has chosen to talk to her said this is not

acceptable this is not acceptable this is not how things are she knows the rules she knows where she

stands and in her mind this conversation shouldn't be happening but where Jesus had encountered a

barrier in the in the ministry in the busyness in the competition that was going on around John

and he withdrew, here where he finds a barrier being put up by somebody, he pushes through it

and he's reaching into her life. We see Jesus working at the margins. Jesus working in unexpected

places. Jesus speaking to people that he wouldn't normally. The crowds went out to John. Crowds went

out to Jesus. There was a queue to be baptized. People were jumping in. They were

rejoining. Everything was growing. This woman was just doing her daily business, and Jesus met her

right there. She wasn't even asking for anything. In fact, she was resisting. She was saying, you

shouldn't be speaking to me. And Jesus said, if only you knew. And so it goes on. Jesus replied, if you

only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me and I would give you

living water. But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket, she said, and this well is very deep. Where

would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob

who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?

Jesus replied, anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again, but those who drink

the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them,

giving them eternal life. Please, sir, the woman said, give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty

again, and I won't have to come here to get water. Sounds like a good deal to her. But Jesus' phrase

that he used is something that the whole encounter begins to center on. If you only knew. If you only

knew the gift God has for you, and who you were speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you

living water if you only knew this lady was living entirely within the limits of what she could see

and what she could understand and here is jesus speaking from a completely different perspective

saying actually if you only knew what i had for you if you only knew what was behind the curtain

if you only knew the extent of god's grace and the extent of his love and the fact that all of

your barriers and all of the reasons that you give me why i shouldn't be speaking to you if

you knew that all of that was irrelevant

and everything that God has for you is yours,

you would ask me and I would give you.

Holding something far greater than she could imagine.

And it's almost like a tennis match,

an uneven tennis match.

Jesus is saying, if you only knew.

She's saying, yes, but these are the limits.

This far and no further.

You can't actually do this.

So Jesus is saying, yeah, but I've got living water.

And she said, but you haven't got a bucket.

and the well is very deep

and you couldn't be greater than Jacob

our father who gave us this well

limits

putting fences around

it made perfect logical sense to her

he didn't have a bucket

so where could he get the water from

the well was too deep

this is Jacob's well

who is this person

talking to me about living water

and so she immediately

was closing the door on the possibilities

if only you knew if only you knew what was real jen mentioned it earlier you know is he real that

question if only you knew how real he was if only you knew how powerful he was how gracious he was

how loving he was how how much he had for you then you would ask and i would give you

but you don't ask because the limits of your imagination close it down and stop you i mean

to have some sympathy on her i mean why should she know anything she doesn't know anything else

except her normal everyday life where she's excluded from Israel

and people don't talk to her because of who she is and where she was born.

You know, all of that, and yet you find Jesus breaking those barriers

and saying, if only you knew.

What a, not just a metaphor, but what a message for our culture

and our world that we live in.

If only you knew how close Jesus is.

You know, religion separates and puts a distance

because you've got to go through, even going through the baptism,

you've got to go through the processes

and you've got to be a certain type of person

and be part of a certain type of community

and yet Jesus goes straight to this woman

and said if only you knew

it's right here

just ask me

right here

it's yours

and she's like oh no

I don't think

your bucket's not big enough

and her experience

her history

her understanding

form the walls of what she believes is possible

and that's the world we live in

just outside there

just around us just in our neighborhoods just where we work there are people that actually

Jesus is right there saying if only you knew even in our lives if only you knew I remember when I

was a student many many years ago and I think about this sometimes because I'm not very how

can I put it yeah I get quite analytical about things in you know and and trying to understand

the love of God and all of that and I remember somebody saying to me speaking a word they said

I've just been, they were overwhelmed

by it, I wasn't overwhelmed, they were saying

I've been overwhelmed by the love

God has for you, or the

grace and the mercy and

if only you could see it

and I couldn't see it, I said

well thanks very much, thank you for your word

and come away

and I've thought about it since and I've never really

not never really understood the love

of God but it's like

it was just that message that there is so much

more than you've ever seen

that is yours

and sometimes, and I know, I'll put myself

in that bracket, I'll be one like that

yeah but, yeah but, yeah but, yeah but

yeah but, there's a

there's a reason, there's a limit

yeah but, why doesn't it work

we hear words like grace and power

and mercy but we filter them through what we

already know, we quietly set the limits

say okay well, we

we, yeah we know

that God loves us, but

you know, I've got all these other things to think about

and he said if only you knew that the love of God could overwhelm all of that and take charge of

all of that and blow your life not just sort of float your life but blow you out of the water

altogether there's so much that is available to us and that's what Jesus was saying to this

to this lady and he doesn't give up on her just because she puts up the barriers he keeps going

he keeps pushing and he keeps using different angles and different ways to get through to

and to communicate to her.

And so it goes on, verse 16.

So she said, please give me this water,

then I'll never be thirsty again

and I won't have to come here to get water.

Now there, before we move on to the next passage,

that is again just a symbol of how we deal with Jesus, isn't it?

Oh yeah, well all right, then give me,

through our understanding, give me what you've got

and then that will make my life a bit easier.

That means I don't have to work so hard.

It means I don't have to actually keep coming here

because I'm fed up with coming to the well all the time,

and if I've got this never-ending supply of water,

it sounds perfect.

It's like the Industrial Revolution.

But she's not really got a vision for her life to change,

just for her life to get easier.

And Jesus doesn't carry on the conversation,

because, like I said, he takes a different angle.

Give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty again.

Sounds like a deal.

Could probably make a business out of it.

Jesus said, all right, go and get your husband.

I don't have a husband, the woman replied.

Jesus said, you're right.

You don't have a husband, but you've had five husbands.

And you aren't even married to the man you're living with now.

You certainly spoke the truth.

Well done.

Sir, the woman said, you must be a prophet.

So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship

while we Samaritans claim it's here at Mount Gerizim where our ancestors worshipped?

Just, I'm just, it makes me wonder sometimes,

did Jesus go into that conversation with the full package of knowledge?

Or was it that moment that God just opened something up and he saw it

and he spoke it out, naturally supernatural,

just in a conversation around the well.

And it's like God just opened up a door in his thoughts.

Yeah, you're right, you don't have a husband.

In fact, you've had five husbands

and you're not married to the man you're living with now.

I mean, that could be absolutely devastating,

that sort of exposure.

But there's a sense that he's not exposing her to shame her

or to crush her, just to show her,

you know, there's somebody special here.

I know you.

I'm not just talking to you about the theory of living water

or offering you a business opportunity.

I know who you are.

I know your life.

I know you from beginning to end.

I know everything about you.

And if you only knew.

He said he knew all of that.

He didn't think when he got the word of knowledge,

he thought, oops, I spoke too soon about the grace of God.

She's had five husbands.

He didn't.

He said, you've had five husbands.

The man you're living with is not your husband.

And if only you knew how much grace there was for you.

Then you would ask.

and I would give you.

I would still give you.

And now that word of knowledge is out in the open,

I'm still going to give you.

So he shifts the ground completely.

She's obviously a bit nervous

because she turns it into a theological discussion.

Yeah, the man you're living with is not your husband.

Oh yeah, tell us where we should worship.

Why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem

is the only place of worship

while we Samaritans claim it's here at Mount Gerizim

where our ancestors worshipped?

We love to do that, don't we?

Switch it around.

See it all the time you get into conversation with people.

about what is what's jesus saying to you what what is what is what does faith mean to you

well interesting question but i'd like to ask about adam and eve you know where did where did

the children of adam and eve get their wives from and all that sort of thing those sort of questions

come up because people would like to we'd like to deflect don't we you're right you've had five

husbands he sees her fully and he's offering her living water she puts it back into the into into

the terms that she can control.

But he doesn't argue with her.

In fact, he even lets her lead the conversation.

So, you know, she moves it away from the husband.

That's a bit embarrassing.

And she gets to, you know, where we should worship.

And he opens it up again.

So she's showing the limits of our imagination.

Where should we worship?

Which mountain should we be on?

What's the procedure?

What's the protocol?

Jesus said, believe me, dear woman.

I like that, isn't it?

Dear woman, the time is coming

when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship,

while we Jews know all about him,

for salvation comes through the Jews,

that the time is coming, indeed it's here now,

when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way,

for God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Notice how interaction with Jesus always brings us

to that expansion of our understanding.

He doesn't allow us to close things down.

Everything about her conversation was closing things down,

was bringing things down into an understandable point

to say, okay, well, what about the mountain?

Where should we do it?

What about the water?

She's trying to analyze it in a human term,

and Jesus is opening it up all the time

and is giving a new understanding, a new revelation,

and saying, actually, as you step into this revelation

and this understanding and this knowledge about God,

you will learn more and more and more and more and more

if only you knew how much God has for you.

And what a message for the world, if only you knew.

The world's full of religion.

I mean, Jesus' world was full of religion.

Religious people crucified him.

Religious people were the ones he drove out of the temple.

Remember Temple Jesus with his whip?

And, you know, it was all, there was no,

Jesus didn't come to make more religion.

There was plenty of it to start with.

We don't need Jesus to give us more religion,

but we do need Jesus to open up, to take the lid off

and say, if only you knew.

There's so much grace.

And what a message for 2026.

People think they know, don't they?

We've got all this, there's so much discussion these days

about religion and religious sensitivities

and who should pray where and what should happen

and we've been told by politicians,

what you know how to understand religion it's all it's all just surface it's all just tinkering

around with stuff but if only you knew what was under the surface if only you knew the power of

the grace of god and that's what we pray that god lifts the lid so that this living water would flow

out into our lives into our communities into our understanding so that the reality that jen talked

about earlier is is ours the reality is seen the reality is felt been so exciting to see what's

happening through Alpha, and people coming in that, and conversations that I had that are

turning into faith, and people saying, you know, well, you know, I'm beginning to see, I'm beginning

to understand, and you're sort of like, you're getting into, stepping into the water, but

sooner or later you step into the white water rapids, and things really do change as the power

of God works in our lives. Then the disciples come back, proving their credentials as men of

power for the hour. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve

to ask, what do you want with her or why are you talking to her? So they just stood in awkward

silence, presumably. The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village,

telling everyone, come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Didn't actually, did he?

But it felt like it, I'm sure. Could he possibly be the Messiah? So the people came streaming from

the village to see him. Meanwhile

the disciples were urging Jesus, Rabbi,

eat something. But Jesus replied, I have a

kind of food you know nothing about. See the

theme? Every time.

Jesus was infuriating, wasn't he? Just as soon as

you say something, he says, oh yeah, but there's something else.

You know, have some food. Oh no, I've got

different food.

Challenging their thinking all the time.

Then they said, did someone bring

him food while we were gone? They're no different to the

Samaritan woman, are they? She wasn't allowed

to speak to Jews, but I mean, the Jews

didn't know much more. Jesus

explained my nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing his work

you know the saying four months between planting and harvest but I say wake up and look around the

fields are already ripe for harvest the harvesters are paid good wages and the fruit they harvest is

people brought to eternal life what joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike you know

the saying one plants another harvest and it's true I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant

others had already done the work and now you will get to gather the harvest so he's taking

the Samaritan woman on a journey. He's taken his

disciples on a journey. Jesus is all

about revelation. This river

of living water is to do

so much with his life, to do so much

with what he teaches, to do so much

what he shows. I have

food you don't understand. He's operating

on a completely different

level. Open up your eyes.

The fields are white for harvest

because the harvest isn't

theoretical. It looks

like this lady

by the side of the well.

Somebody who would be completely disqualified in their eyes.

Why are you even talking to her, they said.

Jesus said, open up your eyes.

This is the harvest.

These are the people.

This is who the message is for.

If only you knew.

If only they knew.

If only you knew.

And it's where it all comes together for us.

Jesus isn't competing for space in environments of comparison and control.

he's not trying to win

a religious competition

but he will step into the lives

of those who feel excluded

limited, disqualified

and if we're honest

that's all of us from time to time

excluded, limited, disqualified

and even when Jesus introduces himself

to us and says yes

I'm not too sure about that

it's a little bit far for me to go

Jesus has wanted to

take us on a journey of understanding

just like he did with this woman

He didn't say, oh, woman, you'll never understand

and walk off and find somebody else.

He led her, led her to understanding.

Are you ready to be led by Jesus to understanding more?

If only you knew.

Do you want to know more?

Do you want to know the extent?

You'll never know the extent, will we?

Do you want to know some of the depth of what God has for us?

And so Jesus came to a point where he stopped explaining

and the woman started to respond.

she started by saying you shouldn't be talking to me

and then she ran off to the village and brought everybody with her

come on, come and see

this man who told me everything

I ever did

where are we in the conversation

with Jesus

are we people that are quietly saying

this is as far as it goes

I think I've experienced enough of Jesus

and I understand him now

and I think this far and no further

or are we holding back

think well this isn't really for me

and we can hear that statement of Jesus

spoken into our lives this morning

if you only knew the gift God has for you.

And so there are two questions as we close

and ask the worship team to come back.

Two simple questions.

Am I reducing Jesus to what I understand

or am I open to what he wants to do?

as MCF are we reducing Jesus

to what we understand, to what we've seen

or are we open to all

that he's going to do

this whole exercise with 146

that we've been going through has been an exercise

in expanding our imagination

about what is possible

and every time it feels like a new set of limits

come down on us and then God pushes us through

and the other question is

if I really believed what was on offer

what would I ask for

if you really believed what was on offer

if you began to see that Jesus has untold blessing,

untold power, untold opportunity for transformation,

what would you ask him for?

Where have I set the limits?

What have I decided is not possible?

And our prayer should be,

Jesus, show us what we don't yet see.

Show us the water we don't yet understand.

And give us the courage to ask you for more.

and so as we worship

I'm going to offer you

that simple

opportunity, you may have responses

that you want to make in your own heart quietly

but equally

more and more we want to open up the front here

and give opportunity

for anybody that wants to come, as we worship

don't hesitate, if you know that

God is speaking to you, come down

we've got a team of people that will happily

stand with you, pray with you

and ask God with you

to open up the possibilities for all that he has.

And so as I hand over to Erica, hand back to Jan,

don't be afraid to make a response.

Amen.