Jesusawakensfaith
John4:39-42
AriSavuoja,SermonatSt.Luke’sChapel,22January2017
Translation&InterpretationbyBastian
John4:39-42
ManyoftheSamaritansfromthattownbelievedinhimbecauseofthewoman’s
testimony,‘HetoldmeeverythingI’veeverdone.’SowhentheSamaritanscameto
him,theyurgedhimtostaywiththem,andhestayedtwodays.Andbecauseofhis
wordsmanymorebecamebelievers.
Theysaidtothewoman,‘Wenolongerbelievejustbecauseofwhatyousaid;now
wehaveheardforourselves,andweknowthatthismanreallyistheSaviourofthe
world.’
Today'sGospeltextisafollow-uponlastSunday’sBiblestorywhereJesusmetthe
SamaritanwomanatthewellofSychar.Jesusandthewomanhadaconversation
thatchangedthewoman'slife.ThewomanrealisedthatbyencounteringJesusshe
hadexperiencedsomethingandsomeonequiteunprecedented.
Theexperiencewassopowerfulthatthewomanwhocametothewellatnoonto
getwater,leftherwaterpotatthewellandreturnedtothetowntotellother
people,"Come,seeamanwhotoldmeeverythingIhavedone.Wouldhebethe
Messiah?"
Thespecialfeaturehereisthatoriginallythewomandidnotwanttoencounter
anyoneinhertown,forthat’swhyshewenttogetwaterfromthewellatthehottest
timeoftheday,whentherewerenootherwomen.
NowthewomanencounteredJesusatthewellandhetoldherthetruthabouther
life.Butevenastheencounterrevealedthatthewomanwaslivinginadultery,Jesus
didnotcondemnorscoldher.Thisstunnedthewoman!Perhapsforthefirsttimeshe
metamanwhodidnottreatherrudely.
Perhapsforthefirsttimethiswomanmetamanwhogaveherthefullhuman
dignity.Itchangedthewoman'slife.Itwasachangethatalsootherlocalsnoticed.
Thewomandidnotcovertorconcealherpastsins,butsharedtoeveryone:"Hetold
meeverythingIhavedone."Becauseofhertestimonymanypeopleofthat
SamaritantownbelievedinJesus.
ThispartoftheGospeltellsusgreatthings,keythingsofthechurch'slifeandof
comingtofaith.
In2000yearstheChristianchurchhasgrownworldwide.Thishasbeenhappening
throughthepeople'stestimonies.Peoplehavebeentellingeachotherhowtheyhave
experiencedGodandwhatHehasdoneforthem.This,inturn,changedthelisteners'
lives.Andinthiswaysthethemessage–thegoodnews–continuedandcontinues
tospread.
Wepeopleoftodayshouldnoteafewthingsaboutthechurch’shistory:Inthefirst
centuries,whenthechurchexpanded,therewerenobooks,nonewspapers,no
radio,notelevision,noInternet!Newsandinformationpassedfromonepersonto
anotherbywordofmouth.Hand-writtenletterswereused.EachBiblewashand
written,anoriginalcopy.Thechurch’smessagewasspreadthroughhand-written
Biblesmorethan1,400years.
InEurope,Germany,JohannesGutenberginventedtheprintingmachineonlyinthe
late1400's,andthenitwaspossibletoreproducealotoftextorprintmanycopies.
Butthepreparationsforproducinganewbooktookalongtime,becauseevery
singleletterhadtobelaidoutontheprintingplate.Onlyinthelate1800s,the
typesetterwasinventedintheUSAandspeededuptheprocessofprinting,sothat
newspaperscouldbeprintedonthesameday.Anditisonlyinourtime,thatis,since
about20years,thatliterallyanyoneofuscanpublishnewsnotonlyinourownlocal
newspapers,butthroughtheInternettothewholewideworld.Thinkaboutthe
development!
Hereweseehowamazinghasbeenthedevelopmentofinformationtechnology.It
certainlyhashelpedinspreadingtheChristianmessage,butneverthelessitiscentral
andimportantforusthatwetelltheGospelfrompersontoperson,facetoface.
ManyhavecometobelieveafterreadingtheBibleoraspiritualbook,butinmost
casestheGospelhasbeenheardfromanotherpersontestifyingabouthisorher
faithinChrist.
Whyso?Thegospelisnotjustinformation,evenifitisaboutinformationaswell,
suchastheknowledgeoftruth,ofcourse.Butinadditiontoinformationandthe
knowledgeoftruth,theGospelisalwaysaboutlove.Withoutlove,thatis,without
caring,gentlenessandcompassionthecontentofthegospelisdifficultto
understand.Withoutlove,themessageoftheGospeldoesn’topenupeasilyand
doesn’tbecomeconcreteinthelistener'slife.
TheGospelissuchaspecialandchange-provokingmessage.Andweallknowthat
sometimesitisdifficulttounderstandsomethingnew,unlesswecanseeitand
experienceitinourownlives.Themereheadknowledge,orthetextisoftennot
enoughtounderstandsomethingnewtous.ThatiswhytheGospelisspreadbest
facetofaceandbylivingexample!AsdidtheSamaritanwoman.
WhentheGospel,thegoodnewsofGod'sloveisshared,itisalwaysaccompaniedby
theHolySpiritofGod.TheHolySpiritisthespiritofloveandtruth.TheHolySpiritis
theSpiritofmercyandcomfort.Inthatspirit,wemustact.Weneedtosharethe
Gospelwithwarmthandjoy,courage,andbyshowingmercy.Ifweproclaimthe
Gospelbygrindingourteethorexpressinghatetowardsothers,wemisrepresentthe
message!ThentheHolySpiritdoesnotblessthemessage.ThefruitoftheSpiritis
notincluded.
Butwhenwesharethegoodnewswithlove,joy,peace,patience,kindness,
gentleness,self-control,andwiththerestofthefruitoftheSpirit,wecanhopethat
GodhimselfisatworkthroughHisWord.
Wewon’talwaysseetheresultsofsharingtheGospelimmediately.Inmanycases,
someoneelsegetstotakeintheharvest,butwehavesowntheseeds.Buttheseed
seedingisnecessary.Withoutit,theharvestwillnotcomeatall.
Godcanusejustordinarypeople,suchasthisSamaritanwoman.SharingtheGospel
isnotonlythetaskofsomefewpeople,suchasmissionariesorchurchworkers.The
taskbelongstoeveryone.
TheSamaritanwomanonlyshared,whatgoodhadhappenedtoher.Nothingmore,
nothingless.Nothingmoreprofound.Tellingofitdidnotrequiremanyyearsof
educationoranyspecialtrainingformissionandevangelisation.
Manynewsaresubjecttoopinionandtheseeasilyleadtodebatesanddisputes,but
personalexperienceisalwaysabouttellingthetruth.Noonecandenythe
experience.ThisiswhattheSamaritanwomandid.
AswealsocouldsharethegoodnewsaliketheSamaritanwoman,let’srememberto
actuallylivetheGospel.Otherwise,themessagebecomessimplythetellingof
informationwithoutapersonaltestimony.
Nooneforcesustodoortotellmorethanwhatwehaveexperienced.Paulurgesus
toact"inaccordancewiththefaithGodhasdistributedtoeachofus.”(Romans
12:3).Everyonedoesnothavetobethesamekindofevangelistorpreacheror
witness.You'llbeokaybyjustbeingthekindofChristianthatyouactuallyare.When
youarelivingthetheGospel,thenjoy,peaceandhappinessandtheotherkindof
fruitoftheHolySpiritwillbevisibletoothers.ThenGodisatwork.
OurencounterwithJesusisbeingproclaimedinonewayoranotherbyeachofus.
Hehasfreedusfromthebondageofsinanddeathandillnessandgivenuseternal
life.InHimwehaveeverythingthatweneed.
Let’spray:
Thankyou,dearJesus,thatYouwanttomeetusintruthandlove.GiveustheHoly
Spirittocomfortandstrengthenusthatwedaretobringtolighttheblackand
shamefulsinsinourownpast-becauseyouwanttoforgiveallofthese,andprovide
uswithlifeandjoy.Wearegratefulforthefreedomandconfidencethatyouare
willingtogiveus,andrejoiceaboutitjustastheSamaritanwoman.Fillusevermore
withyourHolySpirit,thatwecanbettersharetheGospeltooneanother.Wethank
younowandalways,andprayinYourholyname.Amen.
Blogentry(Bastian)
HaveyoueverheardabouttheSamaritanwomanwhometJesusatthewell(John
4:1-42)?Shecametothewellintheheatofthedaytodrawwater.Shewentthere
atthattimetoavoidotherpeople,forinhertownshewasknowntohavinghad
illicitsexualrelationshipswithmanymen.YetatthewellJesusencounteredherin
waythatshewouldnevereverforget.HerlifeofsinwaslaidopenbeforeJesusjust
ascrystl-clearwaterthatshehadcomefor.ButJesusdidnotcondemnher,however.
Hemeantwelltoher.Heofferedthewomanlivingwatertobecleansedfromallsin
–theBibledoesn’tmentionthisindetail,butitisobviousfromtheencounterand
whatfollows–thewomancomestobelievethatJesusistheMessiah.Sheleavesher
waterjaratthewell,goesdowntownandsharesthegoodnews,sothatthepeople
cameoutofthetownandmadetheirwaytowardsJesus.Infact,inthefollowing
daysmanypeoplefromthetowncametobelieveinJesus,theSaviouroftheworld,
becauseofthewoman’stestimonyandJesus’words.OnSunday,22January2017,
AriSavuojadealtwiththetopicofgivingtestimonyofChrist,ofhowabelieverand
ordinaryperson–justliketheSamaritanwoman–cansharehisorherfaithand
personalencounterwithChristwithotherpeople(BF).