Have You Got What It Takes to Be God’s Man?

A Man And His Ministry

John 4

All through this summer we have been asking the question at Gateway Community Church, “Have you got what it takes to be God’s man?”  While the information we’ve been looking at is certainly applicable to men and women alike, in these days we are focusing our attention on the men of the church.  Much of the world thinks that people who need God are “weak,” and need “religion” to make it through life – particularly men - but as we have seen, living a godly life is not an easy trek – in fact, it is the most challenging life any person can choose, and is a call to true manliness.

Quite frankly, we are “calling out” the men of this church.  It’s time to stop playing at this thing called “Christianity,” and to start living the life that is implied by that title – if you’re going to wear the name, you’ve got to live the life - a life of honesty, integrity, discipline, purity, study and strong relationships.

Last week we began a new focus in our discussion – we talked about our responsibility within the kingdom of God.  Being a man of God is not just about thinking differently, it’s about behaving differently.  Along with the blessings of being a child of God came the responsibilities of being a child of God.  Our first priority is taking the message of Jesus Christ to the world around us – in particular the friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members who have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus.  Today we are going to continue that vein of thought by looking at A Man and His Ministry.

Far too often we get this idea in our heads that the only person in the church who is called to ministry is the pastor, and maybe the minister of music.  But the fact is that each and every person who is a follower of Jesus has a Ministry that he has been called to.  Paul said, in Ephesians 4:11, “[God] gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.”

Peter said, in I Peter 4:19, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.“  Each of us has been called to ministry, and given the gifts and abilities necessary to fulfill that calling.  Ministry is simply meeting people where they are, and bringing the grace of God to that place.

Quite often those ministry opportunities will arise in the day-to-day moments of life.  Ministry is not something that happens exclusively on Sunday morning at church, or at a bedside in a hospital.  Sometimes ministry happens just along the road of life.  This was true for Jesus – much of His most memorable teaching occurred in casual moments with his disciples, or during a visit among friends, or when he was asked a question by someone as he passed by.    In the gospel of John, chapter 4, we have just such an occurrence.  Let me share the encounter with you:

1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.

4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of 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 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says 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 with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such 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" (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 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" 28 The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. 42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."[i]

This is an amazing a encounter on so many levels.  In this meeting, Jesus broke though so many barriers – racial, social, sexual, religious.  The Jews hated the Samaritans, and vice-versa.  They even prayed that the Samaritans would be sent to hell!  Jews would never walk through Samaria – they would go far out of their way to avoid Samaria – but Jesus went there.  A Jewish teacher would never talk to a woman – in fact there were a group of Jewish priests who called themselves the “bloody Pharisees,” because they would close their eyes whenever a woman walked by, and often ran into walls or tripped and fell!  Jesus not only spoke to her, he asked her for a drink, and by drinking from that cup, He defiled himself according to the Jewish rules – he would not be allowed into the temple!

This morning, I want us to focus on Jesus in this story.  What the circumstances were of this ministry opportunity, and how did He handle them?  We see Jesus in action in this encounter, and there are some truths about ministry that we can learn from Him.

Around your tables, discuss the following questions, and we will explore them in 5 minutes:

In verse 4, what phrase stands out about Jesus?

Ø      “Needed to (or ‘had to’) go through Samaria…” – Intentional, purposeful, driven. 

What does verse 6 tell us about Ministry?

Ø      Sometimes Ministry happens when we are tired!  Jesus was exhausted – surely He could have just leaned back against the well, closed his eyes and waited for the disciples to come back from Burger King with a Pepsi – but He knew this woman had needs, and He was there to minister to her.  He put his own needs, and his own comfort, secondary to his obligation to minister to this woman.

How did Jesus “bridge the gap” with the woman? (vs7)

Ø      He used a common need – they were both in need of water.  She needed water for her physical needs – her home – but Jesus knew there was a deeper thirst.

What do 5 husbands, and a 6^th man currently in her life, tell us about this woman?

Ø      She was thirsting for love and acceptance – but had found none.  She was looking for love in the arms of another person, when her need could only be filled by God.  And her search had left her friendless in the city – John tells us that it was “the sixth hour” – noon – the heat of the day.  No one went to the well at the hottest time of the day – unless they didn’t want anyone else to be there!  She was a lonely, friendless, sad person.

How did Jesus react to and treat this woman after her immoral lifestyle had been revealed?

Ø      He kept talking about the heart – not the flesh.  He invited her to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Read verses 28 and 39.  What do these verses tell us about the impact our ministry to others might have?

Ø      Even the most unlikely person can have an amazing impact for the Kingdom of God.

What does Jesus words in verses 32 – 34 tell us about ministry?

Ø      Ministry is satisfying!  Doing the work that God has given us to do can satisfy more than a T-Bone Steak! 

Application:

1. Is your ministry to others something that you seed as a “need” or a “compulsion?”  Are you driven to minister?  If not, we need to be in prayer that God will give us that heart of compassion that Jesus had – to see others with the eyes of a loving God.
2. Do we sometimes avoid ministry because we are too tired?  Jesus could have easily said to himself, “I have been ministering to thousands of people…she’s all alone…one person. I have to relax.  If I don’t take care of my body, who will?”[ii]  We do have to take care of our bodies, there is no question of that – Jesus himself called the disciples to “come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest,” but we also must be diligent and steadfast in our work.  R. Kent Hughes said, “The world is run by tired men…tired political leaders, wars are won by exhausted generals, peace is secured by tired diplomats, great legislation is accomplished by weary legislators.  The reason for this is that such leaders are willing to put themselves out whenever necessary in order to accomplish their noteworthy tasks.  Likewise, the Christian world is ministered to by tired people.”
3. Ministry – be it sharing the gospel or bringing a meal – begins with loving people, and building bridges to them.  Finding common ground, engaging in discussion, earning the right to be heard. 
4. Ministry must be done out of love of people. Who they are, who God sees them as, without judgment of their lifestyle or behavior.  People who don’t know God can’t be expected to live godly lives!  Our primary goal is to introduce them to Him, and allow Him to do the life-changing work in their lives.
5. None of us knows when a chance encounter might develop into a God-sized event.  This outcast, immoral, minority woman became the catalyst that led to a great revival in her city.  Who might you meet this week who will transform ours?

Prayer.

To help us in our living out of these past two messages, we’re going to be starting a new Sunday evening Bible Study that will teach us to be more effective in lifestyle evangelism – how to build those bridges, and how to share our faith.  If you’re interested in joining that study, there is a sign up sheet on this table up front.